TOKYO (AP) — Jay Bruce of the Seattle Mariners has gotten the first hit of the 2019 Major League Baseball season and Oakland's Stephen Piscotty has connected for the first home run.Bruce lined a single off the glove of shifted Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien with two outs in the top of the first inning Wednesday at the Tokyo Dome. Piscotty homered to center field in the bottom of the first off Marco Gonzales.Oakland's Mike Fiers threw the first pitch of the season, a ball to Dee Gordon at 6:36 p.m. (5:36 a.m. EDT).Mariners newcomer Edwin Encarnacion was the first player to strike out this year and Seattle third baseman Ryon Healy made the first error.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Kyle Seager will be absent next week when the Seattle Mariners play the major league opener in Japan. Mike Foltynewicz will miss opening day for Atlanta, too.Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, is on the mend.The Mariners said Monday that Seager needs surgery on his left hand, sidelining the third baseman through at least April. The former All-Star and Gold Glove winner rolled his glove going for a grounder in a spring training game last week.Seattle is likely to move first baseman Ryon Healy across the diamond to third. The Mariners and Oakland begin the regular season on March 20 in Tokyo.The Braves had hoped Foltynewicz could start on March 28 when the NL East champions open at Philadelphia, but a sore elbow has slowed the All-Star righty.Foltynewicz has yet to make an appearance in an exhibition game because of discomfort that began about two weeks ago."We're just trying to figure out at what point do we get him up to five innings?" general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. "He's not... [More]

Kyle Seager will be absent next week when the Seattle Mariners play the major league opener in Japan. Mike Foltynewicz will miss opening day for Atlanta, too.Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, is on the mend.The Mariners said Monday that Seager needs surgery on his left hand, sidelining the third baseman through at least April. The former All-Star and Gold Glove winner rolled his glove going for a grounder in a spring training game last week.Seattle is likely to move first baseman Ryon Healy across the diamond to third. The Mariners and Oakland begin the regular season on March 20 in Tokyo.The Braves had hoped Foltynewicz could start on March 28 when the NL East champions open at Philadelphia, but a sore elbow has slowed the All-Star righty.Foltynewicz has yet to make an appearance in an exhibition game because of discomfort that began about two weeks ago."We're just trying to figure out at what point do we get him up to five innings?" general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. "He's not... [More]

Kyle Seager will be absent next week when the Seattle Mariners play the major league opener in Japan. Mike Foltynewicz will miss opening day for Atlanta, too.Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, is on the mend.The Mariners said Monday that Seager needs surgery on his left hand, sidelining the third baseman through at least April. The former All-Star and Gold Glove winner rolled his glove going for a grounder in a spring training game last week.Seattle is likely to move first baseman Ryon Healy across the diamond to third. The Mariners and Oakland begin the regular season on March 20 in Tokyo.The Braves had hoped Foltynewicz could start on March 28 when the NL East champions open at Philadelphia, but a sore elbow has slowed the All-Star righty.Foltynewicz has yet to make an appearance in an exhibition game because of discomfort that began about two weeks ago."We're just trying to figure out at what point do we get him up to five innings?" general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. "He's not... [More]

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Seattle Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager needs surgery on his left hand and will be out at least through April.Manager Scott Servais said Seager will have surgery Tuesday to repair the tendon of his middle finger. Seager had an MRI over the weekend that revealed the extent of the injury, which is just above the knuckle.This will be Seager's first time ever on the injured list. It's unclear how long he will be out.Seager is coming off the worst season of his career in 2018, when he hit .221. He changed his offseason training regimen and arrived at spring training slimmed down and in better condition. He was hitting .318 in nine spring training games.With Seager out, the Mariners are likely to move Ryon Healy to third base. Healy played in only two games at third base last season with Seattle, but made 103 starts at third during the 2016 and 2017 seasons with Oakland.