NEW YORK (AP) — Asdrubal Cabrera hit a tiebreaking two-run double against his former team, helping the Washington Nationals beat the streaking New York Mets 7-4 Sunday.Nationals star Juan Soto was injured on Cabrera's bases-loaded hit in the seventh inning. Soto went from first to third but turned his right ankle after getting a late stop sign from third base coach Bob Henley. He was worked on by trainers in the outfield grass before coming out of the game.Victor Robles replaced Soto and homered off Edwin Díaz in the ninth.Sean Doolittle pitched a perfect ninth for his 26th save two nights after blowing a three-run lead in the final inning. The Nats bullpen had blown five consecutive save chances at Citi Field prior to Sunday.The Mets had won eight in a row. They dropped 1 1/2 games behind Washington for the top NL wild card.Jeff McNeil had two hits and two RBIs, and Robert Gsellman (2-3) got the loss.YANKEES 1, BLUE JAYS 0TORONTO (AP) — Masahiro Tanaka and Aroldis Chapman combined on a... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Switch-hitting infielder Asdrubal Cabrera reached agreement on a one-year contract Tuesday for a second stint with the Washington Nationals, and manager Dave Martinez told him to be ready for multiple roles.The 33-year-old Cabrera was released Saturday by the Texas Rangers as they turned to youth. He batted .235 with 12 home runs, 15 doubles and 51 RBIs in 93 games, drawing 38 walks."I was caught by surprise. I didn't expect it," Cabrera said.Cabrera, who played all of his games at third base this season, joined his new team before the middle game of a series with San Francisco. He appeared in 49 games for Washington in 2014 after being acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline."I'm very thankful to the Nationals. They gave me an opportunity to return to the team," Cabrera said. "It's a new challenge for me, I know this organization. ... I'm going to come off the bench. I'll hit for the pitcher, I'll play different positions. I'll be playing around the whole infield."That... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts hit three home runs against James Paxton during the first four innings Friday night in the Boston Red Sox's 10-5 victory over the New York Yankees, whose starting pitchers have stumbled this week in historic fashion.Betts homered on Paxton's eighth pitch in a three-run first that included J.D. Martinez's two-run homer, went deep again leading off the third for a 4-0 lead and hit a two-run drive in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage.Betts added an RBI double in the sixth off David Hale to give him five RBIs and grounded out in the eighth. With his fifth career three-homer game, Betts raised his season total to 18 homers.Batters have had three-homer games on four straight days for the first time in big league history. Betts followed the New York Mets' Robinson Canó, St. Louis' Paul DeJong and Minnesota's Nelson Cruz.Andrew Cashner (10-5), coming off losses in his first two starts after Boston acquired him from Baltimore, allowed three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.Martinez... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Both managers and Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi were ejected from Texas' 9-5 win over Boston on Tuesday night.Benintendi and Red Sox manager Alex Cora were tossed in the fifth inning by first base umpire Vic Carapazza, and Texas manager Chris Woodward was booted by plate umpire Angel Hernandez in the sixth.Though he was banned by Carapazza, Benintendi was upset initially with Hernandez. He turned and shouted toward home plate after grounding out, and that's when Carapazza tossed him."I know that Angel didn't hear me," Benintendi said. "It stinks. We're out there trying to win a game. I want to be a part of it, but can't do that when I'm in here."Cora came out to argue and got into it with Carapazza and Hernandez near first base before being given his third career ejection. While Cora yelled at both umpires, Benintendi continued to bark from the top step of the dugout.Hernandez spoke to a pool reporter following the game but said little to explain the ejection."He violated... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Both managers and Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi have been ejected from a game Tuesday night between Boston and Texas.Benintendi and Red Sox manager Alex Cora were tossed in the fifth inning by first base umpire Vic Carapazza, and Texas manager Chris Woodward was tossed by plate umpire Angel Hernandez in the sixth.Benintendi appeared to be upset with Hernandez. He turned and shouted toward home plate after grounding out, prompting the ejection from Carapazza. Cora came out to argue and got into it with Carapazza and Hernandez near first base before being given his third career ejection. While Cora yelled at both umpires, Benintendi continued to bark from the top step of the dugout.A half-inning later, Woodward stormed from the dugout after an overturned call at second base. Asdrubal Cabrera was initially called safe trying to stretch a single into a double, but second base umpire Jordan Baker changed his ruling. Woodward went straight for Hernandez, who let him rant for a bit before issuing the ejection.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

