Clayton Kershaw's second spring training outing went according to plan, save for one poor throw to first.The ace left-hander breezed through two scoreless innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday, allowing one hit and walking one during a 7-6 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Glendale, Arizona. He worked a perfect inning in his spring training debut against Seattle on Sunday."Another step. Another inning," Kershaw said. "Definitely things I can do better, but for the most part I'll take it. It was all right. I made some good pitches when I needed to. I made some bad ones, too. Enough to work on for the next one."Leury Garcia dropped a single into left in the first for Chicago's only hit off Kershaw. Garcia raced all the way to third when Kershaw made a wild throw on a pickoff attempt, but Jose Abreu and Avisail Garcia grounded out to end the inning."I just tried to be a little too quick," Kershaw said, looking back on his fielding miscue. "I think I might have, it would have been... [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]

DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado didn't travel home with the team after the Colorado Rockies lost at Arizona in last October's wild-card game.He needed some time to himself, to reflect on a season in which the Rockies made it back to the postseason for the first time since 2009 only to have the run abruptly end with an 11-8 loss to the Diamondbacks.The Gold Glove third baseman played some golf, went to a concert all by himself — Post Malone — and then made a vow to work even harder .This from a player who hit 37 homers and drove in 130 runs a season ago."A little depression after that wild-card game," Arenado said. "I was so upset. I wanted to play more baseball.Colorado went 87-75 in manager Bud Black's first season and was looking for a deeper playoff run."It hurt, but it can only make us better. I talked to some of the guys, and they still talk about it to this day. It's like, 'Dang, what happened? How did that game go crazy like that?" Arenado said. "That's a good thing to have. It makes... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Players' union head Tony Clark claims the number of rebuilding teams and unsigned free agents in a historically slow market threatens the sport's integrity, an assertion immediately rejected by Major League Baseball.In a statement and a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Clark voiced the frustration of the 100-plus free agents who remain unsigned with the start of spring training one week away."A record number of talented free agents remain unemployed in an industry where revenues and franchise values are at record highs," he said in a statement, eight days before the first formal workouts. "Spring training has always been associated with hope for a new season. This year a significant number of teams are engaged in a race to the bottom. This conduct is a fundamental breach of the trust between a team and its fans and threatens the very integrity of our game."Just 61 of 166 players who exercised their free agency rights last November had announced agreements... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Players' union head Tony Clark claims the number of rebuilding teams and unsigned free agents in a historically slow market threatens the sport's integrity, an assertion immediately rejected by Major League Baseball.In a statement and a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Clark voiced the frustration of the 100-plus free agents who remain unsigned with the start of spring training one week away."A record number of talented free agents remain unemployed in an industry where revenues and franchise values are at record highs," he said in a statement, eight days before the first formal workouts. "Spring training has always been associated with hope for a new season. This year a significant number of teams are engaged in a race to the bottom. This conduct is a fundamental breach of the trust between a team and its fans and threatens the very integrity of our game."Just 61 of 166 players who exercised their free agency rights last November had announced agreements... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila gets $4 million this year and $4.25 million in 2019. He can earn an additional $250,000 annually in performance bonuses based on plate appearances: $25,000 each for 350 and 400, $50,000 apiece for 450 and 500 and $100,000 for 550Avila said the deal came together over the last two weeks."Essentially the first thing that popped into mind was how talented of a team they had," Avila said.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila, speaking in a conference call Wednesday evening, said the deal came together over the last two weeks, and he likes the makeup of the team he is joining."Essentially the first thing that popped into mind was how talented of a team they had," Avila said.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Rey Fuentes for assignment Wednesday.Avila said he has no problem sharing the catching duties."It... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks have finalized an $8.25 million, two-year contract with free agent catcher Alex Avila.Avila fills a roster spot vacated by Chris Iannetta, who shared the catching duties last year and left for an $8.5 million, two-year deal with Colorado.The 31-year-old Avila, a son of Detroit general manager Al Avila, hit .264 with 14 homers and 49 RBIs last year for the Tigers and Chicago Cubs, who acquired him at the July 31 trade deadline. He is a .243 hitter in nine major league seasons.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the Diamondbacks' catchers.Arizona opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Rey Fuentes for assignment on Wednesday.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

PHOENIX (AP) — A person with knowledge of the agreement says catcher Alex Avila has signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.The person asked to remain anonymous because the signing has not been officially announced by the team.The 31-year-old Avila fills a roster spot vacated by catcher Chris Iannetta, who signed with Colorado after spending last season sharing the Arizona catching duties.Last season, Avila hit .264 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs with the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs. He is a career .243 hitter in nine major league seasons and is the son of Tigers general manager Al Avila.Avila joins Jeff Mathis and Chris Herrmann as the team's catchers going into spring training.