___More AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Felix Hernandez doesn't think he could have changed the mind of Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais about opening day, even by pitching well this spring.With his ERA approaching 16, it's a moot point.King Felix is royally agitated anyway.Hernandez was tagged for seven runs in three-plus innings against the Cleveland Indians on Sunday, raising his spring ERA to 15.95 a day after Servais announced that Marco Gonzales would start Seattle's season opener against Oakland in Tokyo on March 20.Seattle's decision ends Hernandez's run of 10 consecutive opening day starts.Hernandez spoke publicly after the game for the first time since Servais' announcement. Asked if he was upset, Hernandez said simply, "Yeah," but declined to elaborate on his emotions."I knew it was going to happen," he added.Hernandez was also asked if he could have convinced Servais to give him the opening day nod with a better spring camp."No," he said while shaking his head.The 32-year-old has been losing... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia's first game in nearly 10 months couldn't have gone much better — even if it lasted just one inning.Pedroia cleanly fielded a two-out grounder by Minnesota's Jake Cave, then singled off Kohl Stewart leading off the bottom half of Boston's 12-1 loss Thursday."It made me happy to run around the bases," Pedroia said. "It was really fun out there."A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia's knee problems began with a spikes-up takeout slide at second by Baltimore's Manny Machado on April 21, 2017. Pedroia went on the disabled list three times that season, twice because of knee inflammation, and had left knee surgery that Oct. 25.He played in five injury rehabilitation games at Triple-A Pawtucket last May 14-24, appeared in three games for the Red Sox from May 26-29, then went back on the disabled list for the rest of the season."I just need to keep building on this. I hadn't seen a pitch since May 29. Everything went well," Pedroia said.Cave and... [More]

TORONTO (AP) — The Houston Astros clinched another AL West title and reached 100 wins for the second straight season, beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 Tuesday night behind Alex Bregman's two-run homer.Houston improved to 100-57 and was assured of first place hours later when second-place Oakland (95-63) lost at Seattle. The Astros will open the Division Series at home against Cleveland on Oct. 5.The Astros need three wins in their final five games to break the franchise record for victories in a season, set in 1998.Houston is 18-4 in September and 54-22 on the road, both best in the major leagues.Roberto Osuna needed just six pitches in the ninth for his 20th save in 21 chances. Earlier Tuesday, assault charges against Osuna were dropped because the complainant, who lives in Mexico, made clear she would not travel to Toronto to testify.Josh James (2-0) allowed one run and four hits in five innings in his third big league start.Bregman went 2 for 5 and extended his club-record streak of... [More]

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]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich drove in the winning run with the bases loaded in the ninth after beating a throw from third to avoid a double play, and the Milwaukee Brewers opened an important three-game series with the Chicago Cubs with a 4-3 win Monday.The .316 hitter hit a 1-2 fastball from Jesse Chavez right at third baseman Kris Bryant, who touched third for the second out of the ninth before firing to first. The speedy Yelich reached safely just before the throw landed in the glove of the outstretched Anthony Rizzo, allowing Keon Broxton to score the game-winner from third.Cubs reliever Steve Cishek (4-3) loaded the bases in the ninth with a walk, passed ball and two hit batters.The second-place Brewers pulled within four games of the NL Central-leading Cubs.Milwaukee tied the score 3-3 after pinch-hitter Mike Moustakas drew a four-pitch walk with two outs in the eighth from Carl Edwards Jr.Anthony Rizzo hit a two-out, two-run homer off tough left-hander Josh Hader in the eighth.Jeremy... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp beat the Diamondbacks for the second straight game, hitting a two-run double in the ninth inning that lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers over Arizona 3-2 Sunday for sole possession of first place in the NL West.A day after Kemp launched a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth against Archie Bradley, the Dodgers' slugger tagged him again.Kemp's one-out drive off the wall in left-center field put Los Angeles alone atop the West for the first time since Aug. 7. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks by identical 3-2 scores three days in a row, after Arizona won the series opener at Dodger Stadium.Brad Boxberger (2-5) started the ninth and put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on with consecutive walks to pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo and Max Muncy. The runners advanced on Enrique Hernandez's sacrifice bunt and set up Kemp.Daniel Descalso homered leading off the ninth against Caleb Ferguson to put Arizona ahead 2-1.Kenley Jansen (1-5) got the last three outs.ASTROS 4,... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp beat the Diamondbacks for the second straight game, hitting a two-run double in the ninth inning that lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers over Arizona 3-2 Sunday for sole possession of first place in the NL West.A day after Kemp launched a go-ahead, three-run homer in the eighth against Archie Bradley, the Dodgers' slugger tagged him again.Kemp's one-out drive off the wall in left-center field put Los Angeles alone atop the West for the first time since Aug. 7. The Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks by identical 3-2 scores three days in a row, after Arizona won the series opener at Dodger Stadium.Brad Boxberger (2-5) started the ninth and put the potential tying and go-ahead runs on with consecutive walks to pinch-hitter Alex Verdugo and Max Muncy. The runners advanced on Enrique Hernandez's sacrifice bunt and set up Kemp.Daniel Descalso homered leading off the ninth against Caleb Ferguson to put Arizona ahead 2-1.Kenley Jansen (1-5) got the last three outs.BRAVES 5,... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a sacrifice fly in Boston's four-run seventh inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Thursday night.Ian Kinsler sparked the winning rally with a one-out single off Thyago Vieira (1-1) for the last of his three hits. Blake Swihart then walked before Bradley drove in Kinsler with a liner into right field.Major league-leading Boston poured it on from there. Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run drive for his 39th homer, making it 9-4 and sending much of the crowd of 18,015 to the exits.Mookie Betts also homered as the Red Sox (93-42) earned their third straight win and increased their AL East advantage to 8 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who blew a late lead in an 8-7 loss to Detroit. Ryan Brasier (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for his first win in his 28th major league appearance.Chicago (53-81) wasted a terrific start by Lucas Giolito, who struck... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a sacrifice fly in Boston's four-run seventh inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth, helping the Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 9-4 on Thursday night.Ian Kinsler sparked the winning rally with a one-out single off Thyago Vieira (1-1) for the last of his three hits. Blake Swihart then walked before Bradley drove in Kinsler with a liner into right field.Major league-leading Boston poured it on from there. Andrew Benintendi added another RBI single and J.D. Martinez hit a three-run drive for his 39th homer, making it 9-4 and sending much of the crowd of 18,015 to the exits.Mookie Betts also homered as the Red Sox (93-42) earned their third straight win and increased their AL East advantage to 8 1/2 games over the New York Yankees, who blew a late lead in an 8-7 loss to Detroit. Ryan Brasier (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth for his first win in his 28th major league appearance.Chicago (53-81) wasted a terrific start by Lucas Giolito, who struck... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Seattle Mariners shortstop Jean Segura was a late scratch Thursday against the Oakland Athletics, one day after being forced out of of the game in San Diego when he fouled a ball off his shin.No official reason was given for the change, which forced Mariners manager Scott Servais to jumble his lineup.Second baseman Dee Gordon replaced Segura at shortstop. Robinson Cano, who was initially scheduled to play first base and bat second, was moved to second base and is third in the order.Ryon Healy, batting sixth, replaced Cano at first base while Denard Span moved up from fifth in the order to second.