HOUSTON (AP) — George Springer dashed home from second base on a wild pitch by Chris Sale, then homered off the Boston ace to send the Houston Astros over the Red Sox 7-3 Friday night in a matchup of AL division leaders.Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis homered late to boost the Astros.Mitch Moreland and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers off Gerrit Cole (6-1) to start the fourth inning and get within 4-3. Martinez hit his major league-leading 19th homer.Springer's sprint put the Astros ahead in the first inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Sale (5-3) threw a hard slider that caught Correa swinging for strike three. But the ball bounced off catcher Sandy Leon's glove and caromed toward the first base dugout, and Springer hustled home on the wild pitch.Cole won his fourth straight decision, giving up three runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven, raising his AL-leading total to 116.ATHLETICS 16, ROYALS 0KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Olson hit two homers and... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout homered and doubled three times during his first five-hit game in the majors, and the Los Angeles Angels quickly erased an early deficit in beating the New York Yankees 11-4 on Saturday night.Playing not far from his southern New Jersey hometown, Trout went deep for the third straight game to tie Boston's Mookie Betts for the big league lead with 17 home runs. The two-time MVP drove in four runs and set career bests with four extra-base hits and 11 total bases.Jose Briceno homered in his major league debut for Los Angeles, and rookie Jaime Barria (4-1) returned from the minors to win his third consecutive major league decision.Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Austin Romine homered for the Yankees. Sonny Gray (3-4) was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings.RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping Boston top Atlanta.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout homered and doubled three times during his first five-hit game in the majors, and the Los Angeles Angels quickly erased an early deficit in beating the New York Yankees 11-4 on Saturday night.Playing not far from his southern New Jersey hometown, Trout went deep for the third straight game to tie Boston's Mookie Betts for the big league lead with 17 home runs. The two-time MVP drove in four runs and set career bests with four extra-base hits and 11 total bases.Jose Briceno homered in his major league debut for Los Angeles, and rookie Jaime Barria (4-1) returned from the minors to win his third consecutive major league decision.Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Austin Romine homered for the Yankees. Sonny Gray (3-4) was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings.RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping Boston top Atlanta.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games.... [More]

A look at what's happen around the majors today:FLIGHT PLANThe Yankees plan to activate first baseman Greg Bird from the DL before a game against the Angels, forcing New York to make a difficult roster decision. Bird has been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27. New York likely will decide whether to cut from eight relief pitchers to seven or option Tyler Austin to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre despite his strong performance in Bird's absence.ODD-MAN OUTBoston is moving on without slugger Hanley Ramirez after designating him for assignment Friday to clear space for Dustin Pedroia to come off the DL. The Red Sox are responsible for the $15.25 million remaining on Ramirez's contract, but avoided triggering a $22 million salary for 2019 by cutting him loose. The move clears the way for Mitch Moreland to be the team's everyday first baseman, with J.D. Martinez a regular at DH and Blake Swihart picking up at-bats as a platoon partner at first base, catcher and DH. Pedroia... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Los Angeles Angels catcher Rene Rivera had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee and likely will be sidelined for 4-to-6 weeks.Dr. Brian Schultz operated on Friday in Los Angeles following an MRI."It's obviously a tough break for Rene right now, a tough break for us," manager Mike Scioscia said.A 10-year major league veteran, Rivera is hitting .259 with three homers and 10 RBIs in 59 plate appearances over 22 games as backup to Martin Maldonado. Rivera was placed on the 10-day disabled list May 20, a move retroactive to May 17.The Angels said right-hander Matt Shoemaker had mild fluid in his pitching forearm, according to an MRI on Thursday in Los Angeles. He also was examined in St. Louis this week by Dr. Susan Mackinnon, who ruled out peripheral nerve involvement.Shoemaker also had a bone scan. He made his only appearance of the season March 31 at Oakland, pitching 5 2/3 innings to beat the Athletics. He was moved to the 60-day disabled list on May 19.Outfielder Michael Hermosillo was optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake after Friday's 2-1 loss to the Yankees. That opened a roster spot for right-hander, Jaime Barria who is to be recalled and start Saturday.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

