A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:PAYING RESPECTSRyan Braun will miss Milwaukee's home game against the Cincinnati Reds to attend the funeral of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who was found dead in a Texas hotel room on July 1. Braun and Skaggs were workout buddies. Mike Trout and the Angels have an off day between road series at Seattle and the Los Angeles Dodgers.NET GAINSThe Chicago White Sox are set to become the first team to have protective netting in place entirely from foul pole to foul pole when they host Miami. Washington also has extended its netting in midseason — nearly as far as the White Sox.The new netting at Guaranteed Rate Field and Nationals Park will debut a day after another fan was injured by a foul ball. Cleveland star Francisco Lindor said he was told his liner at Progressive Field sent a 3-year-old boy to the hospital.Several fans, some of them young children, have been hurt all around the majors this season by foul balls. Some teams... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:KEEP IT COOLRoyals right-hander Glenn Sparkman pitches against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium — in his last outing, he was ejected for hitting Chicago sparkplug Tim Anderson in the helmet with a pitch.Sparkman was tossed in the second inning on May 29 in Chicago. The Royals have mixed it up with the bat-flipping Anderson a few times.RIVALRY NIGHTIt's Cardinals-Cubs under the lights at Wrigley Field when Adam Wainwright (5-5, 4.34 ERA) faces Kyle Hendricks (6-4, 3.16) in the series finale. Wainwright tossed eight shutout innings in a 2-1 win over the Cubs at St. Louis last Sunday when he allowed two hits but walked a career-high seven. Hendricks has won five straight decisions over his last seven starts with a 2.09 ERA during that span.OUCH!Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner will see how he's feeling, a day after his hard hit — but not the kind he hoped for.Fuming after his bid for extra bases was caught Saturday, Gardner fired his batting... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Sunday:KEEP IT COOLRoyals right-hander Glenn Sparkman pitches against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium — in his last outing, he was ejected for hitting Chicago sparkplug Tim Anderson in the helmet with a pitch.Sparkman was tossed in the second inning on May 29 in Chicago. The Royals have mixed it up with the bat-flipping Anderson a few times.RIVALRY NIGHTIt's Cardinals-Cubs under the lights at Wrigley Field when Adam Wainwright (5-5, 4.34 ERA) faces Kyle Hendricks (6-4, 3.16) in the series finale. Wainwright tossed eight shutout innings in a 2-1 win over the Cubs at St. Louis last Sunday when he allowed two hits but walked a career-high seven. Hendricks has won five straight decisions over his last seven starts with a 2.09 ERA during that span.OUCH!Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner will see how he's feeling, a day after his hard hit — but not the kind he hoped for.Fuming after his bid for extra bases was caught Saturday, Gardner fired his batting... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Saturday:KEEP IT COOLRoyals right-hander Glenn Sparkman pitches against the White Sox at Kauffman Stadium — in his last outing, he was ejected for hitting Chicago sparkplug Tim Anderson in the helmet with a pitch.Sparkman was tossed in the second inning on May 29 in Chicago. The Royals have mixed it up with the bat-flipping Anderson a few times.OUCH!Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner will see how he's feeling, a day after his hard hit — but not the kind he hoped for.Fuming after his bid for extra bases was caught Saturday, Gardner fired his batting helmet against a dugout wall in Cleveland— only to have the protective gear ricochet back and smack him in the face.The result: A bloody lower lip that took six stitches to close. He said getting the stitches hurt more than being hit with the helmet."It was just frustration building up, we gave up the lead," Gardner said. "You hit a ball like that that's an out, it's just frustrating."Gardner was 0 for... [More]

Using the search engine at Baseball-Reference.com, The Associated Press evaluated each team's draft performance from 1996 through 2018, adding up wins above replacement (WAR) figures for drafted players.For each pick, the player's career WAR was added to the appropriate total for the team, depending on whether or not the player signed with the team after being drafted. Some players had their WAR totals included multiple times, if they were drafted more than once.Stats are through May 25. Compensation picks were considered part of the first round where applicable.___ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKSTotal WAR for all drafted players: 581.8 (MLB rank: 4th)Total WAR for drafted players who signed: 440.1 (rank: 5th)Total WAR for drafted players who did not sign: 141.7Impact players (10 WAR or more) drafted: 17 (rank: tie-9th)Impact players drafted and signed: 13 (rank: 12th)Most recent impact player drafted and signed: Trevor Bauer, 2011, first round, pick No. 3 (15.2 WAR)Lowest pick for impact player drafted... [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]

