NEW YORK (AP) — Domingo German overcame control problems on a chilly night to win for the first time since last June, Gary Sanchez and Brett Gardner homered and the banged-up New York Yankees beat the punchless Detroit Tigers 3-1 Monday.Aaron Judge made a sprawling, backhand catch on Niko Goodrum's hard-hit liner after Adam Ottavino walked the first two batters in the eighth inning, a drive that would have tied the score if it had gotten by the right fielder.New York lost two more regulars to the 10-day injured list before the game after they got hurt a day earlier, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton with a strained left biceps and third baseman Miguel Andujar with a small labrum tear in his right shoulder.Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Andujar, runner-up for AL Rookie of the Year last season, will be treated conservatively with a rehab program and there is some optimism he will respond well. But if not, he could need season-surgery.They joined a group of sidelined Yankees that includes pitchers... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit his fourth homer in the first inning and a two-run double in the ninth, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.Ben Gamel led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double and advanced on Lorenzo Cain's infield single off reliever Jordan Hicks' glove. Yelich then hit a liner into the gap in left-center, driving in Gamel and Cain.Yelich tossed his helmet in the air in celebration as Cain slid face first across the plate, giving Milwaukee three wins in its opening four-game set against rival St. Louis. Yelich's teammates rushed the field and doused the reigning NL MVP with Gatorade in a raucous celebration at second.Yelich began his day with a long drive into the second deck in right against Michael Wacha, tying the major league record for homers in consecutive games to start a season. He also became the first player to win the MVP award and then homer in his first four games of the next season.Paul Goldschmidt,... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit his fourth homer in the first inning and a two-run double in the ninth, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.Ben Gamel led off the ninth with a pinch-hit double and advanced on Lorenzo Cain's infield single off reliever Jordan Hicks' glove. Yelich then hit a liner into the gap in left-center, driving in Gamel and Cain.Yelich tossed his helmet in the air in celebration as Cain slid face first across the plate, giving Milwaukee three wins in its opening four-game set against rival St. Louis. Yelich's teammates rushed the field and doused the reigning NL MVP with Gatorade in a raucous celebration at second.Yelich began his day with a long drive into the second deck in right against Michael Wacha, tying the major league record for homers in consecutive games to start a season. He also became the first player to win the MVP award and then homer in his first four games of the next season.Paul Goldschmidt,... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit three home runs and then was intentionally walked in the ninth inning with a chance to tie the major league record, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-5 Friday night.Brewers manager Craig Counsell signaled for the free pass with one out and a runner on second. Cardinals fans behind the visiting dugout cheered as Goldschmidt approached the plate and booed loudly when Counsell made the move.Just 18 players have hit four homers in a game, including J.D. Martinez and Scooter Gennett in 2017.Goldschmidt had four hits and drove in five in his second game with St. Louis. The six-time All-Star was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in his first game Thursday after an offseason trade from Arizona. Set to test free agency after this season, Goldschmidt instead signed a $130 million deal to stay with St. Louis through 2024 last weekend.John Gant (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun homered for Milwaukee. Trevor... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Paul Goldschmidt hit three home runs and then was intentionally walked in the ninth inning with a chance to tie the major league record, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-5 Friday night.Brewers manager Craig Counsell signaled for the free pass with one out and a runner on second. Cardinals fans behind the visiting dugout cheered as Goldschmidt approached the plate and booed loudly when Counsell made the move.Just 18 players have hit four homers in a game, including J.D. Martinez and Scooter Gennett in 2017.Goldschmidt had four hits and drove in five in his second game with St. Louis. The six-time All-Star was 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in his first game Thursday after an offseason trade from Arizona. Set to test free agency after this season, Goldschmidt instead signed a $130 million deal to stay with St. Louis through 2024 last weekend.John Gant (1-0) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings.Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun homered for Milwaukee. Trevor... