SEATTLE (AP) — Kendall Graveman wants to be part of the most memorable team in Seattle Mariners history.Seattle is the only one of the current 30 franchises that has never played in the World Series. The Mariners have not even reached the postseason since consecutive AL Championship Series losses to the New York Yankees in 2000 and 2001.“There's no secret Seattle hasn't been to the playoffs in 20 years,” Graveman said Monday after agreeing to a one-year contract that guarantees $2 million. “I mean, why not? So everyone knows. Everyone talks about it. I want to come into this organization and help this organization win, get to the playoffs. A franchise that hasn't won a World Series could do that. And I don't think speaking about these things should be stuff that is not spoken about. I believe that there's power in that. I believe there's power in words and things that we do.”Graveman, who turns 29 next month, would earn $8 million if Seattle exercises a 2021 option and he pitches at least... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Mariners have added another option for their rotation by agreeing to a one-year contract with Kendall Graveman that guarantees the right-hander $2 million as he returns from Tommy John surgery.Graveman, who turns 29 next month, would earn $8 million if Seattle exercises a 2021 option and he pitches at least 150 innings in each season.He has not pitched in the major leagues since May 11, 2018, for Oakland and had surgery that July 24. Cut by the Athletics after the season, he signed a $575,000, one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs and made a pair of three-inning minor league injury rehabilitation outings on Aug. 22 and Sept. 1.Graveman will have a chance to earn a spot in Seattle’s starting rotation that has a couple of openings. Marco Gonzales, Yusei Kikuchi and prospect Justus Sheffield are likely the only set starters for Seattle heading into the season.Graveman is 23-29 with a 4.38 ERA in five major league season.He gets a $1.5 million salary next year, and Seattle has a $3.5 million option for 2021 with a $500,000 buyout.Graveman could earn $1.5 million in performance bonuses in each season year based on innings: $100,000 each for 15, 25, 40, 50, 65, 75 and 90, and $200,000 apiece for 100, 115, 140 and 150.He would become a free agent if the option is declined.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SEATTLE (AP) — Evan White would earn $55.5 million over nine seasons if the Seattle Mariners exercise their three options in the first baseman’s contract, which guarantees $24 million.White, who has never played above Double-A, gets $1.3 million in each of the next two seasons, $1.4 million in 2022, $3 million in 2023, $7 million in 2024 and $8 million in 2025.As part of the agreement finalized Monday, Seattle has a $10 million option for 2026 with a $2 million buyout, an $11 million option for 2027 with a $1 million buyout and a $12.5 million option for 2028 with a $1 million buyout.He would get $50,000 if elected to start in the All-Star Game and $25,000 if picked as a reserve. He would receive $150,000 if voted MVP, $100,000 for World Series MVP and $50,000 each for League Championship Series MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.“I believe in the organization and where we’re going and it’s something I want to be a part of,” White said.The 23-year-old was the 17th overall pick in... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Evan White earned a $24 million, six-year contract from Seattle Mariners before playing a game above Double-A.Seattle announced the contract Monday after the first baseman completed a physical. The agreement includes options for 2026-28 and likely will cover all the years White would be eligible for salary arbitration.“I believe in the organization and where we’re going and it’s something I want to be a part of,” White said.The 23-year-old was the 17th overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft out of Kentucky. From the time he joined the Mariners’ system he’s been regarded as the club’s first baseman of the future because of his excellent defense and a solid bat at the plate.“For us to be able to do this with a player who has yet to play in the big leagues but we have become so comfortable with, not just with what we believe his upside as a player to be, but who he is as a person, I think all of that has gone into making this a very easy thing for us organizationally,” Seattle... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — There were bound to be bumps and headaches along the way when the Seattle Mariners embarked on a major makeover.After using a major league-record 67 players in one season, the first year of Seattle's rebuild was quite the roller coaster for those involved. It nearly turned out to be one player for every win."I would characterize it as organizationally we knew what we were in for. You hear the saying expect things that are expected," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "When we left spring training we knew we were going to have a ton of transition, a ton of turnover on our roster. We have. We have gotten to a point I knew we were eventually going to get there."The Mariners weren't going to be contenders this year. They knew that back in spring training and even after starting off the season with an unexpected 13 wins in their first 15 games. They were flawed. They accepted it as they turned the team over to a young core that they hope to build around for the future.Along the... [More]

