ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Seattle Mariners have recalled right-hander Erasmo Ramirez from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma to make his season debut starting the series finale at Texas.Ramirez didn't appear in a spring training game and started the season on the disabled list because of a strained right lat.Seattle made the move before Sunday's game. Guillermo Heredia, one of five outfielders that had been on the roster, was optioned to Tacoma to make room on the 25-man roster.The remaining outfielders are Dee Gordon, Mitch Haniger, Ben Gamel and Ichiro Suzuki. The 44-year-old Ichiro was hitting .212 with seven singles and no walks in his 11 games before starting Sunday in right field.Heredia was hitting .310 with two homers in 16 games.Texas activated center fielder Delino DeShields from the 10-day DL and put Carlos Tocci on the DL with a hip issue.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

PHOENIX (AP) — Tyson Ross lost his bid to pitch the first no-hitter in the history of the San Diego Padres when rookie center fielder Franchy Cordero appeared to misplay a ball with two outs in the eighth inning Friday night of a 4-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.Playing their 7,835th game since joining the majors in 1969, the Padres again came agonizingly close to their first no-no. They remain the only team in the big leagues that has never thrown a no-hitter.Ross had a 1-0 lead with two outs in the eighth when Christian Walker lined a drive to deep center. Cordero seemed to get a late break on the ball, then had it sail just over his outstretched glove for a double that made it 1-all. Ross was pulled after throwing a career-high 127 pitches. The right-hander, who turns 31 on Sunday, struck out 10 and walked three. He retired 18 straight after walking Jarrod Dyson in the first. Brad Hand (1-2) relieved Ross and got the last four outs — they combined on the 29th one-hitter in Padres'... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes, who struck out in his previous four at-bats, hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the 12th inning to lift the New York Mets to a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.Cespedes' single to right field drove in winning pitcher Robert Gsellman from second base. Cespedes scored on Asdrubal Cabrera's double off Josh Ravin (0-1) to right field. Cabrera ran halfway to third before stopping and trying to return to second. A review showed he was out at second, overturning the original call. Ravin hit Gsellman with a pitch to open the 12th. Gsellman moved to second on Amed Rosario's sacrifice. Michael Conforto popped out before Cespedes delivered the go-ahead hit.Gsellman (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings. Jeurys Familia pitched a perfect 12th for his eighth save.ASTROS 10, WHITE SOX 0CHICAGO (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched six sparkling innings, Carlos Correa homered twice and the Houston Astros pounded the White Sox.George Springer also drove in four... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners are going with five outfielders for now after recalling Ben Gamel from Triple-A Tacoma and optioning left-handed pitcher Ariel Miranda back to the minors.Seattle's roster shuffling finally allowed a chance for Gamel to rejoin the club Wednesday. Gamel was sidelined by a strained oblique during spring training.He started his rehab assignment on April 5 and hit a combined .286 with five RBIs in 10 games at Single-A Modesto and Tacoma. Gamel was Seattle's projected starting left fielder but the injury ultimately led to the club signing Ichiro Suzuki during spring training. Suzuki has split time in left field with Guillermo Heredia through the first three weeks of the season.The decision to option Miranda will mean Seattle has five outfielders — Gamel, Heredia, Suzuki, Dee Gordon and Mitch Haniger — for now.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

A look at what's happening all around the majors today:GOOD COMPANYGerrit Cole can become the first Astros pitcher since Randy Johnson in 1998 to reach double-digit strikeouts in four straight games when Houston faces Seattle. Cole would tie Nolan Ryan for the second-longest double-digit strikeout streak in franchise history — Johnson and J.R. Richard share the team record with five such games in a row. Cole (3-0, 1.29 ERA) has 36 strikeouts in 21 innings and leads all qualified starters with 15.43 strikeouts per nine innings.GIANCARLO DROP?Yankees manager Aaron Boone says he may drop struggling slugger Giancarlo Stanton slightly in the batting order. Stanton struck out twice Tuesday night and drew boos at Yankee Stadium, where he's 3 for 35 (.086) with 20 strikeouts this season. "Track record don't matter in the moment," he said. "You've got to own up to it and understand and find a way to get better, find a way to get out of it."IN SAN JUANPuerto Rican pitcher Jose Berrios will start... [More]

