ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Tyler Skaggs weighed heavy on the minds of Mike Trout and all of the Los Angeles Angels in their first game since death of the much-loved 27-year-old pitcher."I can't explain it man. Lost a teammate, lost a friend, a brother. Just got to get through it," a visibly shaken Trout said after the Angels 9-4 win at Texas on Tuesday night."It's tough. My first at-bat, I get up there, all I do is think about him," added the All-Star center fielder, who was in the same Angels draft class as Skaggs in 2009. "Just a different feeling, just in shock, it's like walking around the hotel, you're just always thinking about him."The Angels decided to play a day after the postponement of the series opener against the Rangers. Skaggs was found unresponsive in his hotel room in Texas on Monday. A cause of death has not been reported.Before Angels starter Jose Suarez threw his first pitch in the bottom of the first inning, the left-hander appeared to write something in the dirt with... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres lined a game-winning single in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees hit two more homers to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 Wednesday.Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu connected as the Yankees extended their major league record to 29 straight games with a home run. The AL East leaders overcame two homers and a double by Lourdes Gurriel Jr., plus an early 5-0 deficit, to finish a power-packed 9-1 homestand.Now, they'll head straight from Yankee Stadium to England, where they'll enjoy two days off before playing the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium on Saturday and Sunday in the first major league games in Europe.Zack Britton wasn't so great in giving up Cavan Biggio's RBI single in the ninth that made it 7-all. But Britton (3-1) wound up with the win to close out a three-game sweep.Gregorius got an infield hit off Nick Kingham (3-2) with one out in the ninth, Aaron Hicks walked and Torres followed with his hit.ATHLETICS 2, CARDINALS 0ST. LOUIS (AP) — Beau Taylor... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres lined a game-winning single in the ninth inning and the New York Yankees hit two more homers to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7 Wednesday.Didi Gregorius and DJ LeMahieu connected as the Yankees extended their major league record to 29 straight games with a home run. The AL East leaders overcame two homers and a double by Lourdes Gurriel Jr., plus an early 5-0 deficit, to finish a power-packed 9-1 homestand.Now, they'll head straight from Yankee Stadium to England, where they'll enjoy two days off before playing the Boston Red Sox at London Stadium on Saturday and Sunday in the first major league games in Europe.Zack Britton wasn't so great in giving up Cavan Biggio's RBI single in the ninth that made it 7-all. But Britton (3-1) wound up with the win to close out a three-game sweep.Gregorius got an infield hit off Nick Kingham (3-2) with one out in the ninth, Aaron Hicks walked and Torres followed with his hit.ATHLETICS 2, CARDINALS 0ST. LOUIS (AP) — Beau Taylor... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani became the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 Thursday night after a delay caused by a power outage.Ohtani hit a three-run homer in the first inning and completed the feat with a single in the seventh. He is the eighth Angels player to hit for the cycle and the first since Mike Trout on May 21, 2013.Albert Pujols also homered for the Angels, becoming the sixth player ever with 200 home runs in each league. He hit 445 in 11 seasons with St. Louis and has 200 in eight years with the Angels, including 12 this season.He led off the third with a double and tripled in the fifth before Pujols' home run. A two-out single in the seventh completed the cycle in just four plate appearances, and fans at Tropicana Field gave him a standing ovation.The game was held up 36 minutes by a power delay in the fourth with the Angels leading 3-0.Yarbrough (5-3) gave up five runs and five hits (all... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani became the first Japanese-born player to hit for the cycle, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-3 Thursday night after a delay caused by a power outage.Ohtani hit a three-run homer in the first inning and completed the feat with a single in the seventh. He is the eighth Angels player to hit for the cycle and the first since Mike Trout on May 21, 2013.Albert Pujols also homered for the Angels, becoming the sixth player ever with 200 home runs in each league. He hit 445 in 11 seasons with St. Louis and has 200 in eight years with the Angels, including 12 this season.He led off the third with a double and tripled in the fifth before Pujols' home run. A two-out single in the seventh completed the cycle in just four plate appearances, and fans at Tropicana Field gave him a standing ovation.The game was held up 36 minutes by a power delay in the fourth with the Angels leading 3-0.Yarbrough (5-3) gave up five runs and five hits (all... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Cubs reliever Steve Cishek, rallying the Cincinnati Reds past Chicago 6-5 on Friday.Joey Votto drew a leadoff walk from Cishek (1-2) and Suárez hit the next pitch for his 14th home run.Yasiel Puig hit a two-run homer and an RBI single for the Reds after missing two games with a sprained right shoulder.Anthony Rizzo homered for the third straight game, and Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant also went deep for the NL Central-leading Cubs, who have lost three of four to the last-place Reds this season.Pinch-hitter Willson Contreras singled home Rizzo in the eighth to put Chicago ahead 5-4. Jesse Winker's double off Brad Brach in the Reds seventh tied it at 4.David Hernandez (1-2) got one out and the win. Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th in 13 chances.PADRES 6, BLUE JAYS 3TORONTO (AP) — Hunter Renfroe hit a tiebreaking, three-run home run in the eighth inning, Greg Garcia and Austin Hedges also went deep,... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kenley Jansen to give the San Diego Padres a thrilling 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.Renfroe drove an 0-1 pitch into a balcony on the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the left-field corner. He dropped his bat and raised his arms before beginning his trot.The Padres, who avoided a three-game sweep, started the winning rally with three straight singles off Jansen (2-1), who was trying for his third save in three games. Eric Hosmer hit a leadoff single to left and Manuel Margot and Wil Myers followed with bunt singles to load the bases. Jansen struck out Greg Garcia and got rookie Francisco Mejia to pop up before Renfroe's slam.Adam Warren (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.CUBS 13, CARDINALS 5CHICAGO (AP) — Kris Bryant hit his fourth career grand slam in Chicago's six-run eighth inning and the Cubs pounded St. Louis for their season-high seventh consecutive victory.Willson... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kenley Jansen to give the San Diego Padres a thrilling 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.Renfroe drove an 0-1 pitch into a balcony on the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the left-field corner. He dropped his bat and raised his arms before beginning his trot.The Padres, who avoided a three-game sweep, started the winning rally with three straight singles off Jansen (2-1), who was trying for his third save in three games. Eric Hosmer hit a leadoff single to left and Manuel Margot and Wil Myers followed with bunt singles to load the bases. Jansen struck out Greg Garcia and got rookie Francisco Mejia to pop up before Renfroe's slam.Adam Warren (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.CUBS 13, CARDINALS 5CHICAGO (AP) — Kris Bryant hit his fourth career grand slam in Chicago's six-run eighth inning and the Cubs pounded St. Louis for their season-high seventh consecutive victory.Willson... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Pinch-hitter Hunter Renfroe hit a grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning off Kenley Jansen to give the San Diego Padres a thrilling 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.Renfroe drove an 0-1 pitch into a balcony on the Western Metal Supply Co. Building in the left-field corner. He dropped his bat and raised his arms before beginning his trot.The Padres, who avoided a three-game sweep, started the winning rally with three straight singles off Jansen (2-1), who was trying for his third save in three games. Eric Hosmer hit a leadoff single to left and Manuel Margot and Wil Myers followed with bunt singles to load the bases. Jansen struck out Greg Garcia and got rookie Francisco Mejia to pop up before Renfroe's slam.Adam Warren (2-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.ASTROS 10, ANGELS 4MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a grand slam, his third homer during a two-game series in Mexico, and Houston blew out Los Angeles for the second straight day.The... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit three homers, including a pair of three-run shots, and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Milwaukee Brewers past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7 on Monday night.Yelich, the reigning NL MVP, hit his first three-run homer to cap a six-run second inning. After St. Louis tied it with three runs in the sixth, Yelich answered in the bottom half with a towering three-run blast to right off Mike Mayers (0-1).Yelich capped his night with his eighth homer this season, going deep to lead off the eighth. He also lined out in the first and was walked intentionally in the fourth.Junior Guerra (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings for the victory. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth after allowing Marcell Ozuna's sixth home run to open the inning.DODGERS 4, REDS 3LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joc Pederson hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a comeback victory over Cincinnati in Clayton Kershaw's season debut.Raisel Iglesias (0-3) walked... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich hit three homers, including a pair of three-run shots, and drove in a career-high seven runs to power the Milwaukee Brewers past the St. Louis Cardinals 10-7 on Monday night.Yelich, the reigning NL MVP, hit his first three-run homer to cap a six-run second inning. After St. Louis tied it with three runs in the sixth, Yelich answered in the bottom half with a towering three-run blast to right off Mike Mayers (0-1).Yelich capped his night with his eighth homer this season, going deep to lead off the eighth. He also lined out in the first and was walked intentionally in the fourth.Junior Guerra (1-0) worked 1 2/3 innings for the victory. Josh Hader struck out the side in the ninth after allowing Marcell Ozuna's sixth home run to open the inning.METS 7, PHILLIES 6, 11 INNINGSPHILADELPHIA (AP) — Juan Lagares scored from second base on Michael Conforto's hard grounder in the 11th inning and New York beat Philadelphia.Lagares led off with an infield single against... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Tommy La Stella homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-8 on Tuesday after Mike Trout departed with a groin injury.Los Angeles extended its win streak to five games. Jonathan Lucroy had two hits and three RBIs against his first major league team.Trout left in the fourth inning after he strained his right groin while sliding into second base in the second. The Angels say their $426.5 million center fielder is day to day.Cam Bedrosian (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win and Cody Allen got three outs for his third save.Yasmani Grandal homered twice and drove in three runs for Milwaukee. Alex Wilson (1-1) got the loss.BLUE JAYS 7, RED SOX 5BOSTON (AP) — Chris Sale let a Toronto runner steal home, Mookie Betts fanned with two on for the final out and the Red Sox stumbled again, losing to the Blue Jays in their home opener.After receiving their World Series rings, the Red Sox fell to 3-9. A return to Fenway... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Angels have reached one-year contract agreements with all six of their remaining arbitration-eligible players.Left-handers Tyler Skaggs and Andrew Heaney got the biggest deals, with Skaggs agreeing at $3.7 million and Heaney getting $3.4 million.Relief pitcher Cam Bedrosian got $1.75 million and reliever Hansel Robles got $1.4 million. Two new Angels also finalized deals, with reliever Luis Garcia getting $1,675,000 and infielder Tommy La Stella getting $1.35 million.Right-handers JC Ramirez and Nick Tropeano reached deals Thursday.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Angels agreed to one-year contracts with right-handers JC Ramirez and Nicholas Tropeano that avoided salary arbitration.Ramirez agreed at $1,901,000 on Thursday, a raise of $1,000. Tropeano's deal is for $1,075,000, up from $552,500 in his first year of arbitration eligibility.After breaking through as a big-league starter in 2017, Ramirez made two starts last season and had Tommy John surgery. He could be ready to return late this season.Tropeano was 5-6 with a 4.74 ERA in 14 starts. The 28-year-old right-hander returned from Tommy John surgery but had shoulder problems. He has 12 big-league wins in four major league seasons that began with Houston in 2014.Six Los Angeles players remain eligible to exchange proposed arbitration salaries Friday: right-handers Cam Bedrosian, Luis Garcia and Hansel Robles; left-handers Andrew Heaney and Tyler Skaggs; and second baseman Tommy La Stella.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season, rallying on pinch-hitter Brock Holt's go-ahead home run in the seventh inning to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 Tuesday night.The Red Sox assured themselves at least a spot in the AL wild-card game while reaching the postseason for the third straight year. The AL East leaders began the night with an eight-game lead over the New York Yankees.Boston starter Chris Sale came off the disabled list and pitched one scoreless inning, striking out two and throwing 26 pitches. Sale has been slowed by inflammation in his left shoulder, and the Red Sox had said they would ease their ace back into action.Ryan Brasier (2-0) got the win with 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief as Boston used seven relievers after limiting Sale in his return.Ryan Tepera (5-5) took the loss.ANGELS 1, RANGERS 0ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Blake Parker gave up Isiah Kiner-Falefa's single to right with one out in the eighth inning... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled off Blake Parker with one out in the eighth inning, spoiling the Los Angeles Angels' bid for an unprecedented no-hitter against the Texas Rangers.Los Angeles was closing in on the record for most pitchers used in a no-hitter. The Houston Astros set the mark with six pitchers while shutting down the Yankees in 2003. Roy Oswalt started that game but was injured in the first inning. The Mariners matched that record in 2012.Jim Johnson opened Tuesday night's game with 1 1/3 innings, and Noe Ramirez, Hansel Robles, Cam Bedrosian, Justin Anderson and Jose Alvarez followed with no-hit ball. Parker retired Willie Calhoun to start the eighth before Kiner-Falefa lined a clean single into right field.The Angels led 1-0 through seven innings.Unlike the Astros in their no-hit bid, the Angels planned to make this one a bullpen game, following a trend started by the Tampa Bay Rays this season of using relievers as openers. Los Angeles is using the strategy to cover for an injury-decimated rotation that is without Shohei Ohtani, Garrett Richards, Tyler Skaggs and more. Manager Mike Scioscia used four bullpen games in August.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Five pitchers have combined to throw six hitless innings for the Los Angeles Angels against the Texas Rangers.Jim Johnson opened Tuesday night's game with 1 1/3 innings, and Noe Ramirez, Hansel Robles, Cam Bedrosian and Justin Anderson have followed with no-hit ball. The group has combined for six strikeouts and three walks.The Angels led 1-0 through six.The Houston Astros used a record six pitchers in a no-hitter against the Yankees in 2003. Roy Oswalt started that game but was injured in the first inning.The Angels planned to make this one a bullpen game, following a trend started by the Tampa Bay Rays this season of using relievers as openers.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings, Javier Baez notched his NL-leading 99th RBI and Kris Bryant doubled and had two hits in his return from the disabled list to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1 on Saturday night.Ian Happ homered and Baez had three hits for the NL Central-leading Cubs, who have won nine of 11.Bryant had been sidelined since July 23 with left shoulder inflammation. The 2016 NL MVP doubled and scored in the third and singled in the eighth.Hendricks (11-10) allowed one run on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.Nick Williams had two hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who fell three games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.The Cubs, helped by another Phillies error, scored a pair of runs in the first off Zach Eflin (9-6).DODGERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp slugged a go-ahead, two-strike, three-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting Los Angeles over Arizona and into a tie atop the NL West.With... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings, Javier Baez notched his NL-leading 99th RBI and Kris Bryant doubled and had two hits in his return from the disabled list to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1 on Saturday night.Ian Happ homered and Baez had three hits for the NL Central-leading Cubs, who have won nine of 11.Bryant had been sidelined since July 23 with left shoulder inflammation. The 2016 NL MVP doubled and scored in the third and singled in the eighth.Hendricks (11-10) allowed one run on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.Nick Williams had two hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who fell three games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.The Cubs, helped by another Phillies error, scored a pair of runs in the first off Zach Eflin (9-6).DODGERS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp slugged a go-ahead, two-strike, three-run homer in the eighth inning, lifting Los Angeles over Arizona and into a tie atop the NL West.With... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched six strong innings, Javier Baez notched his NL-leading 99th RBI and Kris Bryant doubled and had two hits in his return from the disabled list to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1 on Saturday night.Ian Happ homered and Baez had three hits for the NL Central-leading Cubs, who have won nine of 11.Bryant had been sidelined since July 23 with left shoulder inflammation. The 2016 NL MVP doubled and scored in the third and singled in the eighth.Hendricks (11-10) allowed one run on six hits with four strikeouts and two walks.Nick Williams had two hits and an RBI for the Phillies, who fell three games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.The Cubs, helped by another Phillies error, scored a pair of runs in the first off Zach Eflin (9-6).YANKEES 2, TIGERS 1NEW YORK (AP) — Masahiro Tanaka pitched seven strong innings for his first win since July, rookie Gleyber Torres hit a two-run homer and New York beat Detroit.The Yankees got... [More]