CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks convinced new manager David Ross to let him finish a three-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered and dished out hand sanitizer, and the Chicago Cubs started the season by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Friday night.Ian Happ also had a two-run drive and Ross got his first victory as a big league manager as the Cubs opened this pandemic-shortened 60-game season without fans at Wrigley Field. Hendricks struck out nine and walked none in his first career opening-day start and fourth career shutout.Orlando Arcia had each of Milwaukee’s hits off Hendricks (1-0). After he singled with two out in the third for the Brewers’ first baserunner, he accepted a splash of sanitizer from a smiling Rizzo at first and cleaned off his hands.Ross came out to check on Hendricks with two out and a runner on first in the ninth. He decided to leave him in, and Keston Hiura bounced into a game-ending fielder’s choice on Hendricks’ 103rd pitch.Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff allowed... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks convinced new manager David Ross to let him finish a three-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered and dished out hand sanitizer, and the Chicago Cubs started the season by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Friday night.Ian Happ also had a two-run drive and Ross got his first victory as a big league manager as the Cubs opened this pandemic-shortened 60-game season without fans at Wrigley Field. Hendricks struck out nine and walked none in his first career opening-day start and fourth career shutout.Orlando Arcia had each of Milwaukee’s hits off Hendricks (1-0). After he singled with two out in the third for the Brewers’ first baserunner, he accepted a splash of sanitizer from a smiling Rizzo at first and cleaned off his hands.Ross came out to check on Hendricks with two out and a runner on first in the ninth. He decided to leave him in, and Keston Hiura bounced into a game-ending fielder’s choice on Hendricks’ 103rd pitch.Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff allowed... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks convinced new manager David Ross to let him finish a three-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered and dished out hand sanitizer, and the Chicago Cubs started the season by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Friday night.Ian Happ also had a two-run drive and Ross got his first victory as a big league manager as the Cubs opened this pandemic-shortened 60-game season without fans at Wrigley Field. Hendricks struck out nine and walked none in his first career opening-day start and fourth career shutout.Orlando Arcia had each of Milwaukee’s hits off Hendricks (1-0). After he singled with two out in the third for the Brewers’ first baserunner, he accepted a splash of sanitizer from a smiling Rizzo at first and cleaned off his hands.Ross came out to check on Hendricks with two out and a runner on first in the ninth. He decided to leave him in, and Keston Hiura bounced into a game-ending fielder’s choice on Hendricks’ 103rd pitch.Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff allowed... [More]

Aug. 181915 — Boston opened Braves Field with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.1931 — New York's Lou Gehrig played in his 1,000th consecutive game. Gehrig went hitless in the 5-4 loss to Detroit.1948 — Brooklyn's Rex Barney pitched a one-hitter for a 1-0 win over Robin Roberts and the Philadelphia Phillies at Shibe Park.1956 — The Cincinnati Reds hit eight home runs and the Milwaukee Braves added two to set a National League record for home runs by two clubs in a nine-inning night game. Bob Thurman's three homers and double led the Reds in the 13-4 rout.1960 — Lew Burdette of the Milwaukee Braves pitched a no-hitter, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0. Burdette faced the minimum 27 batters.1965 — Hank Aaron of Milwaukee hit Curt Simmons' pitch on top of the pavilion roof at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis for an apparent home run. However, umpire Chris Pelekoudas called him out for being out of the batter's box when he connected. Nevertheless, the Braves won the game 5-3.1967... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Josh Donaldson homered against Sean Doolittle in the top of the 10th, and the Atlanta Braves pulled out a 5-4 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday to take two of three in the series and pad their NL East lead to 6 1/2 games.After the Nationals scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, Donaldson swatted a fastball from Doolittle over the center-field wall for his 25th homer of the season.Adam Duvall homered for the fourth time in five games. Ronald Acuña Jr., Ozzie Albies and Tyler Flowers also drove in runs for the Braves, who won consecutive series in Washington for the first time since 2013. They also won two of three in late June.Atlanta got another quality road start from Mike Soroka (10-2), who pitched seven innings and allowed just three hits, including a leadoff homer to Juan Soto in the second.Washington starter Aníbal Sánchez (6-6) could not keep pace, allowing four runs on 10 hits in five innings of work.YANKEES 7, DIAMONDBACKS 5NEW... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton knows from his own heart-wrenching experience what the Los Angeles Angels are feeling now, and will experience moving forward, after the death of a teammate during the season.The slugger's message to the Angels, playing with heavy hearts after the death of 27-year-old pitcher Tyler Skaggs, is to "hug each other, laugh, cry, lift the ones taking it extra hard up."Stanton, now playing for the New York Yankees, was still with the Miami Marlins three years ago when 24-year-old two-time All-Star pitcher José Fernández was killed in a boating crash late that season.Los Angeles returned to the field with an emotional 9-4 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night, a day after Skaggs was discovered unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas. No cause of death has been released."You're going to wonder why all of this is happening, is it real, why are u suiting up to play a game that seems irrelevant," Stanton wrote in an Instagram post. "Some Anger will ensue... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton knows from his own heart-wrenching experience what the Los Angeles Angels are feeling, and will experience moving forward after the death of a teammate during the season.The slugger's message to the Angels, playing with heavy hearts after the death of 27-year-old pitcher Tyler Skaggs, is to "hug each other, laugh, cry, lift the ones taking it extra hard up."Stanton, now playing for the New York Yankees, was still with the Miami Marlins three years ago when 24-year-old two-time All-Star pitcher José Fernández was killed in a boating crash late that season.Los Angeles returned to the field with an emotional 9-4 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night, a day after Skaggs was discovered unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas. No cause of death has been reported."You're going to wonder why all of this is happening, is it real, why are u suiting up to play a game that seems irrelevant," Stanton wrote in an Instagram post. "Some Anger will ensue while u... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton knows from his own heart-wrenching experience what the Los Angeles Angels are feeling, and will experience moving forward after the death of a teammate during the season.The slugger's message to the Angels, playing with heavy hearts after the death of 27-year-old pitcher Tyler Skaggs, is to "hug each other, laugh, cry, lift the ones taking it extra hard up."Stanton, now playing for the New York Yankees, was still with the Miami Marlins three years ago when 24-year-old two-time All-Star pitcher José Fernández was killed in a boating crash late that season.Los Angeles returned to the field with an emotional 9-4 win over the Rangers on Tuesday night, a day after Skaggs was discovered unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas. No cause of death has been reported."You're going to wonder why all of this is happening, is it real, why are u suiting up to play a game that seems irrelevant," Stanton wrote in an Instagram post. "Some Anger will ensue while u... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died Monday at the age of 27, stunning Major League Baseball and leading to the postponement of the team's game against the Texas Rangers.Skaggs was with the team in Texas when he was found unresponsive in his hotel room, police said . He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they were investigating, but no foul play was suspected.Skaggs was "an important part of the Angels Family," the team said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Carli, and his entire family during this devastating time."Skaggs, who would have turned 28 on July 13 and was married just seven months ago, had been a regular in the Angels' starting rotation since late 2016, when he returned from Tommy John surgery. He struggled with injuries repeatedly over the past three seasons but persevered to become a valuable starter in Los Angeles' injury-plagued rotation.The left-hander had just pitched on Saturday, allowing two runs in... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs died Monday at the age of 27, stunning Major League Baseball and leading to the postponement of the team's game against the Texas Rangers.Skaggs was with the team in Texas when he was found unresponsive in his hotel room, police said . He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they were investigating, but no foul play was suspected.Skaggs was "an important part of the Angels Family," the team said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Carli, and his entire family during this devastating time."Skaggs, who would have turned 28 on July 13, had been a regular in the Angels' starting rotation since late 2016, when he returned from Tommy John surgery. He struggled with injuries repeatedly over the past three seasons but persevered to become a valuable starter in Los Angeles' injury-plagued rotation.The left-hander had just pitched on Saturday, allowing two runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 4-0 loss to Oakland.... [More]

LONDON (AP) — Gary Sánchez hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a nine-run seventh inning, and the New York Yankees overcame a four-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 12-8 Sunday for a two-game sweep of the groundbreaking, high-scoring trip across the pond.DJ LeMahieu doubled off Marcus Walden (6-1) leading off the seventh and hit a two-run double against Josh Taylor later in the inning as the Yankees opened an 11-4 lead, sending 14 batters to the plate in their highest-scoring inning in four years.Didi Gregorius went deep against Ryan Brasier in the eighth, extending New York's record streak of games with home runs to 31. Combined with the Yankees' 17-13 win Saturday, the teams scored 50 runs on the weekend, four more than their previous scoring mark in consecutive games against each other.Adam Ottavino (3-2), the second of six New York relievers, got the win.Before a sellout crowd of 59,059 at Olympic Stadium, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Christian Vázquez became the first... [More]

LONDON (AP) — Gary Sánchez hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a nine-run seventh inning, and the New York Yankees overcame a four-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 12-8 Sunday for a two-game sweep of the groundbreaking, high-scoring trip across the pond.DJ LeMahieu doubled off Marcus Walden (6-1) leading off the seventh and hit a two-run double against Josh Taylor later in the inning as the Yankees opened an 11-4 lead, sending 14 batters to the plate in their highest-scoring inning in four years.Didi Gregorius went deep against Ryan Brasier in the eighth, extending New York's record streak of games with home runs to 31. Combined with the Yankees' 17-13 win Saturday, the teams scored 50 runs on the weekend, four more than their previous scoring mark in consecutive games against each other.Adam Ottavino (3-2), the second of six New York relievers, got the win.Before a sellout crowd of 59,059 at Olympic Stadium, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Christian Vázquez became the first... [More]

LONDON (AP) — Gary Sánchez hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a nine-run seventh inning, and the New York Yankees overcame a four-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 12-8 Sunday for a two-game sweep of the groundbreaking, high-scoring trip across the pond.DJ LeMahieu doubled off Marcus Walden (6-1) leading off the seventh and hit a two-run double against Josh Taylor later in the inning as the Yankees opened an 11-4 lead, sending 14 batters to the plate in their highest-scoring inning in four years.Didi Gregorius went deep against Ryan Brasier in the eighth, extending New York's record streak of games with home runs to 31. Combined with the Yankees' 17-13 win Saturday, the teams scored 50 runs on the weekend, four more than their previous scoring mark in consecutive games against each other.Adam Ottavino (3-2), the second of six New York relievers, got the win.Before a sellout crowd of 59,059 at Olympic Stadium, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Christian Vázquez became the first... [More]

LONDON (AP) — Gary Sánchez hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a nine-run seventh inning, and the New York Yankees overcame a four-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 12-8 Sunday for a two-game sweep of the groundbreaking, high-scoring trip across the pond.DJ LeMahieu doubled off Marcus Walden (6-1) leading off the seventh and hit a two-run double against Josh Taylor later in the inning as the Yankees opened an 11-4 lead, sending 14 batters to the plate in their highest-scoring inning in four years.Didi Gregorius went deep against Ryan Brasier in the eighth, extending New York's record streak of games with home runs to 31. Combined with the Yankees' 17-13 win Saturday, the teams scored 50 runs on the weekend, four more than their previous scoring mark in consecutive games against each other.Adam Ottavino (3-2), the second of six New York relievers, got the win.Before a sellout crowd of 59,059 at Olympic Stadium, Xander Bogaerts, J.D. Martinez and Christian Vázquez became the first... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:STARRY NIGHTPitchers and reserves for the All-Star Game on July 9 in Cleveland will be announced beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Houston ace Justin Verlander and Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu are probably among the locks to make it, but as always there will surely be a few players who get snubbed. It will be interesting to see if Indians fan favorite Francisco Lindor gets an American League roster spot with the game in his home ballpark. And somebody needs to represent last-place Miami on the NL squad. The elected starters at each position were revealed Thursday.IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS?One day after the first Major League Baseball game in Europe was a long and wild slugfest, the Yankees and Red Sox conclude their two-game series in London with a 10:10 a.m. EDT start. New York outlasted its rival 17-13 on Saturday in a game that took 4 hours, 42 minutes — 3 minutes shy of the record for a nine-inning game. "Well, cricket takes like all weekend to... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Sunday:STARRY NIGHTPitchers and reserves for the All-Star Game on July 9 in Cleveland will be announced beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT. Houston ace Justin Verlander and Dodgers lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu are probably among the locks to make it, but as always there will surely be a few players who get snubbed. It will be interesting to see if Indians fan favorite Francisco Lindor gets an American League roster spot with the game in his home ballpark. And somebody needs to represent last-place Miami on the NL squad. The elected starters at each position were revealed Thursday.IS IT ALWAYS LIKE THIS?One day after the first Major League Baseball game in Europe was a long and wild slugfest, the Yankees and Red Sox conclude their two-game series in London with a 10:10 a.m. EDT start. New York outlasted its rival 17-13 on Saturday in a game that took 4 hours, 42 minutes — 3 minutes shy of the record for a nine-inning game. "Well, cricket takes like all weekend... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers to begin the bottom of the first inning, giving the Yankees a major league-record 28 straight games with a long ball, and New York held off the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Tuesday night.Gleyber Torres and Edwin Encarnación each poked a solo shot over the short right field porch for the Yankees, who shook off another injury to Giancarlo Stanton and won for the 10th time in 11 games. The AL East leaders are 8-1 on a 10-game homestand that wraps up Wednesday.Aroldis Chapman allowed a run in the ninth before retiring Freddy Galvis on an easy grounder with two aboard for his 23rd save in 25 tries.Stanton exited in the fourth with a bruised right knee and was scheduled for an MRI. He got tangled up with Toronto pitcher Clayton Richard (0-4) in the first while getting thrown out on a headfirst slide into third base.Yankees rookie Nestor Cortes Jr. (3-0) pitched 4 1/3 solid innings in relief of opener Chad Green.RED SOX 6, WHITE SOX... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers to begin the bottom of the first inning, giving the Yankees a major league-record 28 straight games with a long ball, and New York held off the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Tuesday night.Gleyber Torres and Edwin Encarnación each poked a solo shot over the short right field porch for the Yankees, who shook off another injury to Giancarlo Stanton and won for the 10th time in 11 games. The AL East leaders are 8-1 on a 10-game homestand that wraps up Wednesday.Aroldis Chapman allowed a run in the ninth before retiring Freddy Galvis on an easy grounder with two aboard for his 23rd save in 25 tries.Stanton exited in the fourth with a bruised right knee and was scheduled for an MRI. He got tangled up with Toronto pitcher Clayton Richard (0-4) in the first while getting thrown out on a headfirst slide into third base.Yankees rookie Nestor Cortes Jr. (3-0) pitched 4 1/3 solid innings in relief of opener Chad Green.RED SOX 6, WHITE SOX... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Chris Woodward loves that the expectations are higher for the Texas Rangers.They are certainly higher than they were when the first-time manager took over a team coming off consecutive losing seasons."Whether that lasts and we sustain that, it's totally on us," Woodward said. "Do we have a team that we feel like can win every game? We do, and they truly believe that."After 21 games in 20 days, the Rangers got to their first day off in three weeks Monday. The are 42-36 and have lost only one of their last 12 series since a five-game losing streak that dropped them five games under .500 in mid-May.While three games shy of the midpoint of Woodward's first season, and still a bit early to talk about playoffs, the Rangers were only a half-game behind the American League's second wildcard."There's no question there's a lot of room for growth in every player in that locker room, but the overall belief is that we're going to win a game every time we step on the field," he... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Drew Smyly struck out the last batter he faced for the Texas Rangers. That came right after the veteran left-hander, who already had lost his spot in the starting rotation, allowed three consecutive home runs in a five-pitch span.Smyly was designated for assignment by the Rangers on Thursday, two days after his last appearance.After not pitching in the majors the past two seasons because of Tommy John surgery, the 30-year-old Smyly was 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in 13 games (nine starts) with the Rangers."He's coming off injury, and I don't think the expectations were overly high, but I think, it honestly didn't work out," manager Chris Woodward said. "He was fighting to figure things out. I think it's just best for him, and honestly best for us, to just have him move on."The Rangers made the move before their series finale against Cleveland, when they also optioned left-hander Joe Palumbo to Triple-A Nashville after he was the loser Wednesday night. Texas brought up a... [More]