Marcus Stroman pitched one-hit ball for eight innings, Dominic Smith launched a grand slam and the New York Mets cruised to a 7-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Stroman (7-8) gave up a leadoff single to Aristides Aquino in the third inning and little else. He struck out seven and walked one while giving New York’s beleaguered bullpen precious rest going into Thursday’s day off. Jeurys Familia struck out three in a hitless ninth. Luis Guillorme hit his first homer of the season and Jonathan Villar also connected for the NL East leaders. Mets manager Luis Rojas returned to the dugout after serving a two-game suspension for excessive arguing on Sunday. Jeff Hoffman (3-5) came off the 10-day injured list to make his first start since May 26 and lasted four innings, allowing seven hits — including Smith's slam — and five runs with three walks. PADRES 3, BRAVES 2, 1ST GAME ATLANTA (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run homer, starter Chris Paddack reversed his recent struggles and... [More]

Marcus Stroman pitched one-hit ball for eight innings, Dominic Smith launched a grand slam and the New York Mets cruised to a 7-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Stroman (7-8) gave up a leadoff single to Aristides Aquino in the third inning and little else. He struck out seven and walked one while giving New York’s beleaguered bullpen precious rest going into Thursday’s day off. Jeurys Familia struck out three in a hitless ninth. Luis Guillorme hit his first homer of the season and Jonathan Villar also connected for the NL East leaders. Mets manager Luis Rojas returned to the dugout after serving a two-game suspension for excessive arguing on Sunday. Jeff Hoffman (3-5) came off the 10-day injured list to make his first start since May 26 and lasted four innings, allowing seven hits — including Smith's slam — and five runs with three walks. PADRES 3, BRAVES 2, 1ST GAME ATLANTA (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run homer, starter Chris Paddack reversed his recent struggles and... [More]

Marcus Stroman pitched one-hit ball for eight innings, Dominic Smith launched a grand slam and the New York Mets cruised to a 7-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. Stroman (7-8) gave up a leadoff single to Aristides Aquino in the third inning and little else. He struck out seven and walked one while giving New York’s beleaguered bullpen precious rest going into Thursday’s day off. Jeurys Familia struck out three in a hitless ninth. Luis Guillorme hit his first homer of the season and Jonathan Villar also connected for the NL East leaders. Mets manager Luis Rojas returned to the dugout after serving a two-game suspension for excessive arguing on Sunday. Jeff Hoffman (3-5) came off the 10-day injured list to make his first start since May 26 and lasted four innings, allowing seven hits — including Smith's slam — and five runs with three walks. PADRES 3, BRAVES 2, 1ST GAME ATLANTA (AP) — Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a two-run homer, starter Chris Paddack reversed his recent struggles and... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Aaron Nola struck out 10 straight batters to match a major league record that stood for 51 years, but the New York Mets rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 in eight innings Friday on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith during the first game of a doubleheader. New York took advantage of an embarrassing two-base error by reliever José Alvarado, who overthrew first base on a comebacker while clinging to a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning. That led to Lindor’s tying single with two outs, and Smith won it with an RBI single off Ranger Suárez (3-2) in the eighth. Hall of Fame ace Tom Seaver fanned his final 10 hitters for the Mets in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium on April 22, 1970. That mark for consecutive strikeouts held for more than five decades. Nola also singled off the left-field wall and doubled home Philadelphia’s run against starter Taijuan Walker. He tied a career high with 12 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball. Seth Lugo (1-0) struck... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — First baseman Mike Ford was traded by the New York Yankees to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday for $100,000 and a player to be named. Ford was designated for assignment Saturday when reliever Zack Britton was activated from the injured list. The money in the trade is payable July 1. Ford, who turns 29 on July 4, had a strong rookie season with the Yankees in 2019, hitting .259 with 12 homers and 25 RBIs in 143 at-bats over 50 games. But he slumped to a .135 average with two homers and 11 RBIs in 74 at-bats during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. With first base time available this year because of Luke Voit's injuries, Ford batted .133 with three homers and five RBIs in 60 at-bats. A rare left-handed hitter on the current Yankees, Ford had a .199 average with 17 homers and 41 RBIs in parts of three major league seasons. Ford hit .083 (2 for 24) with one RBI in seven games this season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He was optioned to Triple-A Durham by the Rays. Tampa Bay activated right-hander Collin McHugh from the COVID-19 related injured list, transferred right-hander Tyler Glasnow (sprained right elbow) to the 60-day injured list and optioned right-hander Chris Mazza to Durham. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Jean Segura scored Ronald Torreyes with an infield single in the 10th inning for his second straight game-ending hit and the Philadelphia Phillies got a third consecutive walkoff win with an 8-7 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday. After Yankees star DJ LeMahieu hit a tying, three-run homer in the ninth, Archie Bradley (2-1) pitched a perfect 10th to strand the designated runner. Travis Jankowski led off the bottom of the inning against Aroldis Chapman (4-2) by reaching on the pitcher’s error. Jankowski bunted, and Chapman fielded the ball, checked Torreyes at second, then huried a throw high to first. Torreyes advanced to third. Odubel Herrera popped out, then Segura hit a hard grounder to third baseman Gio Urshela, who dived toward the line to catch it but couldn’t relay the ball home ahead of Torreyes. Bryce Harper doubled, had two singles and drove in two for the Phillies, who have won five of six. Gary Sánchez hit a solo homer and had an RBI single, and Rougned Odor also... [More]

