WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School baseball coach Todd Fitz-Gerald and his sons were guests of the Houston Astros for their spring opener against the Washington Nationals on Friday as Major League Baseball honored victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, by having its teams wear caps with the school's initials.Fitz-Gerald said it was a "relief" to get back to the sport he loves and to stop thinking, at least for a moment, about the Valentine's Day mass shooting that left 17 people dead and more than a dozen others wounded."You can't put it into words," he said, fighting back tears. "I think it's great what Major League Baseball is doing to show support for our community and our school. It's been a rough week and just being out here ... (gives me) a sense of freedom."Teams had the option of wearing he caps, which are black with "SD" in block letters, during the game or only during warmups. Both the Astros and Nationals wore them during Friday's... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Anthony Rizzo's parents were among the first homeowners in Parkland, Florida. The Chicago Cubs first baseman has watched his tight-knit community grow and change dramatically. He remembers as a boy when there were no stoplights in town to the four there are now.Rizzo feels great ties to his hometown that touches up on the Everglades.So last week, after the shooting rampage at his former high school, Rizzo knew he must immediately go home . "Numb" is how he described his initial feelings hearing the deadly attack happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.He left his team's camp in Arizona and on Thursday night spoke at a candlelight vigil back in Florida. He visited victims in the hospital. He spent time with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. He talked with neighbors."I felt helpless here," Rizzo said Monday upon rejoining his teammates at spring training. "That's where I grew up, in Parkland. I got in trouble there. I succeeded there. I learned... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Anthony Rizzo's parents were among the first homeowners in Parkland, Florida. The Chicago Cubs first baseman has watched his tight-knit community grow and change dramatically. He remembers as a boy when there were no stoplights in town to the four there are now.Rizzo feels great ties to his hometown that touches up on the Everglades.So last week, after the shooting rampage at his former high school, Rizzo knew he must immediately go home. "Numb" is how he described his initial feelings hearing the deadly attack happened at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.He left his team's camp in Arizona and on Thursday night spoke at a candlelight vigil back in Florida. He visited victims in the hospital. He spent time with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. He talked with neighbors."I felt helpless here," Rizzo said Monday upon rejoining his teammates at spring training. "That's where I grew up, in Parkland. I got in trouble there. I succeeded there. I learned... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Anthony Rizzo's parents were among the first homeowners in Parkland, Florida. He has watched his tight community grow and change dramatically. He remembers as a boy when there were no stoplights in town to the four there are now.The Cubs first baseman still feels tied to his hometown that touches up on the Everglades.So last week, after the shooting rampage at his former high school, Rizzo knew he must immediately go home. "Numb" is how he described his initial feelings.He left his team's camp in Arizona and on Thursday night spoke at a candlelight vigil at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He visited victims in the hospital. He spent time with his parents, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. He spoke with neighbors."I felt helpless here," Rizzo said Monday upon rejoining his teammates at spring training. "That's where I grew up, in Parkland. I got in trouble there. I succeeded there. I learned how to be who I am because of Parkland, because of Stoneman Douglas."Rizzo... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Anthony Rizzo is back with the Chicago Cubs after spending time at home in Florida in support of victims of the deadly shooting at his former high school.The first baseman rejoined the 2016 World Series champions Monday for their first full-squad workout of spring training. He had been an early arrival before leaving Thursday for Parkland, Florida. He spoke at a vigil for victims of the attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Wednesday.He is a 2007 graduate of the school and donated $150,000 to his alma mater in November to help build lights for the baseball and softball fields. His parents still live in the area.Manager Joe Maddon supported Rizzo's trip and pledged any help the Cubs might be able to provide.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — The Chicago Cubs, boosted by the addition of Yu Darvish, are certainly well armed as they start spring training. The result, they hope, is a drive toward a second crown in three years."The expectation for this group is to win the World Series," center fielder Albert Almora Jr. said "We know the group in here can do it. We expect nothing but that."The Cubs have made three straight extended postseason runs, with 2015 and 2017 ending in losses in the NL Championship Series.The relatively young core of productive position players, led by Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, returns intact.Now, Darvish slides into an already strong pitching rotation that includes Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Quintana and newcomer Tyler Chatwood."You could feel the confidence," manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday after the Cubs' first workout for pitchers and catchers.Darvish totally rounds out the starting rotation, Maddon said."Listen, it was going to be really good, anyway," he said."When you... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The young core of the Chicago Cubs is learning with each long playoff run.Coming off their first World Series title since 1908, the Cubs got off to a slow start last year and had to push themselves in the second half to overcome Milwaukee and win the NL Central. But they lined up with Washington in the first round of the playoffs and the grueling series with the Nationals took its toll, sending the Cubs on to a lopsided loss to rested Los Angeles in the next round.The grind of a third straight trip to the NL Championship Series left an impression."I think it just teaches you how every year is so different," pitcher Kyle Hendricks said, "not just the season, but the offseason too, and how you get your body ready. For a lot of us young guys, I think we learned a lot between the 16-17 year and that offseason and I think we're using it to our advantage this year; just how much to rest, how much to work out, what you need to get ready."The division is much improved, but the Cubs... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The young core of the Chicago Cubs is learning with each long playoff run.Coming off their first World Series title since 1908, the Cubs got off to a slow start last year and had to push themselves in the second half to overcome Milwaukee and win the NL Central. But they lined up with Washington in the first round of the playoffs and the grueling series with the Nationals took its toll, sending the Cubs on to a lopsided loss to rested Los Angeles in the next round.The grind of a third straight trip to the NL Championship Series left an impression."I think it just teaches you how every year is so different," pitcher Kyle Hendricks said, "not just the season, but the offseason too, and how you get your body ready. For a lot of us young guys, I think we learned a lot between the 16-17 year and that offseason and I think we're using it to our advantage this year; just how much to rest, how much to work out, what you need to get ready."The division is much improved, but the Cubs... [More]

1B Anthony Rizzo finished 0-for-4 as the Cubs' season ended Thursday with an 11-1 loss to the Dodgers. The performance capped a miserable series for Rizzo, who hit .059 (1 of 17) with eight strikeouts. That was a far cry from last year's NLCS, when Rizzo hit .320 (8 of 25) with two doubles, two home runs and five RBIs.

1B Anthony Rizzo was 0-for-5 in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Thursday, but somehow the Cubs managed a 9-8 win over the Nationals. Rizzo hit .200 during the series.

1B Anthony Rizzo went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Wednesday's Game 4 loss to the Washington Nationals. The performance snapped Rizzo's nine-game postseason hitting streak that dates to the 2016 World Series.

PHOENIX -- Rookie Cody Bellinger homered and drove in two runs, Yu Darvish pitched five strong innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers swept their way into the National League Championship Series with a 3-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in Game 3 of the NL Division Series on Monday.Bellinger and Austin Barnes homered off Zack Greinke (0-1). Darvish (1-0) gave up one run and struck out seven in five-plus innings to send the Dodgers to the NLCS against the winner of the Chicago Cubs-Washington Nationals series. The Cubs beat the Dodgers in six games in the NLCS last year.Bellinger, the likely NL Rookie of the Year, had 39 regular-season homers but was 1-for-12 in the NLDS before his opposite-field homer made it 2-0 in the fifth inning.Barnes' homer gave Darvish a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning, and the Dodgers used four relievers to hold on. Kenley Jansen recorded his second save of the series.Astros 5, Red Sox 4BOSTON -- Houston clinched its first trip to the American League Championship... [More]

1B Anthony Rizzo produced his third career game-winning postseason RBI with a bloop single in the eighth inning of Monday's 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. Rizzo, who went 1-for-4 Monday, has hit safely in nine straight postseason games (13-for-33) -- a streak that is tied for the third-longest in franchise history.

1B Anthony Rizzo continues to terrorize the Nationals. He hit a two-run homer Saturday off Gio Gonzalez just over the fence in right. The ball was caught by a Cubs fan and a crew chief challenge ruled the ball a homer. Rizzo is hitting .375 in the series.

CLEVELAND -- Yan Gomes' single in the bottom of the 13th inning lifted the Cleveland Indians to a wild 9-8 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 2 of the American League Division Series on Friday.Austin Jackson led off the bottom of the 13th by drawing a walk from Dellin Betances (0-1), and then stealing second base. Gomes then worked the count to 3-2, and hit a hard chopper down the third base line that eluded diving third baseman Ronald Torreyes. The ball rolled down the left field line as Jackson raced home with the winning run.Josh Tomlin (1-0), the last of eight Cleveland pitchers, pitched two scoreless innings to get the win.Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam off Chad Green in the sixth and Jay Bruce hit a game-tying homer off David Robertson in the eighth as the Indians rallied from an 8-3 deficit.Gary Sanchez, Aaron Hicks and Greg Bird homered for the Yankees before Lindor and Bruce forced extra innings.Cleveland ace Corey Kluber allowed six runs in 2 2/3 innings. New York's... [More]

1B Anthony Rizzo had a pair of run-scoring hits with two outs in the 3-0 win Friday over Washington. The Cubs were held hitless in the first five innings before Javier Baez, the No. 8 hitter in the order for manager Joe Maddon, led off the sixth. Later in the inning Kris Bryant and Rizzo had two-out RBI hits off Strasburg for a 2-0 lead. Rizzo added an RBI double in the eighth for a 3-0 cushion against reliever Ryan Madson. "Those are situations I want to be up in," Rizzo said. "The first two at-bats he made me look silly. You have to tip your cap to him."

1B Anthony Rizzo went 3-for-4 with a double, homer, two runs and two RBIs. He also had two stolen bases. Rizzo clubbed his career-high-tying 32nd home run of the season, previously accomplished in 2014 and 2016. His 106 RBIs are three shy of his career-high 109 established last season.

1B Anthony Rizzo (1-for-4) has hit safely in 10 straight home games against Milwaukee. A potential three-run homer in the fifth inning went to deep center but stayed in the park as the wind blew in on Friday.

1B Anthony Rizzo went 2-for-2 with two runs, two RBIs and two walks. He had been hitless the previous three games, going 0-for-11.

1B Anthony Rizzo sat after going 0-for-4 in Chicago's 12-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Monday. He has gone a combined 0-for-8 in his past two games since he went 2-for-5 with three RBIs against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 2.