May 121910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.1937 — St. Louis' Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.1955 — Sam "Toothpick" Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.1966 — Lou Brock's RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago's 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.2000 — Boston's Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit three homers, including a pair of three-run shots, and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Milwaukee Brewers past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7 on Monday night.Yelich, the reigning NL MVP, hit his first three-run homer to cap a six-run second inning. After St. Louis tied it with three runs in the sixth, Yelich answered in the bottom half with a towering three-run blast to right off Mike Mayers (0-1).Yelich capped his night with his eighth homer this season, going deep to lead off the eighth. He also lined out in the first and was walked intentionally in the fourth.Junior Guerra (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings for the victory. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth after allowing Marcell Ozuna's sixth home run to open the inning.DODGERS 4, REDS 3LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a comeback victory over Cincinnati in Clayton Kershaw's season debut.Raisel Iglesias (0-3) walked... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit three homers, including a pair of three-run shots, and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Milwaukee Brewers past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7 on Monday night.Yelich, the reigning NL MVP, hit his first three-run homer to cap a six-run second inning. After St. Louis tied it with three runs in the sixth, Yelich answered in the bottom half with a towering three-run blast to right off Mike Mayers (0-1).Yelich capped his night with his eighth homer this season, going deep to lead off the eighth. He also lined out in the first and was walked intentionally in the fourth.Junior Guerra (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings for the victory. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth after allowing Marcell Ozuna's sixth home run to open the inning.METS 7, PHILLIES 6, 11 INNINGSPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Juan Lagares scored from second base on Michael Conforto's hard grounder in the 11th inning and New York beat Philadelphia.Lagares led off with an infield single against... [More]

April 141910 — William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington.1910 — Chicago's Frank Smith pitched a one-hitter in the season opener to give the White Sox a win over the St. Louis Browns.1915 — In the opening game at Philadelphia, left-hander Herb Pennock of the A's blanked the Red Sox 5-0. He gave up only one hit — a scratch single by Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth.1917 — Ed Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns.1925 — The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one club on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler had four errors in the game.1967 — Boston rookie Bill Rohr lost a no-hit bid in his first major league start when Elston Howard singled in the ninth inning for the New York Yankees' only hit in a 3-0... [More]

April 71925 — Babe Ruth collapsed in a railroad station in Asheville, N.C. He would be hospitalized in New York and operated on 10 days later for an ulcer.1964 — Shea Stadium in New York opened for the first regular season game. The Mets lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3.1969 — The Yankees spoiled the managerial debut of Ted Williams by defeating the Senators 8-4 in the opener at Washington's RFK Stadium. President Nixon and a crowd of 45,000 attended.1970 — Three weeks after moving from Seattle to Milwaukee, the former Pilots played their first game as the Brewers and lost 12-0 to the visiting California Angels.1973 — Cleveland set an attendance record for day games and opening-day games by attracting 74,420 fans. The Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 2-1.1977 — The expansion Toronto Blue Jays began their major league odyssey with a 9-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Al Woods, pinch hitting for Steve Bowling in the fifth inning, became the 11th pinch... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bryce Harper crushed a long home run for his third hit while performing to jeers in his return to Washington, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Nationals 8-2 Tuesday night for the franchise's best start in over a century.Maikel Franco also homered for the Phillies, baseball's only undefeated team at 4-0. They had only done that in 1915 and 1897.Harper left Washington after playing 927 games over seven years, participating in six All-Star Games and winning the 2015 NL MVP Award. He listened to what the Nationals had to offer, then signed a $330 million, 13-year contract with the rival Phillies in February.Harper hasn't wasted any time providing returns for the investment. He has three homers and five RBIs in four games, along with a .429 batting average. He drove in three Tuesday.Booed during every at-bat, Harper thumped a "take that," 458-foot shot in the eighth inning off Jeremy Hellickson. As the ball soared toward the second deck in right field, Harper flipped... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bryce Harper crushed a long home run for his third hit while performing to jeers in his return to Washington, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Nationals 8-2 Tuesday night for the franchise's best start in over a century.Maikel Franco also homered for the Phillies, baseball's only undefeated team at 4-0. They had only done that in 1915 and 1897.Harper left Washington after playing 927 games over seven years, participating in six All-Star Games and winning the 2015 NL MVP Award. He listened to what the Nationals had to offer, then signed a $330 million, 13-year contract with the rival Phillies in February.Harper hasn't wasted any time providing returns for the investment. He has three homers and five RBIs in four games, along with a .429 batting average. He drove in three Tuesday.Booed during every at-bat, Harper thumped a "take that," 458-foot shot in the eighth inning off Jeremy Hellickson. As the ball soared toward the second deck in right field, Harper flipped... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit his fourth homer in the first inning and a two-run double in the ninth, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.Ben Gamel led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double and advanced on Lorenzo Cain's infield single off reliever Jordan Hicks' glove. Yelich then hit a liner into the gap in left-center, driving in Gamel and Cain.Yelich tossed his helmet in the air in celebration as Cain slid face first across the plate, giving Milwaukee three wins in its opening four-game set against rival St. Louis. Yelich's teammates rushed the field and doused the reigning NL MVP with Gatorade in a raucous celebration at second.Yelich began his day with a long drive into the second deck in right against Michael Wacha, tying the major league record for homers in consecutive games to start a season. He also became the first player to win the MVP award and then homer in his first four games of the next season.Paul Goldschmidt,... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit his fourth homer in the first inning and a two-run double in the ninth, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.Ben Gamel led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double and advanced on Lorenzo Cain's infield single off reliever Jordan Hicks' glove. Yelich then hit a liner into the gap in left-center, driving in Gamel and Cain.Yelich tossed his helmet in the air in celebration as Cain slid face first across the plate, giving Milwaukee three wins in its opening four-game set against rival St. Louis. Yelich's teammates rushed the field and doused the reigning NL MVP with Gatorade in a raucous celebration at second.Yelich began his day with a long drive into the second deck in right against Michael Wacha, tying the major league record for homers in consecutive games to start a season. He also became the first player to win the MVP award and then homer in his first four games of the next season.Paul Goldschmidt,... [More]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — All rise — again. Aaron Judge is back.Judge hit his first two homers of spring training, helping the New York Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers in a split-squad game on Sunday.Brett Gardner also connected twice and Gary Sanchez had a solo drive as New York went deep six times. The Yankees set a major league record with 267 homers last season.Gardner and Judge hit consecutive homers off Daniel Norris in the first. Judge went deep again in the fifth, belting a two-run drive to right that went off the glove of a leaping Victor Reyes and just over the wall.Norris allowed three runs and four hits in 1 2/3 innings. The 25-year-old left-hander is trying to win a spot in Detroit's rotation."Just trying to throw strikes and stay out of the middle of the zone, which I didn't do very good today," Norris said.Masahiro Tanaka tossed three scoreless innings for the Yankees in his first spring start. Traditionally one of baseball's most deliberate workers, the right-hander... [More]