A look at what's happening all around the majors Wednesday:GOOD COMPANYGerrit Cole can become the first Astros pitcher since Randy Johnson in 1998 to reach double-digit strikeouts in four straight games when Houston faces Seattle. Cole would tie Nolan Ryan for the second-longest double-digit strikeout streak in franchise history — Johnson and J.R. Richard share the team record with five such games in a row. Cole (3-0, 1.29 ERA) has 36 strikeouts in 21 innings and leads all qualified starters with 15.43 strikeouts per nine innings.IN SAN JUANPuerto Rican pitcher Jose Berrios will start for Minnesota in the finale of a two-game series against Cleveland in San Juan. The crowd there already got a memorable moment from one of its homegrown stars in the opener, when Indians star Francisco Lindor went deep in the fifth inning. Lindor waved on the crowd as he rounded third base, encouraging an ovation powered by pink thundersticks and capped with chants of "Lindor! Lindor!"BACK IN FORMRick Porcello... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Didi Gregorius homered twice for the second time this season, Gary Sanchez had three hits and three RBIs, and the New York Yankees romped to a 12-1 victory over Derek Jeter's Miami Marlins on Monday night.The only Yankees bopper who didn't join the hit parade was Giancarlo Stanton, who went hitless and got booed again by the hometown fans in his first game against his former team.Aaron Judge became the fastest major leaguer to hit 60 career homers, and Gregorius finished with three RBIs. New York scored in each of the first five innings and built an 11-0 lead for Luis Severino (3-1), who allowed one hit in six scoreless innings and struck out eight.Judge hit his fourth home run this season and reached 60 in 197 games, five fewer than Mark McGwire.Jeter did not attend the game, the first between the teams since the former Yankees captain became Marlins CEO last October.Stanton went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts, a bases-loaded foulout, a walk and was hit by a pitch. The four-time... [More]

Skip the concession stands. There were plenty of chilly dogs in the seats at Globe Life Park in Texas.All over the big leagues, players and fans and even pooches bundled up Saturday at icy stadiums. At least there wasn't any snow — a wintry mix has blanketed the majors early this season, part of the nine postponements in just 10 days.It was a record-low of 27 degrees for the first pitch at Target Field, so frigid the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners abandoned the bullpens.Ski masks were in style at Busch Stadium, and it was wicked cold at Fenway Park when the Red Sox limbered up. Not much better in Cleveland, Chicago or Pittsburgh, either.And those poor pooches for Bark in the Park Night as Toronto visited Texas. The gametime temperature was an unseasonable 42 degrees, with a wind chill of 35 — a night earlier, it was 74 degrees at the start."I was getting picked on a lot of the time for having a hoodie on," Mariners center fielder Dee Gordon said. "Then we went out, and everybody on... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani won his major league pitching debut, throwing three-hit ball over six innings and leading the Los Angeles Angels past the Oakland Athletics 7-4 on Sunday.The two-way star from Japan took the mound three days after he was the designated hitter in the opener. Reaching the upper-90s (mph) with his fastball and showing a nifty splitter, Ohtani struck out six and retired 14 of his final 15 batters.Ohtani didn't hit while pitching. Albert Pujols was the DH and went 0 for 5.Ohtani (1-0) pounded his glove following a 1-2-3 shutdown fifth. He walked one, and the only damage against him came on Matt Chapman's three-run homer in the second.Mike Trout hit a tying double in the fifth and Justin Upton followed with a go-ahead sacrifice fly. Keynan Middleton earned his first save.Daniel Gossett (0-1) allowed four runs in four innings for Oakland.ASTROS 8, RANGERS 2ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Gerrit Cole struck out 11 over seven innings in his Houston debut, and the defending... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Robinson Cano has spent enough time now to understand the angst surrounding the Seattle Mariners.The Mariners have the longest playoff drought in the four major sports, meaning there is an urgency to finally end the skid. They also appear to be an average ballclub at a time when the American League is filled with mostly superpowers and rebuilders.It's an odd spot for a club with talent but scant optimism that this is the year the playoff drought ends."We've been close a couple of times. ... That's life, that's part of the game. But I know we have a bunch of great guys here, guys who know how to play this game," Cano said.The Mariners enter the 2018 season with an offense that could score a lot of runs and a pitching staff that could give up just as many. Cano and Nelson Cruz are the anchors of a batting order that with the additions of Dee Gordon and Ryon Healy could be potent enough to keep Seattle in a lot of games. But there's mostly skepticism about the pitching staff.James... [More]

