NEW YORK (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge sat side by side on the dais, together in public for the first time as Yankees teammates.Truly a big night in New York baseball.The towering duo joined several of the game's top stars in attendance Sunday night as the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America held its 95th annual dinner.Acquired by the Yankees in a December trade with Miami, the 6-foot-6 Stanton was on hand to collect the National League Most Valuable Player award after leading the majors with 59 home runs and 132 RBIs last season."This has been an amazing ride and I'm excited to be here in New York and experience the big city, bright lights, and this is going to be a lot of fun for me," said the eight-year veteran, drawing loud applause.Standing a smidge taller at 6-foot-7, Judge took home his own share of hardware. The 25-year-old outfielder was selected New York player of the year and also received the Joe DiMaggio Toast of the Town award.Stanton... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox may head to spring training without the middle-of-the-lineup hitter they have been seeking since David Ortiz retired at the end of the 2016 season.That's by necessity, not choice.After saying all winter that he would like a big bat to address the power outage that left the Red Sox last in the AL in homers in 2017, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said on Thursday that he's prepared to move forward without one."We'll keep working at it," Dombrowski said before the awards dinner for the Boston chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. "But I do think we have a good club, no matter what."After leading the majors in runs in 2016, Ortiz's last season before he retired, the Red Sox won 93 years for the second straight year in '17 to claim the first back-to-back AL East titles in franchise history. But without Ortiz, the offensive production plummeted: They were sixth in runs, and Mookie Betts led the team with 24 homers, the fewest... [More]

2B Jose Altuve is expected to be Houston's first MVP winner since Jeff Bagwell in the strike-shortened 1994 season. The 5-foot-6 Altuve led the majors with a .346 batting average and to go along with 24 homers and 81 RBIs in 153 games. The other AL MVP finalists are Yankees RF Aaron Judge and Indians INF Jose Ramirez.

2B Jose Altuve had his $6 million contract option picked up by the Houston Astros.

2B Jose Altuve became the eighth player in history to reach seven homers during a single postseason, joining Carlos Beltran (eight in 2004), Barry Bonds (eight in 2002), Nelson Cruz (eight in 2011), Troy Glaus (2002), Daniel Murphy (2015), Melvin Upton Jr. (2008) and Jayson Werth (2009). Altuve now has 22 hits this postseason, a franchise record for a single postseason. He surpassed Carlos Beltran, who had 20 hits in the 2004 postseason.

2B Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead home run in the 10th inning, becoming the first player with a long ball to put his team ahead in extra innings during a World Series game since David Freese's game-ending home run in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. Altuve also went back-to-back with SS Carlos Corea, becoming the 16th duo to pull off the feat in the World Series. Altuve has six homers in the 2017 postseason.

2B Jose Altuve had a single Tuesday but is just 4-for-21 (.190) over his last six postseason games. Before that, Altuve had multiple hits in five of his first six games in the 2017 playoffs. He does have five home runs in these playoffs, the second most in franchise history to Carlos Beltran's eight in 2004.

2B Jose Altuve finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run and has hit safely in all six home games this postseason. Altuve is batting .591 in 22 at-bats with five home runs and eight RBIs at Minute Maid Park this postseason and is the fourth player in major league history with at least five home runs at home in a postseason.

2B Jose Altuve produced his first RBIs of the series with a two-run single in the fifth inning of the American League Championship Series on Friday night before adding a leadoff homer in the eighth. It marked his sixth multi-hit game of this postseason, which ties him for the fourth most in franchise history. Altuve has hit four homers this postseason, second only to Carlos Beltran, who had postseason eight homers in 2004.

2B Jose Altuve went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks in Game 4 of the ALCS Tuesday, extending his postseason on-base streak to eight games. In 14 postseason games, Altuve has reached base in 11 games.

2B Jose Altuve finished 2-for-4 and scored the winning run in the ninth inning. With his two singles, Altuve owns the highest single-season postseason batting average ever at .565 (13-for-23) with a minimum of 25 plate appearances. Dodgers OF Manny Ramirez hit .520 (13-for-25) in 2008.

2B Jose Altuve became the first Houston batter with three hits in an LCS game since C Brad Ausmus in Game 6 of the 2005 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Altuve, who finished 3-for-4, now has four three-hit games in the postseason, a club record.

2B Jose Altuve was announced as the Astros' nominee for the 2017 Hank Aaron Awards on Monday. The 27-year-old AL MVP candidate logged his fourth consecutive 200-hit season and won the league's batting title after hitting .346 with 24 home runs and 81 RBIs this season. "This national spotlight that he's been on over the last couple of years ... has been well deserved," manager A.J. Hinch said. Altuve went 0-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout Monday against the Red Sox in Game 4 of the ALDS and finished the string batting .533 (8-for-15) with three homers and four RBIs.

2B Jose Altuve followed his three-homer performance in Game 1 by going 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI single. Altuve became just the sixth second baseman in history to record two-plus intentional walks in a postseason game, joining Dale Murphy (2016), Roberto Alomar (1997), Joe Morgan (1976), Jackie Robinson (1952) and Tony Lazzeri (1937).

2B Jose Altuve became the first player in franchise history to club three home runs in a postseason game and the ninth player in major league annals to accomplish the feat. It marked his first career three-homer game and the first by a Houston player since Carlos Lee on April 13, 2007 at Philadelphia. The only players with multi-homer games in Astros postseason history are SS Carlos Correa (Game 4 of the 2015 ALDS against Kansas City) and OF Carlos Beltran (Game 5 of the 2004 NLDS against Atlanta).

2B Jose Altuve ended the regular season batting a career- and major league-best .346. He secured this season's batting title, his third in the last four seasons. He is just the third right-handed hitter in American League history (since 1900) to win three or more batting titles. The AL record for right-handed hitters is four titles, by Harry Heilman (1921, '23, '25, '27) and Miguel Cabrera (2011-13, '15).

There may not be two American League players who differ more standing side-by-side than the Houston Astros' Jose Altuve and the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge.Altuve is a diminutive 5-foot-6. Judge is a giant at 6-7. But when it comes to the AL Most Valuable Player Award, the difference could be measured in angstroms.The members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America are sending in their votes right now for all of the major 2017 awards. There are some that will be, or should be, unanimous picks.How do you not give Judge the AL Rookie of the Year? Same goes in the National League for Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Both were by far at the top of their classes when all was said and done.Below is our take on the deserving winners in each race. AL MVP isn't the only white-knuckler. In the AL, the Cy Young Award race between Boston's Chris Sale and Cleveland's Corey Kluber is tight, too. In the National League, the MVP, Cy Young and Manager of the Year are all worthy of great... [More]

2B Jose Altuve didn't play Tuesday after being hit the left forearm Monday by a pitch. He could be back in the lineup Wednesday. "He's sore from getting hit by a 95-mph fastball, but he's fine," A.J. Hinch said. "I knew he was going to sit a day or two here on this road trip, and it happened to be convenient he gets hit and is not going to play. He's fine. He obviously is dealing with some soreness, as anyone would that gets hit."

2B Jose Altuve left Monday's game in the eighth inning with a left foreman contusion after getting hit by a pitch. X-rays were negative. He's considered day-to-day. "He immediately knew that it wasn't broken," manager A.J. Hinch said. "He was coming out of the game anyway. It was unfortunate that he got hit. He'll be day to day and we'll see how he feels tomorrow." Altuve went 1-for-3 and leads the AL with 199 hits.

2B Jose Altuve hit his 24th home run in the fourth inning, matching his single-season high set in 2016. Altuve has nine homers since the beginning of August and ranks second on the club in home runs behind CF George Springer, who has hit 32.