BOSTON (AP) — Michael Chavis homered, Xander Bogaerts hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox averted a series sweep against Houston with a 4-3 victory Sunday that snapped the Astros' 10-game winning streak.Mookie Betts scored three runs for Boston, which lost the first two games in its first meeting with the Astros since beating them in the 2018 AL Championship Series.Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer off Chris Sale for Houston, which is 13-4 in May.Astros outfielder George Springer, who began the day leading the American League with 17 homers, exited with lower back stiffness after striking out three times against Sale.Bogaerts' double to deep left-center off Framber Valdez (1-2) scored Betts scored from first base.Sale struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs and four hits with five walks. In his previous start, he became the first major league pitcher to strike out 17 batters in seven innings.Marcus Walden (6-0) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Michael Chavis homered, Xander Bogaerts hit a tiebreaking double in the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox averted a series sweep against Houston with a 4-3 victory Sunday that snapped the Astros' 10-game winning streak.Mookie Betts scored three runs for Boston, which lost the first two games in its first meeting with the Astros since beating them in the 2018 AL Championship Series.Carlos Correa hit a two-run homer off Chris Sale for Houston, which is 13-4 in May.Astros outfielder George Springer, who began the day leading the American League with 17 homers, exited with lower back stiffness after striking out three times against Sale.Bogaerts' double to deep left-center off Framber Valdez (1-2) scored Betts scored from first base.Sale struck out 10 in 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs and four hits with five walks. In his previous start, he became the first major league pitcher to strike out 17 batters in seven innings.Marcus Walden (6-0) escaped a bases-loaded, one-out... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks needed just 81 pitches for a four-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered for his third straight game and the Chicago Cubs beat the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 on Friday.The second-place Cubs won their season-high fifth in a row while cutting St. Louis' lead to 1½ games. The Cardinals have back-to-back losses after five consecutive victories.Hendricks (2-4) pitched his third career shutout and fourth complete game, his first since he shut out Miami on Aug. 1, 2016. The right-hander struck out three and did not walk a batter, after getting pounded in a loss at Arizona last week. Hendricks improved to 6-2 in 15 starts against St. Louis.Rizzo made it 3-0 with a three-run drive against Jack Flaherty (3-2) in the third and finished with three hits. Javier Baez added an RBI single in the seventh, and the Cubs opened a 10-game homestand with a win.Flaherty allowed three runs and four hits in 5 2/3 innings.BRAVES 7, MARLINS 2MIAMI (AP) — Freddie Freeman and Brian... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Christian Vazquez hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, and the Boston Red Sox completed an uplifting three-game sweep of the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-3 victory Sunday.Rafael Devers singled off Jose Alvarado (0-2) to start the 11th and went to second when Michael Chavis walked.Both runners moved up a base on Jackie Bradley's sacrifice bunt and Vazquez followed with his fly that Kevin Kiermaier ran down in center field.Marcus Walden (3-0) allowed an infield hit over two scoreless innings and Ryan Brasier worked the 11th to get his sixth save.After starting the season by losing eight of 10, the defending World Series champions are 7-5 over the last 12 games and went from eight to five games behind the Rays.DODGERS 6, BREWERS 5MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cody Bellinger reached over the right field wall to rob Christian Yelich in the eighth inning of yet another home run, then hit a solo drive off Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth to lift Los Angeles over... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Christian Vazquez hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning, and the Boston Red Sox completed an uplifting three-game sweep of the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays with a 4-3 victory Sunday.Rafael Devers singled off Jose Alvarado (0-2) to start the 11th and went to second when Michael Chavis walked.Both runners moved up a base on Jackie Bradley's sacrifice bunt and Vazquez followed with his fly that Kevin Kiermaier ran down in center field.Marcus Walden (3-0) allowed an infield hit over two scoreless innings and Ryan Brasier worked the 11th to get his sixth save.After starting the season by losing eight of 10, the defending World Series champions are 7-5 over the last 12 games and went from eight to five games behind the Rays.DODGERS 6, BREWERS 5MILWAUKEE (AP) — Cody Bellinger reached over the right field wall to rob Christian Yelich in the eighth inning of yet another home run, then hit a solo drive off Josh Hader with two outs in the ninth to lift Los Angeles over... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin took a one-hitter into the eighth inning in his first victory with Washington, Wilmer Difo homered and the Nationals beat the punchless San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday.Signed to a $140 million, six-year contract in December after pitching for six seasons in Arizona, Corbin started three games without a decision with his new team before throwing a gem in the deciding matchup of a three-game series.Corbin (1-0) struck out nine, walked one and a hit a batter over 7 2/3 innings against a struggling San Francisco offense that came in with a .208 average. The lone hits against the lefty were Evan Longoria's fifth-inning double and Erik Kratz's two-out RBI double in the eighth.After Kratz broke up the shutout, Kyle Barraclough entered and retired pinch-hitter Buster Posey. Sean Doolittle worked the ninth, giving up three hits and a run while earning his second save.San Francisco starter Drew Pomeranz (0-2) gave up four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin took a one-hitter into the eighth inning in his first victory with Washington, Wilmer Difo homered and the Nationals beat the punchless San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday.Signed to a $140 million, six-year contract in December after pitching for six seasons in Arizona, Corbin started three games without a decision with his new team before throwing a gem in the deciding matchup of a three-game series.Corbin (1-0) struck out nine, walked one and a hit a batter over 7 2/3 innings against a struggling San Francisco offense that came in with a .208 average. The lone hits against the lefty were Evan Longoria's fifth-inning double and Erik Kratz's two-out RBI double in the eighth.After Kratz broke up the shutout, Kyle Barraclough entered and retired pinch-hitter Buster Posey. Sean Doolittle worked the ninth, giving up three hits and a run while earning his second save.San Francisco starter Drew Pomeranz (0-2) gave up four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin took a one-hitter into the eighth inning in his first victory with Washington, Wilmer Difo homered and the Nationals beat the punchless San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday.Signed to a $140 million, six-year contract in December after pitching for six seasons in Arizona, Corbin started three games without a decision with his new team before throwing a gem in the deciding matchup of a three-game series.Corbin (1-0) struck out nine, walked one and a hit a batter over 7 2/3 innings against a struggling San Francisco offense that came in with a .208 average. The lone hits against the lefty were Evan Longoria's fifth-inning double and Erik Kratz's two-out RBI double in the eighth.After Kratz broke up the shutout, Kyle Barraclough entered and retired pinch-hitter Buster Posey. Sean Doolittle worked the ninth, giving up three hits and a run while earning his second save.San Francisco starter Drew Pomeranz (0-2) gave up four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin took a one-hitter into the eighth inning in his first victory with Washington, Wilmer Difo homered and the Nationals beat the punchless San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday.Signed to a $140 million, six-year contract in December after pitching for six seasons in Arizona, Corbin started three games without a decision with his new team before throwing a gem in the deciding matchup of a three-game series.Corbin (1-0) struck out nine, walked one and a hit a batter over 7 2/3 innings against a struggling San Francisco offense that came in with a .208 average. The lone hits against the lefty were Evan Longoria's fifth-inning double and Erik Kratz's two-out RBI double in the eighth.After Kratz broke up the shutout, Kyle Barraclough entered and retired pinch-hitter Buster Posey. Sean Doolittle worked the ninth, giving up three hits and a run while earning his second save.San Francisco starter Drew Pomeranz (0-2) gave up four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Corbin took a one-hitter into the eighth inning in his first victory with Washington, Wilmer Difo homered and the Nationals beat the punchless San Francisco Giants 4-2 on Thursday.Signed to a $140 