NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge returned to the Yankees for the first time since his right wrist was broken seven weeks ago, taking over in right field for the final two innings of New York's 11-0 romp over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.Judge had not played since July 26, when he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City's Jakob Junis. The Yankees say for now Judge will be limited to defense and pinch running, but they hope he will become a regular at some point in the regular season's final two weeks.Masahiro Tanaka (12-5), bidding to start a likely wild-card game against Oakland on Oct. 3, extended his scoreless streak to 20 innings and won his third straight start. Dominating with a sharp splitter, Tanaka struck out eight in six innings and allowed four hits. Luis Cessa got his second save in New York's largest shutout win margin since a 15-0 victory over the Mets on June 14, 2009.New York improved to 13-4 against Toronto this season. Starting their final homestand, the Yankees remained... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees star Aaron Judge took another step in his return from a broken right wrist when he played right field for a couple of innings Friday night.The Yankees activated him from the disabled list before the game against Toronto. The team said he is limited for now to defense and pinch running — still no hitting for the slugger.Judge got a big ovation when he trotted to the outfield for the top of the eighth inning. He had not played since July 26, when he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City's Jakob Junis.The Yankees initially expected Judge to return in about three weeks."With the roster, it makes some sense to have him available to, if there's a spot where we can get him in, to run the bases or play some defense," New York manager Aaron Boone said before the start of New York's final regular-season homestand. "He's getting real close to being an option for us."Judge on Monday took his first on-field batting practice since the injury. Boone said Friday the team is a couple... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco could be out until next June after having surgery on his left shoulder.The Pirates made the announcement on Friday, which was Polanco's 27th birthday.Polanco leads the Pirates with a career-high 23 home runs, 81 RBIs and 61 extra-base hits. He batted .254 this season.Polanco dislocated his throwing shoulder on an awkward slide into second base on a double last Friday against Miami. He had surgery Wednesday to repair the labrum and stabilize his shoulder, and the Pirates said it is projected to take seven to nine months for a return to action."He'll have the support of his family, he'll have the support of the organization, he'll have the support of a lot of people," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before the game in Milwaukee."He's a man that's always been self-motivated, focused. Now is the healing, the rehab, and the strengthening and then the getting ready to play, whenever that is. We'll look forward to that," he said.With... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge took another small step in his return from a broken right wrist when the New York Yankees activated him from the disabled list on Friday but said he is limited for now to playing in the outfield and pinch running.Judge has not played since July 26, when he was hit by a pitch from Kansas City's Jakob Junis. The Yankees initially expected Judge to return in about three weeks."With the roster, it makes some sense to have him available to, if there's a spot where we can get him in, to run the bases or play some defense," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the start of New York's final regular-season homestand. "He's getting real close to being an option for us."Judge on Monday took his first on-field batting practice since the injury. Boone said Friday the team is a couple days from making a decision on at-bats for Judge in a simulated game, a step before he will hit in a game. Judge has to take more swings and face higher velocity before he hits in a game."It's... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees are activating Aaron Judge from the disabled list but for now only intend to use him in the outfield and as a baserunner.Judge has not played since July 26 because of a broken right wrist sustained when hit by a pitch from Kansas City's Jakob Junis. The Yankees initially had expected Judge to return in about three weeks.Manager Aaron Boone said Friday the team is a couple days from making a decision on at-bats for Judge in a simulated game, a step before he will hit in a game. The Yankees want Judge to get any rust off before the postseason.Judge is hitting .285 with 26 home runs and 61 RBIs.Injured closer Aroldis Chapman is to throw another bullpen session Saturday, a simulated game on Monday and then could be activated in the middle of next week, Chapman has not pitched in a game since Aug. 21 because of left knee tendinitis.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

