SAN DIEGO (AP) — Padres left-hander Blake Snell has thrown six no-hit innings against the New York Mets. The only batter to reach against the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner Friday night was Billy McKinney, who walked with two outs in the fifth inning. Snell has eight strikeouts on 80 pitches. Snell hasn't gotten an out in the seventh inning yet this season, and his highest pitch count was 97 pitches on May 18. There have been six no-hitters in the majors already this season. Seven no-hitters would match 1990, 1991, 2012 and 2015 for the most since 1900, one shy of the record eight in 1884 — the first season overhand pitching was allowed. Joe Musgrove pitched the first no-hitter of the season and the first in San Diego franchise history on April 9. The Padres have never thrown a no-hitter at home. He was followed by Carlos Rodón of the Chicago White Sox against Cleveland on April 14, Baltimore’s John Means against Seattle on May 5, Cincinnati’s Wade Miley against Cleveland on May 7, Detroit’s Spencer Turnbull against Seattle on May 18 and Corey Kluber of the New York Yankees against Texas on May 19. In addition, Arizona’s Madison Bumgarner had a seven-inning hitless game in a doubleheader on April 25 that is not recognized as a no-hitter by Major league Baseball. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brandon Crawford homered and drove in four runs, Anthony DeSclafani pitched six solid innings and hit an RBI double, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2 on Thursday night. Buster Posey and Alex Dickerson added two hits apiece to help the Giants win the opener of a four-game series between two of the hottest teams in the National League. DeSclafani (5-2) allowed two runs and four hits for his first win at home since April 26. San Francisco has won seven of nine to improve to an NL-best 35-21. Joc Pederson hit his fifth homer for the Cubs, who had won nine of 10 before losing in their first trip to the West Coast since 2019. Zach Davies (2-3) lost for the first time since April 16, allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings. RAYS 9, YANKEES 2 NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Yarbrough ended a 24-start winless skid with Tampa Bay’s first complete game in more than five years. Austin Meadows homered off Gerrit Cole and drove in five runs for Tampa Bay. Yarbrough (3-3) hadn’t... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Rich Hill finished May with the lowest monthly ERA in 75 years of a pitcher in his 40s, and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 16th time in 17 games by keeping up their domination of the reeling Yankees with a 3-1 victory Monday. Hill (4-2), a 41-year-old left-hander who is the oldest player in Rays’ history, improved to 3-0 against the Yankees this season. Hill was 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA in six May starts. Miguel Andújar homered in the seventh, just his second since 2018. J.P. Feyereisen, acquired May 21 from Milwaukee for shortstop Willy Adames, finished a five-hitter for his third save. The AL East-leading Rays (35-20) improved to 7-3 against the Yankees this season. New York (29-25) limped to the season’s one-third mark with its fourth straight defeat and sixth in seven games. Jameson Taillon (1-4) lost to Hill for the second time this year. He allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings. Manuel Margot hit an RBI double in the third. Austin Meadows homered into the... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Austin Meadows drove in his third run on a tiebreaking RBI infield single during a two-run eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 14th time in 15 games, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Randy Arozarena had a leadoff single in the eighth and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Sam Coonrod (0-2). After Yandy Díaz was intentionally walked with one out, Meadows made it 4-3 with his hit off José Alvarado. Tampa Bay took a two-run lead when Alvarado walked pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau with the bases load. Diego Castillo (1-3) worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth for the Rays, who have won three in a row after Kansas City stopped their 11-game winning streak on Tuesday. J.P. Feyereisen worked the ninth to get his second save. Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler gave up three runs, four hits, two walks and struck out a career-high 14 over seven innings. Matt Joyce homered for the Phillies, who struck out 15 times. Tampa Bay struck out... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Austin Meadows drove in his third run on a tiebreaking RBI infield single during a two-run eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 14th time in 15 games, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Randy Arozarena had a leadoff single in the eighth and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Sam Coonrod (0-2). After Yandy Díaz was intentionally walked with one out, Meadows made it 4-3 with his hit off José Alvarado. Tampa Bay took a two-run lead when Alvarado walked pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau with the bases load. Diego Castillo (1-3) worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth for the Rays, who have won three in a row after Kansas City stopped their 11-game winning streak on Tuesday. J.P. Feyereisen worked the ninth to get his second save. Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler gave up three runs, four hits, two walks and struck out a career-high 14 over seven innings. Matt Joyce homered for the Phillies, who struck out 15 times. Tampa Bay struck out... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Austin Meadows drove in his third run on a tiebreaking RBI infield single during a two-run eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 14th time in 15 games, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Randy Arozarena had a leadoff single in the eighth and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Sam Coonrod (0-2). After Yandy Díaz was intentionally walked with one out, Meadows made it 4-3 with his hit off José Alvarado. Tampa Bay took a two-run lead when Alvarado walked pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau with the bases load. Diego Castillo (1-3) worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth for the Rays, who have won three in a row after Kansas City stopped their 11-game winning streak on Tuesday. J.P. Feyereisen worked the ninth to get his second save. Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler gave up three runs, four hits, two walks and struck out a career-high 14 over seven innings. Matt Joyce homered for the Phillies, who struck out 15 times. Tampa Bay struck out... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Austin Meadows drove in his third run on a tiebreaking RBI infield single during a two-run eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 14th time in 15 games, 5-3 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. Randy Arozarena had a leadoff single in the eighth and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Sam Coonrod (0-2). After Yandy Díaz was intentionally walked with one out, Meadows made it 4-3 with his hit off José Alvarado. Tampa Bay took a two-run lead when Alvarado walked pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau with the bases load. Diego Castillo (1-3) worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth for the Rays, who have won three in a row after Kansas City stopped their 11-game winning streak on Tuesday. J.P. Feyereisen worked the ninth to get his second save. Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler gave up three runs, four hits, two walks and struck out a career-high 14 over seven innings. Matt Joyce homered for the Phillies, who struck out 15 times. Tampa Bay struck out... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Noah Syndergaard was pulled from his minor league rehabilitation outing because of soreness in his pitching elbow Tuesday night, and third baseman J.D. Davis returned to New York for more treatment in the latest setbacks for a first-place Mets team riddled with injuries. Syndergaard is coming back from Tommy John surgery on March 26 last year. He threw four shutout innings with five strikeouts last Wednesday for Class A St. Lucie but lasted only one inning in his second start with the team. “No one’s overly concerned,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said, calling Syndergaard’s issue more like discomfort. “It just didn’t feel right.” The Mets said Syndergaard was removed as a precaution. The hard-throwing right-hander had been on track for a mid-June return, but suddenly that appears uncertain at best. “A speed bump on the road,” Rojas said after his team's 3-1 win over Colorado. The 28-year-old Syndergaard, an All-Star in 2016, is 47-30 with a 3.31 ERA in five major league seasons.... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers are finally starting to get more healthy. Milwaukee activated 2018 NL MVP Christian Yelich and fellow outfielder Lorenzo Cain from the injured list and put both in the starting lineup for Monday night’s game at Philadelphia. The Brewers made room for the two former All-Stars by sending slumping first baseman Keston Hiura and outfielder Tyrone Taylor to the alternate training site. “We haven’t been activating players lately, so just to activate some players is a change of how last week went, that’s for sure,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. The Brewers had 17 players on the injured list Sunday when they lost 16-4 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Yelich hasn’t played since April 11 due to a lower back strain, Cain had a left quad strain and last played on April 13. Even with all those injuries, the Brewers won three of four from the Dodgers. They're starting a seven-game road trip with a 17-11 mark that tied the San Francisco Giants... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich is returning to Milwaukee for an MRI on his strained lower back. The 2018 NL MVP had been eligible to be activated from the injured list during this weekend’s three-game series with the Chicago Cubs. “Nothing bad happened yesterday,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He did the day of work that we were expecting. We’re just at a plateau, and so we’re just trying to rule everything out and see if we can get any new bit, just another piece of information. It’s frustrating for Christian." The Brewers also said they placed pitchers Brett Anderson and Josh Lindblom on the injured list. Right-hander Phil Bickford and outfielder Corey Ray were recalled from the team's alternate site. Yelich hasn’t played since April 11. The Brewers placed him on the injured list April 17, with the move retroactive to April 14. He is batting .333 with one homer and six RBIs in nine games this season. The Brewers also have been missing center fielder Lorenzo Cain, who... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich is returning to Milwaukee for an MRI on his strained lower back. The 2018 NL MVP had been eligible to be activated from the injured list for this weekend’s three-game series with the Chicago Cubs. “Nothing bad happened yesterday,” manager Craig Counsell said. “He did the day of work that we were expecting. We’re just at a plateau, and so we’re just trying to rule everything out and see if we can get any new bit, just another piece of information. It’s frustrating for Christian." The Brewers also said they placed left-hander Brett Anderson on the injured list and recalled right-hander Phil Bickford from their alternate site. Yelich hasn’t played since April 11. The Brewers placed him on the injured list April 17, with the move retroactive to April 14. He has batted .333 with one homer and six RBIs in nine games this season. The Brewers also have been missing center fielder Lorenzo Cain, who went on the injured list April 14 with a quadriceps... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics won their 12th consecutive game — their longest winning streak in almost two decades — with a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. Oakland’s string is its longest since it won a franchise-record 20 in a row in 2002. It is the Athletics’ third-longest winning streak since moving to Oakland in 1968, and is the longest in the majors since Houston’s 12-game run from June 6-18, 2018. Ramón Laureano homered and Cole Irvin won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years as the A’s improved to 13-1 since dropping their first six games. Baltimore has lost seven of its eight home games. Irvin (2-2) had won back-to-back starts just once before, his first two career starts for Philadelphia in May 2019. Coming off six shutout innings against Detroit on Saturday, he stymied the Orioles for five innings. But Baltimore stitched together four singles in the sixth, capped by Pedro Severino’s RBI single, to end Irvin’s night. Jake Diekman... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics won their 12th consecutive game — their longest winning streak in almost two decades — with a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. Oakland’s string is its longest since it won a franchise-record 20 in a row in 2002. It is the Athletics’ third-longest winning streak since moving to Oakland in 1968, and is the longest in the majors since Houston’s 12-game run from June 6-18, 2018. Ramón Laureano homered and Cole Irvin won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years as the A’s improved to 13-1 since dropping their first six games. Baltimore has lost seven of its eight home games. Irvin (2-2) had won back-to-back starts just once before, his first two career starts for Philadelphia in May 2019. Coming off six shutout innings against Detroit on Saturday, he stymied the Orioles for five innings. But Baltimore stitched together four singles in the sixth, capped by Pedro Severino’s RBI single, to end Irvin’s night. Jake Diekman... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics won their 12th consecutive game — their longest winning streak in almost two decades — with a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. Oakland’s string is its longest since it won a franchise-record 20 in a row in 2002. It is the Athletics’ third-longest winning streak since moving to Oakland in 1968, and is the longest in the majors since Houston’s 12-game run from June 6-18, 2018. Ramón Laureano homered and Cole Irvin won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years as the A’s improved to 13-1 since dropping their first six games. Baltimore has lost seven of its eight home games. Irvin (2-2) had won back-to-back starts just once before, his first two career starts for Philadelphia in May 2019. Coming off six shutout innings against Detroit on Saturday, he stymied the Orioles for five innings. But Baltimore stitched together four singles in the sixth, capped by Pedro Severino’s RBI single, to end Irvin’s night. Jake Diekman... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Oakland Athletics won their 12th consecutive game — their longest winning streak in almost two decades — with a 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. Oakland’s string is its longest since it won a franchise-record 20 in a row in 2002. It is the Athletics’ third-longest winning streak since moving to Oakland in 1968, and is the longest in the majors since Houston’s 12-game run from June 6-18, 2018. Ramón Laureano homered and Cole Irvin won consecutive starts for the first time in nearly two years as the A’s improved to 13-1 since dropping their first six games. Baltimore has lost seven of its eight home games. Irvin (2-2) had won back-to-back starts just once before, his first two career starts for Philadelphia in May 2019. Coming off six shutout innings against Detroit on Saturday, he stymied the Orioles for five innings. But Baltimore stitched together four singles in the sixth, capped by Pedro Severino’s RBI single, to end Irvin’s night. Jake Diekman... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Julio Urías threw seven dominant innings of one-hit ball, striking out a career-high 11 and leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 1-0 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday. Corey Seager drove in the only run with a two-out single in the third inning after AJ Pollock’s leadoff double. Those were the Dodgers’ only hits in the game. Seattle’s lone hit against Urías (3-0) was Mitch Haniger’s slow infield single with two outs in the third inning. Victor González worked the eighth, and Kenley Jansen pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save to complete the one-hittter. Gonzales (1-2) allowed two hits and struck out six. He retired the final 13 batters he faced. ATHLETICS 7, TWINS 0, 1ST GAME ATHLETICS 1, TWINS 0, 2ND GAME OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Matt Olson hit a grand slam and Mitch Moreland homered twice to back Sean Manaea’s shutout, and Jesús Luzardo followed with his own Game 2 gem as Oakland swept a doubleheader against depleted Minnesota. The Athletics have won 10 straight.... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Kiké Hernández led off with a replay-aided home run and Bobby Dalbec worked a 14-pitch walk in a six-run first inning against Lucas Giolito, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 11-4 on Monday in the first Patriots’ Day game played apart from the Boston Marathon. The Marathon was moved to Oct. 11 because of Massachusetts limits on crowds during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The Patriots Day game, with a start shortly after 11 a.m., has been played by the Red Sox since 1959. It drew a limited crowd of 4,738. Giolito (1-1) was removed with two on and no outs in the second. He allowed eight runs — seven earned — and eight hits as his ERA more than doubled from 2.55 to 5.79. Nathan Eovaldi (3-1) matched his career-high with 10 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings, allowing four runs and nine hits with no walks. BREWERS 3, PADRES 1 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Brandon Woodruff and three relievers combined on a two-hitter and Luis Urias homered in his return to Petco Park before leaving... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers showed signs this spring that they’ll bounce back from the slump that engulfed virtually their entire lineup last year. Of course, they aren't taking anything for granted until they perform when the games matter. They'll get their first chance in Thursday's opener against the Minnesota Twins. “I feel like I'm in a good place and where I want to be heading into the season," Yelich said. "So I'm excited to get things started.” Milwaukee is seeking a fourth straight postseason berth after sneaking into the playoffs last year with a 29-31 record despite ranking 27th out of 30 major league teams in runs per game. Hitters up and down their lineup failed to reach their career norms. Yelich, the 2018 NL MVP, hit just .205 last season after winning batting titles in 2018 and 2019. Keston Hiura batted .212 and had an NL-high 85 strikeouts last year after posting a .938 OPS as a rookie in 2019. Omar Narváez saw his average plunge from .278... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and the Milwaukee Brewers showed signs this spring that they’ll bounce back from the slump that engulfed virtually their entire lineup last year. Of course, they aren't taking anything for granted until they perform when the games matter. They'll get their first chance in Thursday's opener against the Minnesota Twins. “Spring training is very different than the regular season,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “But, given some of the performances we had last year, having guys going into the regular season with a really good frame of mind, with confidence, with belief in themselves and each other, I think there’s a degree of importance to it. I know as well as anyone that this can all change in one direction or another after a week.” Milwaukee is seeking a fourth straight postseason berth after sneaking into the playoffs last year with a 29-31 record despite ranking 27th out of 30 major league teams in runs per game. Hitters up and down... [More]

A team-by-team look at the American League East 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: ___ Tampa Bay Rays Manager: Kevin Cash (seventh season). 2020: 40-20, first place, AL champions, lost to Dodgers in World Series. Training Town: Port Charlotte, Florida. Park: Charlotte Sports Park. First Workout: Feb. 18/23. He’s Here: RHP Michael Wacha, RHP Chris Archer, C Francisco Mejia, RHP Luis Patiño. He’s Outta Here: LHP Blake Snell, RHP Charlie Morton, OF Hunter Renfroe, RHP Aaron Slegers, 1B Nate Lowe, LHP Aaron Loup, LHP Jose Alvarado, 1B Brian O’Grady, RHP Chaz Roe, RHP Oliver Drake, LHP Sean Gilmartin. Going campin’: The AL champions are coming off their first division title in a decade and first World Series appearance in 12 years, but they have to replace their top two starting pitchers after declining a $15 million option on Morton and trading Snell to San Diego. The Rays... [More]