CHICAGO (AP) — The Oakland Athletics fortified their bullpen Monday night by acquiring left-hander Andrew Chafin from the Chicago Cubs for two minor leaguers. Chafin was 0-2 with a 2.06 ERA in 43 relief appearances covering 39 1/3 innings for the Cubs this season. The deal was announced following their 6-5 win over Cincinnati and could signal more moves to come from Chicago. The Cubs received outfielder Greg Deichmann and right-hander Daniel Palencia. Oakland is in second place in the AL West and holds the league's second wild-card spot. The A's began the day 5 1/2 games behind first-place Houston. The disappointing Cubs are fourth in the NL Central at 50-51 and could be very busy before Friday's trade deadline, with star players such as Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Báez and Craig Kimbrel all attractive pieces potentially available to other teams. The 31-year-old Chafin has given up one home run this year. He has 37 strikeouts, 12 walks and a sparkling 0.84 WHIP. Deichmann, 26, was... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Alex Verdugo hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox rallied late for the second straight game, beating Toronto 5-4 on Monday night in the opener of an important series for the Blue Jays. Boston star Rafael Devers added a solo homer on the four-year anniversary of his first major-league shot. Bo Bichette hit a two-run homer for fourth-place Toronto, which fell to 10½ games behind in the East. Adam Ottavino (3-3) worked a scoreless inning for the win. Matt Barnes got the final three outs for his 22nd save. Toronto starter Thomas Hatch made just his second big-league start after being sidelined with a shoulder impingement since spring training. The 26-year-old right-hander gave up three runs on seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. Trevor Richards (1-1) took the loss. PHILLIES 6, NATIONALS 5 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Philadelphia a victory over sinking Washington. Rhys Hoskins... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Held hitless into the eighth inning by Domingo Germán and looking feeble, Alex Verdugo and the Boston Red Sox suddenly erupted for five runs and stormed past the New York Yankees 5-4 Sunday. Verdugo opened the eighth with a long double for Boston’s first hit. Later, Kiké Hernández slid home headfirst on Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly with the go-ahead run to cap the rally. The Red Sox won for the 10th time in 13 games against the Yankees and reclaimed first place in the AL East, a game ahead of Tampa Bay. New York fell nine games behind Boston. Boston trailed 4-0 when Verdugo doubled to deep right, and Germán was lifted after the hit. Jonathan Loaisiga (7-4) relieved, and Boston broke loose with four straight hits. Hunter Renfroe had an RBI double, Christian Vázquez singled home a run and Hernández followed with an RBI double, cutting it to 4-3. Zack Britton relieved and pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki’s groundout plated the tying run. Hernández hustled hard and beat right fielder... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Held hitless into the eighth inning by Domingo Germán and looking feeble, Alex Verdugo and the Boston Red Sox suddenly erupted for five runs and stormed past the New York Yankees 5-4 Sunday. Verdugo opened the eighth with a long double for Boston’s first hit. Later, Kiké Hernández slid home headfirst on Xander Bogaerts’ sacrifice fly with the go-ahead run to cap the rally. The Red Sox won for the 10th time in 13 games against the Yankees and reclaimed first place in the AL East, a game ahead of Tampa Bay. New York fell nine games behind Boston. Boston trailed 4-0 when Verdugo doubled to deep right, and Germán was lifted after the hit. Jonathan Loaisiga (7-4) relieved, and Boston broke loose with four straight hits. Hunter Renfroe had an RBI double, Christian Vázquez singled home a run and Hernández followed with an RBI double, cutting it to 4-3. Zack Britton relieved and pinch-hitter Kevin Plawecki’s groundout plated the tying run. Hernández hustled hard and beat right fielder... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ BANNER DAY Miami Marlins infielder Eddy Alvarez and four-time Olympic women’s basketball gold medalist Sue Bird will be the U.S. flag bearers for the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Games. The 31-year-old Alvarez won a silver medal in speedskating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Alvarez becomes the first baseball player to carry the flag for the U.S. The sport returned to the Olympics at the request of Japan after being absent from the previous two Summer Games. Alvarez made his big league debut last August with Miami and hit .189 in 12 games. He’s been in the minors this year, batting .312 in 27 games. ACE IN THE HOLE Cardinals left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim looks to extend his scoreless streak when he faces Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez and the Chicago Cubs at home in the finale of a four-game series. The South Korean-born Kim (5-5, 2.87 ERA) has not allowed a run over his last 21 innings, covering three-plus starts. He has permitted no more... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors Thursday: ___ BANNER DAY Miami Marlins infielder Eddy Alvarez and four-time Olympic women’s basketball gold medalist Sue Bird will be the U.S. flag bearers for the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo Games. The 31-year-old Alvarez won a silver medal in speedskating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Alvarez becomes the first baseball player to carry the flag for the U.S. The sport returned to the Olympics at the request of Japan after being absent from the previous two Summer Games. Alvarez made his big league debut last August with Miami and hit .189 in 12 games. He’s been in the minors this year, batting .312 in 27 games. ACE IN THE HOLE Cardinals left-hander Kwang Hyun Kim looks to extend his scoreless streak when he faces Anthony Rizzo, Javier Báez and the Chicago Cubs at home in the finale of a four-game series. The South Korean-born Kim (5-5, 2.87 ERA) has not allowed a run over his last 21 innings, covering three-plus starts. He has permitted no... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Atlanta Braves acquired Joc Pederson in a trade with the Chicago Cubs on Thursday, bolstering their outfield after losing Ronald Acuña Jr. to a season-ending knee injury. Atlanta sent minor league first baseman Bryce Ball to Chicago for Pederson, who is batting .230 with 11 homers and 39 RBIs in 73 games. The 29-year-old Pederson spent his first seven seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers before signing with the Cubs in free agency in February. The Braves are looking to return to the playoffs, but their pursuit of a fourth straight NL East title took a hit when Acuña tore the ACL in his right knee during Saturday's 5-4 victory over Miami. Atlanta hit the All-Star break in third in the division, four games back of the first-place New York Mets. Pederson could be in the lineup when the Braves return to the field Friday night against Tampa Bay. The lefty-batting slugger played in the postseason in each of the previous six years with Los Angeles, batting .382 with two homers... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ GIVING IT BACK TO THEM The Astros have planned a weekend of giveaway items at Minute Maid Park that's sure to pique the interest of the visiting New York Yankees. Star second baseman Jose Altuve and his Houston teammates were loudly heckled in May when they played at Yankee Stadium for the first time since their sign-stealing was revealed. The Astros beat New York in the 2017 AL Championship Series on their way to the World Series championship, and topped them again in the 2019 ALCS on Altuve’s game-ending home run. Fans attending the series opener in Houston this weekend will get a replica 2019 AL champions trophy. The Saturday game includes a 2019 AL champions replica ring and the Sunday matchup offers an Altuve jersey. The promotions were announced last month. Altuve and Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, meanwhile, will not play in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Both players were chosen as reserves for the showcase in Denver. Altuve cited... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors on Friday: ___ GIVING IT BACK TO THEM The Astros have planned a weekend of giveaway items at Minute Maid Park that's sure to pique the interest of the visiting New York Yankees. Star second baseman Jose Altuve and his Houston teammates were loudly heckled in May when they played at Yankee Stadium for the first time since their sign-stealing was revealed. The Astros beat New York in the 2017 AL Championship Series on their way to the World Series championship, and topped them again in the 2019 ALCS on Altuve’s game-ending home run. Fans attending the series opener in Houston this weekend will get a replica 2019 AL champions trophy. The Saturday game includes a 2019 AL champions replica ring and the Sunday matchup offers an Altuve jersey. The promotions were announced last month. Altuve and Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, meanwhile, will not play in Tuesday’s All-Star Game. Both players were chosen as reserves for the showcase in Denver. Altuve... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

July 5 1904 — The Philadelphia Phillies snapped the New York Giants’ 18-game winning streak with a 6-5 10-inning victory. 1935 — Tony Cuccinello of the Dodgers and his brother Al — for the Giants — each hit home runs in the same game to mark the first time in major league history that brothers on opposing teams connected for homers. Brooklyn beat New York 14-4. 1937 — Frank DeMaree of Chicago went 6-for-7 in the first game of a doubleheader, in which the Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 13-12 in 14 innings. DeMaree had three doubles and three singles. The Cubs won the second game 9-7 and DeMaree had two more singles. 1947 — Larry Doby became the first black to play in the American League. He struck out as a pinch-hitter as Cleveland lost 6-5 to the White Sox. 1987 — Mark McGwire became the first rookie to hit 30 homers before the All-Star break and Jose Canseco homered twice, leading the Oakland Athletics to a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. 1991 — The Colorado Rockies and the Florida... [More]

