A look at what's happening around the majors on Wednesday:ONE MORE TIMEJacob deGrom will make the final start of what has been a remarkably consistent season that has him a favorite for the NL Cy Young Award. It also is the last chance for deGrom (9-9) to have a winning record and reach double digits in victories. The Mets right-hander's win total likely would have made him an underdog for the Cy Young in previous decades, but voters are increasingly looking beyond win-loss record to numbers that are more within a pitcher's control. And nobody has controlled opposing hitters like deGrom, who has a record 23 consecutive quality starts, 28 starts in a row allowing three runs or fewer and a 1.77 ERA. He is to face the NL East champion Braves and Sean Newcomb (12-9, 4.04 ERA), who will make his last start before the playoffs.SHORT-TERM SALERed sox ace Chris Sale gets one more chance to work his way back into form after missing a month with a shoulder injury. The left-hander (12-4, 2.00 ERA)... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Mariners teammates stood and applauded and "God Bless America" played on speakers when Felix Hernandez entered Seattle's clubhouse after becoming a U.S. citizen.A native of Venezuela, the 32-year-old pitcher passed his citizenship interview Monday and was among 74 people from 36 countries who became naturalized U.S. citizens during a ceremony in downtown Seattle."This country has given me everything," Hernandez said. "It's a dream come true. It means a lot. We've been here a long time. I wanted to do it."Strife in Venezuela is among the reasons Hernandez desired U.S. citizenship. He wants to bring his parents to the U.S. more easily."The situation in Venezuela is real bad now," Hernandez said. "It's tough. There are people who can't get any food. It's crazy."His wife, Sandra, became a U.S. citizen a month ago, but Hernandez didn't pass his test that day. Hernandez said she gave him a hard time about it."I didn't study," he said. "I think I only got one question right."Hernandez... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Seattle pitchers James Paxton and Felix Hernandez will not make their scheduled starts this weekend against the Los Angeles Angels.Mariners manager Scott Servais said before Thursday's series opener that Paxton and Hernandez did not accompany the team to Anaheim. Paxton, who was slated to go on Friday, is dealing with pneumonia. Hernandez left last Saturday's game against the Yankees with hamstring tightness.Servais did not name a starter for Friday, saying the Mariners will go with a bullpen day. Right-hander Erasmo Ramirez will start Saturday, and left-hander Marco Gonzales will pitch Sunday.Servais said he expects Paxton to be able to return sometime during the last two weeks of the season. The left-hander, who pitched a no-hitter on May 8 at Toronto, is 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA. His career high for wins is 12, set last season.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola are going pitch for pitch in the NL Cy Young Award race.Problem is, that prize might not do the trio justice. Not according to baseball's advanced analytics.With 2½ weeks left in the season, it's time to ask: Should one of those three be MVP?"It's the best player in the league," deGrom said. "If that happens to be a pitcher and they can win it, then it's well deserved."There's no debating deGrom's dominance, even if it's not translating into wins for the struggling New York Mets. Scherzer's awards-season resume is more traditional, bolstered by league-leading totals in victories and strikeouts. And Nola is right there, too, in a breakout season with the Philadelphia Phillies.But an MVP? For three pitchers who are going to miss the postseason? Some don't think pitchers should even be considered for the award, though they've won 25 times before.The stats devised by sabermetricians suggest it would be a swing and a miss not to consider... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Aaron Nola are going pitch for pitch in the NL Cy Young Award race.Problem is, that prize might not do the trio justice. Not according to baseball's advanced analytics.With 2½ weeks left in the season, it's time to ask: Should one of those three could be MVP?"It's the best player in the league," deGrom said. "If that happens to be a pitcher and they can win it, then it's well deserved."There's no debating deGrom's dominance, even if it's not translating into wins for the struggling New York Mets. Scherzer's awards-season resume is more traditional, bolstered by league-leading totals in victories and strikeouts. And Nola is right there, too, in a breakout season with the Philadelphia Phillies.But an MVP? For three pitchers who are going to miss the postseason? Some don't think pitchers should even be considered for the award, though they've won 25 times before.The stats devised by sabermetricians suggest it would be a swing and a miss not to... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kansas City rookie Jorge Lopez came within three outs of a perfect game before Max Kepler walked leading off the ninth inning and Robbie Grossman followed with a single in the Royals' 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.The 25-year-old right-hander made just his seventh big league start, his fifth for Kansas City since he was acquired from Milwaukee in the late-July trade that sent Mike Moustakas to the Brewers.Lopez (2-4) retired his first 24 batters before walking Kepler on a 3-1 fastball. Grossman followed with a clean single to center field on a changeup with a 1-2 count.Lopez was removed from the game after 110 pitches, 11 more than his previous high.Ehire Adrianza hit a sacrifice fly off Wily Peralta, who retired Joe Mauer and Jorge Polanco on flyouts for his ninth save, completing the one-hitter.Jose Berrios (11-11) gave up one run and three hits in six innings.ASTROS 5, RED SOX 3BOSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit his 30th home run, Charlie Morton returned... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kansas City rookie Jorge Lopez came within three outs of a perfect game before Max Kepler walked leading off the ninth inning and Robbie Grossman followed with a single in the Royals' 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday night.The 25-year-old right-hander made just his seventh big league start, his fifth for Kansas City since he was acquired from Milwaukee in the late-July trade that sent Mike Moustakas to the Brewers.Lopez (2-4) retired his first 24 batters before walking Kepler on a 3-1 fastball. Grossman followed with a clean single to center field on a changeup with a 1-2 count.Lopez was removed from the game after 110 pitches, 11 more than his previous high.Ehire Adrianza hit a sacrifice fly off Wily Peralta, who retired Joe Mauer and Jorge Polanco on flyouts for his ninth save, completing the one-hitter.Jose Berrios (11-11) gave up one run and three hits in six innings.ASTROS 5, RED SOX 3BOSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit his 30th home run, Charlie Morton returned... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp beat the Diamondbacks for the second straight game, hitting a two-run double in the ninth inning that lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers over Arizona 3-2 Sunday for sole possession of first place in the NL West.A day after Kemp launched a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth against Archie Bradley, the Dodgers' slugger tagged him again.Kemp's one-out drive off the wall in left-center field put Los Angeles alone atop the West for the first time since Aug. 7. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks by identical 3-2 scores three days in a row, after Arizona won the series opener at Dodger Stadium.Brad Boxberger (2-5) started the ninth and put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on with consecutive walks to pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo and Max Muncy. The runners advanced on Enrique Hernandez's sacrifice bunt and set up Kemp.Daniel Descalso homered leading off the ninth against Caleb Ferguson to put Arizona ahead 2-1.Kenley Jansen (1-5) got the last three outs.ASTROS 4,... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp beat the Diamondbacks for the second straight game, hitting a two-run double in the ninth inning that lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers over Arizona 3-2 Sunday for sole possession of first place in the NL West.A day after Kemp launched a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth against Archie Bradley, the Dodgers' slugger tagged him again.Kemp's one-out drive off the wall in left-center field put Los Angeles alone atop the West for the first time since Aug. 7. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks by identical 3-2 scores three days in a row, after Arizona won the series opener at Dodger Stadium.Brad Boxberger (2-5) started the ninth and put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on with consecutive walks to pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo and Max Muncy. The runners advanced on Enrique Hernandez's sacrifice bunt and set up Kemp.Daniel Descalso homered leading off the ninth against Caleb Ferguson to put Arizona ahead 2-1.Kenley Jansen (1-5) got the last three outs.BRAVES 5,... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pinch-running pitcher Vince Velasquez was called out for leaving second base early while tagging up, resulting in a game-ending double play that gave the Washington Nationals a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.After Aaron Nola outpitched Max Scherzer for the second time in six days in a matchup of NL Cy Young Award contenders, the Phillies watched Washington rally for three runs in the ninth to take a 5-3 lead.Ramos got Philadelphia within a run with a pinch-hit double in the ninth, and Velasquez pinch-ran for the catcher. Greg Holland relieved and retired Jorge Alfaro on a flyball to center, with Velasquez moving to third as the potential tying run.But the Nationals appealed that Velasquez left too soon, and he was called out. A replay upheld the ruling.Anthony Rendon hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Pat Neshek (1-1) in the Nationals ninth. The Nationals trailed 3-2 when Bryce Harper drew a leadoff walk from Tommy Hunter. Neshek surrendered Rendon's... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have promoted yet another prospect from the minor leagues, and this time it's the best one yet.The Padres selected the contract of 21-year-old Luis Urias, one of baseball's top prospects who is expected to be their second baseman of the future.Urias was set to bat second against Felix Hernandez in his big league debut in the opener of a two-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.Urias' promotion comes as the rebuilding Padres are on pace to lose 100 games for the first time since their infamous Fire Sale season of 1993.The Padres brought up Urias even though Triple-A El Paso has qualified for the Pacific Coast League playoffs."We felt like he'd done enough in the month of August," manager Andy Green said. "He played really, really well. He was kind of challenged at the beginning of the month to kind of step up his game because there was the belief he had more inside of him and he did a great job. He's a guy we've been talking about... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres have selected the contract of 21-year-old Luis Urias, one of their top prospects who is expected to be the second baseman of the future.Urias was scheduled to bat second against Felix Hernandez when the Padres opened a two-game series against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.The arrival of Urias marks the beginning of another wave of talent coming from the prospect-rich farm system to the rebuilding big league squad, which at 50-83 has the worst record in the NL.He hit .296 with a .398 on-base percentage with Triple-A El Paso. He hit eight homers and drove in 45 runs, with 67 walks and 109 strikeouts.The Padres brought up Urias even though El Paso has qualified for the Pacific Coast League playoffs.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at what's happening around the majors today:AILINGThe Yankees will see how shortstop Didi Gregorius is feeling, a day after he bruised his left heel in a collision while beating out an infield hit. Gregorius was hurt when he tumbled over Toronto first baseman Kendrys Morales.Gregorius is batting .270 with 22 home runs and 74 RBIs, and has 48 extra-base hits this season."It's something that we'll monitor over the next 24 hours, could potentially be a DL thing," manager Aaron Boone said.CHECK HIMCubs pitcher Yu Darvish had another setback in his injury-interrupted year, increasing speculation he might be done for the season. Darvish lasted just one inning in his rehab start with Class A South Bend on Sunday.Darvish has been sidelined by triceps and elbow injuries, and shook his right arm as he left the field. The 32-year-old is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA for Chicago and has made just eight starts since signing a $126 million, six-year contract.VICTORY LANEIndians ace Corey Kluber and Boston... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:AILINGThe Yankees will see how shortstop Didi Gregorius is feeling, a day after he bruised his left heel in a collision while beating out an infield hit. Gregorius was hurt when he tumbled over Toronto first baseman Kendrys Morales.Gregorius is batting .270 with 22 home runs and 74 RBIs, and has 48 extra-base hits this season."It's something that we'll monitor over the next 24 hours, could potentially be a DL thing," manager Aaron Boone said.CHECK HIMCubs pitcher Yu Darvish had another setback in his injury-interrupted year, increasing speculation he might be done for the season. Darvish lasted just one inning in his rehab start with Class A South Bend on Sunday.Darvish has been sidelined by triceps and elbow injuries, and shook his right arm as he left the field. The 32-year-old is 1-3 with a 4.95 ERA for Chicago and has made just eight starts since signing a $126 million, six-year contract.VICTORY LANEIndians ace Corey Kluber and Boston... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Seattle Mariners have placed ace James Paxton on the disabled list with a forearm bruise, one day after the left-hander was struck by a line drive.Paxton was facing the third batter in the first inning Tuesday night when Jed Lowrie lined a ball back up the middle, hitting the pitcher hard. Paxton walked toward second base in obvious pain as a team trainer and manager Scott Servais rushed onto the field.Paxton was replaced by Felix Hernandez.After the game, Paxton told reporters he felt tightness in his arm and could not grip a baseball. X-rays were negative.Paxton is 10-5, including a no-hitter against Toronto, and a 3.68 ERA. Hernandez, who allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings, is likely to take Paxton's turn in the rotation.Right-hander Christian Bergman was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma to fill Paxton's roster spot.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. became the youngest player in major league history to homer in five straight games, hitting a leadoff shot on the first pitch and later adding a three-run drive to help the surging Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 10-6 on Tuesday night.The 20-year-old Acuna homered on Miami's first pitch for the second straight night and became the first player to hit a leadoff homer in three consecutive games since Baltimore's Brady Anderson went deep in four straight in 1996. On Monday, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader.Acuna connected in the first off Trevor Richards and homered to right-center, his 19th of the year, off Adam Conley (3-3) to give the Braves a 10-6 lead in the seventh.Freddie Freeman hit his 20th homer to tie it in the sixth, and Dansby Swanson had a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh as the NL East-leading Braves won for the 13th time in 17 games.Acuna, who has homered in seven... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. became the youngest player in major league history to homer in five straight games, hitting a leadoff shot on the first pitch and later adding a three-run drive to help the surging Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 10-6 on Tuesday night.The 20-year-old Acuna homered on Miami's first pitch for the second straight night and became the first player to hit a leadoff homer in three consecutive games since Baltimore's Brady Anderson went deep in four straight in 1996. On Monday, he became the fourth player in major league history to hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader.Acuna connected in the first off Trevor Richards and homered to right-center, his 19th of the year, off Adam Conley (3-3) to give the Braves a 10-6 lead in the seventh.Freddie Freeman hit his 20th homer to tie it in the sixth, and Dansby Swanson had a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh as the NL East-leading Braves won for the 13th time in 17 games.Acuna, who has homered in seven... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Seattle Mariners ace James Paxton was replaced by Felix Hernandez in the first inning Tuesday night after being hit by a line drive on his pitching arm.X-rays on Paxton's left arm were negative, and he was diagnosed with a forearm contusion.Paxton allowed a leadoff home run to Oakland's Marcus Semien and struck out Matt Chapman before Jed Lowrie lined a 2-1 pitch back up the middle. Manager Scott Servais and a team trainer rushed from the dugout to check on Paxton, who seemed hesitant to move his left arm.Paxton is 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA this season. He entered the day 11th among qualified starters with 3.6 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs.Hernandez quickly began warming up to make his first career relief appearance following 398 starts. The 32-year-old was removed from the rotation last week amid a season full of struggles.Hernandez walked Khris Davis before getting a double-play grounder from Matt Olson.Seattle began the day 2 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second AL wild card.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Seattle Mariners ace James Paxton was pulled in the first inning Tuesday night after being hit by a line drive and replaced by Felix Hernandez.Paxton allowed a leadoff home run to Oakland's Marcus Semien and struck out Matt Chapman before Jed Lowrie lined a 2-1 pitch back up the middle. The ball appeared to hit Paxton on or near his pitching arm.Manager Scott Servais and a team trainer rushed from the dugout to check on Paxton, who seemed hesitant to move his left arm.Paxton is 10-5 with a 3.68 ERA this season. He entered the day 11th among qualified starters with 3.6 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs.Hernandez quickly began warming up to make his first career relief appearance following 398 starts. The 32-year-old was removed from the rotation last week amid a season full of struggles.Hernandez walked Khris Davis before getting a double-play grounder from Matt Olson.Seattle began the day 2 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second AL wild card.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

HOUSTON (AP) — Felix Hernandez vowed Saturday that his first-ever stint in Seattle's bullpen won't last long."I'll be a starter before the end of the year," Hernandez told The Associated Press. "No question about it."The struggling Mariners ace has made 398 career starts in 14 seasons, never once pitching in relief. He was bumped from the rotation on Thursday night, the latest setback in a tough year in which he has a career-high 5.73 ERA and is 0-4 in his last five starts.For the longtime face of this franchise, it was difficult to digest the team's decision to have him pitch in relief and he said it took him a couple of days to come to terms with it. Conversations with family and friends and encouragement from his wife Sandra, who he has been with since he was 14, helped."My wife is here. She flew here," Hernandez said. "We had a good conversation. And she told me: 'Just go out there and be the leader that you've been all these years. Be you. Be you.'"And that, Hernandez said, is exactly... [More]