Capsules of American League East teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Boston Red Sox2017: 93-69, first place, lost to Houston in ALDS.Manager: Alex Cora (first season).He's Here: DH J.D. Martinez.He's Outta Here: Manager John Farrell, RHP Doug Fister, OF Chris Young, RHP Addison Reed, OF Rajai Davis, LHP Henry Owens, LHP Fernando Abad.Projected Lineup: RF Mookie Betts (.264, 24 HRs, 102 RBIs), LF Andrew Benintendi (.271, 20, 90), 1B Hanley Ramirez (.242, 23, 62) or Mitch Moreland (.246, 22, 79), DH J.D. Martinez (.303, 45, 104 with Tigers and Diamondbacks), 3B Rafael Devers (.284, 10, 30 in 58 games), SS Xander Bogaerts (.273, 10, 62), CF Jackie Bradley Jr. (.245, 17, 63), C Christian Vazquez (.290, 5, 32) or Sandy Leon (.225, 7, 39), 2B Eduardo Nunez (.313, 12, 58, 24 SBs with Giants and Red Sox) or Dustin Pedroia (.293, 7, 62, .369 OBP in 105 games, expected to be out until late May following knee surgery).Rotation: LH Chris Sale (17-8, 2.90 ERA, MLB-best 308 Ks, MLB-high 214... [More]

The Cleveland Indians gave Mike Napoli a much more familiar uniform.The Indians reunited with Napoli on Tuesday, agreeing on a minor league contract with the popular slugger whose powerful swing and clubhouse leadership were key to Cleveland reaching the 2016 World Series.Napoli had been on the roster to play in Bradenton, Florida, with a group of free agents still looking for jobs. Tyler Clippard, wearing a black jersey with a white players' union logo, pitched two hitless innings in a 2-0 win over amateurs from the East Japan Railway Company."It's a situation where a player that is universally respected in our organization, he shouldn't be in that camp," Indians manager Terry Francona said.Napoli's deal is contingent upon him passing a physical at the Indians' complex in Goodyear, Arizona. He hit .193 with 29 home runs and 66 RBIs for Texas last season.The Indians don't have a roster spot for the 36-year-old Napoli, but Francona wanted to give him an opportunity to showcase himself.Francona... [More]

The Cleveland Indians gave Mike Napoli a much more familiar uniform.The Indians reunited with Napoli on Tuesday, agreeing on a minor league contract with the popular slugger whose powerful swing and clubhouse leadership were key to Cleveland reaching the 2016 World Series.Napoli had been on the roster to play in Bradenton, Florida, with a group of free agents still looking for jobs. Tyler Clippard, wearing a black jersey with a white players' union logo, pitched two hitless innings in a 2-0 win over amateurs from the East Japan Railway Company."It's a situation where a player that is universally respected in our organization, he shouldn't be in that camp," Indians manager Terry Francona said.Napoli's deal is contingent upon him passing a physical at the Indians' complex in Goodyear, Arizona. He hit .193 with 29 home runs and 66 RBIs for Texas last season.The Indians don't have a roster spot for the 36-year-old Napoli, but Francona wanted to give him an opportunity to showcase himself.Francona... [More]

The Cleveland Indians gave Mike Napoli a much more familiar uniform.The Indians reunited with Napoli on Tuesday, agreeing on a minor league contract with the popular slugger whose powerful swing and clubhouse leadership were key to Cleveland reaching the 2016 World Series.Napoli had been on the roster to play in Bradenton, Florida, with a group of free agents still looking for jobs. Tyler Clippard, wearing a black jersey with a white players' union logo, pitched two hitless innings in a 2-0 win over amateurs from the East Japan Railway Company."It's a situation where a player that is universally respected in our organization, he shouldn't be in that camp," Indians manager Terry Francona said.Napoli's deal is contingent upon him passing a physical at the Indians' complex in Goodyear, Arizona. He hit .193 with 29 home runs and 66 RBIs for Texas last season.The Indians don't have a roster spot for the 36-year-old Napoli, but Francona wanted to give him an opportunity to showcase himself.Francona... [More]

A team-by-team look at the American League East 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:___Boston Red SoxManager: Alex Cora (first season).2017: 93-69, first place, lost to Houston in ALDS.Training Town: Fort Myers, Florida.Park: JetBlue Park.First Workout: Feb. 14/19.He's Here: Manager Alex Cora.He's Outta Here: Manager John Farrell, RHP Doug Fister, INF Eduardo Nunez, OF Chris Young, RHP Addison Reed, OF Rajai Davis, LHP Henry Owens, LHP Fernando Abad, RHP Blaine Boyer.Going campin': The Red Sox won 93 games for the second straight season and claimed the franchise's first back-to-back AL East titles. But Farrell was fired after they failed to advance in the playoffs for the fourth year in a row. They are virtually the same team as last year; boss Dave Dombrowski said he was looking for a bat with power and still might add one of the free agents remaining on the market, including... [More]

MILWAUKEE -- Jose Quintana struck out 10 in a three-hitter game as the Chicago Cubs moved closer to clinching the National League Central by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 on Sunday.Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer for the defending World Series champions, who have a magic number of two to clinch.Milwaukee starter Chase Anderson allowed three runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 2PHOENIX -- J.D. Martinez singled with two outs in the ninth inning and Arizona edged Miami to clinch its first playoff spot since 2011.Chris Herrmann homered for Arizona, which holds the first National League wild-card spot.Giancarlo Stanton increased his RBI total to 126, moving into a tie with Colorado's Nolan Arenado for the major league lead.Angels 7, Astros 5HOUSTON -- Brandon Phillips and Justin Upton homered and drove in two runs apiece, and Luis Valbuena also had two RBIs in Los Angeles win over Houston.The Angels remain 4 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins for the second American... [More]

C Russell Martin had a three-run double in the third inning of the 9-5 win over the New York Yankees Sunday, matching his season-best of May 29. He also had another double in the game, his fifth in his past six games in which he has eight RBIs.

C Russell Martin hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning Friday in the 8-1 win over the New York Yankees. It was his 13th homer of the season, his first since Aug. 4 and his third with a runner on base. He missed 30 games after going on the disabled list Aug. 12 with a left oblique strain.

C Russell Martin (strained left oblique) was activated from the disabled list Tuesday and is likely to play in the series finale against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday. Martin had been on the disabled since Aug. 12. "He wants to (play) real bad," manager John Gibbons said. "There's only a couple of weeks left. It's important to him. I could have gone either way, you know. But he wants to do it, so ..." Martin said: "My body feels good, batting practice -- everything feels back to normal. Just ready to go out there and hopefully I can just get back on it, like riding a bike."

C Russell Martin (strained left oblique) could return to action in the next couple of days. Manager John Gibbons said before the game against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. Martin has been on the disabled list with the injury since Aug. 12. Martin caught in the bullpen Monday afternoon. Gibbons said being able to swing the bat is the most important part of returning from the injury.

C Russell Martin has missed the past nine games with left oblique strain and will remain unavailable for the foreseeable future according to manager John Gibbons

C Russell Martin (strained left oblique) was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Saturday. Martin came out of the game on Friday after the first inning after grounding out. He injured himself on the swing. Martin is batting .223/.354/.381 with 12 homers and 27 RBIs.

C Russell Martin (left oblique strain) left the 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday after the first inning. He will have an MRI Saturday. "He'll get an MRI tomorrow and we'll have a better idea," manager John Gibbons said. "But it's an oblique, and it's never good." C Raffy Lopez replaced Martin behind the plate and went 1-for-4.

C Russell Martin left the Toronto Blue Jays' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Rogers Centre on Friday night after the first inning with an apparent injury. Martin grounded out to third base for the second out of the bottom of the first. He was replaced by Raffy Lopez behind the plate to start the top of the second inning.

TORONTO -- Catcher Russell Martin left the Toronto Blue Jays' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at the Rogers Centre on Friday night after the first inning with a strained left oblique.Martin grounded out to third base for the second out of the bottom of the first. He was replaced by Raffy Lopez behind the plate to start the top of the second inning.Lopez started his first game with the Blue Jays on Wednesday, becoming the sixth catcher to start behind the plate for Toronto this season, a franchise record. His contract was selected from Triple-A Buffalo on Aug. 4.

C Russell Martin started his ninth game of the season at third base Sunday in the 11-10 win over the Los Angeles Angels with 3B Josh Donaldson given the day off. It establishes a season high. Martin started eight games at third for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2008. He went 2-for-5 with a walk Sunday and is batting .390 (23-for-59) in 17 games against the Angels while with the Blue Jays.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman and catcher Russell Martin were ejected during the fifth inning of Thursday's game against the Oakland Athletics for arguing balls and strikes.Blue Jays manager John Gibbons also was ejected by home plate umpire Will Little.Gibbons was in the dugout when he was ejected after Little called a pitch a ball against Athletics batter Bruce Maxwell. Gibbons came out of the dugout to argue before departing with his fourth ejection.After Maxwell walked -- the sixth of the day allowed by Stroman -- an argument erupted. Stroman stormed from the mound and Martin restrained him as he attempted to get at the umpire. Stroman was ushered from the field by a coach and Martin eventually left after talking to the umpires.Miguel Montero replaced Martin behind the plate and Chris Smith took Stroman's spot on the mound.Stroman allowed three runs, six hits and six walks in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out four.

C Russell Martin was 2-for-4 with his 10th home run of the season Monday in the 4-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics and threw out OF Rajai Davis trying to steal third base in the first inning. He has hit seven home runs at the Rogers Centre this season. He has hit eight solo homers this season. His 51 homers as a catcher tie C Pat Borders for fourth on the club's all-time list for homers at the position.

C Russell Martin was 1-for-3 in the 19-1 loss to the Houston Astros Sunday. He has nine hits, including two home runs, and two walks over his past five games for a .429 batting average and a .478 on-base percentage.

C Russell Martin hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning Sunday to tie the game and the Blue Jays went on to win 7-3 over the Chicago White Sox. He has hit seven home runs this season, five of which have either tied the game or given the Blue Jays the lead. The homer Sunday was just his second of the season with a runner on base.