Capsules of American League West teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Houston Astros2017: 101-61, first place, won World Series.Manager: A.J. Hinch (fourth season).He's Here: RHP Gerrit Cole, RHP Joe Smith, RHP Hector Rondon.He's Outta Here: DH Carlos Beltran, RHP Luke Gregerson, RHP Joe Musgrove, RHP Mike Fiers, RHP Michael Feliz, INF Colin Moran.Projected Lineup: CF George Springer (.283, 34 HRs, 85 RBIs), 3B Alex Bregman (.284, 19, 71, 39 2Bs), 2B Jose Altuve (MLB-best .346, 24, 81, 39 2Bs, 32 SBs, AL MVP), SS Carlos Correa (.315, 24, 84), 1B Yuli Gurriel (.299, 18, 75, 43 2Bs), LF Marwin Gonzalez (.303, 23, 90, 34 2Bs), DH Evan Gattis (.263, 12, 55), RF Josh Reddick (.314, 13, 82, 34 2Bs), C Brian McCann (.241, 18, 62).Rotation: LH Dallas Keuchel (14-5, 2.90 ERA, 251 Ks), RH Justin Verlander (15-8, 3.36, 219 Ks with Tigers and Astros), RH Gerrit Cole (12-12, 4.26, 196 Ks with Pirates), RH Lance McCullers Jr. (7-4, 4.25), RH Charlie Morton (14-7, 3.62).Key Relievers: RH Ken... [More]

Second base is a deep position in fantasy baseball this season. Like most positions it's loaded at the top before the value drops, but when it comes to selecting your middle infielder in the later rounds of your draft, you are much more likely to take a second baseman than a shortstop.Positional flexibility is always a bonus when it comes to selecting a player and several 2B are likely to qualify at other positions. You will need to check league rules to discover how many games a player either needs to play at a certain position this season or last year to qualify at a different position.When it comes to a player that is eligible at multiple positions, this doesn't mean that you should move that player drastically up your draft board, but you can move him up slightly and at the very least use this flexibility as a tiebreaker between him and another player. Jose Ramirez qualifies at third base, Paul DeJong at SS, Marwin Gonzalez at just about every other position other than catcher. Ian... [More]

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels rookie Shohei Ohtani allowed six runs while pitching three innings in an exhibition game against the Mexican League's Tijuana Toros on Friday.The 23-year-old Ohtani struck out six and walked one.Ohtani spent five seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters before signing with the Angels as an international free agent on Dec. 10. He is trying to become the first player in nearly 100 years to play regularly as a pitcher and hitter, but he has had mixed results so far this spring.AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUESDODGERS 6, ROYALS (SS) 4Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen was held out of what was supposed to be his first big league spring training game this year due to an injured upper right hamstring."When he was getting ready today, his pregame stuff and kind of getting his legs loose, it tightened up on him," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "We had the trainers look at him and it just made sense to just not throw him out there."Roberts said he expects... [More]

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels rookie Shohei Ohtani allowed six runs while pitching three innings in an exhibition game against the Mexican League's Tijuana Toros on Friday.The 23-year-old Ohtani struck out six and walked one.Ohtani spent five seasons with the Nippon Ham Fighters before signing with the Angels as an international free agent on Dec. 10. He is trying to become the first player in nearly 100 years to play regularly as a pitcher and hitter, but he has had mixed results so far this spring.AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUESDODGERS 6, ROYALS (SS) 4Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen was held out of what was supposed to be his first big league spring training game this year due to an injured upper right hamstring."When he was getting ready today, his pregame stuff and kind of getting his legs loose, it tightened up on him," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "We had the trainers look at him and it just made sense to just not throw him out there."Roberts said he expects... [More]

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki's wish was granted. He is back in the familiar white and blue jersey of the Seattle Mariners."Even in the offseason when I would go back to Japan, I always came back to Seattle. This was my home ... has always been my home," the 44-year-old outfielder said through a translator Wednesday after finalizing a $750,000, one-year contract. "Somewhere deep inside, I wanted to return and wear this uniform again."Almost six years away, Suzuki returned to help patch an injury-depleted outfield on the team he played for from 2001-12. The 10-time All-Star can earn an additional $1.25 million in performance bonuses based on plate appearances: $200,000 each for 150 and each additional 50 through 350, and $250,000 for 400.Suzuki earned the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year and MVP, with the Mariners and won a pair of AL batting titles. He was traded to the New York Yankees midway through 2012, played parts of three seasons with the Yankees, then spent three seasons with Miami.He... [More]

