Player Notes

Matt Guerrier struck out a pair over two scoreless innings of relief Tuesday against the Rockies.
Advice: He entered the contest with just four punch outs, so last night's performance qualifies as an outburst. Guerrier used to be a holds machine for the Twins, but he's posted just 19 over the past three seasons for the Dodgers, four less than he had in his last year in Minnesota. An elbow injury cost the veteran most of last season. He owns a 3.45 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and ugly 6/6 K/BB rate over 18 appearances.

Andrelton Simmons is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Twins.
Advice: He's just getting the day off. Ramiro Pena will fill in at shortstop.
More: Kevin McAlpin on Twitter

Matt Belisle tossed a scoreless inning of relief in Tuesday's victory over Arizona.
Advice: The veteran has notched a 3.86 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 21/7 K/BB rate in 21 games. He's also sixth in the National League with eight holds.

Mike Trout homered in the eighth inning Tuesday to complete his first cycle in the Angels' 12-0 massacre of the Mariners.
Advice: Trout struck out in his first at-bat, but he singled, tripled and doubled afterwards before delivered his ninth homer off Lucas Luetge in the eighth. He drove in five runs in all, and he became the youngest player to hit for the cycle since Mel Ott in 1929. Trout has his average up to .293, and he's currently on pace to finish the season with 32 homers, 112 runs scored, 122 RBI and 32 steals.

Daniel Descalso went 3-for-3 with his first career grand slam and an RBI double in the Cardinals' 10-2 rout of the Padres on Tuesday.
Advice: Descalso's slam followed an intentional walk to Jon Jay. Descalso entered the game with an ugly .197/.265/.289 line, and he probably wouldn't have been in the lineup if not for David Freese's thumb injury. The home run was his seventh in 813 major league at-bats.

Kyle Lohse will not make his next scheduled start on Saturday due to right elbow irritation.
Advice: The description of his condition is rather vague, but the Brewers should provide more information soon. Mike Fiers will start in his place Saturday against the Pirates. Lohse allowed four runs in six innings Sunday against the Cardinals and owns a 3.76 ERA and 37/10 K/BB ratio in 55 innings across nine starts this season.
More: Adam McCalvy on twitter

Eric Hosmer went 2-for-5 with two runs scored as the Royals beat the Astros on Tuesday.
Advice: The power is still missing, but Hosmer is now batting .271 with a .342 on-base percentage. The skill set suggests that he will start hitting the ball over the fence soon. He can break out at any time.

Padres reliever Anthony Bass was charged with four runs in his second inning of work Tuesday against the Cardinals.
Advice: Bass was ripped off tonight. The first hitter to reach against him did so on a strikeout/wild pitch. The second had a clean single, but Yadier Molina followed with a double-play ball, only Everth Cabrera vacated second base way too early on the relay and wasn't given credit for the out. With runners on second and third with one out, Bud Black had Bass intentionally walk Jon Jay, and Daniel Descalso followed with a grand slam. That was certainly a mistake for Bass, but he could have been out of the inning before then and he didn't deserve for his ERA to jump from 2.60 to 3.64 tonight.

Clayton Richard (illness) gave up two runs in six innings Tuesday in his second minor league rehab start with Triple-A Tucson.
Advice: Richard, out since May 4 with an intestinal virus, gave up five hits and no walks while striking out four. The southpaw threw 65 out of 94 pitches for strikes. It should be enough for the Padres to activate him from the disabled list.
More: San Diego Padres on Twitter

Jimmy Paredes went 3-for-3 with his first home run of the season but the Astros lost to the Royals on Tuesday.
Advice: Paredes' homer, a three-run shot, gave the Astros a lead in the fourth inning. He also added two singles on the night to bring his line to .268/.311/.439 through 14 games since being recalled. With the release of Rick Ankiel, it seems Paredes will continue to see plenty of playing time in the Houston outfield.