BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi got three hits and the Boston Red Sox extended the best start in their 118-year history, beating the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 Sunday at frigid Fenway Park.Mitch Moreland also had three hits for the Red Sox, who completed a three-game sweep of the shortened series and improved to a major league-best 13-2 under new manager Alex Cora.The series was supposed to last four games, but the traditional Patriots' Day game scheduled for Monday morning at 11:05 a.m. was postponed late Sunday afternoon because of a forecast that calls for heavy rain throughout the day.The game will be made up May 17. It is the first time the Patriots' Day game in Boston has been postponed since 1984.Manny Machado had an RBI double for Baltimore, which has lost five of six.Boston ace Chris Sale gave up one run and two hits in five innings, striking eight and walking two.Heath Hembree (2-0) worked two innings of scoreless relief. Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his fifth save.Dylan Bundy... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Max Scherzer stole the first base of his professional career and allowed only two singles in his fifth big league shutout, and the Washington Nationals ended a five-game losing skid while getting back to .500 with a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night.Scherzer (2-1), the winner of the past two NL Cy Young Awards, did not let the Braves push a runner beyond first base. Kurt Suzuki got a hit in the second, and Nick Markakis did in the fifth, but neither advanced.Scherzer managed to get farther than that: He swiped second after singling off reliever Peter Moylan in the seventh.Howie Kendrick delivered all the offense Washington needed with a two-run double.Scherzer struck out 10 and walked none in his ninth complete game in 299 major league starts. And he needed only 102 pitches, a far more efficient outing than his previous time on the mound: He threw 110 over five innings in a 7-1 loss at Atlanta on April 4.Julio Teheran (0-1) went six innings for the Braves,... [More]

For one week at least, the angst in New York was on the American League side.While the Mets swept a pair of division rivals, the Yankees wrapped up their first homestand by losing three of four to Baltimore, with a couple extra-inning games going against them. The slugging tandem of Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge has five home runs on the young season, but Stanton already has 20 strikeouts in 10 games and has heard boos from his new home crowd in the Bronx.After reaching the AL Championship Series last year and adding Stanton, the Yankees came into this season with high expectations, and it will take more than a few whiffs early in the season to change that. The Mets, on the other hand, finished 27 games out of first place in 2017, and the impressive rotation they'd assembled was struggling to stay healthy.Now the Mets are 7-1 after sweeping a two-game series with Philadelphia and taking three in a row at Washington . Only Boston (8-1) has a better record. Noah Syndergaard is back after... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his first major league home run in his first Angel Stadium at-bat, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians 13-2 on Tuesday night.Ohtani capped a six-run first inning with a three-run drive to center off Josh Tomlin (0-1). The Japanese two-way player got the silent treatment from teammates when he returned to the dugout, but not from the crowd. After players broke character and jumped around Ohtani to celebrate, Mike Trout pointed to the field and instructed Ohtani to take a curtain call.Trout, Justin Upton, Luis Valbuena and Rene Rivera also homered for the Angels, who broke a 12-game losing streak to the Indians. Garrett Richards (1-0) got the win.Jose Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the first for the Indians.BREWERS 5, CARDINALS 4MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun hit consecutive homers off Dominic Leone with two out in the ninth, sending Milwaukee to the win.Leone (0-1) retired the first two batters, but then... [More]

Chris Sale and his fellow aces are having all sorts of trouble with these tuneup starts.Sale was knocked off the mound by a line drive Saturday and exited with a bruised left hip. He said the injury wasn't serious and wouldn't jeopardize his opening day start Thursday for the AL East champion Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay."I don't see anything lingering from this," Sale said. "Looked a lot worse than it really is."Sale was hit by a liner off the bat of Houston's J.D. Davis in the first inning. The left-hander crumpled to the ground, then walked off the field under his own power.On Friday, San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner sustained a broken pinkie on his pitching hand when he was struck by a line drive. He is expected to miss at least two months.The same day, Tampa Bay star Chris Archer — set to pitch against Sale — was hit by a grounder in the forearm of his pitching arm and had to leave a minor league game.Hours after Sale was hurt, Kansas City lefty Danny Duffy exited in the third inning... [More]

