NEW YORK -- A little less than a month ago, the Boston Red Sox were having a third baseman issue. They were getting less offensive production than any other American League team from that spot.It was clear they could upgrade from the tandem of Pablo Sandoval and Deven Marrero before the non-waiver trade deadline, and a pursuit began for Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox.But Boston didn't get Frazier. The New York Yankees did, along with major bullpen upgrades David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle in a move that felt more than a little familiar. Gamesmanship between the Yanks and Sox was once a regular thing.It has been years since baseball's greatest rivalry felt big, but it certainly does this year. Both teams were active in the days leading up to the trade deadline, each making acquisitions for a run at the World Series. They set themselves on a course heading right at each other, which brings us to this weekend and next.The clubs begin a three-game series Friday at Yankee Stadium, the... [More]

RF Mookie Betts drove in three runs in Monday's win over the Indians. It was his eighth game of the season with at least that many. He has hit .407 (35-for-86) with runners in scoring position this season and leads the American League since the start of last season with a .408 average (40-for-98) with two outs and runners in scoring position. In his last five games against Cleveland he is 10-for-22 (.455) with two homers, eight RBIs and seven runs scored.

RF Mookie Betts, an All-Star batting .273 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs, got his first day off since April 8. "He's been a highly dependable and durable player for us," Red Sox manager John Farrell told reporters. "Felt like with the day off (Thursday), this is a chance for him to maybe recharge a little bit more before we start a 10-game homestand. He's played every inning over this post-All-Star break stretch, and that's been taxing. ... This is day well deserved for him."

RF Mookie Betts continued tormenting the Blue Jays, going 1-for-3 with a stolen base and two runs on Wednesday. In nine games against Toronto this season, he is 16-for-40 (.400) with 13 RBIs and 12 runs.

RF Mookie Betts re-tied the game with a two-out RBI single in the 11th inning -- his 15th RBI against the Blue Jays this season, batting .405 against them in eight games. He has recorded four two-out RBIs in the last three games.

RF Mookie Betts drove in a run on Monday night in the three-run seventh inning -- his 14th RBI against the Blue Jays this season. He also ran through a stop sign and was thrown out at the plate with the potential go-ahead run. "It's an easy question or second guess, but off the bat that ball is clearly going to be off the wall," manager John Farrell said. "In Mookie's mind, he was dead set on trying to score. It's a carom that ends up right, pretty much stomach height, to Pillar. He makes a good relay throw and then (shortstop Troy) Tulowitzki throws a strike from 140 feet. It was an aggressive play and I thought a very good play. As good a baserunner as Mookie is and as fast as he is, we forced them to execute a flawless play, which they did." Betts was fanned twice by Marcus Stroman, who has struck him out seven times, more than any other pitcher.

RF Mookie Betts clubbed a two-run homer in the second game of Sunday's doubleheader vs. the Yankees, his team-leading 17th. Betts' two-out shot in the third inning snapped a stretch of 24 consecutive scoreless innings for the Red Sox and came on a 1-1 slider from Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka, sailing an estimated 410 feet over the Green Monster in left field. Betts finished the game 3-for-4.

RF Mookie Betts, who went 1-for-4 with a double and two runs on Monday -- including the last of two in the Red Sox's 11th-inning rally at Texas -- will start for the American League in the All-Star Game in place of injured Angels CF Mike Trout. Betts, who received the fourth-most votes among AL outfielders, was selected AL Player of the Week after his eight-RBI day on Sunday. Betts has a major-league-leading 28 doubles along with 15 homers and 51 RBIs. "He might be the best defensive right fielder in the game," Boston manager John Farrell said.

RF Mookie Betts, who will be going to the All-Star Game as a reserve, matched his career high Sunday with eight RBIs in the 15-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. He had two-run and three-run homers and an RBI single and a two-run single in going 4-for-6. He also had eight RBIs on Aug. 14 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. "Today I felt pretty good," Betts said. "I got some good pitches to hit and just tried to put a good swing on it and hope for the best. When you get to the plate, you're just expecting a good pitch to hit and you're ready for it. Today I was just more ready than other days." He has hit 13 of his 15 homers on the road. Betts has reached base in seven straight games, going 14-for-29 (.483). He became the first leadoff hitter in Red Sox history with eight RBIs in a game and the first since INF Ronnie Belliard did so for the Colorado Rockies in 2003. He is one of five players to have eight RBIs as a leadoff hitter.