DENVER (AP) — Opposing managers Dave Roberts and Bud Black are close friends. Star infielders Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt talk all the time.Just maybe not so much right now.This NL West title chase is serious business and shaping up to go down to the wire. Colorado holds a 1 1/2-game lead over Los Angeles and stretched its margin to 4 1/2 over Arizona by taking three of four this week. The Rockies are aiming for their first division title in franchise history."I expected us to be in this position," Arenado said . "I thought we had the type of players who could do something like this."Typically, Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill doesn't start looking at the standings until mid-September. He made an exception after his win over the Rockies on Sunday, just to see where things stood.It's scoreboard-watching season."We have a beautiful scoreboard out there," Rockies manager Black cracked. "We have to have that heightened focus we've had all season long. I don't think you ratchet it up any... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:ON THE CUSPJose Ramirez and the Cleveland Indians can clinch their third consecutive AL Central crown with a victory at home over Detroit and a Minnesota loss at last-place Kansas City. Josh Tomlin (1-5) pitches for the Indians against Matthew Boyd (9-12) and the Tigers. All-Star right-hander Jose Berrios (11-11) and the Twins face rookie Jorge Lopez (2-4), who took a perfect game into the ninth inning last Saturday at Minnesota.STROP STOPPEDThe NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs probably won't have their closer when they open a three-game series against Cincinnati. Pedro Strop injured a hamstring while running to first on a double-play grounder Thursday in just his second at-bat of the season. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Strop will have an MRI on Friday. Strop has served as Chicago's closer since Brandon Morrow was placed on the disabled list July 18. Strop has converted 11 of 13 save opportunities in that span and has a 2.26 ERA on the... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Friday:ON THE CUSPJose Ramirez and the Cleveland Indians can clinch their third consecutive AL Central crown with a victory at home over Detroit and a Minnesota loss at last-place Kansas City. Josh Tomlin (1-5) pitches for the Indians against Matthew Boyd (9-12) and the Tigers. All-Star right-hander Jose Berrios (11-11) and the Twins face rookie Jorge Lopez (2-4), who took a perfect game into the ninth inning last Saturday at Minnesota.STROP STOPPEDThe NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs probably won't have their closer when they open a three-game series against Cincinnati. Pedro Strop injured a hamstring while running to first on a double-play grounder Thursday in just his second at-bat of the season. Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Strop will have an MRI on Friday. Strop has served as Chicago's closer since Brandon Morrow was placed on the disabled list July 18. Strop has converted 11 of 13 save opportunities in that span and has a 2.26 ERA on the... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit his 41st home run and the Boston Red Sox moved closer to winning the AL East title, completing a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-3 victory Thursday night.Xander Bogaerts scored the go-ahead run on an eighth-inning error after the Blue Jays rallied in the top half with two runs to tie it 3-all.Rafael Devers also homered for the major league-leading Red Sox (101-46). They pulled 10 1/2 games ahead of the idle New York Yankees and decreased their magic number to six for clinching a third straight division crown. Boston is the only team in the majors that's already locked up a playoff berth.Brandon Workman (5-0) faced one batter, ending Toronto's eighth-inning rally, and got the win. Craig Kimbrel earned his 40th save. Danny Barnes (3-3) took the loss.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for the Blue Jays.ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story homered, Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the seventh, and Colorado beat... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit his 41st home run and the Boston Red Sox moved closer to winning the AL East title, completing a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-3 victory Thursday night.Xander Bogaerts scored the go-ahead run on an eighth-inning error after the Blue Jays rallied in the top half with two runs to tie it 3-all.Rafael Devers also homered for the major league-leading Red Sox (101-46). They pulled 10 1/2 games ahead of the idle New York Yankees and decreased their magic number to six for clinching a third straight division crown. Boston is the only team in the majors that's already locked up a playoff berth.Brandon Workman (5-0) faced one batter, ending Toronto's eighth-inning rally, and got the win. Craig Kimbrel earned his 40th save. Danny Barnes (3-3) took the loss.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for the Blue Jays.ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story homered, Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the seventh, and Colorado beat... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit his 41st home run and the Boston Red Sox moved closer to winning the AL East title, completing a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-3 victory Thursday night.Xander Bogaerts scored the go-ahead run on an eighth-inning error after the Blue Jays rallied in the top half with two runs to tie it 3-all.Rafael Devers also homered for the major league-leading Red Sox (101-46). They pulled 10 1/2 games ahead of the idle New York Yankees and decreased their magic number to six for clinching a third straight division crown. Boston is the only team in the majors that's already locked up a playoff berth.Brandon Workman (5-0) faced one batter, ending Toronto's eighth-inning rally, and got the win. Craig Kimbrel earned his 40th save. Danny Barnes (3-3) took the loss.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for the Blue Jays.ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story homered, Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the seventh, and Colorado beat... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit his 41st home run and the Boston Red Sox moved closer to winning the AL East title, completing a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 4-3 victory Thursday night.Xander Bogaerts scored the go-ahead run on an eighth-inning error after the Blue Jays rallied in the top half with two runs to tie it 3-all.Rafael Devers also homered for the major league-leading Red Sox (101-46). They pulled 10 1/2 games ahead of the idle New York Yankees and decreased their magic number to six for clinching a third straight division crown. Boston is the only team in the majors that's already locked up a playoff berth.Brandon Workman (5-0) faced one batter, ending Toronto's eighth-inning rally, and got the win. Craig Kimbrel earned his 40th save. Danny Barnes (3-3) took the loss.Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered for the Blue Jays.ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3DENVER (AP) — Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story homered, Kyle Freeland pitched effectively into the seventh, and Colorado beat... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A surprising first half and a surge in early August had the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to reach the postseason.Then they fell apart.Since completing a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5, the Phillies (74-71) are 11-23 and 0-10-1 in those series. They went from 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East to 7 1/2 games behind with only 17 games to play.Philadelphia was only one game behind the Cubs for best record in the National League before the tailspin began. Now, finishing with a winning mark will be a challenge.Manager Gabe Kapler's positive approach hasn't wavered, but even he can't find a way to sugarcoat this collapse."There's no question that we can play better baseball," Kapler said. "We are more talented and more prepared than the outcomes that we're getting, the losses we've racked up recently."So, what happened?"It's not one thing," Kapler said. "It's a collection of many, many things. And to try to boil it down to one thing doesn't... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Seattle pitchers James Paxton and Felix Hernandez will not make their scheduled starts this weekend against the Los Angeles Angels.Mariners manager Scott Servais said before Thursday's series opener that Paxton and Hernandez did not accompany the team to Anaheim. Paxton, who was slated to go on Friday, is dealing with pneumonia. Hernandez left last Saturday's game against the Yankees with hamstring tightness.Servais did not name a starter for Friday, saying the Mariners will go with a bullpen day. Right-hander Erasmo Ramirez will start Saturday, and left-hander Marco Gonzales will pitch Sunday.Servais said he expects Paxton to be able to return sometime during the last two weeks of the season. The left-hander, who pitched a no-hitter on May 8 at Toronto, is 11-6 with a 3.83 ERA. His career high for wins is 12, set last season.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the ninth inning, and the New York Mets stunned the Miami Marlins 4-3 on Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader.Conforto drove in three more runs in the second game, and Jason Vargas pitched six effective innings to help the Mets win 5-2.In the opener, Kyle Barraclough entered with one out in the ninth and retired pinch-hitter Dominic Smith before Conforto lined a 1-0 changeup into the second deck in right to tie it. Frazier then hit a 1-1 pitch to left center field for his first walk-off homer since June 2015 for Cincinnati.Barraclough (0-6) blew a save for the seventh time in 17 opportunities. Jerry Blevins (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.Rookie starter Sandy Alcantara befuddled the Mets, permitting just two hits, with his only real blemish coming off the bat of the opposing pitcher. Steven Matz hit his first career homer, a two-run shot in the second inning to tie it at 2. Peter... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the ninth inning, and the New York Mets stunned the Miami Marlins 4-3 on Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader.Kyle Barraclough entered with one out in the ninth and retired pinch-hitter Dominic Smith before Conforto lined a 1-0 changeup into the second deck in right to tie it. Frazier then hit a 1-1 pitch to left center field for his first walk-off homer since June 2015 for Cincinnati.Barraclough (0-6) blew a save for the seventh time in 17 opportunities.Jerry Blevins (3-2) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.Rookie starter Sandy Alcantara befuddled the Mets offense, permitting just two hits, with his only real blemish coming off the bat of the opposing pitcher. Steven Matz hit his first career homer, a two-run shot into the left-field seats in the second inning to tie it at 2.Peter O'Brien and Isaac Galloway went deep in the top of the second against Matz.ROCKIES 10, DIAMONDBACKS 3DENVER... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets captain David Wright will return for the team's final homestand, making what will probably be his last appearance as a big leaguer.The Mets said that they plan to activate Wright when they return to Citi Field on Sept. 25 against Atlanta. The 35-year-old is scheduled to start at third base on the second-to-last day of the season against Miami.It would be his first major league game since May 2016. Wright has worked to return from a litany of neck, back and shoulder injuries that have required surgery.Although he's not officially retiring, Wright is not expected to play again after this season."The way I feel right now and from everything the doctors have told me, there's not going to be an improvement," Wright said when asked if he could play beyond 2018. "So, yeah, I don't see that as a possibility."Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon and Senior VP of Baseball Operations John Ricco joined Wright for an emotional news conference prior to the club's doubleheader... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets captain David Wright will return for the team's final homestand, making what will probably be his last appearance as a big leaguer.The Mets said that they plan to activate Wright when they return to Citi Field on Sept. 25 against Atlanta. The 35-year-old is scheduled to start at third base on the second to last day of the regular season against Miami.It would be his first major league game since May 2016. Wright has worked to return from a litany of neck, back and shoulder injuries that have required surgery.Although not officially retiring, Wright is not expected to play again after this season."The way I feel right now and from everything the doctors have told me, there's not going to be an improvement," Wright said when asked if he could play beyond 2018. "So, yeah, I don't see that as a possibility."Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon and Senior VP of Baseball Operations John Ricco joined Wright for an emotional news conference prior to the club's... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unusual scheduling spawned even more atypical travel attire for Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo.The three-time All-Star wore a uniform, complete with a blue jersey and gray pants, on the Cubs' early Thursday morning flight for a makeup game against the Washington Nationals, then arrived in the clubhouse with the same outfit."It's all I got," Rizzo said.The Cubs returned to Washington for the second time in a week after Sunday's game was postponed. The four-day series, which included another rainout Friday and a doubleheader Saturday, featured nearly 11 hours in rain delays.Thursday's game was scheduled on the only remaining common day off for the teams before the end of the regular season, and it split up what was to be a six-game homestand for the Cubs. It also came after a state of emergency was declared in Washington in anticipation of the effects of Hurricane Florence.The makeup date also extended the Cubs' streak of 23 consecutive scheduled game dates to... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A surprising first half and a surge in early August had the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to reach the postseason.Then they fell apart.Since completing a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5, the Phillies (74-71) are 11-23 and 0-10-1 in those series. They went from 1½ games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East to 7½ games behind with only 17 games to play.Philadelphia was only one game behind the Cubs for best record in the National League before the tailspin began. Now, finishing with a winning mark will be a challenge.Manager Gabe Kapler's positive approach hasn't wavered, but even he can't find a way to sugarcoat this collapse."There's no question that we can play better baseball," Kapler said. "We are more talented and more prepared than the outcomes that we're getting, the losses we've racked up recently."So, what happened?"It's not one thing," Kapler said. "It's a collection of many, many things. And to try to boil it down to one thing doesn't... [More]