CHICAGO (AP) — Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo was pulled from a game Sunday with a sprained right ankle, putting a damper on the Chicago Cubs' 16-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates that completed a three-game sweep.Rizzo was injured fielding a bunt at first base, had to be helped off the field and could not put pressure on the leg. X-rays taken at Wrigley Field showed no fractures. He'll get an MRI on Monday.Chicago's postseason pursuit has already been hindered by an injury to shortstop Javier Báez, who is out for the rest of the regular season with a hairline fracture of his left thumb.The Cubs maintained their one-game lead over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card.Kris Bryant homered twice, and Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber and Jonathan Lucroy also connected for the Cubs, who outscored the Pirates 47-15 in the series.Brad Wieck (1-1) struck out both batters he faced. Trevor Williams (7-7) allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings.BREWERS 7, CARDINALS 6ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ryan Braun overcame... [More]

Rangers first. Shin-Soo Choo grounds out to second base, Jonathan Villar to Renato Nunez. Rougned Odor walks. Willie Calhoun singles to right center field. Rougned Odor to third. Nick Solak singles to left field. Willie Calhoun to second. Rougned Odor scores. Logan Forsythe flies out to shallow left field to Anthony Santander. Ronald Guzman grounds out to first base, Renato Nunez to Asher Wojciechowski.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Rangers 1, Orioles 0.Rangers second. Delino DeShields flies out to right center field to Trey Mancini. Isiah Kiner-Falefa singles to left field. Jose Trevino singles to shallow center field. Isiah Kiner-Falefa to second. Shin-Soo Choo singles to shallow center field. Jose Trevino to second. Isiah Kiner-Falefa scores. Rougned Odor called out on strikes. Willie Calhoun hit by pitch. Shin-Soo Choo to second. Jose Trevino to third. Nick Solak singles to right field. Willie Calhoun to third. Shin-Soo Choo scores. Jose Trevino scores. Logan Forsythe strikes out... [More]

Nationals first. Trea Turner strikes out swinging. Adam Eaton hit by pitch. Anthony Rendon doubles to deep left center field. Adam Eaton to third. Juan Soto triples to deep center field. Anthony Rendon scores. Gerardo Parra scores. Asdrubal Cabrera singles to right field. Juan Soto scores. Kurt Suzuki homers to left field. Asdrubal Cabrera scores. Brian Dozier singles to center field. Victor Robles pops out to shortstop to Jonathan Villar. Max Scherzer strikes out swinging.5 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Nationals 5, Orioles 0.Orioles third. Chance Sisco pops out to Anthony Rendon. Asher Wojciechowski called out on strikes. Jonathan Villar singles to right field. Anthony Santander doubles to deep left center field. Jonathan Villar scores. Trey Mancini walks. DJ Stewart strikes out swinging.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Nationals 5, Orioles 1.Orioles fifth. Chance Sisco homers to center field. Stevie Wilkerson pinch-hitting for Asher Wojciechowski. Stevie Wilkerson grounds out... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Orioles have set a major league record by allowing their 259th home run this season, breaking a tie with the 2016 Cincinnati Reds with 34 games remaining.Baltimore right-hander Asher Wojciechowski surrendered a solo shot to Tampa Bay's Austin Meadows in the third inning Thursday night to break a tie with the Reds. Wojchiechowski allowed another solo homer in the fifth to Willy Adames, his 12th homer given up this season.The O's entered the game 41-86, the second worst record in baseball behind the Detroit Tigers.Baltimore likely won't be the only club to pass the 2016 Reds in a historically homer-friendly season. Entering Thursday, the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies were on track to allow at least 259 homers. The league as a whole is on pace to easily surpass the record of 6,105 homers in 2017.The teams were tied 2-2 when a downpour sent the opener of a four-game series into a rain delay in the bottom of the fifth.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at what's happening around the majors today:WELCOME BACK, MAD MAXNationals ace Max Scherzer comes off the injured list to start at last-place Pittsburgh. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA in 20 starts but has pitched only once over the past six weeks because of a strained muscle in his back. His 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings lead the NL. Washington holds the league's top wild-card spot.FENWAY FREEBIEThe Boston Red Sox are offering free admission to fans under the age of 18 for the 1:05 p.m. EDT conclusion of a game against Kansas City that was suspended on Aug. 7 because of rain. An admission fee of $5 for adults will be donated to the Jimmy Fund. Play will resume in the top of the 10th inning with the score tied 4-all and Josh Taylor working with a 2-1 count on Royals catcher Meibrys Viloria.HEALTH WATCHThree-time All-Star Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.87 ERA) makes his first start in 15 days for AL West-leading Houston after being scratched last week due to... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Thursday:WELCOME BACK, MAD MAXNationals ace Max Scherzer comes off the injured list to start at last-place Pittsburgh. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA in 20 starts but has pitched only once over the past six weeks because of a strained muscle in his back. His 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings lead the National League. Washington currently holds a wild-card spot.FENWAY FREEBIEThe Boston Red Sox are offering free admission to fans under the age of 18 for the 1:05 p.m. EDT conclusion of a game against Kansas City that was suspended on Aug. 7 because of rain. An admission fee of $5 for adults will be donated to the Jimmy Fund. Play will resume in the top of the 10th inning with the score tied 4-all and Josh Taylor working with a 2-1 count on Royals catcher Meibrys Viloria.HEALTH WATCHThree-time All-Star Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.87 ERA) makes his first start in 15 days for AL West-leading Houston after being scratched last week... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Thursday:WELCOME BACK, MAD MAXNationals ace Max Scherzer comes off the injured list to start at last-place Pittsburgh. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA in 20 starts but has pitched only once over the past six weeks because of a strained muscle in his back. His 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings lead the National League. Washington currently holds a wild-card spot.FENWAY FREEBIEThe Boston Red Sox are offering free admission to fans under the age of 18 for the 1:05 p.m. EDT conclusion of a game against Kansas City that was suspended on Aug. 7 because of rain. An admission fee of $5 for adults will be donated to the Jimmy Fund. Play will resume in the top of the 10th inning with the score tied 4-all and Josh Taylor working with a 2-1 count on Royals catcher Meibrys Viloria.HEALTH WATCHThree-time All-Star Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.87 ERA) makes his first start in 15 days for AL West-leading Houston after being scratched last week... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Manager Aaron Boone, Brett Gardner and the New York Yankees again hammered away at the umpires, this time in prolonged rants that brought several members of the team spilling onto the field, while beating the Cleveland Indians 6-5 Saturday.Gleyber Torres hit two home runs and Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu also connected for the AL East-leading Yankees.But what really fired up the crowd of 47,347 at Yankee Stadium occurred in the sixth inning after Cameron Maybin was called out on strikes by Triple-A ump Ben May.For the third time in a month — each time with a minor league call-up umpire behind the plate — the team with the best record in American League lost its temper in a big way. This episode led to Boone, Gardner and pitcher CC Sabathia being ejected.James Paxton (9-6) went five innings for the win. Zach Plesac (6-4) was chased in the fifth.Aroldis Chapman closed for his 35th save in 40 chances.BREWERS 15, NATIONALS 14, 14 INNINGSWASHINGTON (AP) — Eric Thames hit a... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Manager Aaron Boone, Brett Gardner and the New York Yankees again hammered away at the umpires, this time in prolonged rants that brought several members of the team spilling onto the field, while beating the Cleveland Indians 6-5 Saturday.Gleyber Torres hit two home runs and Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu also connected for the AL East-leading Yankees.But what really fired up the crowd of 47,347 at Yankee Stadium occurred in the sixth inning after Cameron Maybin was called out on strikes by Triple-A ump Ben May.For the third time in a month — each time with a minor league call-up umpire behind the plate — the team with the best record in American League lost its temper in a big way. This episode led to Boone, Gardner and pitcher CC Sabathia being ejected.James Paxton (9-6) went five innings for the win. Zach Plesac (6-4) was chased in the fifth.Aroldis Chapman closed for his 35th save in 40 chances.CUBS 2, PIRATES 0PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kris Bryant homered in the seventh inning,... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:METS MAGICAce Jacob deGrom (7-7, 2.77) and the streaking Mets go for their ninth straight win and a three-game sweep of Washington.New York has won 15 of 16, posting a pair of late-inning comeback wins this weekend at energized Citi Field. The Mets have pulled within a half-game of Washington for the first NL wild card.DeGrom is 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in his past six starts. He'll try to stay hot against Aníbal Sanchez (7-6, 3.67) in the series finale.ASTROS BLAST OFFComing off the highest-scoring game in franchise history, Houston tries for its ninth straight win when it takes on Baltimore.The Astros teed off at Camden Yards on Saturday night, with rookie Yordan Alvarez hitting three home runs in a 23-2 romp. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa also homered as Houston set a team record with 13 extra-base hits.The Orioles have allowed a major league-leading 240 homers and lost five straight.Justin Verlander (15-4, 2.68 ERA), who has... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Sunday:METS MAGICAce Jacob deGrom (7-7, 2.77) and the streaking Mets go for their ninth straight win and a three-game sweep of Washington.New York has won 15 of 16, posting a pair of late-inning comeback wins this weekend at energized Citi Field. The Mets have pulled within a half-game of Washington for the first NL wild card.DeGrom is 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in his past six starts. He'll try to stay hot against Aníbal Sanchez (7-6, 3.67) in the series finale.ASTROS BLAST OFFComing off the highest-scoring game in franchise history, Houston tries for its ninth straight win when it takes on Baltimore.The Astros teed off at Camden Yards on Saturday night, with rookie Yordan Alvarez hitting three home runs in a 23-2 romp. Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa also homered as Houston set a team record with 13 extra-base hits.The Orioles have allowed a major league-leading 240 homers and lost five straight.Justin Verlander (15-4, 2.68 ERA), who has... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts hit three home runs against James Paxton during the first four innings Friday night in the Boston Red Sox's 10-5 victory over the New York Yankees, whose starting pitchers have stumbled this week in historic fashion.Betts homered on Paxton's eighth pitch in a three-run first that included J.D. Martinez's two-run homer, went deep again leading off the third for a 4-0 lead and hit a two-run drive in the fourth for a 7-0 advantage.Betts added an RBI double in the sixth off David Hale to give him five RBIs and grounded out in the eighth. With his fifth career three-homer game, Betts raised his season total to 18 homers.Batters have had three-homer games on four straight days for the first time in big league history. Betts followed the New York Mets' Robinson Canó, St. Louis' Paul DeJong and Minnesota's Nelson Cruz.Andrew Cashner (10-5), coming off losses in his first two starts after Boston acquired him from Baltimore, allowed three runs and 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.Martinez... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins' home run in the 11th inning.Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.That's when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter's box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies' dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins' home run in the 11th inning.Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.That's when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter's box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies' dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins' home run in the 11th inning.Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.That's when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter's box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies' dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Boston's Rafael Devers led off the seventh inning with a double to end a no-hit bid by Baltimore Orioles right-hander Asher Wojciechowski.Making his fourth start of the season, Wojciechowski was 0-3 with a 5.74 ERA going into Sunday's game against the Red Sox at Camden Yards.Facing the highest-scoring team in the majors, Wojciechowski allowed only two baserunners and had a career-high nine strikeouts through six innings.Although Devers broke up the no-hitter with a liner off the right-field wall, Wojciechowski completed the inning without giving up a run.The Orioles lead 4-0 against Andrew Cashner, who was traded to Boston from Baltimore just eight days earlier.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore Orioles right-hander Asher Wojciechowski has a no-hitter through six innings against the Boston Red Sox.Making his fourth start of the season, Wojciechowski was 0-3 with a 5.74 ERA going into Sunday's game at Camden Yards.Facing the highest-scoring team in the majors, he's got a career-high nine strikeouts and has allowed only two baserunners — hitting Brock Holt with a pitch in the third inning and walking Holt in the sixth.Wojciechowski has never pitched more than six innings before. He has thrown 85 pitches.The Orioles lead 4-0 against Andrew Cashner, who was traded to Boston from Baltimore just eight days earlier.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — The Cleveland Indians were waiting for the right time to turn Cory Kluber loose in spring inning.Kluber made his first Cactus League start Monday, pitching 3 2/3 innings against Cincinnati and giving up three runs and six hits, including a homer by Yasiel Puig.Indians manager Terry Francona wanted to limit the intensity for Kluber as he was building his pitch count in a controlled environment. The plan was for Kluber to pitch in intrasquad games and live batting practice to build to 50 pitches before launching him into game experience.The two-time Cy Young award said he kept under control."It is different from pitching on the back fields for sure," Kluber said. "You have the scoreboard and the fans that give you the extra little kick of adrenaline. That's the reason we, I don't want to say slow play it, but we wait until now to control the intensity a bit."The Indians have held Kluber out of games early in the spring since 2017, the year after Kluber pitched deep... [More]

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had four singles in his spring training debut for the Toronto Blue Jays, a 9-3 win at the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.The 18-year-old third baseman, whose father Vladimir will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, signed with Toronto in July 2015 for a $3.9 million bonus.He was the designated hitter and had hits in the second inning off Nestor Cortes Jr., in the sixth and seventh against Tim Melville and in the ninth versus Asher Wojciechowski. He also flied out in the fourth against Darren O'Day. He hit .323 with 13 homers and 76 RBIs at a pair of Class A teams last year with a .910 OPS."Good looking hitter," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He looks like he has fun playing."Bo Bichette, a son of former major leaguer Dante Bichette, had two hits and drove in two runs for Toronto. The Blue Jays' Anthony Alford had two doubles and his second triple. Aaron Sanchez allowed one run in three innings and struck out five.ELSEWHERE AROUND... [More]

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had four singles in his spring training debut for the Toronto Blue Jays, a 9-3 win at the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.The 18-year-old third baseman, whose father Vladimir will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, signed with Toronto in July 2015 for a $3.9 million bonus.He was the designated hitter and had hits in the second inning off Nestor Cortes Jr., in the sixth and seventh against Tim Melville and in the ninth versus Asher Wojciechowski. He also flied out in the fourth against Darren O'Day. He hit .323 with 13 homers and 76 RBIs at a pair of Class A teams last year with a .910 OPS."Good looking hitter," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "He looks like he has fun playing."Bo Bichette, a son of former major leaguer Dante Bichette, had two hits and drove in two runs for Toronto. The Blue Jays' Anthony Alford had two doubles and his second triple. Aaron Sanchez allowed one run in three innings and struck out five.ELSEWHERE AROUND... [More]