Mariners second. Austin Nola called out on strikes. Daniel Vogelbach walks. Tim Lopes doubles to deep right center field. Daniel Vogelbach to third. Donnie Walton reaches on error. Tim Lopes to third. Daniel Vogelbach scores. Throwing error by Cole Tucker. Braden Bishop singles to center field. Donnie Walton to second. Tim Lopes scores. Yusei Kikuchi reaches on a sacrifice bunt to shallow infield. Braden Bishop to second. Donnie Walton to third. Fielding error by Joe Musgrove. Shed Long singles to right field. Yusei Kikuchi to second. Braden Bishop scores. Donnie Walton scores. Mallex Smith grounds out to second base. Shed Long out at second.4 runs, 3 hits, 2 errors, 1 left on. Mariners 4, Pirates 0.Pirates second. Colin Moran doubles to deep right center field. Elias Diaz doubles to left field. Colin Moran scores. Cole Tucker strikes out swinging. Jake Elmore doubles to center field. Elias Diaz scores. Erik Gonzalez lines out to left field to Braden Bishop. Joe Musgrove doubles to deep... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Anthony Rizzo hit a grand slam, Willson Contreras had two long solo homers and the Chicago Cubs kept pace in the NL wild-card race with a 17-8 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.Rookie Nico Hoerner hit a two-run shot for his first major league homer and had four RBIs for the Cubs. Chicago moved a game ahead of Milwaukee for the second NL wild card.Contreras, Hoerner and Nicholas Castellanos homered in the first with the wind blowing out as Chicago scored five times after Pittsburgh jumped on Jon Lester (13-10) for a 4-0 lead.Hoerner elevated a low pitch to the center field batter's eye in his first plate appearance at Wrigley Field. He drove in two more runs with a single in Chicago's seven-run fifth. The 22-year-old infielder made his debut with the Cubs on Monday at San Diego after the team announced All-Star shortstop Javier Báez would be out of the season with a hairline fracture in his left thumb.Alec Mills pitched the final three innings for his first save.... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:BACK IN ACTIONHouston Astros ace Justin Verlander takes the mound for the first time since throwing his third career no-hitter Sunday at Toronto. Verlander struck out 14 and walked one in the 2-0 victory over the Blue Jays. He is 7-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last 10 starts, strengthening his case for a second AL Cy Young Award. He faces visiting Seattle on Saturday night. Yusei Kikuchi pitches for the last-place Mariners.WAITING GAMEChicago Cubs shortstop Javier B�ez is scheduled for an MRI on Saturday on his jammed left thumb. The All-Star slugger got hurt during Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Brewers. He was in the starting lineup for Friday night's game at Milwaukee, but was scratched after he continued to feel discomfort. B�ez is batting .281 with 29 homers and 85 RBIs. With B�ez out, Addison Russell has been playing shortstop for Chicago.WORTH WATCHINGCleveland continues its weekend series at Minnesota, and Washington visits Atlanta in another... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Saturday:BACK IN ACTIONHouston Astros ace Justin Verlander takes the mound for the first time since throwing his third career no-hitter Sunday at Toronto. Verlander struck out 14 and walked one in the 2-0 victory over the Blue Jays. He is 7-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last 10 starts, strengthening his case for a second AL Cy Young Award. He faces visiting Seattle on Saturday night. Yusei Kikuchi pitches for the last-place Mariners.WAITING GAMEChicago Cubs shortstop Javier B�ez is scheduled for an MRI on Saturday on his jammed left thumb. The All-Star slugger got hurt during Sunday's 4-0 loss to the Brewers. He was in the starting lineup for Friday night's game at Milwaukee, but was scratched after he continued to feel discomfort. B�ez is batting .281 with 29 homers and 85 RBIs. With B�ez out, Addison Russell has been playing shortstop for Chicago.WORTH WATCHINGCleveland continues its weekend series at Minnesota, and Washington visits Atlanta in... [More]