Jean Segura scored Ronald Torreyes with an infield single in the 10th inning for his second straight game-ending hit and the Philadelphia Phillies got a third consecutive walkoff win with an 8-7 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday. After Yankees star DJ LeMahieu hit a tying, three-run homer in the ninth, Archie Bradley (2-1) pitched a perfect 10th to strand the designated runner. Travis Jankowski led off the bottom of the inning against Aroldis Chapman (4-2) by reaching on the pitcher’s error. Jankowski bunted, and Chapman fielded the ball, checked Torreyes at second, then huried a throw high to first. Torreyes advanced to third. Odubel Herrera popped out, then Segura hit a hard grounder to third baseman Gio Urshela, who dived toward the line to catch it but couldn’t relay the ball home ahead of Torreyes. Bryce Harper doubled, had two singles and drove in two for the Phillies, who have won five of six. Gary Sánchez hit a solo homer and had an RBI single, and Rougned Odor also... [More]

Jean Segura scored Ronald Torreyes with an infield single in the 10th inning for his second straight game-ending hit and the Philadelphia Phillies got a third consecutive walkoff win with an 8-7 victory over the New York Yankees on Saturday. After Yankees star DJ LeMahieu hit a tying, three-run homer in the ninth, Archie Bradley (2-1) pitched a perfect 10th to strand the designated runner. Travis Jankowski led off the bottom of the inning against Aroldis Chapman (4-2) by reaching on the pitcher’s error. Jankowski bunted, and Chapman fielded the ball, checked Torreyes at second, then huried a throw high to first. Torreyes advanced to third. Odubel Herrera popped out, then Segura hit a hard grounder to third baseman Gio Urshela, who dived toward the line to catch it but couldn’t relay the ball home ahead of Torreyes. Bryce Harper doubled, had two singles and drove in two for the Phillies, who have won five of six. Gary Sánchez hit a solo homer and had an RBI single, and Rougned Odor also... [More]

Chris Archer is back in familiar surroundings, eager to re-establish himself with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 32-year-old right-hander is three seasons removed from a being a two-time All-Star and the ace of a rotation the AL champions are revamping after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last fall. Archer, who was with Tampa Bay from 2012 to 2018, signed a one-year, $6.5 million contract to rejoin the Rays after missing all of the 2020 pandemic-shortened season with the Pittsburgh Pirates while recovering from surgery to relieve symptoms of neurogenic thoracic outlet syndrome. The Rays, who have made the playoffs the past two seasons, traded him to the Pirates on July 31, 2018, as part of a deal that brought Tampa Bay right-hander Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Austin Meadows and minor league pitching prospect Shane Baz. Archer hasn’t pitched in a major league game since August 2019. He went 6-12 with a 4.92 ERA over 33 starts with Pittsburgh and is excited to have a second... [More]