NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees and AL batting champion DJ LeMahieu worked Friday to put in place a six-year contract worth about $90 million, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is subject to a successful physical. LeMahieu, who turns 33 in July, became the first player to win undisputed batting titles in both leagues. He won his first AL batting title last year ,at .364, the highest average for an AL batting champion since Minnesota’s Joe Mauer hit .365 in 2009, after winning the NL championship with Colorado in 2016. A three-time All-Star, LeMahieu signed a $24 million, two-year contract with the Yankees in January 2019. He had 10 homers and 27 RBIs in the shortened 2020 season after hitting .327 with 26 homers and 102 RBIs in his first season in New York. LeMahieu started his big league career with the Chicago Cubs in 2011, then was traded to Colorado. He has a .305 average with 85 homers and 478 RBIs in 10 big league seasons, and he has won three Gold Gloves at second base. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees and AL batting champion DJ LeMahieu worked Friday to put in place a six-year contract worth about $90 million, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is subject to a successful physical. LeMahieu, who turns 33 in July, became the first player to win undisputed batting titles in both leagues. He won his first AL batting title last year ,at .364, the highest average for an AL batting champion since Minnesota’s Joe Mauer hit .365 in 2009, after winning the NL championship with Colorado in 2016. A three-time All-Star, LeMahieu signed a $24 million, two-year contract with the Yankees in January 2019. He had 10 homers and 27 RBIs in the shortened 2020 season after hitting .327 with 26 homers and 102 RBIs in his first season in New York. LeMahieu started his big league career with the Chicago Cubs in 2011, then was traded to Colorado. He has a .305 average with 85 homers and 478 RBIs in 10 big league seasons, and he has won three Gold Gloves at second base. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

x-unanimous2020 — Jose Abreu, Chicago 2019 — Mike Trout, Los Angeles 2018 — Mookie Betts, Boston 2017 — Jose Altuve, Houston 2016 — Mike Trout, Los Angeles 2015 — Josh Donaldson, Toronto 2014 — x-Mike Trout, Los Angeles 2013 — Miguel Cabrera, Detroit 2012 — Miguel Cabrera, Detroit 2011 — Justin Verlander, Detroit 2010 — Josh Hamilton, Texas 2009 — Joe Mauer, Minnesota 2008 — Dustin Pedroia, Boston 2007 — Alex Rodriguez, New York 2006 — Justin Morneau, Minnesota 2005 — Alex Rodriguez, New York 2004 — Vladimir Guerrero, Anaheim 2003 — Alex Rodriguez, Texas 2002 — Miguel Tejada, Oakland 2001 — Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle 2000 — Jason Giambi, Oakland 1999 — Ivan Rodriguez, Texas 1998 — Juan Gonzalez, Texas 1997 — x-Ken Griffey Jr., Seattle 1996 — Juan Gonzalez, Texas 1995 — Mo Vaughn, Boston 1994 — Frank Thomas, Chicago 1993 — x-Frank Thomas, Chicago 1992 — Dennis Eckersley, Oakland 1991 — Cal Ripken, Baltimore 1990 — Rickey Henderson, Oakland 1989 — Robin Yount, Milwaukee 1988 — x-Jose Canseco,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Miami Marlins ended a streak of 10 straight losing seasons, beating the New York Yankees 5-0 Sunday behind a home run and three RBIs from rookie Jazz Chisholm. Miami (31-29) finished third in the NL East and earned the NL's sixth seed and a matchup at the Chicago Cubs in the first round. This will be the Marlins' first postseason appearance since beating the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. Miami lost an NL-worst 105 games last year. Chisholm hit a two-run double in Miami’s three-run second off rookie Clark Schmidt (0-1), who made his first big league start, and homered off Nick Nelson in the eighth. Brian Anderson homered against Jonathan Holder, and Corey Dickerson hit an RBI single for Miami. . Daniel Castano (1-2) pitched 6 1/3 innings for his first career win. Schmidt allowed three runs and four hits in four innings. The Marlins lost outfielder Starling Marté and right-hander José Ureña to injuries in the first three innings. Marte left with a bruised left ear... [More]