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Washington pitcher Max Scherzer took over from Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout as baseball's highest-paid player at $37.4 million and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox remained the sport's biggest spender for the second straight year, according to a study of major league salaries by The Associated Press.Baseball's average salary dropped for an unprecedented second straight year on opening day, falling about $36,000 to approximately $4,375,000. But the drop was due to signing bonuses in new contracts for Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and a few others. Baseball's accounting rules allocate signing bonuses in equal portions over each guaranteed year of a contract, and the signing bonuses of nine players caused an $82,000 drop in the opening-day average.Trout was the highest-paid last season at $34.08 million but his new deal dropped his salary for this year in exchange for a $20 million signing bonus. Scherzer's salary is discounted because... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joc Pederson and Enrique Hernandez each hit two of the Los Angeles Dodgers' eight home runs Thursday in a 12-5 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.The Dodgers set a major league record for homers on opening day and tied the franchise mark for any game.Hernandez, Austin Barnes and Corey Seager all homered in the fourth inning to chase Arizona ace Zack Greinke (0-1). Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Hernandez connected in the seventh for the power-packed Dodgers, whose pursuit of a third straight National League got off to a thrilling start.Adam Jones and Christian Walker homered for the Diamondbacks, but their pitching staff's eight homers allowed also set a team record.The Dodgers and Diamondbacks weren't the only ones going deep, either, as teams around the majors combined to set an all-time high for home runs on opening day.Hyun-Jin Ryu (1-0) struck out eight over six stellar innings as Los Angeles' first opening day starter not named Clayton Kershaw since 2010. Kershaw's... [More]

Bryce Harper bowed to his new fans, Mookie Betts and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox drew cheers far from Fenway Park and the great Mariano Rivera threw one more strike from the mound at Yankee Stadium.Then it was time to play Home Run Derby on a record-setting opening day.The ball was flying Thursday — Joc Pederson and the Los Angeles Dodgers connected eight times, and the total of 48 across the majors was the most ever to start."Everyone kind of knocked us last year for scoring too many runs off homers," said Max Muncy, who also connected at Dodger Stadium. "But if you're going to do it, you might as well do it like that."Elsewhere, Lorenzo Cain made a game-saving catch in Milwaukee, Javier Baez swung a powerful bat for the Cubs and Detroit's Jordan Zimmermann came close to giving Major League Baseball a perfect start.A week after Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners swept two games from Oakland at the Tokyo Dome, everybody was in action.The packed crowd at Citizens Bank Park... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Washington pitcher Max Scherzer took over from Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout as baseball's highest-paid player at $37.4 million and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox remained the sport's biggest spender for the second straight year, according to a study of major league salaries by The Associated Press.Baseball's average salary dropped for an unprecedented second straight year on opening day, falling about $36,000 to approximately $4,375,000. But the drop was due to signing bonuses in new contracts for Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and a few others. Baseball's accounting rules allocate signing bonuses in equal portions over each guaranteed year of a contract, and the signing bonuses of nine players caused an $82,000 drop in the opening-day average.Trout was the highest-paid last season at $34.08 million but his new deal dropped his salary for this year in exchange for a $20 million signing bonus. Scherzer's salary is discounted because... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Washington pitcher Max Scherzer took over from Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout as baseball's highest-paid player at $37.4 million and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox remained the sport's bigger spender for the second straight year, according to a study of major league salaries by The Associated Press.Baseball's average salary dropped for an unprecedented second straight year on opening day, falling about $36,000 to approximately $4,375,000. But the drop was due to signing bonuses in new contracts for Trout, Clayton Kershaw, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and a few others. Baseball's accounting rules allocate signing bonuses in equal portions over each guaranteed year of a contract, and the signing bonuses of nine players caused an $82,000 drop in the opening-day average.Trout was the highest-paid last season at $34.08 million but his new deal dropped his salary for this year in exchange for a $20 million signing bonus. Scherzer's salary is discounted because... [More]

