MLB 2023 | Yordan adds homer #16, Yandy with two more hits, Oviedo had a good outing

Major League Baseball (MLB) and other Cuban Players News for the 2023 season. A compendium from several sources

Yordan Álvarez (Photo: MLB)

Jun 5

Yordan Álvarez blasts a homer in rout. Álvarez went 2-for-4 with a home run, a strikeout, two runs scored and two RBI in a 11-4 win against the Blue Jays on Monday. Álvarez smacked a 452-foot solo shot in the four inning for his homer number 16 of the season. He's up to 53 RBI, most in the majors. Those marks put Álvarez on pace to easily exceed his career-best marks of 37 long balls and 104 RBI.

Johan Oviedo allowed three runs -- two earned -- in seven innings Monday against the A's.

Oviedo allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and two walks over seven innings in Monday's win over the Athletics. He struck out five and did not factor in the decision,

Oviedo gave up three runs through three innings before settling in for a quality start. He turned in his longest outing since April and has allowed three or fewer runs in five straight starts. He's registered a 2.57 ERA during that span, dropping his season number down to 4.29 through 65 frames. Oviedo is currently projected to face the Mets at home this weekend.

Yandy Díaz went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored on Monday afternoon, leading the Rays to a 4-1 victory over the Red Sox.

Díaz continues to be an on-base machine atop the Rays' lineup, causing constant pressure for opposing pitchers. He drew a one-out walk in the seventh inning of this one, then came in to score the Rays' final run in the game when Taylor Walls worked a bases-loaded walk. The 31-year-old is slashing a tremendous .316/.409/.570 to go along with 12 homers and 34 RBI through 51 games on the year.

Yuli Gurriel emerging as primary first baseman for the Marlins. Gurriel started at first base and hit fifth in Monday's game against the Royals. After producing six hits in the Marlins' weekend series with the Athletics, Gurriel was rewarded Monday with his 13th consecutive start. Though Garrett Cooper was in the lineup as Miami's designated hitter in place of a resting Jorge Soler, Gurriel appears to have overtaken the slumping Cooper as Miami's primary first baseman. However, in the game Gurriel went 0-for-4 with a run scored lowering his BA to .283 for the season.

Jorge Soler is absent from the Marlins' lineup for Monday's game against the Royals due to right thumb soreness.

There we go. Soler apparently suffered the injury during Sunday's series finale against the Athletics when he came off the bench as a pinch-hitter. He'll take a seat for Monday's series opener against the Royals, but appears unlikely to wind up requiring a trip to the injured list. The 31-year-old slugger has clobbered 17 round-trippers in 58 games to open the 2023 campaign.

Randy Arozarena was not in the Rays' lineup for Monday's series finale against the Red Sox.

It was a rare day off for Arozarena, who started both games of Saturday's twin bill in addition to Sunday's contest at Fenway Park over the weekend. He got a breather on Monday night with Josh Lowe and Luke Raley in the corner outfield spots for Tampa Bay.

Athletics' Aledmys Díaz: Hits bench amid skid. Díaz was out of the lineup for Monday's game in Pittsburgh. Díaz had started in five of the past six games, going hitless in 16 at-bats over that stretch to drop his season-long batting average down to .179. Though he's one of the highest-paid players on the Athletics roster in the first season of a two-year, $14.5 million deal, Díaz may nonetheless find himself on the bench more frequently in the near future given his wretched start to his tenure in Oakland.