million, six-year contract in December after pitching for six seasons in Arizona, Corbin started three games without a decision with his new team before throwing a gem in the deciding matchup of a three-game series.Corbin (1-0) struck out nine, walked one and a hit a batter over 7 2/3 innings against a struggling San Francisco offense that came in with a .208 average. The lone hits against the lefty were Evan Longoria's fifth-inning double and Erik Kratz's two-out RBI double in the eighth.After Kratz broke up the shutout, Kyle Barraclough entered and retired pinch-hitter Buster Posey. Sean Doolittle worked the ninth, giving up three hits and a run while earning his second save.San Francisco starter Drew Pomeranz (0-2) gave up four runs and six hits in 4 2/3 innings.After... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Fiercely energetic Tim Anderson spiked his bat to celebrate a home run and Kansas City's Brad Keller responded by drilling him with a fastball, setting off a benches-clearing fracas in the Royals' 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.Anderson tossed his bat toward the White Sox dugout following his two-run drive in the fourth inning. Keller hit him in the buttocks with his first pitch leading off the sixth.Anderson, the AL's leading hitter, was restrained by Royals catcher Martin Maldonado but kept jawing with Keller on the way to first base. The dugouts and bullpens emptied, though no punches appeared to be thrown. White Sox manager Rick Renteria and Royals bench coach Dale Sveum shoved each other, and the usually mild-mannered Renteria was particularly animated.There were four ejections — Anderson, Keller, Renteria and Sveum.Hunter Dozier led off the 10th with a tiebreaking homer against Nate Jones (0-1). His drive to left on a 2-0 fastball made... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Fiercely energetic Tim Anderson spiked his bat to celebrate a home run and Kansas City's Brad Keller responded by drilling him with a fastball, setting off a benches-clearing fracas in the Royals' 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.Anderson tossed his bat toward the White Sox dugout following his two-run drive in the fourth inning. Keller hit him in the buttocks with his first pitch leading off the sixth.Anderson, the AL's leading hitter, was restrained by Royals catcher Martin Maldonado but kept jawing with Keller on the way to first base. The dugouts and bullpens emptied, though no punches appeared to be thrown. White Sox manager Rick Renteria and Royals bench coach Dale Sveum shoved each other, and the usually mild-mannered Renteria was particularly animated.There were four ejections — Anderson, Keller, Renteria and Sveum.Hunter Dozier led off the 10th with a tiebreaking homer against Nate Jones (0-1). His drive to left on a 2-0 fastball made... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Fiercely energetic Tim Anderson spiked his bat to celebrate a home run and Kansas City's Brad Keller responded by drilling him with a fastball, setting off a benches-clearing fracas in the Royals' 4-3, 10-inning victory over the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.Anderson tossed his bat toward the White Sox dugout following his two-run drive in the fourth inning. Keller hit him in the buttocks with his first pitch leading off the sixth.Anderson, the AL's leading hitter, was restrained by Royals catcher Martin Maldonado but kept jawing with Keller on the way to first base. The dugouts and bullpens emptied, though no punches appeared to be thrown. White Sox manager Rick Renteria and Royals bench coach Dale Sveum shoved each other, and the usually mild-mannered Renteria was particularly animated.There were four ejections — Anderson, Keller, Renteria and Sveum.Hunter Dozier led off the 10th with a tiebreaking homer against Nate Jones (0-1). His drive to left on a 2-0 fastball made... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Mitch Moreland homered off Merrill Kelly on the first pitch of the seventh inning, and the World Series champion Boston Red Sox ended an awful opening trip with a 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.Boston went 3-8 against Seattle, Oakland and Arizona, its worst start since losing nine of 11 in 2011. The Red Sox host Toronto on Tuesday, their first game at Fenway Park since winning the World Series at Dodger Stadium last October.Hector Velázquez, Brandon Workman, Marcus Walden (1-0), Matt Barnes and Ryan Brasier combined on a three-hitter. Walden got six outs for his first major league victory and Brasier retired Adam Jones on a game-ending groundout with a runner on second.YANKEES 15, ORIOLES 3BALTIMORE (AP) — Gary Sánchez hit three of the Yankees' seven home runs, their most on the road since 1961, and New York completed a three-game sweep to move back above .500 at 5-4.Clint Frazier homered twice and had four hits, and Austin Romine and Gleyber Torres also... [More]