Bryce Harper bowed to his new fans, Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox began the defense of their World Series crown and the great Mariano Rivera threw one more strike from the mound at Yankee Stadium.Then, in ballparks across the land, it was time to begin on a homer-filled opening day.Lorenzo Cain made the big catch. Javier Baez swung a powerful bat. And Jordan Zimmermann came close to giving Major League Baseball a perfect start Thursday.A week after Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners swept two games from Oakland at the Tokyo Dome, everyone was in action. In many places, the ball was flying — at Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles set an opening day record by hitting eight home runs.The packed crowd at Citizens Bank Park was especially energized by Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-4 win over Atlanta."The atmosphere was unbelievable," Harper said. "The atmosphere was rocking all through the game."A year after the conditions were more fit for snowballs than baseballs at some stadiums,... [More]

Bryce Harper bowed to his new fans, Mookie Betts and the Boston Red Sox began the defense of their World Series crown and the great Mariano Rivera threw one more strike from the mound at Yankee Stadium.Then, from ballparks across the land, it was time for opening day.Lorenzo Cain made the big catch. Javier Baez swung a powerful bat. And Jordan Zimmermann came close to giving Major League Baseball a perfect start Thursday.A week after Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners swept two games from Oakland at the Tokyo Dome, everyone was in action.The packed crowd at Citizens Bank Park was especially energized by Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-4 win over Atlanta."The atmosphere was unbelievable," Harper said. "The atmosphere was rocking all through the game."And a year after the conditions were more fit for snowballs than baseballs in some places, the weather was fine. A little rainy in Kansas City, causing a slight delay, but no freezing temperatures anywhere.Cy Young Award winners... [More]

Bryce Harper bowed to his new fans, Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox began the defense of their World Series crown and the great Mariano Rivera threw one more strike from the mound at Yankee Stadium.Then, from ballparks across the land, it was time for opening day.Lorenzo Cain made the big catch. Javier Baez swung a powerful bat. And Jordan Zimmermann came close to giving Major League Baseball a perfect start Thursday.A week after Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners swept two games from Oakland at the Tokyo Dome, everyone was in action.The packed crowd at Citizens Bank Park was especially energized by Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-4 win over Atlanta."The atmosphere was unbelievable," Harper said. "The atmosphere was rocking all through the game."And a year after the conditions were more fit for snowballs than baseballs in some places, the weather was fine. A little rainy in Kansas City, causing a slight delay, but no freezing temperatures anywhere.Cy Young Award winners... [More]

Bryce Harper bowed to his new fans, Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox began the defense of their World Series crown and the great Mariano Rivera threw one more strike from the mound at Yankee Stadium.Then, from ballparks across the land, it was time for opening day.Lorenzo Cain made the big catch. Javier Baez swung a powerful bat. And Jordan Zimmermann came close to giving Major League Baseball a perfect start Thursday.A week after Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners swept two games from Oakland at the Tokyo Dome, everyone was in action.The packed crowd at Citizens Bank Park was especially energized by Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies in a 10-4 win over Atlanta."The atmosphere was unbelievable," Harper said. "The atmosphere was rocking all through the game."And a year after the conditions were more fit for snowballs than baseballs in some places, the weather was fine. A little rainy in Kansas City, causing a slight delay, but no freezing temperatures anywhere.Cy Young Award winners... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Back home from an 0-2 trip to Japan, the slugging Oakland Athletics got "comfy."Reigning homer run champion Khris Davis went deep for the second time this season , Marcus Semien added a solo shot and the A's beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 on Thursday for their first win after a pair of losses to Seattle last week in Japan."It was important to us to get that first win out of the way and it feels good that we showed up today and got the job done," Davis said. "I think guys are over the jet lag. I'm glad we could bounce back. ... Just a better rhythm. We're just kind of back in tune to what's going on over here. It was kind of a circus. I like the way we responded today. A little more comfy at home."Before the game, Davis stood behind the cage with Make-A-Wish Foundation friend Anthony Slocumb , who was wearing a Davis jersey signed by the boy that the slugger wore Aug. 20 against Texas when he hit homer No. 37 of his 48 last year.Mike Trout singled and walked going... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Reigning homer run champion Khris Davis went deep for the second time this season, Marcus Semien added a solo shot and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-0 on Thursday for their first win after a pair of losses to Seattle last week in Japan.Mike Trout singled and walked going 1 for 3 in his first game since signing a $426.5 million, 12-year contract, and manager Brad Ausmus lost his Angels debut after taking over for Mike Scioscia.Stephen Piscotty added an RBI double as the A's backed Mike Fiers (1-1), who lost in Japan last week in his first opening-day start.Fiers allowed one hit, struck out two and walked three in six innings. Three relievers completed the three-hit shutout that breezed by in 2 hours, 18 minutes.Trout drew the trainer and Ausmus out in the eighth after he made a hard slide into second and jarred his right leg.Albert Pujols went 0 for 3 with a strikeout as he began his 19th season. Pujols has 633 career homers and is back at 39... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The new No. 3 is the new No. 1.Major League Baseball says that Bryce Harper has the sport's top-selling jersey, ending a two-year reign for Aaron Judge's No. 99.Harper signed a $330 million, 13-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies this spring, and his new No. 3 jersey set professional sports records for sales in 24 and 48 hours, according to online retailer Fanatics. His fresh get-up has been the top-selling jersey on MLB.com since Jan. 1, 2019.Harper overtook Judge, the New York Yankees' 6-foot-7 slugger who had topped the list since his breakout rookie season in 2017.Reigning AL MVP and World Series champion Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox is third, two-time AL MVP Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels is fourth, and veteran St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is fifth in figures released Thursday.The Chicago Cubs are the only team with two players in the top 10: Javier Baez at seven and Anthony Rizzo at nine.Manny Machado placed 12th, making him the first San Diego Padres player to crack the top 20 since MLB began publicizing it in 2010. Machado signed a $300 million, 10-year deal with San Diego this winter.Now-retired Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki was 13th.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at what's happening around the majors today:FOR OPENERSBryce Harper, Mookie Betts, Mike Trout and everyone else is set to play, at last. All 30 teams are in action, with opening day on deck at Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium and ballparks in between. The forecast is pretty good in most places, with no snow or frosty temps expected, although rain is a possibility in Kansas City and Oakland.Chris Sale starts for the World Series champion Red Sox when they visit red-hot Seattle — well, the Mariners have started out 2-0 after sweeping the A's last week at the Tokyo Dome.CY AND SIGHJacob deGrom and Blake Snell get an early chance to defend their Cy Young Awards — first-time winners last year, they're pitching against the guys who were the runner-ups.DeGrom (10-9, MLB-leading 1.70 ERA) starts for the Mets when they face three-time Cy winner Max Scherzer (18-7, MLB-high 300 strikeouts) at Nationals Park. Snell (21-5, 1.89 ERA) starts for the Rays vs. Justin Verlander (16-9, AL-best 290 Ks)... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — All eyes will be watching Mike Trout as the Angels star takes his first million-dollar swings since signing that monster new contract earlier this month.The two-time AL MVP, freshly inked for $426.5 million and 12 years, and his Angels teammates open the season on the road Thursday against those slugging Oakland Athletics who surprised all of baseball by getting back to the playoffs in 2018 for the first time in four years.Sure, Trout's contract will be all the talk for months to come.But the Angels also begin a new era under manager Brad Ausmus, the club's first change at skipper since departed Mike Scioscia began his initial season of 2000."I'm just glad that I can focus on baseball, because that's all I ever wanted out of this," Trout said. "(The contract) is out of the way and we know we're going to be here for a long time, so now it's just about playing, winning and trying to win a championship."Los Angeles last won in 2002 as the AL wild card. The Angels have... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — All eyes will be watching Mike Trout as the Angels star takes his first million-dollar swings since signing that monster new contract earlier this month.The two-time AL MVP, freshly inked for $426.5 million and 12 years, and his Angels teammates open the season on the road Thursday against those slugging Oakland Athletics who surprised all of baseball by getting back to the playoffs in 2018 for the first time in four years.Sure, Trout's contract will be all the talk for months to come.But the Angels also begin a new era under manager Brad Ausmus, the club's first change at skipper since departed Mike Scioscia began his initial season of 2000."I'm just glad that I can focus on baseball, because that's all I ever wanted out of this," Trout said. "(The contract) is out of the way and we know we're going to be here for a long time, so now it's just about playing, winning and trying to win a championship."Los Angeles last won in 2002 as the AL wild card. The Angels have... [More]