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals hold sizable leads in their division races, and each team had three players voted to the starting lineup of the All-Star Game on July 11 in Miami.The All-Star starters, reserves and pitchers were all announced Sunday. Starters were selected by a fan vote, and the pitchers and reserves were chosen by a combination of player vote and selections made by the commissioner's office.The three Astros voted as starters for the American League were second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa and outfielder George Springer.Washington's representatives in the National League starting lineup will be first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Daniel Murphy and outfielder Bryce Harper, who was the leading vote-getter in the NL.San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey, Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Zack Cozart and outfielders Charlie Blackmon of the Colorado Rockies and Marcell Ozuna of the host Miami Marlins... [More]

TORONTO -- Drew Pomeranz pitched six effective innings, and the Boston Red Sox trounced the Toronto Blue Jays 15-1 to complete a three-game sweep.Betts had three-run and two-run homers and an RBI single and a two-run single as the Red Sox won their fourth game in a row.Hanley Ramirez added three hits, including a two-run homer, and three RBIs for the Red Sox, who outhit the Blue Jays 21-5.Pomeranz (8-4) allowed five hits, two walks and one run in six innings to win his second consecutive start. Fernando Abad replaced Pomeranz in the seventh and allowed one walk in three innings to pick up his first save of the season.Braves 4, Athletics 3 (12 innings)OAKLAND, Calif. -- Kurt Suzuki hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking solo shot in the top of the 12th inning, powering Atlanta to a victory against Oakland and a three-game series sweep.Leading off the 12th, the former Oakland catcher launched John Axford's 3-1, 96 mph fastball into the left-center-field seats for his sixth home run of... [More]

RF Mookie Betts walked three times and stole two bases Saturday in the 7-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. It is the second time this season that he has walked three times in a game and the second time this season in which he has stolen two bases in a game, both against Toronto. He was 0-for-2 in the game to end his hit streak at five games. He was 9-for-21 with two doubles, a home run and three RBIs in that span.

RF Mookie Betts socked a solo home run and had an RBI single in a 2-for-4 night against the Twins on Thursday. Betts has been off his American League MVP runner-up pace from one year ago, hitting .272 coming into the night before slugging his team-leading 13th homer. "Still got to be a little more consistent," he said. "It's just trying to take one game at a time and effect the game somehow, someway offensively."

RF Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak against Houston to 15 games with a single in the third inning Sunday. He is batting .358 (24-for-67) during the streak with two home runs and 14 RBIs. Betts owns the longest active hitting streak against the Astros.

RF Mookie Betts extended his hitting streak against Houston to 13 games with a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning off Astros RHP Will Harris. Betts is batting .373 (22-for-59) with two homers and 14 RBIs during the streak. Betts also has nine extra-base hits in his last nine games while 11 of his 12 homers have come on the road. His 22 extra-base hits on the road lead the American League.

RF Mookie Betts had a personal offensive explosion Wednesday night, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBIs, and hitting two solo home runs in a 7-3 victory over Philadelphia. It's the eighth multi-home-run game of Betts' career and first since last August. It's also his eighth career four-hit game, the last of which came Monday. He also added his league-leading 23rd double as he fell a triple short of the cycle. "I'm just putting a lot of work in, just trying to trust my ability and trust the work that I've put in," he said. "Seeing a couple balls fall in gives some confidence, and we go from there."

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Andrelton Simmons' two-run homer in the seventh inning snapped a tie and lifted the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night.New York's Ronald Herrera (0-1), who joined the club Wednesday after being called up from Double-A Trenton, served up the blast. Simmons went down and got it -- he actually appeared to hit the ball as his right knee hit the ground -- but got enough of it to hit it into the left-field bullpen for his seventh home run of the season.The game, however, did not end without drama. With two out and nobody on in the ninth, the Yankees' Aaron Hicks hit a deep fly ball to right. Los Angeles' Kole Calhoun leaped at the wall and appeared to make the catch.Second base umpire Tony Randazzo made the out call and the Angels began to celebrate. But New York called a replay and the play was overturned because the ball appeared -- at least to the replay umpires -- to deflect off the wall into Calhoun's glove.That brought up... [More]

PHILADELPHIA -- Mookie Betts went 4-for-5 with two home runs, three RBIs and four runs scored as the Boston Red Sox scored five runs in the first two innings en route to a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.In falling a triple short of the cycle, Betts raised his average to .280 while becoming the first Boston player this season with double-digit home runs (11). Xander Bogaerts had an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run single in the second for the Red Sox.It's the eighth win in 11 games for Boston, which defeated Philadelphia for the third straight time to extend the Phillies' losing streak to eight games.Red Sox reliever Hector Velasquez (1-1) was stout in relief of Brian Johnson, pitching 3 1/3 innings of scoreless ball to come away with his first career victory. Johnson departed after 2 2/3 innings because of "discomfort" in his throwing shoulder.Dodgers 6, Indians 4CLEVELAND -- Enrique Hernandez's pinch-hit home run off Andrew Miller ignited a four-run... [More]

RF Mookie Betts doubled his first three times up and then led off the seventh inning with a single Monday night, finishing 4-for-5 with an intentional walk and two fine fielding plays to contribute to the win. It was his third four-hit game of the season and the three doubles were a career high. He leads the American League with 46 doubles (22 this season) since the start of 2016 and leads the AL with seven multi-extra-base hit games.

OF Mookie Betts went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and an RBI on Monday against the White Sox. His leadoff double snapped an 0-for-11 drought at the plate. His home run marked his eighth blast of the season and his first in the past 12 games.