DETROIT (AP) — Justin Verlander drew several big cheers and pitched seven sharp innings in his return to Comerica Park while leading the Houston Astros over the Detroit Tigers 3-2 Monday night.Verlander struck out 10 in his first game in Detroit since being traded to Houston in August 2017. The World Series champion Astros opened a three-game lead over Oakland atop the AL West.Verlander (15-9) made his major league debut with Detroit in 2005 and ranks among the top 10 on several of the team's career pitching lists.The 35-year-old righty received a long standing ovation after a video tribute was played as he walked in from the bullpen, and another when he came out to warm up for the first inning. Both times, he tipped his cap and waved to the crowd.Verlander allowed two runs on six hits and one walk, improving to 98-50 at Comerica Park. Max Scherzer is second in career wins at the stadium with 46, while Jordan Zimmermann leads current Tigers with 14.The Tigers put two runners on in the seventh,... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie David Bote struck again, connecting in the 10th inning for another game-ending home run that sent the Chicago Cubs over the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 on Friday for their third straight victory.Bote got behind 0-2 before driving Raisel Iglesias' next pitch deep to left field with one out. The infielder hit a bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out grand slam that beat Washington 4-3 on Aug. 12.Iglesias (2-2) had made seven straight scoreless appearances. Jesse Chavez (4-2), the sixth Cubs reliever, pitched a scoreless inning.Daniel Murphy hit his first homer since being traded Tuesday from Washington to the NL Central-leading Cubs. Alec Mills pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his first major league start.Cincinnati wasted a terrific start by Matt Harvey in its fourth loss in five games. Harvey struck out six in 5 1/3 innings after reportedly being claimed off waivers by Milwaukee. He stayed with the Reds when they couldn't work out a deal.BREWERS 7, PIRATES 6, 15 inningsMILWAUKEE... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Trevor Cahill pitched one-hit ball for seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics, far behind in the AL West standings earlier this summer, tied Houston for the division lead by beating the Astros 7-1 Saturday.Khris Davis, Matt Olson, Josh Phegley and Stephen Piscotty each hit two of Oakland's team record-tying eight doubles as the A's won for the sixth time in seven games. The Athletics trailed the defending World Series champion Astros by 11 1/2 games on June 24 and were still 10 out on July 10.Houston has lost seven of eight and dropped 12 of 19 since owning a six-game lead on July 24. The next day, reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve went on the disabled list, and the star second baseman is still out.Cahill (5-2) struck out seven, walked one and retired 14 straight batters during one stretch.Tony Kemp homered in the ninth for Houston's only other hit. Dallas Keuchel (9-10) gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings.ROCKIES 5, BRAVES 3, 10 INNINGSATLANTA (AP) — Colorado struck... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Trevor Cahill pitched one-hit ball for seven shutout innings and the Oakland Athletics, far behind in the AL West standings earlier this summer, tied Houston for the division lead by beating the Astros 7-1 Saturday.Khris Davis, Matt Olson, Josh Phegley and Stephen Piscotty each hit two of Oakland's team record-tying eight doubles as the A's won for the sixth time in seven games. The Athletics trailed the defending World Series champion Astros by 11 1/2 games on June 24 and were still 10 out on July 10.Houston has lost seven of eight and dropped 12 of 19 since owning a six-game lead on July 24. The next day, reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve went on the disabled list, and the star second baseman is still out.Cahill (5-2) struck out seven, walked one and retired 14 straight batters during one stretch.Tony Kemp homered in the ninth for Houston's only other hit. Dallas Keuchel (9-10) gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings.ROCKIES 5, BRAVES 3, 10 INNINGSATLANTA (AP) — Colorado struck... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Trevor Williams and two relievers combined on a six-hitter, and the Pittsburgh Pirates blanked the San Francisco Giants 4-0 on Saturday night.Josh Bell homered for the second time in three days. Elias Diaz added two hits for the Pirates after coming in as an injury replacement for Francisco Cervelli.The start of the game was delayed for a ceremony honoring home run king Barry Bonds, who became the 10th player in Giants history to have his jersey retired. Several of his former teammates and managers, including Dusty Baker and Jim Leyland, were on hand.Buster Posey and Evan Longoria had two hits apiece for San Francisco. Ty Blach (6-7) allowed four runs over four innings.Williams (10-8) allowed five hits and walked one in seven innings.ROCKIES 3, DODGERS 2DENVER (AP) — Ryan McMahon hit a three-run homer with two out in the ninth inning, lifting Colorado to the win.McMahon's drive off J.T. Chargois (2-4) cleared the right-field wall just above the out-of-town scoreboard.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Ronald Guzman became the first rookie to hit three home runs in a game against the Yankees, powering the Texas Rangers past New York 12-7 on Friday night.Eight days after Boston's Steve Pearce connected three times off the Yankees, Guzman duplicated the feat in ending New York's four-game winning streak.Guzman grounded out his first time up, then hit solo home runs in three straight at-bats. The 23-year-old first baseman batted again in the eighth with a chance to tie the big league record for homers in a game — no rookie has ever hit four — but struck out swinging against Chad Green.Guzman's two homers off Masahiro Tanaka (9-3) and one off A.J. Cole made him the first Texas player to hit three home runs in a game since Adrian Beltre in 2012.Overall, Guzman has 12 home runs this season, six against the Yankees.Beltre also joined in the fun with his seventh homer of the season, tying recent Hall of Fame inductee Chipper Jones for the 33rd spot on baseball's career list with... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the highest-scoring game in franchise history, Daniel Murphy hit two early home runs and the Washington Nationals kept pouring it on against emergency reliever Jose Reyes and the New York Mets in a 25-4 rout Tuesday night.Trea Turner, who apologized before the game to his teammates for homophobic and racially insensitive tweets he sent several years ago, had four of Washington's 26 hits. Pitcher Tanner Roark (5-12) hit a three-run double during a seven-run first inning.The Nationals set the team scoring mark dating to their days as the Montreal Expos in 1969. It was the Mets' most-lopsided loss in their 57-season history, worse than a 26-7 pounding by Philadelphia in 1985.Reyes made the first pitching appearance of his career, and the 35-year-old infielder got tagged for home runs by Matt Adams and Mark Reynolds in a six-run eighth. Throwing a fastball in the mid-80s mph and a curve in the upper 40s, Reyes gave up five hits and walked two.Reyes also plunked Ryan Zimmerman... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In the highest-scoring game in franchise history, Daniel Murphy hit two early home runs and the Washington Nationals kept pouring it on against emergency reliever Jose Reyes and the New York Mets in a 25-4 rout Tuesday night.Trea Turner, who apologized before the game to his teammates for homophobic and racially insensitive tweets he sent several years ago, had four of Washington's 26 hits. Pitcher Tanner Roark (5-12) hit a three-run double during a seven-run first inning.The Nationals set the team scoring mark dating to their days as the Montreal Expos in 1969. It was the Mets' most-lopsided loss in their 57-season history, worse than a 26-7 pounding by Philadelphia in 1985.Reyes made the first pitching appearance of his career, and the 35-year-old infielder got tagged for home runs by Matt Adams and Mark Reynolds in a six-run eighth. Throwing a fastball in the mid-80s mph and a curve in the upper 40s, Reyes gave up five hits and walked two.Reyes also plunked Ryan Zimmerman... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have put veteran catcher Francisco Cervelli on the seven-day concussion disabled list.The Pirates made the move Friday night just before the start of their game with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Rookie catcher Jacob Stallings was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.Cervelli left the June 9 game against the Cubs at Chicago in the fourth inning after being struck on the helmet and left of his jaw by a foul tip off the bat of Jason Heyward. Cervelli passed the concussion protocol and played in six more games, but began feeling symptoms Thursday night late in the Pirates' 9-3 loss to the Diamondbacks.An 11-year veteran, Cervelli has already hit a career-high nine home runs this season, with 36 RBIs in 55 games while batting .247. His previous high for homers was seven in 2015, his first season with Pittsburgh after spending seven years with the New York Yankees.Stallings played in five games with the Pirates earlier this month and went 5 for 14 (.357).

CHICAGO (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli has left Saturday's game against the Chicago Cubs after a foul ball from Jason Heyward hit his mask and the left side of his jaw.Cervelli was struck during the third inning. He initially stayed in after manager Clint Hurdle and trainer Bryan Housand came out to check on him following Heyward's groundout.Cervelli grounded out in the fourth before being removed for precautionary reasons in the bottom half. Elias Diaz replaced him behind the plate.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joc Pederson went deep twice, Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in as many games and the Los Angeles Dodgers used nine pitchers to hold off the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 on Thursday.Pederson led off the game with a solo blast off Jameson Taillon (3-5) and added a two-run shot in the eighth off Michael Feliz for his second multi-home run game in a week. Bellinger finished 3 for 4, including a shot just over the wall in left field in the sixth to give the Dodgers a three-run advantage, and a stream of relievers made it stand as Los Angeles won for the 15th time in its last 20 games to move back to .500 (31-31).Daniel Hudson made his first start since 2015, working only the first inning, after the Dodgers scratched rookie Dennis Santana from what would have been his first major league start. Santana experienced tightness in his right side during his pregame routine. Pedro Baez (3-3) picked up the win by getting six outs. Kenley Jansen worked around a pinch-hit homer by Francisco... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang said he has been sober since his third DUI arrest in December 2016 and is focused on getting into baseball shape and returning to the Pirates.The 31-year-old is back in Pittsburgh's minor league system, playing for Class A Bradenton in the Florida State League."Obviously, I'm not touching a drop of alcohol moving forward," Kang said through his interpreter Mark Kim on Wednesday in his first public comments since he was cleared to return to the U.S. two months ago.Kang's third arrest in South Korea on DUI charges included an eight-month suspended prison sentence and led to his failures to receive a work visa for the 2017 season. Kang, however, received a visa in April and was allowed to return to the United States. He is in the final year of an $11 million, four-year contract with the Pirates that includes a 2019 club option.It had been unclear when and if Kang would be allowed to return."It would be a lie if I said I wasn't... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals has not allowed a hit through seven innings against Pittsburgh.Wacha has struck out seven, walked two and thrown 95 pitches Sunday at Busch Stadium. He retired the first 13 hitters he faced before walking Francisco Cervelli.Josh Bell's flyout to the warning track in the second inning was closest the Pirates have come a hit.St. Louis leads 4-0 on a grand slam by Marcell Ozuna in the first.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jorge Alfaro drove in two runs, Aaron Nola pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Thursday, spoiling Clayton Kershaw's first start in almost a month.Hitting out of the No. 8 spot in the Phillies' lineup, Alfaro delivered an RBI single in the second inning against Kershaw and had an RBI double off reliever Josh Fields in the seventh.Nola (7-2) struck out seven, including five of the last seven batters he faced. He walked one and allowed just two runners to reach as far as second base. Seranthony Dominguez held the Dodgers scoreless over the final two innings for his second save.Kershaw pitched in his first game since May 1, spending time on the disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. He gave up one run and four hits over five innings, throwing 62 pitches. He had five strikeouts and a walk, but acknowledged after the game that another DL trip might be necessary — this time for a third back injury in three... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jorge Alfaro drove in two runs, Aaron Nola pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Thursday, spoiling Clayton Kershaw's first start in almost a month.Hitting out of the No. 8 spot in the Phillies' lineup, Alfaro delivered an RBI single in the second inning against Kershaw and had an RBI double off reliever Josh Fields in the seventh.Nola (7-2) struck out seven, including five of the last seven batters he faced. He walked one and allowed just two runners to reach as far as second base. Seranthony Dominguez held the Dodgers scoreless over the final two innings for his second save.Kershaw pitched in his first game since May 1, spending time on the disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. He gave up one run and four hits over five innings, throwing 62 pitches. He had five strikeouts and a walk.Alfaro, who had an RBI single in the second, broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning when he doubled to the wall in right-center... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — David Price took a shutout into the ninth inning and held Baltimore to five hits in his first complete game this season, leading the Boston Red Sox past the Orioles 6-2 on Thursday night.J.D. Martinez hit a two-run homer in the first, and Xander Bogaerts homered with two on during a four-run fifth.Price (4-4) struck out eight and didn't walk a batter while winning consecutive starts for the first time this season. Andrew Susac led off the ninth with a double, the first Baltimore player to reach second base in the game. Manny Machado spoiled the shutout bid with a two-out homer, but Price finished off Baltimore on Jonathan Schoop's pop-up.Kevin Gausman (3-3) went 4 2-3 innings for Baltimore, allowing six runs and eight hits while striking out six and walking two.DODGERS 7, MARLINS 0MIAMI (AP) — Justin Turner tied a career high with five RBIs and Kenta Maeda pitched eight sharp innings to help the Los Angeles Dodgers snap a six-game losing streak by beating the Marlins.Turner,... [More]