___For more AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CINCINNATI (AP) — Christian Yelich led Milwaukee's big comeback by hitting for the cycle, and Jesus Aguilar homered in the 10th inning, powering the Brewers to a 13-12 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday nightAguilar connected off Raisel Iglesias (2-3) for Milwaukee's fourth homer of the game, halting the Brewers' month-long slide. Milwaukee has dropped 11 of 20 and slipped into third place in the NL Central, five games behind the Cubs.Yelich became the eighth Brewers player to hit for the cycle and the first since George Kottaras on Sept. 3, 2011, at Houston. Yelich also matched the club record with six hits of the Brewers' 22 hits, including a two-run homer.Mike Moustakas' solo shot put Milwaukee ahead 11-10 in the eighth, but Joakim Soria's wild pitch allowed Billy Hamilton to score the tying run in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Jeffress (7-1) gave up Brandon Dixon's homer in the 10th.The Brewers extended their Great American Ball Park record to 21 straight games with at... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Christian Yelich led Milwaukee's big comeback by hitting for the cycle, and Jesus Aguilar homered in the 10th inning, powering the Brewers to a 13-12 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday nightAguilar connected off Raisel Iglesias (2-3) for Milwaukee's fourth homer of the game, halting the Brewers' month-long slide. Milwaukee has dropped 11 of 20 and slipped into third place in the NL Central, five games behind the Cubs.Yelich became the eighth Brewers player to hit for the cycle and the first since George Kottaras on Sept. 3, 2011, at Houston. Yelich also matched the club record with six hits of the Brewers' 22 hits, including a two-run homer.Mike Moustakas' solo shot put Milwaukee ahead 11-10 in the eighth, but Joakim Soria's wild pitch allowed Billy Hamilton to score the tying run in the bottom of the inning. Jeremy Jeffress (7-1) gave up Brandon Dixon's homer in the 10th.The Brewers extended their Great American Ball Park record to 21 straight games with at... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered early and had a two-run double in Boston's 11-run seventh inning as the Red Sox rallied for a 14-6 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night after pitcher David Price was knocked out with a bruised left wrist.The 33-year-old lefty exited in the fourth after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Austin Dean on the final play of the previous inning.With the Red Sox trailing 5-3, Blake Swihart had a pinch-hit RBI single and Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with a double before Betts hit his go-ahead shot into the right-center gap off Adam Conley (3-4). Brock Holt followed with a pinch-hit triple and scored on Xander Bogaerts' single.Eduardo Nunez and Ian Kinsler had RBI singles before Swihart doubled home his second run of the inning and scored on Bradley's single. By the time it was over, Boston had its biggest inning of the season.Betts and Eduardo Nunez each hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who won for the 22nd time in their last 26 interleague... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered early and had a two-run double in Boston's 11-run seventh inning as the Red Sox rallied for a 14-6 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night after pitcher David Price was knocked out with a bruised left wrist.The 33-year-old lefty exited in the fourth after being struck by a line drive off the bat of Austin Dean on the final play of the previous inning.With the Red Sox trailing 5-3, Blake Swihart had a pinch-hit RBI single and Jackie Bradley Jr. tied it with a double before Betts hit his go-ahead shot into the right-center gap off Adam Conley (3-4). Brock Holt followed with a pinch-hit triple and scored on Xander Bogaerts' single.Eduardo Nunez and Ian Kinsler had RBI singles before Swihart doubled home his second run of the inning and scored on Bradley's single. By the time it was over, Boston had its biggest inning of the season.Betts and Eduardo Nunez each hit a solo homer for the Red Sox, who won for the 22nd time in their last 26 interleague... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Todd Frazier hit a grand slam and drove in a season-high five runs to lead the New York Mets to a 10-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday, avenging a tough loss earlier in the day.Frazier gave New York a 4-0 lead in the first inning with his drive against Alec Mills (0-1) and added an RBI single in a two-run ninth.Jason Vargas (5-8) won his third straight start. The Mets had 16 hits and avoided a season sweep after dropping the first six games against the NL Central leaders.Victor Caratini hit a two-run homer for Chicago in the ninth.The Cubs had won a season-high seven in a row after pulling out a 2-1 victory earlier on Ben Zobrist's RBI single with the bases loaded in the 11th. That game was suspended in the top of the 10th because of rain the previous night.In the suspended game, Zobrist grounded the winning single up the middle off Daniel Zamora with one out in the 11th after Chicago loaded the bases against Paul Sewald (0-5). Jesse Chavez (5-2) got the win with... [More]