Chris Sale and his fellow aces are having all sorts of trouble with these tuneup starts.Sale was knocked off the mound by a line drive Saturday and exited with a bruised left hip. He said the injury wasn't serious and wouldn't jeopardize his opening day start for the AL East champions Thursday at Tampa Bay."I don't see anything lingering from this," Sale said. "Looked a lot worse than it really is."Sale was hit by a liner off the bat of Houston's J.D. Davis in the first inning. He crumpled to the ground, then walked off the field under his own power.On Friday, San Francisco ace Madison Bumgarner sustained a broken finger on his pitching hand when he was struck by a line drive. He will miss at least a month.The same day, Tampa Bay star Chris Archer — set to pitch against Sale — was hit by a grounder in the forearm of his pitching arm and had to leave a minor league game.Hours after Sale was hurt, Kansas City lefty Danny Duffy exited in the third inning because of shoulder tightness. He said... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Left-hander Patrick Corbin has been chosen to start for the Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day.Manager Torey Lovullo made the announcement Saturday. He'll make his first opening day start Thursday night when the Diamondbacks host Colorado — Arizona beat the Rockies last year in the NL wild-card game.Corbin was 14-13 with a 4.03 ERA in 32 starts last season."I'm just excited. I'm honored to go out there. I feel well prepared and ready to go. I got all my work in that I needed to this spring," Corbin said.The opportunity for Corbin arose from a groin injury to Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke, who is still working his way back to full strength. Greinke was recently ruled out for opening day.Greinke threw a quick bullpen session on Saturday morning and Lovullo hopes he will be ready to pitch the third game of the season-opening series against the Rockies.Left-hander Robbie Ray was also seriously considered, but Lovullo chose to keep him on his spring schedule."A very... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Left-hander Patrick Corbin has been chosen to start for the Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day.Manager Torey Lovullo made the announcement Saturday. He'll make his first opening day start Thursday night when the Diamondbacks host Colorado — Arizona beat the Rockies last year in the NL wild-card game.Corbin was 14-13 with a 4.03 ERA in 32 starts last season."I'm just excited. I'm honored to go out there. I feel well prepared and ready to go. I got all my work in that I needed to this spring," Corbin said.The opportunity for Corbin arose from a groin injury to Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke, who is still working his way back to full strength. Greinke was recently ruled out for opening day.Greinke threw a quick bullpen session on Saturday morning and Lovullo hopes he will be ready to pitch the third game of the season-opening series against the Rockies.Left-hander Robbie Ray was also seriously considered, but Lovullo chose to keep him on his spring schedule."A very... [More]

Capsules of National League West teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Los Angeles Dodgers2017: 104-58, first place, lost to Houston in World Series.Manager: Dave Roberts (third season).He's Here: OF Matt Kemp, RHP Tom Koehler, LHP Scott Alexander, LHP Henry Owens.He's Outta Here: 1B Adrian Gonzalez, RHP Yu Darvish, RHP Brandon Morrow, RHP Brandon McCarthy, LHP Tony Watson, LHP Luis Avilan, LHP Scott Kazmir, LHP Adam Liberatore, OF Andre Ethier, INF Charlie Culberson, OF Curtis Granderson, LHP Grant Dayton, OF Franklin Gutierrez, RHP Josh Ravin.Projected Lineup: CF Chris Taylor (.288, 21 HRs, 72 RBIs, 17 SBs), SS Corey Seager (.295, 22, 77), 3B Justin Turner (.322, 21, 71, will start season on DL with broken left wrist), 1B Cody Bellinger (.267, 39, 97, 10 SBs), RF Yasiel Puig (.263, 28, 74), LF Matt Kemp (.276, 19, 64 in 115 games with Braves) or Joc Pederson (.212, 11, 35 in 102 games), C Austin Barnes (.289, 8, 38) or Yasmani Grandal (.247, 22, 58), 2B Logan Forsythe (.224, 6,... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Left-hander Patrick Corbin has been chosen to start for the Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day.Manager Torey Lovullo made the announcement Saturday. He'll make his first opening day start Thursday night when the Diamondbacks host Colorado — Arizona beat the Rockies last year in the NL wild-card game.Corbin was 14-13 with a 4.03 ERA in 32 starts last season."I'm just excited. I'm honored to go out there. I feel well prepared and ready to go. I got all my work in that I needed to this spring," Corbin said.The opportunity for Corbin arose from a groin injury to Diamondbacks ace Zack Greinke, who is still working his way back to full strength. Greinke was recently ruled out for opening day.Greinke threw a quick bullpen session on Saturday morning and Lovullo hopes he will be ready to pitch the third game of the season-opening series against the Rockies.Left-hander Robbie Ray was also seriously considered, but Lovullo chose to keep him on his spring schedule."A very... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks were one of baseball's big surprises a year ago. The surprise this year would be if they don't keep winning."Last year we kind of snuck up on people and had to earn their respect," said Torey Lovullo, the National League manager of the year in his first season in the desert. "I think we've done that, which I'm very proud of."Nearly everyone is back from the team that went 93-69 — 24 more wins than the previous year — and earned the National League's No. 1 wild card spot. Optimism abounds in the clubhouse."We learned from last year," outfielder David Peralta said, "and that's why we're going to be better this year."Not quite everybody returns. The glaring omission is outfielder J.D. Martinez, whose torrid performance after he came in a mid-season trade with Detroit (29 home runs, 65 RBIs in 62 games), carried the Diamondbacks down the stretch. Arizona couldn't afford to keep the free agent Martinez but tried to make up for some of that lost offense... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks were one of baseball's big surprises a year ago. The surprise this year would be if they don't keep winning."Last year we kind of snuck up on people and had to earn their respect," said Torey Lovullo, the National League manager of the year in his first season in the desert. "I think we've done that, which I'm very proud of."Nearly everyone is back from the team that went 93-69 — 24 more wins than the previous year — and earned the National League's No. 1 wild card spot. Optimism abounds in the clubhouse."We learned from last year," outfielder David Peralta said, "and that's why we're going to be better this year."Not quite everybody returns. The glaring omission is outfielder J.D. Martinez, whose torrid performance after he came in a mid-season trade with Detroit (29 home runs, 65 RBIs in 62 games), carried the Diamondbacks down the stretch. Arizona couldn't afford to keep the free agent Martinez but tried to make up for some of that lost offense... [More]