Cody Bellinger was well on his way to becoming the National League MVP only 60 games into last season for the Los Angeles Dodgers, already with 20 homers in that stretch before his 24th birthday.Over that same span for the Houston Astros last summer, Justin Verlander won nine games and struck out 103 batters on the way to his second AL Cy Young Award. The veteran right-hander had more wins and strikeouts through the first 60 games for the American League champions than he did just over one-third of the way into the 2011 season for the Detroit Tigers, when he finished 24-5 and was also the AL MVP.After 60 games this year, it will already be time to determine who wins those awards. There will be no more games to be played in a regular season that's set to begin July 23 and is 102 games shorter than usual because of the coronavirus pandemic.Bellinger was only the fifth MVP from either league over the past 20 seasons to have 20 homers in his team's first 60 games — Barry Bonds did it twice,... [More]

May 61915 — As a pitcher for Boston, Babe Ruth had three hits, including his first major league home run when he connected off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.1917 — Bob Groom of the Browns duplicated teammate Ernie Koob’s feat of the previous day by pitching a no-hitter, a 3-0 victory against the Chicago White Sox in the second game of a doubleheader in St. Louis.1951 — Cliff Chambers of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a 3-0 no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the Braves in Boston.1953 — Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first major league start. He never pitched another complete game in the majors.1982 — Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners became the 15th major league pitcher with 300 victories when he defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 at the Kingdome.1994 — Anthony Young won as a starter for the first time in more than two years as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates... [More]

May 61915 — As a pitcher for Boston, Babe Ruth had three hits, including his first major league home run when he connected off Jack Warhop of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds.1917 — Bob Groom of the Browns duplicated teammate Ernie Koob’s feat of the previous day by pitching a no-hitter, a 3-0 victory against the Chicago White Sox in the second game of a doubleheader in St. Louis.1951 — Cliff Chambers of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched a 3-0 no-hitter in the second game of a doubleheader against the Braves in Boston.1953 — Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first major league start. He never pitched another complete game in the majors.1982 — Gaylord Perry of the Seattle Mariners became the 15th major league pitcher with 300 victories when he defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 at the Kingdome.1994 — Anthony Young won as a starter for the first time in more than two years as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — For the Twins to land free agent Josh Donaldson, Miguel Sano knew what would be asked of him. He didn't hesitate.Instead, Sano sent a video to Donaldson, lobbying the 2015 American League MVP to join the Twins. The key to Sano's pitch: He would happily move across the infield to play first base with Donaldson taking over at third.Understand, too, that Sano has appeared in just 31 games at first base since making his big league debut in 2015, spending the last five seasons working to improve at third."The first time I met him, I saw that he's a really good guy and he's got a lot of energy," Sano said. "He's the kind of player that I love to see. He's positive and he loves the game. He likes to win and play hard. That's something that I see all the time."Just as his teammates saw what Sano did."The teammate that he was to kind of help on the recruiting process of JD, tell him, 'Hey, you can have third base, I'm willing to move to first base' I think needs to be put... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — For the Twins to land free agent Josh Donaldson, Miguel Sano knew what would be asked of him. He didn't hesitate.Instead, Sano sent a video to Donaldson, lobbying the 2015 American League MVP to join the Twins. The key to Sano's pitch: He would happily move across the infield to play first base with Donaldson taking over at third.Understand, too, that Sano has appeared in just 31 games at first base since making his big league debut in 2015, spending the last five seasons working to improve at third."The first time I met him, I saw that he's a really good guy and he's got a lot of energy," Sano said. "He's the kind of player that I love to see. He's positive and he loves the game. He likes to win and play hard. That's something that I see all the time."Just as his teammates saw what Sano did."The teammate that he was to kind of help on the recruiting process of JD, tell him, 'Hey, you can have third base, I'm willing to move to first base' I think needs to be put... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins and third baseman Josh Donaldson finalized their four-year, $92 million contract Wednesday that is the richest in team history for a free agent.Donaldson agreed last week to the deal that includes a club option for a fifth season. The 34-year-old will make $21 million per season. For 2024, the Twins can either retain him for $16 million or buy him out for $8 million.The deal far surpassed the previous high-dollar mark for Minnesota on the open market, a four-year, $55 million deal for starting pitcher Ervin Santana that began in 2015. The Twins gave then-catcher Joe Mauer an eight-year, $184 million contract in 2010, but that was an in-house extension that kicked in the following season.Donaldson batted .259 with 33 doubles, 37 home runs, 96 runs, 94 RBIs and 100 walks in 155 games for Atlanta in 2019. The 2015 American League MVP award winner with Toronto, Donaldson brings 219 career homers to a lineup that was already one of the deepest in baseball. The Twins set the all-time major league record with 307 homers in 2019.The Twins also pursued Donaldson for his ability to upgrade the infield defense that was a relative weakness last year. His arrival will move Miguel Sanó across the diamond to first base.___More AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The night began with Torii Hunter throwing the ceremonial first pitch to Joe Mauer, energizing the over-capacity crowd gathered for the first postseason game at Target Field since 2010, the year the ballpark opened.The evening ended in familiar deflation for the Twins, with two more runners left on base to add to the pile and further frustration and bewilderment bedeviling a franchise and fan base that's been waiting 28 years and counting for another World Series.From Hunter and Mauer to Eddie Rosario and Mitch Garver, the names and styles have changed. But the results have stayed the same as long as the Twins are stuck with the nemesis New York Yankees in the playoffs."That's a good team, man," Garver said after the 5-1 defeat Monday night gave the Yankees a sweep of the AL Division Series and stretched the longest postseason losing streak in major league history to 16 games.Thirteen of those are thanks to the Yanks."They beat us, you know? They pitched better. They... [More]

