NEW YORK (AP) — Cody Bellinger hit a grand slam to break a scoreless tie in the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the sinking New York Mets 5-2 on Friday night behind Alex Wood's effective pitching.Yasiel Puig added a solo home run in the ninth, and the defending NL champions won their 10th straight against the Mets dating to May 2016. Los Angeles has outscored New York 75-20 in those games, winning each of the past eight by at least three runs — a first in Dodgers history against any opponent, according to STATS.Wood (3-5) outdueled Zack Wheeler (2-6), allowing two runs and six hits in six innings to win his second consecutive start. The left-hander with the funky delivery struck out seven and walked one.Kenley Jansen fanned two in a perfect ninth for his 19th save.New York wasted a dazzling catch by center fielder Michael Conforto that saved a run in the third. After starting the season 11-1, the Mets lost for the 21st time in 27 games to fall a season-worst 11 games under... [More]

PLAYERS TO PICK UPANDREW HEANEY, SP, Los Angeles Angels (47 percent owned in Yahoo): The Angels aren't treating Heaney with kid gloves after his Tommy John surgery. After his complete game shutout Tuesday night, Heaney has thrown at least six innings in six of his last seven starts. He's traded his higher strikeout rate for a lower walk rate and ERA this season. The Angels six-man rotation makes owning any LA starter frustrating in a weekly league, but Heaney has high upside as a former top pitching prospect.JAKE BAUERS, 1B, Tampa Bay Rays (4 percent) - Bauers got the call Wednesday night, and as deep as first base looked during draft season, it's been dismal so far in 2018. Bauers doesn't do one thing great, but he does a lot to help across the board. As a first baseman with a nice walk rate and the ability to sprinkle in some stolen bases, he's worth a speculative add in 12-team leagues.KYLE BARRACLOUGH, RP, Miami Marlins (48 percent) - The experiment of trying to get as much trade value... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Max Scherzer pitched eight strong innings to become the first 10-game winner in the majors this season, striking out 13 in the Washington Nationals' 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.Scherzer (10-1) won his ninth consecutive decision while scattering five hits and did not allow a runner past second base until pinch hitter Brad Miller's two-out double in the eighth.Sean Doolittle pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 16 opportunities.Scherzer struck out Johnny Field, Christian Arroyo and Daniel Robertson on a combined nine pitches in the sixth inning. It was the third nine pitch/three strikeout inning in Nationals history and the first since Scherzer did it against Philadelphia on May 14, 2017.Tampa Bay starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) gave up four runs in five innings in his second start back from Tommy John surgery.DIAMONDBACKS 3, GIANTS 2SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Madison Bumgarner tossed six solid innings in his long-awaited season debut but was outpitched... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Max Scherzer pitched eight strong innings to become the first 10-game winner in the majors this season, striking out 13 in the Washington Nationals' 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday night.Scherzer (10-1) won his ninth consecutive decision while scattering five hits and did not allow a runner past second base until pinch hitter Brad Miller's two-out double in the eighth.Sean Doolittle pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 16 opportunities.Scherzer struck out Johnny Field, Christian Arroyo and Daniel Robertson on a combined nine pitches in the sixth inning. It was the third nine pitch/three strikeout inning in Nationals history and the first since Scherzer did it against Philadelphia on May 14, 2017.Tampa Bay starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-1) gave up four runs in five innings in his second start back from Tommy John surgery.RED SOX 6, TIGERS 0BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit his 20th home run, Steven Wright pitched seven sharp innings in his first start of the season... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Wacha lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Colin Moran led off with a single, leaving to a huge ovation and pitching the St. Louis Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 Sunday.This was the second time Wacha had a no-hit try broken up in the ninth. As a rookie in 2013, he was one out away from a no-hitter when Washington's Ryan Zimmerman got an infield single.Wacha (7-1) came close to pitching the fourth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. He struck out eight and walked two.Moran fouled off the first three pitches before the Pirates rookie lined a clean single well over the head of second baseman Kolten Wong into right field.That was all for Wacha, and the 26-year-old righty was pulled after 111 pitches.Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam on the eighth pitch of the game from Nick Kingham (2-2).GIANTS 6, PHILLIES 1SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dereck Rodriguez earned his first big league win, giving up a home run to Jake Arrieta but outpitching the... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Wacha lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Colin Moran led off with a single, leaving to a huge ovation and pitching the St. Louis Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 Sunday.This was the second time Wacha had a no-hit try broken up in the ninth. As a rookie in 2013, he was one out away from a no-hitter when Washington's Ryan Zimmerman got an infield single.Wacha (7-1) came close to pitching the fourth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. He struck out eight and walked two.Moran fouled off the first three pitches before the Pirates rookie lined a clean single well over the head of second baseman Kolten Wong into right field.That was all for Wacha, and the 26-year-old righty was pulled after 111 pitches.Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam on the eighth pitch of the game from Nick Kingham (2-2).GIANTS 6, PHILLIES 1SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dereck Rodriguez earned his first big league win, giving up a home run to Jake Arrieta but outpitching the... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Michael Wacha lost a no-hit bid in the ninth inning when pinch-hitter Colin Moran led off with a single, leaving to a huge ovation and pitching the St. Louis Cardinals past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 Sunday.This was the second time Wacha had a no-hit try broken up in the ninth. As a rookie in 2013, he was one out away from a no-hitter when Washington's Ryan Zimmerman got an infield single.Wacha (7-1) came close to pitching the fourth no-hitter in the major leagues this season. He struck out eight and walked two.Moran fouled off the first three pitches before the Pirates rookie lined a clean single well over the head of second baseman Kolten Wong into right field.That was all for Wacha, and the 26-year-old righty was pulled after 111 pitches.Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam on the eighth pitch of the game from Nick Kingham (2-2).GIANTS 6, PHILLIES 1SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dereck Rodriguez earned his first big league win, giving up a home run to Jake Arrieta but outpitching the... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Nathan Eovaldi pitched six innings of no-hit ball in his return to the majors following a second Tommy John surgery, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.Eovaldi (1-0) faced one over the minimum through six innings in his Tampa Bay debut. He threw 70 pitches and had four strikeouts. The only runner to reach base against him was Matt Chapman, who drew a one-out walk in the first.Wilmer Font, acquired by the Rays from the A's last Friday, gave up Jed Lowrie's one-out single in the seventh for Oakland's only hit of the game. Vidal Nuno got the last three outs to finish the one-hitter.Rob Refsnyder hit a three-run home run off A's starter Sean Manaea (5-6), and Johnny Field also homered for the Rays.The game drew an announced crowd of 6,295, the smallest at the Coliseum since April 3, 2003.Eovaldi last pitched in the majors on Aug. 10, 2016, for the Yankees. Nine days later, he underwent a second elbow surgery. Eovaldi... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner tied it with his second homer of the game, a one-out, two-run drive in the ninth inning, Gleyber Torres hit a winning single in the 10th and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Houston Astros 6-5 Tuesday night.The Yankees won despite making five errors — including two by Torres at second base — for the first time since 2014. They also came up with a startling defensive play in the 10th when Aroldis Chapman (2-0) threw a 100 mph fastball to the backstop that took a fortuitous carom to catcher Gary Sanchez, who threw out Tony Kemp at third base.Miguel Andujar doubled against Brad Peacock (1-3) with two outs in the 10th, and Torres lined an opposite-field single to right.RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 3BOSTON (AP) — Sandy Leon hit a home run and two doubles, Xander Bogaerts also homered and Rick Porcello took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, helping Boston beat Toronto to match the second-best start in franchise history.J.D. Martinez also had two of Boston's... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout homered and doubled three times during his first five-hit game in the majors, and the Los Angeles Angels quickly erased an early deficit in beating the New York Yankees 11-4 on Saturday night.Playing not far from his southern New Jersey hometown, Trout went deep for the third straight game to tie Boston's Mookie Betts for the big league lead with 17 home runs. The two-time MVP drove in four runs and set career bests with four extra-base hits and 11 total bases.Jose Briceno homered in his major league debut for Los Angeles, and rookie Jaime Barria (4-1) returned from the minors to win his third consecutive major league decision.Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Austin Romine homered for the Yankees. Sonny Gray (3-4) was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings.RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping Boston top Atlanta.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout homered and doubled three times during his first five-hit game in the majors, and the Los Angeles Angels quickly erased an early deficit in beating the New York Yankees 11-4 on Saturday night.Playing not far from his southern New Jersey hometown, Trout went deep for the third straight game to tie Boston's Mookie Betts for the big league lead with 17 home runs. The two-time MVP drove in four runs and set career bests with four extra-base hits and 11 total bases.Jose Briceno homered in his major league debut for Los Angeles, and rookie Jaime Barria (4-1) returned from the minors to win his third consecutive major league decision.Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Austin Romine homered for the Yankees. Sonny Gray (3-4) was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings.RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping Boston top Atlanta.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games.... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping the Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 8-6 on Saturday.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games. Mitch Moreland had a key two-run double, Steven Wright (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings, and Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 16th save.The 34-year-old Pedroia went 0 for 4 with a walk and scored in his first game after offseason knee surgery.Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer for Atlanta, and Ronald Acuna Jr. connected for a solo shot. Sean Newcomb, a Massachusetts native, struggled with his control in his first career game at Fenway Park, giving up three runs and walking four in three innings. Sam Freeman (1-2) got the loss.PHILLIES 2, BLUE JAYS 1PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Nick Williams hit his third pinch-hit homer in the eighth and the Phillies moved into first in the NL East.Nola did not allow a... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings, Tony Kemp had a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night for their third straight win.Morton (6-0) allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in extending his career-high winning streak to nine straight dating to last September. Morton retired 19 of the first 21 batters.After Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (3-1) walked Marwin Gonzalez and Derek Fisher to lead off the seventh, Brian McCann popped out before Kemp hit his RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line to give Houston a 2-1 lead. George Springer followed with a grounder to Kipnis, but Fisher beat the throw home.Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his seventh save.ROYALS 5, YANKEES 2KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield had three hits, stole three bases and scored twice off CC Sabathia in the first four innings, Jakob Junis held down the Yankees' potent offense and Kansas City beat New York.Salvador... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings, Tony Kemp had a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night for their third straight win.Morton (6-0) allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in extending his career-high winning streak to nine straight dating back to last September. Morton retired 19 of the first 21 batters.After Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (3-1) walked Marwin Gonzalez and Derek Fisher to lead off the seventh, Brian McCann popped out before Kemp hit his RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line to give Houston a 2-1 lead. George Springer followed with a grounder to Kipnis, but Fisher beat the throw home.Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his seventh save.ROYALS 5, YANKEES 2KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield had three hits, stole three bases and scored twice off CC Sabathia in the first four innings, Jakob Junis held down the Yankees' potent offense and Kansas City beat New... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Fernando Romero struck out nine in six innings in his second straight scoreless start to begin his major league career, leading the Minnesota Twins over the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 on Monday night.The victory was a season-high fourth straight for the Twins, who have won 13 of their last 16 games against National League opponents dating to last year.St. Louis had its season-best five-game winning streak snapped, one night after finishing a weekend sweep of the rival Chicago Cubs at nearly 1 a.m.Romero (2-0) permitted just three hits while throwing 97 pitches. The 23-year-old right-hander tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings in his debut last week, a win over Toronto.Romero got a lift from left fielder Eddie Rosario, who reached over the wall in the first inning to catch a possible two-run homer for St. Louis' Dexter Fowler.John Gant (1-1) gave up six hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Cardinals.METS 7, REDS 6CINCINNATI (AP) — Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer against his... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers left a game against Oakland with a strained left hamstring after pulling up on his way to first base on a hit in the gap in right-center field.Beltre limped most of the way to first on a single that scored Shin-Soo Choo from first in the eighth inning Tuesday night. He immediately went to the locker room and was replaced by pinch-runner Drew Robinson.The Rangers say the veteran third baseman will be re-evaluated Wednesday.The 39-year-old Beltre is in his 21st season and is one of two active players with 3,000 hits, along with Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki. The single that scored Choo was the Beltre's second hit of the game and 3,075th of his career, 23rd on the all-time list.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

As we enter the last full week of April, perhaps there's a chance that there are only a handful of postponements for the week, instead of a handful each day.Samples at the plate and on the mound are getting larger, but still far too little to put too much emphasis on them. But let's take a look at the week ahead for the best hitter matchups, two-start pitchers and batters you should consider picking up and getting into your lineups.BEST HITTING MATCHUPS: Atlanta, Minnesota, ColoradoWORST HITTING MATCHUPS: Los Angeles Angels, San FranciscoPLAYERS TO PICK UPTeoscar Hernandez, OF, Toronto - In 97 plate appearances last year, Hernandez had eight home runs and a .261 batting average. He's going to strike out a lot (37.9 strikeout percentage last season), but he's a power-speed outfielder with tremendous upside. He needs to be stashed in all category and roto leagues with five outfield spots, as he only has the struggling Randall Grichuk (.088 average, 33.8 strikeout percentage) in his way of... [More]

As we enter the last full week of April, perhaps there's a chance that there are only a handful of postponements for the week, instead of a handful each day.Samples at the plate and on the mound are getting larger, but still far too little to put too much emphasis on them. But let's take a look at the week ahead for the best hitter matchups, two-start pitchers and batters you should consider picking up and getting into your lineups.BEST HITTING MATCHUPS: Atlanta, Minnesota, ColoradoWORST HITTING MATCHUPS: Los Angeles Angels, San FranciscoPLAYERS TO PICK UPTeoscar Hernandez, OF, Toronto - In 97 plate appearances last year, Hernandez had eight home runs and a .261 batting average. He's going to strike out a lot (37.9 strikeout percentage last season), but he's a power-speed outfielder with tremendous upside. Yes, Toronto is noncommittal about him staying up with the team, but he needs to be stashed in all category and roto leagues with five outfield spots, as he only has the struggling Randall... [More]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Francisco Lindor homered in his native Puerto Rico, Corey Kluber allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings and the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 6-1 on Tuesday night in the first regular-season game on the island commonwealth since 2010.Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez each had three hits for Cleveland before a sold-out crowd of 19,516 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Brantley and Ramirez hit consecutive homers in the sixth, and Yonder Alonso added a solo homer in the eighth.Kluber (2-1) allowed five hits and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 1.52. Minnesota's Jake Odorizzi (1-1) gave up four runs and six hits in five-plus innings.RED SOX 10, ANGELS 1ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Mookie Betts led off with the first of his three homers, and Boston chased Shohei Ohtani just two innings into his third big-league start.Ohtani (2-1) yielded four hits and three runs on 66 pitches before exiting with a blister on his pitching hand. The two-way Japanese sensation couldn't... [More]

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Francisco Lindor homered in his native Puerto Rico, Corey Kluber allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings and the Cleveland Indians beat the Minnesota Twins 6-1 on Tuesday night in the first regular-season game on the island commonwealth since 2010.Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez each had three hits for Cleveland before a sold-out crowd of 19,516 at Hiram Bithorn Stadium. Brantley and Ramirez hit consecutive homers in the sixth, and Yonder Alonso added a solo homer in the eighth.Kluber (2-1) allowed five hits and struck out six, lowering his ERA to 1.52. Minnesota's Jake Odorizzi (1-1) gave up four runs and six hits in five-plus innings.DIAMONDBACKS 1, GIANTS 0PHOENIX (AP) — Patrick Corbin lost his no-hit bid on a checked-swing infield single with two outs in the eighth inning but finished a one-hitter to lift Arizona.Corbin (3-0) walked one but otherwise was cruising toward what would have been the franchise's third no-hitter. Brandon Belt ended it with a softly... [More]