Tuesday, July 13At Coors Field, DenverAmerican LeagueCatcher — Salvador Pérez, Kansas City Royals First Baseman — Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays Second Baseman — Marcus Semien, Toronto Blue Jays Shortstop — Xander Bogaerts, Boston Red Sox Third Baseman — Rafael Devers, Boston Red Sox Designated Hitter — Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Angels Outfield — Mike Trout, Los Angeles Angels Outfield — Aaron Judge, New York Yankees Outfield — Teoscar Hernández, Toronto Blue Jays National LeagueCatcher — Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants First Baseman — Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves Second Baseman — Adam Frazier, Pittsburgh Pirates Shortstop — Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres Third Baseman — Nolan Arenado, St. Louis Cardinals Outfield — Ronald Acuña Jr., Atlanta Braves Outfield — Nick Castellanos, Cincinnati Reds Outfield — Jesse Winker, Cincinnati Reds ___ Final percentagesAmerican LeagueCatchers: Salvador Pérez 62%, Martín Maldonado 20%, Yasmani Grandal 18% First basemen: Vladimir Guerrero... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo has left Chicago's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers with tightness on the left side of his lower back. Rizzo came out in the fourth inning Sunday night. The slugger struck out and grounded out in his first two at-bats against Clayton Kershaw. Rizzo also couldn't make a difficult scoop on a low throw from shortstop Javier Báez, prolonging the second inning. Báez was charged with an error, and Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer moments later to put the Dodgers up 6-0. Rizzo is batting .248 with 32 RBIs in 70 games this season. He hit his 10th homer of the year Saturday night, making him just the seventh Cubs player with 10 homers in 10 different seasons. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks snapped their record 24-game road losing streak by routing the San Diego Padres 10-1 on Saturday night, getting six scoreless innings from Merrill Kelly and four hits and five RBIs from Eduardo Escobar. Escobar and Christian Walker homered for the Diamondbacks, who hadn’t won away from Chase Field since April 25, when Madison Bumgarner pitched seven no-hit innings at Atlanta. The Diamondbacks had dropped 20 of 21 games and 34 of 37 overall. Escobar connected for a two-run homer, and drove in runs with a double, a single and a groundout. He finished a triple shy of the cycle. Kelly (4-7) allowed five hits, struck out five and walked none. Dinelson Lamet (2-3) took the loss, allowing four runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings. METS 4, PHILLIES 3 NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom gave up two runs for the first time this season and New York rallied after he exited, beating Philadelphia on Michael Conforto’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning. DeGrom’s bid to... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mets ace Jacob deGrom gave up two runs for the first time this season and New York rallied after he exited, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 Saturday on Michael Conforto’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning. DeGrom’s bid to set the Mets record for the longest scoreless-inning streak fell just short. His run ended at 31 innings on rookie Nick Maton’s RBI single in the second — R.A. Dickey set the team shutout mark of 32 2/3 innings in 2012. DeGrom allowed three hits in six innings, striking out five and walking one while throwing 88 pitches, his most since tossing 93 against Boston on April 28 in a 1-0 loss. Edwin Diaz (2-1) earned the victory. Héctor Neris (1-5) took the loss. BLUE JAYS 12, ORIOLES 4 BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his major league-leading 26th home run, Teoscar Hernández and Randal Grichuk also connected and Toronto rolled past Baltimore. Guerrero homered during a four-run burst in the third inning that also included Bo Bichette’s RBI... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Chicago Cubs are working on a combined no-hitter through eight innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. The Cubs led 4-0 in their quest for the majors’ seventh no-hitter of the year — which would match four other seasons for the most in the majors since 1900. The Dodgers drew seven walks, but had no other baserunners heading to the ninth. Right-hander Zach Davies started with six resilient innings, and reliever Ryan Tepera issued one walk in the seventh. Andrew Chafin yielded another walk in the eighth. Davies issued five walks and used 94 pitches to get through the first six innings, but still managed to keep the defending World Series champions without a hit in the 16th start of his first season with the Cubs. Tepera, the busiest reliever in Chicago's solid bullpen, walked Gavin Lux with two outs in the seventh. Austin Barnes lined out to second to end another hitless inning. Chafin walked Mookie Betts with one out, but Max Muncy hit a grounder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom was pulled from a second straight start with an arm injury, this time leaving after three perfect innings with right shoulder soreness, but the New York Mets bullpen stepped up to finish a three-hitter in a 6-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night. One start after being pulled from a gem against San Diego with flexor tendinitis in his right arm, deGrom went directly down the clubhouse tunnel after finishing the third against the Cubs. DeGrom said initial tests ruled out a serious issue, but he planned to get imaging and more observation Thursday. The right-hander struck out eight of the nine batters he faced and lowered his ERA to 0.54. Sean Reid-Foley (2-0) relieved deGrom and allowed one run over two innings. Anthony Rizzo ended the bid for a combined perfect game or no-hitter by homering with one out in the fourth. Kevin Pillar opened the scoring with an RBI double off Robert Stock (0-1) in the second and homered in the fifth. GIANTS 13, DIAMONDBACKS... [More]