It's no surprise that someone set a home run record this year.What's remarkable is who did it.The Minnesota Twins — who haven't led the majors in homers since the days of Harmon Killebrew — are now at 269 and counting. They surpassed the record set by last year's New York Yankees on Saturday night, when they hit six in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.Those Tigers are managed by Ron Gardenhire, who managed the Twins back when they had a much different reputation offensively. In 2006, for example, Gardenhire managed Minnesota to 96 victories and a division title. The Twins finished 28th in the majors in home runs that year.Minnesota was led by the pitching of Johan Santana and the all-around excellence of Joe Mauer. The Twins had power hitters like Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter, but they weren't a team you expected to outslug the Yankees and Red Sox."When I first took over as manager, we had speed," Gardenhire said. "We didn't have much power, but we had a lot of speed, so we ran all over... [More]

It's no surprise that someone set a home run record this year.What's remarkable is who did it.The Minnesota Twins — who haven't led the majors in homers since the days of Harmon Killebrew — are now at 268 and counting. They surpassed the record set by last year's New York Yankees on Saturday night, when they hit six in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.Those Tigers are managed by Ron Gardenhire, who managed the Twins back when they had a much different reputation offensively. In 2006, for example, Gardenhire managed Minnesota to 96 victories and a division title. The Twins finished 28th in the majors in home runs that year.Minnesota was led by the pitching of Johan Santana and the all-around excellence of Joe Mauer. The Twins had power hitters like Justin Morneau and Torii Hunter, but they weren't a team you expected to outslug the Yankees and Red Sox."When I first took over as manager, we had speed," Gardenhire said. "We didn't have much power, but we had a lot of speed, so we ran all over... [More]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins picked the perfect time to turn a triple play for the first time in more than two years , squelching a first-inning rally in the series opener against the New York Yankees.After DJ LeMahieu and Aaron Judge drew walks to start the game on Monday night against Martín Pérez, Edwin Encarnación hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Luis Arraez, who stepped on the bag and whipped the ball to second baseman Jonathan Schoop in the same motion. The relay to first baseman Miguel Sanó beat Encarnación by a step, completing the first triple play for the Twins since June 1, 2017, when Sano, Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer went around the horn against the Los Angeles Angels.The Yankees had also gone two years without hitting into a triple play. Todd Frazier was the last guilty party, on July 25, 2017, against the Cincinnati Reds.___More AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eighteen years after the Minnesota Twins took Joe Mauer with the first overall draft pick, the hometown star with the textbook left-handed swing was still having a hard time realizing his place among the franchise's all-time greats.As Mauer's jersey number formally joined the seven others retired by the Twins on Saturday night, the six-time All-Star and three-time batting champion sounded as awestruck of his place in team history as on his first day of rookie ball."Wearing the No. 7 the past 15 years has been my absolute pleasure," Mauer said, his voice cracking as he paused to compose himself, "and being able to play my entire career in that number in front of my family, friends and fans here at home means more to me than any of you will ever know."Though the Twins took the best record in the major leagues into their game against Kansas City, the sellout crowd on this night was more about the uniform retirement for Mauer, who was born and raised just across the Mississippi... [More]