C Chris Iannetta earned an extra $250,000 by starting 70 games in the regular season after signing a $1.5 million free agent deal last winter. He earned $50,000 for each segment of five starts beginning with his 50th. Iannetta slashed .254/.354/.511 with 17 homers and 43 RBIs in 89 games.

LOS ANGELES -- Rookie Cody Bellinger hit his 39th homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their fifth straight NL West Division title with a 4-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants Friday night.Bellinger hit a three-run homer in the third inning off Jeff Samardzija (9-15). He broke a tie with Wally Berger (1930) and Hall of Famer Frank Robinson (1956) for the homers hit a by National League. Rich Hill (11-8) drove in the other run and allowed a run in six innings, for the Dodgers who clinched on former manager Tommy Lasorda's 90th birthday.Pablo Sandoval homered in the ninth off Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen.Blue Jays 8, Yankees 1TORONTO -- Ryan Goins pulled off the hidden ball trick and hit a grand slam off Masahiro Tanaka asToronto routed New York.Goins pulled off the trick in the third inning to retire Todd Frazier, who was on second base. He then chased Tanaka (12-12) in the sixth inning with his second career grand slam.Teoscar Hernandez and Russell Martin also homered for Toronto... [More]

C Chris Iannetta had two homers and a career-high eight RBIs Friday, when fans also demanded his first career curtain call after his grand slam in the sixth inning gave Arizona a 13-11 lead. "Luckily it was over before I realized what was happening," the always team-first Iannetta said. "It was a little awkward at the time. I am not a big fan of the attention. It was cool. I will always remember it." Iannetta, who has handled a majority of the catching since C Jeff Mathis (hand) was injured, has homered in the second, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the order this season. He is12-for-31 with a double, two homers and nine runs in his last nine games.

C Chris Iannetta had three of Arizona's six hits on Sunday in a loss to the Giants. The three-hit game was the 27th of Iannetta's career and his second this season. He also had three hits against the Padres on June 8.

C Chris Iannetta was 1-for-3 three with a single and a was hit by a pitch. He is hitting hitting .320 with two doubles, three homers, five RBIs and 11 walks in his last 16 games. Iannetta has hit second in the order 11 times in that stretch because manager Torey Lovullo has said he likes the way he works the count in front of the 3-4-5 hitters in the order, including 1B Paul Goldschmidt and RF J.D. Martinez.

C Chris Iannetta was 1-for-4 with a single in Tuesday's win over the Dodgers and has reached base in 10 consecutive games via hit or walk after singling in the second. Iannetta is 11-for-33 with with five doubles, a homer and seven RBIs in eight games hitting in the No. 2 spot in the order. He has hit second in four of his last five starts, and manager Torey Lovullo has said he likes the way Iannetta works at-bats in front of the 3-4-5 hitters.

C Chris Iannetta was 2-for-3 with two singles and a walk while catching RHP Zack Greinke for the first time this season. Greinke has made his previous 25 starts with C Jeff Mathis, who is out with a fractured hand. Iannetta and Greinke were teammates with the Angels in the second half of 2012 and also worked together this spring. "I think there is enough familiarity there," manager Torey Lovullo said. "We feel very comfortable with that matchup."

C Chris Iannetta went 1-for-4 with a solo homer Wednesday, when the Diamondbacks fell to the Mets 4-2. Iannetta's homer in the sixth inning was his 12th of the season and his 11th as a catcher. He ranks eighth in homers among National League catchers. Iannetta, who is expected to see the majority of playing time behind the plate with C Jeff Mathis (broken right hand) sidelined with an injury sustained Monday night, is batting .230 with 30 RBIs in 66 games this season.

C Chris Iannetta became the second catcher in club history to produce a game with three walks and a home run, joining Miguel Montero, who did so Aug. 8, 2014 against the Rockies. For Iannetta, it marked his 18th game with at least three walks (last, June 14, 2016 against the Rays). He belted his 11th home run in the ninth inning off Astros RHP James Hoyt.

C Chris Iannetta was 0-for-4 while hitting second in the order for the fourth time this season, a spot that has suited him. He is 5-for-18 with four doubles, a homer and seven RBIs in 18 at-bats at that spot. He had one hit in three at-bats against Cubs' starter Jake Arrieta. "Chris Iannetta always has grinding at-bats that are not easy on a pitcher," manager Torey Lovullo said, "and the more work that somebody is going to have to do in front of Paul Goldschmidt, the better for Paul Goldschmidt."

C Chris Iannetta (1-for-2) reached base three times in a game for the fourth time this season and first time since July 4 at the Dodgers. He is batting .232 through 51 games with eight homers and 25 RBIs.