Mariners first. Mallex Smith hit by pitch. Tim Lopes singles to right center field. Mallex Smith to second. Kyle Seager strikes out swinging. Omar Narvaez walks. Tim Lopes to second. Mallex Smith to third. Tom Murphy strikes out swinging. Daniel Vogelbach walks. Omar Narvaez to second. Tim Lopes to third. Mallex Smith scores. Dylan Moore singles to shortstop. Daniel Vogelbach to second. Omar Narvaez to third. Tim Lopes scores. Dee Gordon singles to center field. Dylan Moore to third. Daniel Vogelbach scores. Omar Narvaez scores. Braden Bishop pops out to shortstop to Elvis Andrus.4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Mariners 4, Rangers 0.Rangers first. Delino DeShields singles to center field. Danny Santana singles to right field. Delino DeShields to second. Elvis Andrus flies out to deep left field to Tim Lopes. Danny Santana to second. Delino DeShields to third. Nick Solak hit by pitch. Rougned Odor grounds out to first base, Daniel Vogelbach to Yusei Kikuchi. Nick Solak to second. Danny... [More]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Marcus Semien provided just enough early offense and Mike Fiers and three Oakland relievers combined to shut down the Kansas City Royals in a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.Semien scored in the first inning and drove in a run in the second. That was all the offense the A's pitchers needed one day after Oakland had a season-high 19 runs.Fiers (13-3) scattered eight hits in his 5 1/3 innings, but allowed just Alex Gordon's RBI double in the sixth. He's now won 11 straight decisions, dating to May 7, tying Mark Mulder for the second-longest winning streak in Oakland history.Mike Montgomery (3-7) surrendered an unearned run in the first and another run in the second, but gave up nothing else through 6 1/3 innings.ORIOLES 2, NATIONALS 0WASHINGTON (AP) — Aaron Brooks came up with an unexpected pitching gem against the torrid-hitting Nationals, throwing six innings of two-hit ball to help Baltimore end Washington's five-game winning streak.The Nationals were coming off a weekend... [More]

Yankees first. DJ LeMahieu singles to left center field. Aaron Judge homers to center field. DJ LeMahieu scores. Gleyber Torres grounds out to third base, Kyle Seager to Daniel Vogelbach. Gary Sanchez walks. Brett Gardner grounds out to shallow infield, Yusei Kikuchi to Daniel Vogelbach. Gary Sanchez to second. Gio Urshela grounds out to first base, Daniel Vogelbach to Yusei Kikuchi.2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Yankees 2, Mariners 0.Yankees third. Gleyber Torres singles to left field. Gary Sanchez singles to deep center field. Gleyber Torres to third. Brett Gardner homers to right field. Gary Sanchez scores. Gleyber Torres scores. Gio Urshela lines out to deep center field to Mallex Smith. Mike Tauchman grounds out to second base, Dee Gordon to Daniel Vogelbach. Austin Romine doubles to left center field. Mike Ford grounds out to second base, J.P. Crawford to Daniel Vogelbach.3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Yankees 5, Mariners 0.Yankees fifth. Gio Urshela doubles to deep left... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — No. 99 has hit No. 100.New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge became the third-fastest player in history to reach 100 home runs, connecting Tuesday night against Seattle.After DJ LeMahieu singled to open the game, Judge lined the first pitch from Yusei Kikuchi out to center field. The hard drive hit halfway up on the batter's eye.Judge reached the 100-homer mark in his 371st game. Only Ryan Howard (325) and Yankees teammate Gary Sanchez (355) got to 100 faster.It was the 17th home run of the season for Judge, whose No. 99 jersey is a fan favorite.Judge homered in all three games at Dodger Stadium last weekend.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at what's happening around the majors today:PAIR OF ACESFormer teammates and 2019 All-Stars square off in a prime pitching matchup when Charlie Morton (13-5, 2.85 ERA) and the Rays face Justin Verlander (15-5, 2.77) in Houston. With the Rays locked in a close wild-card race and the Astros leading the AL West, it's a potential October preview. Verlander, first in the majors with 239 strikeouts, fanned 11 last time out and went the distance on a two-hitter in a 2-1 loss to Detroit. He has seven straight double-digit strikeout games. Morton spent the past two years with the Astros and helped them win the 2017 World Series.WILD IN THE CITIKyle Schwarber and the Cubs visit the Mets in the opener of a pivotal three-game series at Citi Field. New York trails Chicago by two games for the second NL wild card. Both teams were off Monday after getting swept at home last weekend — the Mets by Atlanta, the Cubs by Washington. Chicago hopes to have Anthony Rizzo back in the lineup. The first baseman... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Tuesday:PAIR OF ACESFormer teammates and 2019 All-Stars square off in a prime pitching matchup when Charlie Morton (13-5, 2.85 ERA) and the Rays face Justin Verlander (15-5, 2.77) in Houston. With the Rays locked in a close wild-card race and the Astros leading the AL West, it's a potential October preview. Verlander, first in the majors with 239 strikeouts, fanned 11 last time out and went the distance on a two-hitter in a 2-1 loss to Detroit. He has seven straight double-digit strikeout games. Morton spent the past two years with the Astros and helped them win the 2017 World Series.WILD IN THE CITIKyle Schwarber and the Cubs visit the Mets in the opener of a pivotal three-game series at Citi Field. New York trails Chicago by two games for the second NL wild card. Both teams were off Monday after getting swept at home last weekend — the Mets by Atlanta, the Cubs by Washington. Chicago hopes to have Anthony Rizzo back in the lineup. The first... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Yusei Kikuchi made a point of watching Masahiro Tanaka growing up in Japan, whether he was pitching in his home country or once Tanaka got to the majors with the New York Yankees.It's understandable that Kikuchi is more than a little excited about the prospect of pitching against Tanaka on Tuesday night when the Seattle Mariners host the Yankees."First and foremost when (manager Scott Servais) told me I was facing the Yankees, I was very pumped to face a team like this," Kikuchi said through an interpreter Monday. "Also on top of that, it's Mr. Tanaka on the other side. It's going to be a very special game and moment for me."It will be the first meeting on the mound between the Japanese stars. Tanaka is the established veteran and two-time All-Star on his way to pitching in the postseason for the fourth time in his career. Kikuchi is still making the adjustment to the majors in his first year in Seattle, a season filled with ups and downs.Kikuchi (5-8, 5.19 ERA) is coming... [More]

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — José Quintana pitched seven crisp innings, Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 on Sunday night in the MLB Little League Classic.Nicholas Castellanos and Jason Heyward also connected as Chicago earned its second straight win since consecutive heartbreaking losses to the Phillies and Pirates.The Cubs took two of three in the unusual weekend set and remain in a virtual tie with St. Louis for the top spot in the NL Central.Starling Marté had three hits for Pittsburgh, including his 21st homer in the ninth. Mitch Keller (1-2) allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings.With grinning Little Leaguers dressed in their uniforms filling the stands at BB&T Ballpark, Quintana (11-7) allowed five hits and walked none. The left-hander improved to 7-0 in nine starts since his last loss June 22.ASTROS 4, ATHLETICS 1OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Zack Greinke threw seven smooth innings for his 200th win, helping the AL West-leading Astros avoid... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Zack Greinke threw seven smooth innings for his 200th win, pitching the first-place Houston Astros past the Oakland Athletics 4-1 on Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep.Alex Bregman had a three-run homer among his four hits to back Greinke, who won his third straight start since joining the Astros from the Arizona Diamondbacks at the July 31 trade deadline.Greinke (13-4) went nine up, nine down on 25 pitches to start the game before giving up Marcus Semien's 21st homer. The right-hander allowed four hits with three walks and six strikeouts. He became the 115th pitcher in major league history to reach 200 career wins, and the second in Houston's rotation along with Justin Verlander.Roberto Osuna finished for his 27th save as the Astros stopped a five-game slide.Yuli Gurriel added an RBI double for Houston, which snapped Oakland's four-game winning streak. The Astros went back ahead of the A's by 7 1/2 games in the AL West race.Athletics lefty Brett Anderson (10-9) allowed... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mike Trout has been pulled from the Los Angeles Angels' game against Seattle due to right calf tightness.The two-time AL MVP left before the start of the third inning, interrupting his incredible recent success at the plate.Trout lined out to first in his only plate appearance against Yusei Kikuchi. The outfielder didn't emerge from the dugout to start the third, with Kole Calhoun moving over from right field to center and David Fletcher moving from shortstop to right.Starting before the All-Star break, Trout was on an offensive tear even by his lofty standards. He had eight homers and 18 RBIs in his previous seven games, becoming just the sixth player in AL history to reach those totals in a seven-game span.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

WASHINGTON (AP) — Johan Camargo had a two-run, pinch-hit homer in the 10th inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Sunday to win their fifth straight series.Overcoming an injury to standout rookie starting pitcher Mike Soroka, the Braves used the long ball and their bullpen to win the deciding matchup of a three-game set between NL East rivals.Camargo connected off Tanner Rainey (1-2) after Ozzie Albies drew a one-out walk, and Atlanta held on for its seventh victory in 10 extra-inning games this season.Josh Donaldson and Ronald Acuña Jr. also went deep for the first-place Braves.Juan Soto homered for the Nationals, who have lost two in a row following a five-game win streak.A.J. Minter (2-4) worked the ninth and Luke Jackson earned his 11th save despite giving up a run, two hits and a walk.ASTROS 9, YANKEES 4NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a leadoff homer, rookie Yordan Alvarez connected again and Houston ended its first seven-game skid in four years.New York had... [More]