A look at what's happen around the majors Saturday:FLIGHT PLANThe Yankees plan to activate first baseman Greg Bird from the DL before a game against the Angels, forcing New York to make a difficult roster decision. Bird has been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27. New York likely will decide whether to cut from eight relief pitchers to seven or option Tyler Austin to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre despite his strong performance in Bird's absence.ODD-MAN OUTBoston is moving on without slugger Hanley Ramirez after designating him for assignment Friday to clear space for Dustin Pedroia to come off the DL. The Red Sox are responsible for the $15.25 million remaining on Ramirez's contract, but avoided triggering a $22 million salary for 2019 by cutting him loose. The move clears the way for Mitch Moreland to be the team's everyday first baseman, with J.D. Martinez a regular at DH and Blake Swihart picking up at-bats as a platoon partner at first base, catcher and DH. Pedroia... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Wei-Yin Chen and four relievers and were beaten by a last-place team for the fifth straight game, losing to the Miami Marlins 4-2 Tuesday night.The NL champions managed only five hits after being swept in a four-game series at home by woeful Cincinnati. Alex Wood (0-4) lost despite allowing only one earned run in six innings for the Dodgers (16-25), who are off to their worst start in 60 years. Miami (15-26) could pass them by sweeping the three-game series.Nick Wittgren (2-0) entered in the fifth and worked 1 2/3 perfect innings to lower his ERA to 0.69. Brad Ziegler gave up a home run to Cody Bellinger in the ninth but earned his sixth save.Dodgers infielders Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe were activated from the disabled list but couldn't spark the defending NL champions, who have scored 11 runs during their skid.ASTROS 5, ANGELS 3ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead, three-run double... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:BLAH BLAH LANDThe struggling Dodgers (16-24) hope to jumpstart their season with a series against the lowly Marlins in Miami. Of course, Los Angeles was thinking the same heading into a weekend set against last-place Cincinnati, then the Reds pushed the Dodgers around in a four-game sweep. It was the first time LA was swept over four games by a team with a .300 or worse winning percentage since the Padres did it in 1969, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Alex Wood (0-3, 3.60) tries to end the Dodgers' skid at four in a start against Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 10.22).POLLOCK PROBLEMArizona center fielder A.J. Pollock is set to see a hand specialist after spraining his left thumb diving for a ball Monday. The slumping Diamondbacks lost their sixth straight shortly after Pollock was pulled, and they'll have a hard time getting on track without him. He leads the club with a .293 average, 44 hits, 11 home runs and 33 RBIs. An All-Star in 2015, Pollock played... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Tuesday:BLAH BLAH LANDThe struggling Dodgers (16-24) hope to jumpstart their season with a series against the lowly Marlins in Miami. Of course, Los Angeles was thinking the same heading into a weekend set against last-place Cincinnati, then the Reds pushed the Dodgers around in a four-game sweep. It was the first time LA was swept over four games by a team with a .300 or worse winning percentage since the Padres did it in 1969, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Alex Wood (0-3, 3.60) tries to end the Dodgers' skid at four in a start against Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 10.22).YU GOOD?Yu Darvish pitches against the Braves aiming for his first victory since signing a $126 million, six-year contract with the Cubs in the offseason. Darvish (0-3, 6.00 ERA) is returning from the disabled list after fighting off a virus and hasn't pitched since allowing three homers and six runs in a loss to Colorado on May 2. The teams are playing in Atlanta a day after a 6-5 Braves'... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Tuesday:BLAH BLAH LANDThe struggling Dodgers (16-24) hope to jumpstart their season with a series against the lowly Marlins in Miami. Of course, Los Angeles was thinking the same heading into a weekend set against last-place Cincinnati, then the Reds pushed the Dodgers around in a four-game sweep. It was the first time LA was swept over four games by a team with a .300 or worse winning percentage since the Padres did it in 1969, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Alex Wood (0-3, 3.60) tries to end the Dodgers' skid at four in a start against Wei-Yin Chen (1-2, 10.22).YU GOOD?Yu Darvish pitches against the Braves aiming for his first victory since signing a $126 million, six-year contract with the Cubs in the offseason. Darvish (0-3, 6.00 ERA) is returning from the disabled list after fighting off a virus and hasn't pitched since allowing three homers and six runs in a loss to Colorado on May 2. The teams are playing in Atlanta a day after a 6-5 Braves'... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.Kimbrel replaced Matt Barnes (0-1) after a double by Walker and a one-out walk to Torres.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.Kimbrel replaced Matt Barnes (0-1) after a double by Walker and a one-out walk to Torres.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.Kimbrel replaced Matt Barnes (0-1) after a double by Walker and a one-out walk to Torres.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel (1-2) entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder (1-1) cleaned up a mess left by Chasen Shreve in the eighth, getting Benintendi to ground out with the bases loaded.Aroldis... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Gerrit Cole struck out nine to raise his major league-leading total to 86, and the Houston Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 4-1 Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.Max Stassi and Derek Fisher hit consecutive home runs with two outs in the seventh off Daniel Mengden (2-4) for a 2-1 lead. Yuli Gurriel added a two-run double against Yusmiero Petit that extended his hitting streak to 11 games.Cole (4-1) allowed one run, four hits and three walks in six innings. His 1.43 ERA is second in the major leagues behind the 1.17 of teammate Justin Verlander.Ken Giles pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save and second in two days. Before Tuesday, he had not pitched since allowing four runs in the ninth inning of a May 1 loss to the New York Yankees.REDS 2, METS 1, 10 INNINGSCINCINNATI (AP) — The New York Mets wasted a first-inning rally by batting out of turn, and Adam Duvall led off the 10th with a homer to win it for Cincinnati.Duvall connected for his first career game-ending... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Albert Pujols had a two-run double for his 2,999th career hit, and Luis Valbuena and Andrelton Simmons drove in three runs apiece in the Los Angeles Angels' 12-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.Pujols did not get a hit in his final three plate appearances after moving to the brink of the 3,000-hit club in the second inning. He gets another chance Friday in Seattle.Angels rookie right-hander Jaime Barria (2-1) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his third career start, finishing with six innings of four-hit ball.Manny Machado drove in two runs for the last-place Orioles, who have lost 15 of 18. Chris Tillman (1-5) recorded just three outs and was charged with seven runs.MARINERS 4, ATHLETICS 1SEATTLE (AP) — Dee Gordon had a big night on the bases, Nelson Cruz hit a two-run homer and the Mariners won their first game since Ichiro Suzuki was moved from the roster to the front office.Hours after the Mariners announced Suzuki's new role for the... [More]

The latter part of April is a good time to check in on some of baseball's top prospects.The New York Yankees hope they have a good one in Gleyber Torres.Torres made his anticipated debut for the Yankees on Sunday against the Toronto Blue Jays, and although the 21-year-old infielder went hitless , his arrival drew plenty of attention. Torres' promotion occurred late enough that he isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2024 season. It made sense for his major league debut to come now, especially after he hit .347 at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.A few other top prospects remain in the minors, but they're also worth keeping an eye on:—Ronald Acuna, Braves. Acuna hit .432 in 44 spring training at-bats for Atlanta this year, and although he started slowly at Triple-A Gwinnett, a three-hit day Sunday lifted his average to .217.—Nick Senzel, Reds. Cincinnati is a major league-worst 3-18 and already fired manager Bryan Price . In other words, the addition of a top prospect could certainly... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Khris Davis hit a tiebreaking, three-run homer off David Price with two outs in the eighth inning and the Oakland Athletics beat Boston 4-1 on Sunday, to deal the Red Sox consecutive losses for the first time under new manager Alex Cora.Boston had won its first six series before losing two of three at the Coliseum, where they were no-hit Saturday by Sean Manaea. They still have the best record in the majors at 17-4.Davis drove in all four runs for the A's, and Blake Treinen (1-1) retired five batters to win. Price (2-2) allowed four runs and nine hits in 7 2/3 innings.YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 1Gleyber Torres went 0 for 4 with a strikeout, double-play grounder, popup and flyout in his big league debut, and the youthful Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday when New York used a starting lineup that didn't include a player 30 or older for the first time since Sept. 29, 1989.Luis Severino (4-1) allowed three hits and struck out six in seven innings, and David Robertson... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Brandon Belt of the San Francisco Giants saw 21 pitches in an epic plate appearance against Los Angeles Angels rookie right-hander Jaime Barria in the first inning Sunday, the most since records began in 1988.The previous high of 20 pitches in a plate appearance since 1988 was when Houston's Ricky Gutierrez struck out against Cleveland's Bartolo Colon on June 26, 1998, according to Retrosheet.The left-handed Belt peppered the crowd with plenty of souvenirs by fouling off 11 straight pitches, including two long fouls down the right-field line, before lining out to right fielder Kole Calhoun.Belt was greeted with high-fives when he returned to the dugout.It took nine pitches for Belt to work the count full, as he fouled off five pitches in the process. He swung and missed just once.Angels pitching coach Charles Nagy made a mound visit to check on Barria after the Belt at-bat. Barria had thrown nine pitches to Joe Panik, who hit a leadoff single, before throwing 21 to Belt.Barria threw 49 pitches in the first inning. He loaded the bases with one out before retiring Evan Longoria and Pablo Sandoval.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball