SEATTLE (AP) — Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto felt disappointment first when he learned of Robinson Cano's 80-game suspension for violating baseball's drug agreement.Then he thought about the opportunities."I think you all have figured out that I'm an optimistic person by nature," Dipoto said Tuesday. "And it turned into, 'All right, how do we turn this into as positive as we can and solve the problem?'"Seattle has rarely fielded the starting lineup it envisioned this season and yet it has stuck around a competitive AL West race. But none of its previous absences will be impactful as the loss of Cano, an All-Star second baseman suspended Tuesday after testing positive for Furosemide, a diuretic that can be used to mask performance-enhancing drugs.Dipoto said Cano's loss "really leaves an impression." It also ups the pressure on the GM to make a move to keep the Mariners' playoff aspirations alive. Lucky for him, he has a couple of assets working in his favor — a Gold Glove Award-winning... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Robinson Cano broke his right hand when hit by a pitch from left-hander Blaine Hardy in the third inning of the Seattle Mariners' 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.The Seattle star, who has played in at least 150 in 11 straight years, said he might need surgery.Jose Iglesias hit a game-ending single off Juan Nicasio (1-2), and Niko Goodrum homered and had three hits for the Tigers.Shane Greene (2-2) pitched a scoreless ninth. Seattle lost a road series for the first time all season.ANGELS 2, TWINS 1ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out 11 while pitching three-hit ball into the seventh inning, and Zack Cozart got a walk-off RBI single.Ohtani allowed one run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings in his sixth big league start, leaving with a 2-1 lead after Logan Morrison's walk. Joe Mauer hit a tying single off Cam Bedrosian.Chris Young was hit by a pitch from Zach Duke (2-2) leading off the ninth, Martin Maldonado sacrificed and Cozart singled to left. Blake Parker... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Robinson Cano broke his right hand when hit by a pitch from left-hander Blaine Hardy in the third inning of the Seattle Mariners' 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.The Seattle star, who has played in at least 150 in 11 straight years, said he might need surgery.Jose Iglesias hit a game-ending single off Juan Nicasio (1-2), and Niko Goodrum homered and had three hits for the Tigers.Shane Greene (2-2) pitched a scoreless ninth. Seattle lost a road series for the first time all season.ANGELS 2, TWINS 1ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out 11 while pitching three-hit ball into the seventh inning, and Zack Cozart got a walk-off RBI single.Ohtani allowed one run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings in his sixth big league start, leaving with a 2-1 lead after Logan Morrison's walk. Joe Mauer hit a tying single off Cam Bedrosian.Chris Young was hit by a pitch from Zach Duke (2-2) leading off the ninth, Martin Maldonado sacrificed and Cozart singled to left. Blake Parker... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Robinson Cano broke his right hand when hit by a pitch from left-hander Blaine Hardy in the third inning of the Seattle Mariners' 5-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.The Seattle star, who has played in at least 150 in 11 straight years, said he might need surgery.Jose Iglesias hit a game-ending single off Juan Nicasio (1-2), and Niko Goodrum homered and had three hits for the Tigers.Shane Greene (2-2) pitched a scoreless ninth. Seattle lost a road series for the first time all season.ANGELS 2, TWINS 1ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out 11 while pitching three-hit ball into the seventh inning, and Zack Cozart got a walk-off RBI single.Ohtani allowed one run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings in his sixth big league start, leaving with a 2-1 lead after Logan Morrison's walk. Joe Mauer hit a tying single off Cam Bedrosian.Chris Young was hit by a pitch from Zach Duke (2-2) leading off the ninth, Martin Maldonado sacrificed and Cozart singled to left. Blake Parker... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.Kimbrel replaced Matt Barnes (0-1) after a double by Walker and a one-out walk to Torres.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.Kimbrel replaced Matt Barnes (0-1) after a double by Walker and a one-out walk to Torres.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight overall and 11th in a row at home.Kimbrel replaced Matt Barnes (0-1) after a double by Walker and a one-out walk to Torres.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner capped a slump-busting performance with a go-ahead, two-run triple off Craig Kimbrel in the eighth inning, Aaron Judge followed with a homer and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 9-6 Wednesday night for their 17th victory in 18 games.Kimbrel (1-2) entered with two on and one out to face Gardner seeking the first five-out save of his career. Gardner drilled a full-count pitch into left-center field, well over the head of center fielder Mookie Betts, who was playing shallow. Neil Walker scored easily from third and rookie Gleyber Torres raced from first and slid past a lunging tag attempted by catcher Christian Vazquez.Judge followed with a line drive to center measured at 117 mph off the bat, his ninth homer of the season. He had three hits and three RBIs as New York won its eighth straight.Yankees reliever Jonathan Holder (1-1) cleaned up a mess left by Chasen Shreve in the eighth, getting Benintendi to ground out with the bases loaded.Aroldis... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts belted three solo homers and J.D. Martinez also went deep, powering the Boston Red Sox to a 5-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday.It was the fourth three-homer game for the 25-year-old Betts, snapping a tie with Hall of Famer Ted Williams for most three-homer games in franchise history.AL East-leading Boston won for the third time in four games after losing 7-6 in 13 innings on Tuesday night.Cheslor Cuthbert homered for Kansas City, and Drew Butera had a two-run double. Danny Duffy (0-4) was tagged for five runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.Drew Pomeranz (1-1) worked six innings for the win and Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for his eighth save.YANKEES 4, ASTROS 0HOUSTON (AP) — Luis Severino pitched a five-hitter and struck out 10 for his first career complete game while Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and drove in all four runs for New York.The Yankees have beaten Houston by the exact same 4-0 score for tow straight days.Severino... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched seven sharp innings, AL MVP Jose Altuve hit his first home run of the season and the Houston Astros beat the Angels 5-2 on Wednesday, ending Los Angeles' road winning streak at a team record-tying 11.Albert Pujols connected off Verlander for his 619th career homer. Pujols has 2,994 hits.Alex Bregman hit a three-run double and Jake Marisnick homered as Houston avoided a three-game sweep. The Angels also won 11 straight road games in 1988.Verlander (4-0) held the Angels hitless into the fifth inning before Zack Cozart singled with two outs. Verlander gave up two runs and four hits, striking out nine without a walk. Verlander won his 11th regular-season decision in a row, dating to mid-August last year, before the Detroit traded him to Houston. Ken Giles pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.Nick Tropeano (1-2) retired the first 11 batters he faced, striking out six.NATIONALS 15, GIANTS 2SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Trea Turner got five hits, Matt Adams... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Tyson Ross lost his bid to pitch the first no-hitter in the history of the San Diego Padres when rookie center fielder Franchy Cordero appeared to misplay a ball with two outs in the eighth inning Friday night of a 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.Playing their 7,835th game since joining the majors in 1969, the Padres again came agonizingly close to their first no-no. They remain the only team in the big leagues that has never thrown a no-hitter.Ross had a 1-0 lead with two outs in the eighth when Christian Walker lined a drive to deep center. Cordero seemed to get a late break on the ball, then had it sail just over his outstretched glove for a double that made it 1-all. Ross was pulled after throwing a career-high 127 pitches. The right-hander, who turns 31 on Sunday, struck out 10 and walked three. He retired 18 straight after walking Jarrod Dyson in the first. Brad Hand (1-2) relieved Ross and got the last four outs — they combined on the 29th one-hitter in Padres'... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes, who struck out in his previous four at-bats, hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the 12th inning to lift the New York Mets to a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.Cespedes' single to right field drove in winning pitcher Robert Gsellman from second base. Cespedes scored on Asdrubal Cabrera's double off Josh Ravin (0-1) to right field. Cabrera ran halfway to third before stopping and trying to return to second. A review showed he was out at second, overturning the original call. Ravin hit Gsellman with a pitch to open the 12th. Gsellman moved to second on Amed Rosario's sacrifice. Michael Conforto popped out before Cespedes delivered the go-ahead hit.Gsellman (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Jeurys Familia pitched a perfect 12th for his eighth save.ASTROS 10, WHITE SOX 0CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched six sparkling innings, Carlos Correa homered twice and the Houston Astros pounded the White Sox.George Springer also drove in four... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Didi Gregorius homered twice for the second time this season, Gary Sanchez had three hits and three RBIs, and the New York Yankees romped to a 12-1 victory over Derek Jeter's Miami Marlins on Monday night.The only Yankees bopper who didn't join the hit parade was Giancarlo Stanton, who went hitless and got booed again by the hometown fans in his first game against his former team.Aaron Judge became the fastest major leaguer to hit 60 career homers, and Gregorius finished with three RBIs. New York scored in each of the first five innings and built an 11-0 lead for Luis Severino (3-1), who allowed one hit in six scoreless innings and struck out eight.Judge hit his fourth home run this season and reached 60 in 197 games, five fewer than Mark McGwire.Jeter did not attend the game, the first between the teams since the former Yankees captain became Marlins CEO last October.Stanton went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, a bases-loaded foulout, a walk and was hit by a pitch. The four-time... [More]

Capsules of National League Central teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Chicago Cubs2017: 92-70, first place, lost to Dodgers in NLCS.Manager: Joe Maddon (fourth season).He's Here: RHP Yu Darvish, RHP Brandon Morrow, RHP Tyler Chatwood, RHP Steve Cishek, LHP Drew Smyly, C Chris Gimenez.He's Outta Here: RHP Wade Davis, C Alex Avila, C Rene Rivera.Projected Lineup: CF Ian Happ (.253, 24 HRs, 68 RBIs, .842 OPS) or Albert Almora Jr. (.298, 8, 46), 3B Kris Bryant (.295, 29, 73, 38 2Bs, 111 runs), 1B Anthony Rizzo (.273, 32, 109, 91 BBs), C Willson Contreras (.276, 21, 74), LF Kyle Schwarber (.211, 30, 59), SS Addison Russell (.239, 12, 43), RF Jason Heyward (.259, 11, 59), 2B Javier Baez (.273, 23, 75, .796 OPS).Rotation: LH Jon Lester (13-8, 4.33 ERA, 180 Ks), RH Kyle Hendricks (7-5, 3.03), RH Yu Darvish (10-12, 3.86, 209 Ks with Rangers and Dodgers), LH Jose Quintana (11-11, 4.15, 207 Ks with White Sox and Cubs), RH Tyler Chatwood (8-15, 4.69 with Rockies).Key Relievers: RH Brandon... [More]

Capsules of National League Central teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Chicago Cubs2017: 92-70, first place, lost to Dodgers in NLCS.Manager: Joe Maddon (fourth season).He's Here: RHP Yu Darvish, RHP Brandon Morrow, RHP Tyler Chatwood, RHP Steve Cishek, LHP Drew Smyly, C Chris Gimenez.He's Outta Here: RHP Wade Davis, C Alex Avila, C Rene Rivera.Projected Lineup: CF Ian Happ (.253, 24 HRs, 68 RBIs, .842 OPS) or Albert Almora Jr. (.298, 8, 46), 3B Kris Bryant (.295, 29, 73, 38 2Bs, 111 runs), 1B Anthony Rizzo (.273, 32, 109, 91 BBs), C Willson Contreras (.276, 21, 74), LF Kyle Schwarber (.211, 30, 59), SS Addison Russell (.239, 12, 43), RF Jason Heyward (.259, 11, 59), 2B Javier Baez (.273, 23, 75, .796 OPS).Rotation: LH Jon Lester (13-8, 4.33 ERA, 180 Ks), RH Kyle Hendricks (7-5, 3.03), RH Yu Darvish (10-12, 3.86, 209 Ks with Rangers and Dodgers), LH Jose Quintana (11-11, 4.15, 207 Ks with White Sox and Cubs), RH Tyler Chatwood (8-15, 4.69 with Rockies).Key Relievers: RH Brandon... [More]

Capsules of American League West teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Houston Astros2017: 101-61, first place, won World Series.Manager: A.J. Hinch (fourth season).He's Here: RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Joe Smith, RHP Hector Rondon.He's Outta Here: DH Carlos Beltran, RHP Luke Gregerson, RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Mike Fiers, RHP Michael Feliz, INF Colin Moran.Projected Lineup: CF George Springer (.283, 34 HRs, 85 RBIs), 3B Alex Bregman (.284, 19, 71, 39 2Bs), 2B Jose Altuve (MLB-best .346, 24, 81, 39 2Bs, 32 SBs, AL MVP), SS Carlos Correa (.315, 24, 84), 1B Yuli Gurriel (.299, 18, 75, 43 2Bs), LF Marwin Gonzalez (.303, 23, 90, 34 2Bs), DH Evan Gattis (.263, 12, 55), RF Josh Reddick (.314, 13, 82, 34 2Bs), C Brian McCann (.241, 18, 62).Rotation: LH Dallas Keuchel (14-5, 2.90 ERA, 251 Ks), RH Justin Verlander (15-8, 3.36, 219 Ks with Tigers and Astros), RH Gerrit Cole (12-12, 4.26, 196 Ks with Pirates), RH Lance McCullers Jr. (7-4, 4.25), RH Charlie Morton (14-7, 3.62).Key Relievers: RH Ken... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — As general manager Jerry Dipoto accurately explained, the Seattle Mariners are a team stuck in the middle.They're not in the position of rebuilding. They have enough talent and enough veterans — with big contracts — to be competitive. But they're not among the elite of the American League, including the Houston Astros in their own division.So as the Mariners head to spring training next week, they'll do so in a very awkward position. Their everyday lineup is already established. Their pitching — led by lefty James Paxton — could be strong if key players perform up to expectations. Seattle very well could be in contention for a playoff spot in the American League and possibly end the longest playoff drought in baseball.But no one believes Seattle is in position to compete with the superpowers of the league."What gets me in an urgent position every day is understanding where our roster is, how to build this group into a playoff scenario, and let them do what they do," Dipoto... [More]

A team-by-team look at the American League West 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:___Houston AstrosManager: A.J. Hinch (fourth season).2017: 101-61, first place, won World Series.Training Town: West Palm Beach, Florida.Park: The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches.First Workout: Feb. 14/19.He's Here: RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Joe Smith, RHP Hector Rondon.He's Outta Here: DH Carlos Beltran, RHP Luke Gregerson, RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Mike Fiers, RHP Michael Feliz, INF Colin Moran.Going campin': This team is basically set after retaining almost every key player from last season's championship squad. The two strongest areas are the middle infield, where shortstop Carlos Correa and second baseman Jose Altuve, last year's AL MVP, return to anchor the middle of the order. Correa hit .315 with 24 homers — both career highs — and Altuve had his finest season, hitting a career-best and major... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Whether it was intentional or not, Seattle Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto placed a heavy burden on Felix Hernandez on Thursday.If Hernandez can stay healthy and be a strong, serviceable arm for Seattle — not the ace he once was — then the Mariners' questionable pitching rotation may turn out to be just fine. If Hernandez is injury prone and unable to stay on the mound as was the case in 2017, the Mariners could again be scrambling with their pitching staff."Nuts and bolts it comes down to how Felix comes into spring training," Dipoto said during the Mariners' pre-spring training luncheon. "If Felix can give us the 25 starts or more than he gave us in 2016, we're going to be a good team. If Felix gives us 16 or less as was the case last year, we're going to have to answer a lot of questions."Putting that on Hernandez shows how tenuous the Mariners' pitching situation is going into the 2018 season. Seattle seems solid at the top of its rotation with lefty James Paxton... [More]

RHP Juan Nicasio signed a two-year contract, the Seattle Mariners announced Wednesday. Financial terms were not disclosed by the team, but the Seattle Times reported the deal was for a total of $17 million. Nicasio, 31, pitched in a career-high 76 games in 2017 with three different teams -- Pittsburgh (65), Philadelphia (two) and St. Louis (nine) -- finishing with a combined 5-5 record, six saves and a 2.61 ERA.