Capsules of National League West teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Los Angeles Dodgers2017: 104-58, first place, lost to Houston in World Series.Manager: Dave Roberts (third season).He's Here: OF Matt Kemp, RHP Tom Koehler, LHP Scott Alexander, LHP Henry Owens.He's Outta Here: 1B Adrian Gonzalez, RHP Yu Darvish, RHP Brandon Morrow, RHP Brandon McCarthy, LHP Tony Watson, LHP Luis Avilan, LHP Scott Kazmir, LHP Adam Liberatore, OF Andre Ethier, INF Charlie Culberson, OF Curtis Granderson, LHP Grant Dayton, OF Franklin Gutierrez, RHP Josh Ravin.Projected Lineup: CF Chris Taylor (.288, 21 HRs, 72 RBIs, 17 SBs), SS Corey Seager (.295, 22, 77), 3B Justin Turner (.322, 21, 71, will start season on DL with broken left wrist), 1B Cody Bellinger (.267, 39, 97, 10 SBs), RF Yasiel Puig (.263, 28, 74), LF Matt Kemp (.276, 19, 64 in 115 games with Braves) or Joc Pederson (.212, 11, 35 in 102 games), C Austin Barnes (.289, 8, 38) or Yasmani Grandal (.247, 22, 58), 2B Logan Forsythe (.224, 6,... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Zack Greinke won't be the opening-day starter for the Arizona Diamondbacks.Manager Torey Lovullo said what's perceived to be a minor health issue will bench his ace for the opener.Lovullo, speaking before Monday's spring training game against the Chicago White Sox, said the tightness Greinke experienced in his groin in his latest start last Wednesday led to him being ruled out for what is usually his opening-day role. Greinke left that game after one inning.If there had been no health issue, Lovullo said, Greinke would be on the mound for Arizona on opening day for the third straight season."Every staff has a No. 1 and he fit the bill perfectly," the manager said. "He won 17 games last year. He was our staff ace."Lovullo said he's not ready to name who will take Greinke's place in the March 29 opener at home against Colorado, although Robbie Ray would seem to be the logical alternative.Ray had a breakout season a year ago, going 15-5 with a 2.89 ERA and making the... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Buoyed by optimism that just about everyone is back from a 93-win team, pitchers and catchers began spring training workouts for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.Little was revealed, though, over the matter of whether the Diamondbacks truly have a shot at re-signing slugger J.D. Martinez.A reporter astutely pointed out to manager Torey Lovullo that, in the clubhouse, there are vacant lockers between Nos .27 and 30. Martinez wears No. 28.There was a lot of laughter from reporters and a pause from the manager."You guy pay attention," Lovullo finally said. "Yeah, I think 28 and 29 are numbers that are available."But Lovullo had nothing to say about any progress in convincing Martinez to re-sign."Said it many times," he said. "J.D. was a huge part of our ball club. I know there are 30 teams he's available to. I'll leave it at that. I don't know anything else. I just know he was a main reason why we performed the way we did last season down the stretch."Conventional... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — There isn't a lot new to the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring, with a couple of notable exceptions.J.D. Martinez won't be in the outfield and the Diamondbacks need a closer.Still, there should be plenty of optimism when the team reports to the Scottsdale, Arizona, training facility, with the entire rotation and pretty much every position player returning from the team that won 93 games, earned the top NL Wild Card spot and beat Colorado in the Wild Card game before being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.The glaring omission from last year's team is Martinez, who probably slugged his way well out of the Diamondbacks' price range with his half-season in Arizona following a trade with Detroit. Martinez is among the many free agents yet to sign a deal.Torey Lovullo, named National League manager of the year for his work in his first season in Arizona, has to determine who his team's closer will be. Fernando Rodney is gone, and an intriguing possibility is for the... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League West entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:___Los Angeles DodgersManager: Dave Roberts (third season).2017: 104-58, first place, lost to Houston in World Series.Training Town: Glendale, Arizona.Park: Camelback Ranch.First Workout: Feb. 14/19.He's Here: OF Matt Kemp, RHP Tom Koehler.He's Outta Here: 1B Adrian Gonzalez, RHP Yu Darvish, LHP Scott Kazmir, RHP Brandon McCarthy, INF Charlie Culberson, OF Curtis Granderson, 2B Chase Utley, OF Andre Ethier.Going campin': The Dodgers returned to the World Series for the first time since winning it in 1988, only to lose to Houston in seven games. They topped 100 wins while earning a fifth straight NL West title. Clayton Kershaw is one of the elite pitchers in the game, a seven-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young Award winner. He begins the season with 144 career victories, 21 shy of Sandy... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — There isn't a lot new to the Arizona Diamondbacks this spring, with a couple of notable exceptions.J.D. Martinez won't be in the outfield and the Diamondbacks need a closer.Still, there should be plenty of optimism when the team reports to the Scottsdale, Arizona, training facility, with the entire rotation and pretty much every position player returning from the team that won 93 games, earned the top NL Wild Card spot and beat Colorado in the Wild Card game before being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.The glaring omission from last year's team is Martinez, who probably slugged his way well out of the Diamondbacks' price range with his half-season in Arizona following a trade with Detroit. Martinez is among the many free agents yet to sign a deal.Lovullo, named National League manager of the year for his work in his first season in Arizona, has to determine who his team's closer will be. Fernando Rodney is gone, and an intriguing possibility is for the team's... [More]

RHP Zack Godley saved the Diamondbacks from a potentially disastrous blow to the bullpen going forward in the NLDS. With starter RHP Taijuan Walker out of the game after only one inning, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo turned to Godley to start the second inning. Godley pitched five innings, making 100 pitches, while giving up three runs (two earned) and four hits and getting to the seventh inning before Lovullo had to go back to his bullpen. "I thought he did a great job," Lovullo said. "He came in in the second inning and gave us five good innings. He did enough to get us back in the game, and gave us a chance to play catch-up."

RHP Zack Godley is expected to get some work out of the bullpen on Saturday, manager Torey Lovullo said, after making his last regular-season start Monday. Godley could follow RHP Taijuan Walker, who will make his last regular-season start. Lovullo has not said which starting pitchers would follow RHP Zack Greinke and LHP Robbie Ray if Arizona advance to the NLDS. "We haven't finalized anything, but we are running out of days to let guys pitch," Lovullo said. "It's our way of making sure everybody is staying sharp and strong with endurance and durability. We are going to pile some guys into a couple of days. Makes the most sense for us. It doesn't mean one decision has been made."