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — The play was as routine as it gets in a spring training game, a stolen base attempt with a throw down to second base.Right now, nothing is routine for Dee Gordon. The moment the runner broke from first, Gordon sprinted from center field and was just 30 or so feet behind the base as the throw arrived. As innocuous as the play was, it was a moment that stood out to Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais."He knows the value of those little things have played in the infield. He's moving in the right spots," Servais said. "Really happy with how this has gone early in camp with him."In almost any other circumstance, Gordon would be preparing for another season as a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman. But that's not why he's now in Seattle, creating on one of the most interesting position changes in baseball for the 2018 season.Gordon will be the Mariners center fielder. His infielders' glove, the one that earned him a Gold Glove in 2015, will be a permanent resident in his... [More]

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — The play was as routine as it gets in a spring training game, a stolen base attempt with a throw down to second base.Right now, nothing is routine for Dee Gordon. The moment the runner broke from first, Gordon sprinted from center field and was just 30 or so feet behind the base as the throw arrived. As innocuous as the play was, it was a moment that stood out to Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais."He knows the value of those little things have played in the infield. He's moving in the right spots," Servais said. "Really happy with how this has gone early in camp with him."In almost any other circumstance, Gordon would be preparing for another season as a Gold Glove-caliber second baseman. But that's not why he's now in Seattle, creating on one of the most interesting position changes in baseball for the 2018 season.Gordon will be the Mariners center fielder. His infielders' glove, the one that earned him a Gold Glove in 2015, will be a permanent resident in his... [More]

This was not how Felix Hernandez hoped to start spring training.Slowed by injuries last year, the Seattle ace was struck in his pitching arm by a line drive Monday and left his exhibition debut early.The Mariners said a precautionary X-ray of his right forearm was negative. Hernandez was listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated Tuesday.Hernandez was hit by a liner from Victor Caratini of the Chicago Cubs. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner immediately grabbed his arm and didn't chase the ball on the infield grass.Hernandez went down to a knee, hopped up and walked around in obvious pain. He headed to the dugout with a trainer holding his arm, and Caratini gave him a tap of encouragement.The 31-year-old Hernandez spent considerable time on the disabled list last season because of shoulder trouble. He was 6-5 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts.OHTANI'S A HITTwo-way star Shohei Ohtani had a much better big league debut as a hitter than he did as a pitcher.After patiently drawing walks in his... [More]

This was not how Felix Hernandez hoped to start spring training.Slowed by injuries last year, the Seattle ace was struck in his pitching arm by a line drive Monday and forced to leave his exhibition debut.The Mariners said a precautionary X-ray of his right forearm was negative. Hernandez was listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated Tuesday.Hernandez was hit by a liner from Victor Caratini of the Chicago Cubs. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner immediately grabbed his arm and didn't chase the ball on the infield grass.Hernandez went down to a knee, hopped up and walked around in obvious pain. He headed to the dugout with a trainer holding his arm, and Caratini gave him a tap of encouragement.The 31-year-old Hernandez spent considerable time on the disabled list last season because of shoulder trouble. He was 6-5 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts.OHTANI'S A HITTwo-way star Shohei Ohtani had a much better big league debut as a hitter than he did as a pitcher.After patiently drawing walks in... [More]

This was not how Felix Hernandez hoped to start spring training.Slowed by injuries last year, the Seattle ace was struck in his pitching arm by a line drive Monday and forced to leave his exhibition debut.The Mariners said a precautionary X-ray of his right forearm was negative. Hernandez was listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated Tuesday.Hernandez was hit by a liner from Victor Caratini of the Chicago Cubs. The 2010 AL Cy Young Award winner immediately grabbed his arm and didn't chase the ball on the infield grass.Hernandez went down to a knee, hopped up and walked around in obvious pain. He headed to the dugout with a trainer holding his arm, and Caratini gave him a tap of encouragement.The 31-year-old Hernandez spent considerable time on the disabled list last season because of shoulder trouble. He was 6-5 with a 4.36 ERA in 16 starts.OHTANI'S A HITTwo-way star Shohei Ohtani had a much better big league debut as a hitter than he did as a pitcher.After patiently drawing walks in... [More]