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Pitchers took a backseat at the Major League Baseball draft.On a night when a record 22 position players and nine shortstops were chosen in the first round, the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles went for a cornerstone at catcher, selecting Oregon State switch-hitter Adley Rutschman with the top pick Monday.Rutschman became the first catcher to go No. 1 since Minnesota tabbed Joe Mauer in 2001."He's everything you want and he plays a premium defensive position with athleticism that gives him versatility to play elsewhere, as needed," first-year Baltimore general manager Mike Elias said in a video statement posted on the team's Twitter account . "A future fixture for this organization."The only other time the Orioles led off the draft they took LSU pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989.The 21-year-old Rutschman had been the favorite to go first overall since he led the Beavers to the College World Series championship last year and was selected the most outstanding player.He followed... [More]

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Pitchers took a backseat at the Major League Baseball draft.On a night when a record 22 position players and nine shortstops were chosen in the first round, the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles went for a cornerstone at catcher, selecting Oregon State switch-hitter Adley Rutschman with the top pick Monday.Rutschman became the first catcher to go No. 1 since Minnesota tabbed Joe Mauer in 2001."He's everything you want and he plays a premium defensive position with athleticism that gives him versatility to play elsewhere, as needed," first-year Baltimore general manager Mike Elias said in a video statement posted on the team's Twitter account. "A future fixture for this organization."The only other time the Orioles led off the draft they took LSU pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989.The 21-year-old Rutschman had been the favorite to go first overall since he led the Beavers to the College World Series championship last year and was selected the most outstanding player.He followed... [More]

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Adley Rutschman heard the chatter for months that he'd be the No. 1 pick in the Major League Baseball draft.The switch-hitting Oregon State catcher just kept slugging at the plate and throwing out would-be basestealers all season from behind it — making it an easy call for the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night."It's unbelievable," Rutschman said from Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, shortly after becoming the top selection. "Just to look back on how I was as a kid and seeing what my expectations were, how far I've come from there, it's special."The announcement by Commissioner Rob Manfred at MLB Network studios marked the second time the Orioles led off the draft — they took LSU pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989."I met with all the teams over the course of the year and knew the Orioles were going to be the first overall," said Rutschman, a 40th-round pick by Seattle three years ago. "As the year progressed and went along, it looked like it was a possibility more and more.... [More]

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — Adley Rutschman heard the chatter for months that he'd be the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft.The switch-hitting Oregon State catcher just kept slugging at the plate and throwing out would-be basestealers all season from behind it — making it an easy call for the Baltimore Orioles on Monday night."It's unbelievable," Rutschman said from Goss Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon, shortly after becoming the top pick. "Just to look back on how I was as a kid and seeing what my expectations were, how far I've come from there. It's special."The announcement by Commissioner Rob Manfred at MLB Network studios marked the second time the Orioles led off the draft — they took LSU pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989."I met with all the teams over the course of the year and knew the Orioles were going to be the first overall," said Rutschman, a 40th-round pick by Seattle three years ago. "As the year progressed and went along, it looked like it was a possibility more and more. It... [More]

SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles selected Oregon State switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman with the top pick in the Major League Baseball draft Monday night.The announcement at MLB Network studios marked the second time the Orioles led off the draft — they took LSU pitcher Ben McDonald in 1989."It's everything I've always dreamed of," Rutschman said in an interview on MLB Network. "This is an unbelievable feeling and I couldn't have asked for anything more."With the No. 2 choice, the Kansas City Royals grabbed Texas high school shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the son of former big league pitcher Bobby Witt.The younger Witt has draft-day bragging rights on his father, who won 142 games over 16 seasons after being selected No. 3 overall in 1985."Now I've got him beat," Bobby Witt Jr. said.The Witts became the highest-drafted father-son duo, topping Tom Grieve (No. 6, 1966) and Ben Grieve (No. 2, 1994). They are the seventh father-son combination of first-rounders, and first since... [More]