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus prepared for the first full-squad workout at a different locker than in past springs.Now 30 and going into his 11th season, Andrus is in a much different place than just his spot in the clubhouse.With star third baseman Adrian Beltre now retired, Andrus will be assuming a bigger leadership role on a team with a lot of 20-something position players in the lineup with him."It's something as a player, when you get more years and more experience, you're looking forward," Andrus said Monday. "I think this is a natural to happen, be able to lead guys and help them."Like Beltre did in Texas the past eight seasons, while also preparing the shortstop for this expanded role.Andrus has been with the Rangers longer than anyone else on the roster, a distinction he held even when Beltre was on the team. Andrus is the only player remaining from their consecutive World Series teams in 2010 and 2011.Beltre announced his retirement in November,... [More]

A team-by-team look at the American 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:___Houston AstrosManager: AJ Hinch (fifth season).2018: 103-59, first place, lost to Boston in ALCS.Training Town: West Palm Beach, Florida.Park: Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.First Workout: Feb. 14/18.He's Here: OF Michael Brantley, C Robinson Chirinos, LHP Wade Miley, INF Aledmys Diaz.He's Outta Here: INF-OF Marwin Gonzalez, LHP Dallas Keuchel, RHP Charlie Morton, DH Evan Gattis, LHP Tony Sipp, C Brian McCann, C Martin Maldonado.Going campin': The Astros won a franchise-record 103 games last season and reached the ALCS. But mounting injuries and inconsistent play led to their elimination by Boston in five games and kept them from repeating as champions after winning their first World Series title in 2017. Houston returns aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole, who are both coming off great... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Two-time All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera will get a chance to replace a likely Hall of Fame player in Texas by shifting to the corner on the left side of the infield.Cabrera finalized a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Rangers on Thursday to take over at third base for Adrian Beltre, who announced his retirement in November after 3,166 hits in 21 big league seasons, the last eight in Texas."Less time there than up the middle, but has obviously a lot of experience on the left side of the infield as far as seeing the ball, the angle," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "Has really good hands, really strong arm ... plenty strong enough arm to play there."The deal became official after the 33-year-old switch-hitting free agent successfully completed a physical. He can earn $100,000 in performance bonuses for plate appearances: $50,000 each for 500 and 550.Cabrera played 90 games at second base for the New York Mets last season before he was traded... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Two-time All-Star shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera will get a chance to replace a likely Hall of Fame player in Texas by shifting to the corner on the left side of the infield.Cabrera finalized a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Rangers on Thursday to take over at third base for Adrian Beltre, who announced his retirement in November after 3,166 hits in 21 big league seasons, the last eight in Texas."Less time there than up the middle, but has obviously a lot of experience on the left side of the infield as far as seeing the ball, the angle," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "Has really good hands, really strong arm ... plenty strong enough arm to play there."The deal, which includes performance bonuses, became official after the 33-year-old switch-hitting free agent successfully completed a physical.Cabrera played 90 games at second base for the New York Mets last season before he was traded to Philadelphia, where he played shortstop and third base.In... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Free agent Asdrubal Cabrera has finalized a $3.5 million, one-year contract with the Texas Rangers to take over at third base for the retired Adrian Beltre.The deal was completed Thursday after the 33-year-old successfully completed a physical. The two-time All-Star shortstop played 90 games at second base for the New York Mets last season before he was traded to Philadelphia, where he also played third base.Cabrera is a .269 career hitter over 12 big league seasons with Cleveland, Washington, Tampa Bay, the Mets and Phillies. The switch-hitter hit .262 in 147 games overall last season, when his 23 homers and 75 RBIs were his most since career highs of 25 homers and 92 RBIs in 2011, his first All-Star seasons with the Indians.Infielder Jack Reinheimer was designated for assignment to make room on the Rangers roster.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports