NEW YORK (AP) — Domingo German overcame control problems on a chilly night to win for the first time since last June, Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner homered and the banged-up New York Yankees beat the punchless Detroit Tigers 3-1 Monday.Aaron Judge made a sprawling, backhand catch on Niko Goodrum's hard-hit liner after Adam Ottavino walked the first two batters in the eighth inning, a drive that would have tied the score if it had gotten by the right fielder.New York lost two more regulars to the 10-day injured list before the game after they got hurt a day earlier, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton with a strained left biceps and third baseman Miguel Andujar with a small labrum tear in his right shoulder.Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Andujar, runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year last season, will be treated conservatively with a rehab program and there is some optimism he will respond well. But if not, he could need season-surgery.They joined a group of sidelined Yankees that includes pitchers... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Domingo German overcame control problems on a chilly night to win for the first time since last June, Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner homered and the banged-up New York Yankees beat the punchless Detroit Tigers 3-1 Monday.Aaron Judge made a sprawling, backhand catch on Niko Goodrum's hard-hit liner after Adam Ottavino walked the first two batters in the eighth inning, a drive that would have tied the score if it had gotten by the right fielder.New York lost two more regulars to the 10-day injured list before the game after they got hurt a day earlier, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton with a strained left biceps and third baseman Miguel Andujar with a small labrum tear in his right shoulder.Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Andujar, runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year last season, will be treated conservatively with a rehab program and there is some optimism he will respond well. But if not, he could need seasno-surgery.They joined a group of sidelined Yankees that includes pitchers... [More]

With opening day just around the corner, the list of notable players who are going to be absent keeps growing.World Series MVP Steve Pearce will start the season on the injured list for the Boston Red Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Steven Souza Jr. went down with a knee injury Monday night when he slipped on home plate.Earlier in the day, Baltimore put scheduled opening-day starter Alex Cobb on the 10-day injured list with a strained right groin.Pearce exited an exhibition game last weekend due to discomfort in his left calf. The right-handed batter normally platoons with lefty-hitting Mitch Moreland at first base, but the Red Sox will begin defense of their championship Thursday in Seattle without Pearce."We have to do it that way," manager Alex Cora said. "It makes sense for us, it makes sense for him. He should be back sooner rather than later but he won't be ready for Seattle, so why take a chance?"Sam Travis will likely make the team and take Pearce's spot on the opening-day... [More]

Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are going to continue their successful partnership for a while longer.Verlander and the Astros have agreed to a contract adding an additional $66 million in guaranteed money for 2020 and '21, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The agreement was first reported by KRIV-FOX 26.A 36-year-old right-hander, Verlander is due $28 million in 2019, the final guaranteed season of a $180 million, seven-year deal he signed with Detroit before the 2013 season. That contract included a $22 million option for 2020 that would have become guaranteed if Verlander finished among the top five in Cy Young Award voting this year.Verlander was traded from Detroit to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, he finished second in Cy Young voting last season... [More]

Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are going to continue their successful partnership for a while longer.Verlander and the Astros have agreed to a contract adding an additional $66 million in guaranteed money for 2020 and '21, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The agreement was first reported by KRIV-FOX 26.A 36-year-old right-hander, Verlander is due $28 million in 2019, the final guaranteed season of a $180 million, seven-year deal he signed with Detroit before the 2013 season. That contract included a $22 million option for 2020 that would have become guaranteed if Verlander finished among the top five in Cy Young Award voting this year.Verlander was traded from Detroit to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, he finished second in Cy Young voting last season... [More]

Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros are going to continue their successful partnership for a while longer.Verlander and the Astros have agreed to a contract adding an additional $66 million in guaranteed money for 2020 and '21, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.The person spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The agreement was first reported by KRIV-FOX 26.A 36-year-old right-hander, Verlander is due $28 million in 2019, the final guaranteed season of a $180 million, seven-year deal he signed with Detroit before the 2013 season. That contract included a $22 million option for 2020 that would have become guaranteed if Verlander finished among the top five in Cy Young Award voting this year.Verlander was traded from Detroit to Houston on Aug. 31, 2017, and helped the Astros win their first World Series that season. The 2011 AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner, he finished second in Cy Young voting last season... [More]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Bryce Harper has been playing catch-up since his free agency carried over into spring training.With a week left until opening day, the Philadelphia Phillies' big-money addition looks ready to pay off.Harper hit his first two Grapefruit League homers, combining with fellow new additions Andrew McCutchen and J.T. Realmuto to help Philadelphia pound the Toronto Blue Jays 13-6 Thursday.Harper smashed a two-run homer to right off Sam Gaviglio in the fourth inning and had a solo shot against lefty Thomas Pannone in the sixth. McCutchen also took Gaviglio deep in the second, and Realmuto had a three-run shot in the fourth. That trio has been sharp this spring, with Harper posting a 1.192 OPS, Realmuto at 1.285 and McCutchen .830.Gift Ngoepe and Andrew Knapp also went deep, and Vince Velasquez struck out nine but allowed three runs and two homers in 3 1/3 innings. Velasquez has a 12.79 ERA this spring.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered to continue a hot spring with Toronto, and... [More]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Bryce Harper has been playing catch-up since his free agency carried over into spring training.With a week left until opening day, the Philadelphia Phillies' big-money addition looks ready to pay off.Harper hit his first two Grapefruit League homers, combining with fellow new additions Andrew McCutchen and J.T. Realmuto to help Philadelphia pound the Toronto Blue Jays 13-6 Thursday.Harper smashed a two-run homer to right off Sam Gaviglio in the fourth inning and had a solo shot against lefty Thomas Pannone in the sixth. McCutchen also took Gaviglio deep in the second, and Realmuto had a three-run shot in the fourth. That trio has been sharp this spring, with Harper posting a 1.192 OPS, Realmuto at 1.285 and McCutchen .830.Gift Ngoepe and Andrew Knapp also went deep, and Vince Velasquez struck out nine but allowed three runs and two homers in 3 1/3 innings. Velasquez has a 12.79 ERA this spring.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered to continue a hot spring with Toronto, and... [More]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — Bryce Harper has been playing catch-up since his free agency carried over into spring training.With a week left until opening day, the Philadelphia Phillies' big-money addition looks ready to pay off.Harper hit his first two Grapefruit League homers, combining with fellow new additions Andrew McCutchen and J.T. Realmuto to help Philadelphia pound the Toronto Blue Jays 13-6 Thursday.Harper smashed a two-run homer to right off Sam Gaviglio in the fourth inning and had a solo shot against lefty Thomas Pannone in the sixth. McCutchen also took Gaviglio deep in the second, and Realmuto had a three-run shot in the fourth. That trio has been sharp this spring, with Harper posting a 1.192 OPS, Realmuto at 1.285 and McCutchen .830.Gift Ngoepe and Andrew Knapp also went deep, and Vince Velasquez struck out nine but allowed three runs and two homers in 3 1/3 innings. Velasquez has a 12.79 ERA this spring.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered to continue a hot spring with Toronto, and... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Chris Archer had success against the high-powered New York Yankees and more importantly felt great afterwards.Archer allowed two hits and struck out four over three scoreless innings in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 6-5 loss on Sunday.The right-hander, who underwent surgery to repair a hernia in November, faced a lineup that included Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Troy Tulowitzki, Gleyber Torres, Brett Gardner and Greg Bird."The biggest thing for me is health," Archer said. "Whenever I don't have to be tentative, I don't have to be passive because there's an ailment, I'm happy."Gardner and Stanton had first-inning singles before Archer retired his final seven batters."Facing those guys, you get really good feedback," Archer said. "But the process of executing the pitches, that's all I was focused on."Archer had four strikeouts over two hitless innings in his first spring training start in Tuesday's 10-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.The 30-year-old will start the Pirates'... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Neal Huntington raised eyebrows last winter when the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager said the club's decision to trade franchise cornerstones Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole wouldn't affect the team's ability to win the World Series in 2018.The message Huntington was trying to send was lost in his unwieldy delivery: that flipping Cole and McCutchen for younger major league talent would help the Pirates contend into 2019 and beyond.While Huntington's short-term version was spot on — the Pirates were out of the playoff picture by late August — whether his long-term vision pans out remains uncertain.Yet he and manager Clint Hurdle are confident Pittsburgh took a significant step forward in 2018. The Pirates won 82 games — just the franchise's fourth winning season in a quarter century — and head into 2019 with far fewer question marks than a year ago.The starting rotation, led by breakout seasons by Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams and an uncharacteristically aggressive... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Neal Huntington raised eyebrows last winter when the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager said the club's decision to trade franchise cornerstones Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole wouldn't affect the team's ability to win the World Series in 2018.The message Huntington was trying to send was lost in his unwieldy delivery: that flipping Cole and McCutchen for younger major league talent would help the Pirates contend into 2019 and beyond.While Huntington's short-term version was spot on — the Pirates were out of the playoff picture by late August — whether his long-term vision pans out remains uncertain.Yet he and manager Clint Hurdle are confident Pittsburgh took a significant step forward in 2018. The Pirates won 82 games — just the franchise's fourth winning season in a quarter century — and head into 2019 with far fewer question marks than a year ago.The starting rotation, led by breakout seasons by Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams and an uncharacteristically aggressive... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics clinched their first playoff berth in four years, then beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Monday night behind Khris Davis' major league-leading 46th home run.Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman also homered for the A's, assured no worse than an AL wild card.Oakland was one out into the game when Tampa Bay was eliminated with a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The A's went on to win after Chapman broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run drive in the seventh off Shawn Armstrong (0-1).Coming off three straight last-place finishes in the AL West, the A's (95-62) are 4½ games behind AL West-leading Houston. They trail the Yankees by 1½ games for home-field advantage should they meet in a wild-card matchup.Robinson Cano and Dee Gordon homered for the Mariners.The Athletics will be making their fourth playoff appearance in the last seven seasons, all under manager Bob Melvin, and their 27th overall. The A's lost at Kansas City 9-8 in 12 innings in the 2014 wild-card... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics clinched their first playoff berth since 2014, then beat the Seattle Mariners 7-3 Monday night behind Khris Davis' major league-leading 46th home run.Jonathan Lucroy, Jed Lowrie and Matt Chapman also homered for the A's, assured no worse than a wild-card berth.Oakland was one out into the game when Tampa Bay was eliminated with a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. The A's went on to win after Chapman broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run drive in the seventh off Shawn Armstrong (0-1).Coming off three straight last-place finishes in the AL West, the A's (95-62) are 4½ games behind AL West-leading Houston. They trail the Yankees by 1½ games for home-field advantage should they meet in a wild-card matchup.Robinson Cano and Dee Gordon homered for the Mariners.The Athletics will be making their fourth playoff appearance in the last seven seasons, all under manager Bob Melvin, and their 27th overall. The A's lost at Kansas City 9-8 in 12 innings in the 2014 wild-card... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Hicks injured his left hamstring running up the first-base line in the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, another concern for New York heading into next week's AL wild-card game.Hicks' 11th-inning double on Saturday drove Didi Gregorius with the run that clinched a postseason berth, and on Sunday the Yankees learned Sunday that Gregorius had torn cartilage in his right wrist during his headfirst slide across the plate.Hicks, who had fouled a pitch off his left ankle just before the double, left Monday's game with left hamstring tightness.New York's win eliminated the Rays and ensured a postseason berth for Oakland, which is likely to be the wild-card opponent but also is still alive in the AL West race. At 96-60, New York is assured of its best record since going 97-65 in 2011.Gardner had a go-ahead single off Ryan Yarbrough (15-6) in a two-run fifth inning.New York used eight pitchers and gave its starters extra rest ahead of the... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Hicks injured his left hamstring running up the first-base line in the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, another concern for New York heading into next week's AL wild-card game.Hicks' 11th-inning double on Saturday drove Didi Gregorius with the run that clinched a postseason berth, and on Sunday the Yankees learned Sunday that Gregorius had torn cartilage in his right wrist during his headfirst slide across the plate.Hicks, who had fouled a pitch off his left ankle just before the double, left Monday's game with left hamstring tightness.New York's win eliminated the Rays and ensured a postseason berth for Oakland, which is likely to be the wild-card opponent but also is still alive in the AL West race. At 96-60, New York is assured of its best record since going 97-65 in 2011.Gardner had a go-ahead single off Ryan Yarbrough (15-6) in a two-run fifth inning.New York used eight pitchers and gave its starters extra rest ahead of the... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Aaron Hicks injured his left hamstring running up the first-base line in the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, another concern for New York heading into next week's AL wild-card game.Hicks' 11th-inning double on Saturday drove Didi Gregorius with the run that clinched a postseason berth, and on Sunday the Yankees learned Sunday that Gregorius had torn cartilage in his right wrist during his headfirst slide across the plate.Hicks, who had fouled a pitch off his left ankle just before the double, left Monday's game with left hamstring tightness.New York's win eliminated the Rays and ensured a postseason berth for Oakland, which is likely to be the wild-card opponent but also is still alive in the AL West race. At 96-60, New York is assured of its best record since going 97-65 in 2011.Gardner had a go-ahead single off Ryan Yarbrough (15-6) in a two-run fifth inning.New York used eight pitchers and gave its starters extra rest ahead of the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Walker hit a three-run homer, Zach Britton started a game-ending double play on New York's third try in the ninth inning and the Yankees kept the Boston Red Sox from a bubbly celebration in the Bronx for at least another night with a 3-2 victory Tuesday.Batting from the left side, Walker launched a no-doubter in the seventh inning off Ryan Brasier for the Yankees' third hit of the game and a 3-1 lead.Aaron Judge returned to New York's lineup for the first time since breaking his right wrist July 26, while AL MVP candidate Mookie Betts got a day off for Boston after injuring his left side Sunday. Judge hit a pop fly to the warning track but finished 0 for 4.New York moved 2½ games ahead of Oakland for the top AL wild card. The A's lost at home to the Angels.Boston is trying to clinch the AL East at Yankee Stadium for the second time in three years. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by 10 1/2 games and entered the night with a magic number of four over the Astros to lock up... [More]

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]

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]