A look at what's happening around the majors today: STUCK UP Major League Baseball begins its crackdown against pitchers using sticky substances when umpires start making regular, random mound checks. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole isn’t sure what to expect. “I think I’m in the same boat as everyone else, just waiting for this to play out,” he said. Pitchers will be ejected and suspended for 10 games if caught using foreign substances to doctor baseballs. Such grip aids — ranging from a tacky mix of rosin and sunscreen to heavy duty concoctions designed for use in strongman competitions — have long been illegal, but the ban has rarely been enforced. Umps will check all starters multiple times and all relievers either at the end of his first inning or when removed, whichever occurs first. Caps, gloves and fingertips will be checked. “It definitely will be probably a little awkward,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “But we’ll get through it, adjust.” ALL EYES ON JAKE Jacob deGrom is still listed as... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors on Monday: STUCK UP Major League Baseball begins its crackdown against pitchers using sticky substances when umpires start making regular, random mound checks. Yankees ace Gerrit Cole isn’t sure what to expect. “I think I’m in the same boat as everyone else, just waiting for this to play out,” he said. Pitchers will be ejected and suspended for 10 games if caught using foreign substances to doctor baseballs. Such grip aids — ranging from a tacky mix of rosin and sunscreen to heavy duty concoctions designed for use in strongman competitions — have long been illegal, but the ban has rarely been enforced. Umps will check all starters multiple times and all relievers either at the end of his first inning or when removed, whichever occurs first. Caps, gloves and fingertips will be checked. “It definitely will be probably a little awkward,” Cubs manager David Ross said. “But we’ll get through it, adjust.” ALL EYES ON JAKE Jacob deGrom is still listed... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ ENDLESS ROAD The beleaguered Arizona Diamondbacks have dropped 21 straight on the road, one short of the major league record. Arizona can match a dubious mark shared by the 1963 New York Mets and 1943 Philadelphia Athletics when it plays the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Merrill Kelly (2-6, 5.14 ERA) pitches for the Diamondbacks against Anthony DeSclafani (6-2, 3.09), who tossed a two-hit shutout versus Washington last Friday. Arizona hasn’t won on the road since April 25 at Atlanta. “It wears you down,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “At some point we’re going to understand why we’re walking through this. I don’t want things to creep into the guys' heads about feeling sorry for themselves." The Diamondbacks blew a seven-run lead Tuesday night in San Francisco and lost 9-8 when Mike Yastrzemski hit a go-ahead grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning. They've dropped 12 in a row overall. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Orioles will... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jacob deGrom was pulled from a do-it-all gem with right flexor tendinitis, a troubling diagnosis for the New York Mets that clouded a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres on Friday night. DeGrom (6-2) faced the minimum over six innings and ripped a two-run single, giving him five RBIs this season — compared to four earned runs allowed. He struck out 10 in the abbreviated outing. DeGrom left after 80 pitches and extending his scoreless streak to 22 innings. He had a no-hit bid until Wil Myers beat the shift with a weak grounder in the fifth. Billy McKinney drove in a run with the first of his two doubles in the fifth, and deGrom followed with his two-run hit. San Diego dropped its third straight. Blake Snell (2-3) allowed three runs in four-plus innings, and the Padres couldn’t do enough damage against New York’s bullpen. CUBS 8, CARDINALS 5 CHICAGO (AP) — Anthony Rizzo hit a tying home run in the sixth inning on the 14th pitch of his at-bat against Daniel Ponce de Leon.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Rich Hill finished May with the lowest monthly ERA in 75 years of a pitcher in his 40s, and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 16th time in 17 games by keeping up their domination of the reeling Yankees with a 3-1 victory Monday. Hill (4-2), a 41-year-old left-hander who is the oldest player in Rays’ history, improved to 3-0 against the Yankees this season. Hill was 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA in six May starts. Miguel Andújar homered in the seventh, just his second since 2018. J.P. Feyereisen, acquired May 21 from Milwaukee for shortstop Willy Adames, finished a five-hitter for his third save. The AL East-leading Rays (35-20) improved to 7-3 against the Yankees this season. New York (29-25) limped to the season’s one-third mark with its fourth straight defeat and sixth in seven games. Jameson Taillon (1-4) lost to Hill for the second time this year. He allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings. Manuel Margot hit an RBI double in the third. Austin Meadows homered into the... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Domingo Germán pitched seven scoreless innings, Gio Urshela and Aaron Judge delivered RBI singles as pinch-hitters in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees followed Corey KJuber’s no-hitter by beating the Texas Rangers 2-0 on Thursday. New York won its sixth straight series and at 25-19 moved a season-high six games over .500. Yankees pitchers have thrown seven shutouts in the team’s first 44 games for the first time since 1967. Germán (4-2), who allowed six hits with five strikeouts as New York finished the four-game series with 22 consecutive scoreless innings. Chad Green pitched a perfect eighth, and Aroldis Chapman struck out two in the ninth for his 11th save. John King (4-3) was the loser. RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 7 DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in a three-run ninth inning, and the Red Sox rallied to beat the Blue Jays. Alex Verdugo had an RBI grounder before Martinez connected on his 250th homer. The two-out drive came... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer, his first for the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night. He sent an 0-1 pitch from Merrill Kelly to right field, with Josh Reddick jumping to the top of the wall in an attempt to make the catch. Will Smith, who singled leading off, scored and Pujols was greeted by high-fives from his teammates in the dugout as the Dodgers led 2-0. It was Pujols’ 668th career home run, most among active players and fifth all-time, and followed 445 he hit for the St. Louis Cardinals and 222 for the Los Angeles Angels. The hit was his 3,256th, breaking a tie with Eddie Murray for 13th on the all-time list. The 41-year-old slugger left the Angels and joined the Dodgers on a one-year deal Monday. In his first game that night, Pujols produced a run-scoring single in his second at-bat. The three-time NL MVP started at first base against the D-backs. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer, his first for the Los Angeles Dodgers, in the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night. He sent an 0-1 pitch from Merrill Kelly to right field, with Josh Reddick jumping to the top of the wall in an attempt to make the catch. Will Smith, who singled leading off, scored and Pujols was greeted by high-fives from his teammates in the dugout as the Dodgers led 2-0. It was Pujols’ 668th career home run, most among active players and fifth all-time, and followed 445 he hit for the St. Louis Cardinals and 222 for the Los Angeles Angels. The hit was his 3,256th, breaking a tie with Eddie Murray for 13th on the all-time list. The 41-year-old slugger left the Angels and joined the Dodgers on a one-year deal Monday. In his first game that night, Pujols produced a run-scoring single in his second at-bat. The three-time NL MVP started at first base against the D-backs. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports