WASHINGTON (AP) — Right-hander Stephen Strasburg was activated from the 10-day injured list to start for the Washington Nationals against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night. Strasburg had been on the injured list since April 15 with right shoulder inflammation. He is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA in two starts this season. “We want him to get as many outs as he can for as long as he possibly can,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said. “I don’t want to put any limitations on him and get as many outs as he possibly can and hopefully keep us in the ballgame.” Strasburg made one injury rehabilitation start for Triple-A Rochester, allowing two hits over 4 1/3 scoreless innings on May 16. To make room for Strasburg on the roster, Washington optioned right-handed pitcher Kyle McGowin to Rochester. Martinez also said that right-handed pitchers Erick Fedde and Tanner Rainey, who were placed on the COVID-19 injured list on Tuesday, remain in quarantine in Chicago after Washington played the Cubs. Martinez said he doesn’t know when the pitchers will return. _________ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ STRIKE THREE After no-hitters on consecutive nights by Detroit right-hander Spencer Turnbull and Yankees newcomer Corey Kluber, is there a pitcher on the docket who can make it three days in a row? Kluber fired the sixth no-hitter in the majors already this year, leading New York over the Texas Rangers 2-0 on Wednesday. That marks the most this early in a season — seven in one year is the modern-era record — and four have come in a 15-day span. The two-time Cy Young Award winner came within a four-pitch walk to Charlie Culberson in the third inning of throwing a perfect game. It was the first time there were no-hitters on consecutive days since 1969, when Cincinnati’s Jim Maloney threw one on April 30 and Houston’s Don Wilson on May 1. There were two no-hitters on June 29, 1990, by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela and Oakland’s Dave Stewart. Kluber (4-2) struck out nine during the 12th no-hitter in Yankees history, the... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors Thursday: ___ VIRUS UPDATES An unidentified Washington Nationals player who is vaccinated and asymptomatic has tested positive for COVID-19, manager Dave Martinez said Wednesday. That player was deemed to have been in close contact with another Nationals player who is not vaccinated. Martinez said neither player would have been in the starting lineup against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday and neither was available off the bench. The Nationals placed right-handed pitchers Erick Fedde and Tanner Rainey on the injured list before the game. Fernando Tatis Jr. homered and went 4 for 4 in his first game back after testing positive for COVID-19, helping San Diego beat Colorado 3-0 for a three-game sweep. Tatis, who had been out since May 11, finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle as the Padres won their sixth straight and ninth in 10 games. Tatis came up in the eighth inning and got his third extra-base hit, an RBI double New York Yankees shortstop... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres’ tying single in the ninth inning and winning infield single in the 11th helped the New York Yankees overcame Max Scherzer’s commanding 14-strikeout performance to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Saturday. Scherzer allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings, but the Yankees rallied three times. Kyle Higashioka’s home run tied the score at 1 in the third, Torres made it 2-all against Brad Hand in the ninth and Mike Ford’s single evened it 3-3 against Hand in the 10th. With automatic runner DJ LeMahieu on second in the 11th, Tanner Rainey (0-2) walked Giancarlo Stanton on a full count and Aaron Judge on four pitches, loading the bases. Washington went to a five-man infield, replacing left fielder Kyle Schwarber with Jordy Mercer. Torres hit a dribbler to the third-base side that bounced off Rainey’s bare hand as New York got its first walk-off win this season. Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out two in a perfect 11th, and New York moved back over .500 at 17-16. Washington... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres’ tying single in the ninth inning and a winning infield single in the 11th helped the New York Yankees overcame Max Scherzer’s commanding 14-strikeout performance to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Saturday. Scherzer allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings, but the Yankees rallied three times. Kyle Higashioka’s home run tied the score at 1 in the third, Torres made it 2-all against Brad Hand in the ninth and Mike Ford’s single evened it 3-3 against Hand in the 10th. With automatic runner DJ LeMahieu on second in the 11th, Tanner Rainey (0-2) walked Giancarlo Stanton on a full count and Aaron Judge on four pitches, loading the bases. Washington went to a five-man infield, replacing left fielder Kyle Schwarber with Jordy Mercer. Torres hit a dribbler to the third-base side that bounced off Rainey’s bare hand as New York got its first walk-off win this season. Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out two in a perfect 11th, and New York moved back over .500 at 17-16. Washington... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres’ tying single in the ninth inning and a winning infield single in the 11th helped the New York Yankees overcame Max Scherzer’s commanding 14-strikeout performance to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Saturday. Scherzer allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings, but the Yankees rallied three times. Kyle Higashioka’s home run tied the score at 1 in the third, Torres made it 2-all against Brad Hand in the ninth and Mike Ford’s single evened it 3-3 against Hand in the 10th. With automatic runner DJ LeMahieu on second in the 11th, Tanner Rainey (0-2) walked Giancarlo Stanton on a full count and Aaron Judge on four pitches, loading the bases. Washington went to a five-man infield, replacing left fielder Kyle Schwarber with Jordy Mercer. Torres hit a dribbler to the third-base side that bounced off Rainey’s bare hand as New York got its first walk-off win this season. Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out two in a perfect 11th, and New York moved back over .500 at 17-16. Washington... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres’ tying single in the ninth inning and a winning infield single in the 11th helped the New York Yankees overcame Max Scherzer’s commanding 14-strikeout performance to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 Saturday. Scherzer allowed two hits in 7 1/3 innings, but the Yankees rallied three times. Kyle Higashioka’s home run tied the score at 1 in the third, Torres made it 2-all against Brad Hand in the ninth and Mike Ford’s single evened it 3-3 against Hand in the 10th. With automatic runner DJ LeMahieu on second in the 11th, Tanner Rainey (0-2) walked Giancarlo Stanton on a full count and Aaron Judge on four pitches, loading the bases. Washington went to a five-man infield, replacing left fielder Kyle Schwarber with Jordy Mercer. Torres hit a dribbler to the third-base side that bounced off Rainey’s bare hand as New York got its first walk-off win this season. Justin Wilson (1-0) struck out two in a perfect 11th, and New York moved back over .500 at 17-16. Washington... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huascar Ynoa (3-1) hit a grand slam and allowed an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Ynoa drove a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning for the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth against Joe Ross (2-2). Atlanta stopped a four-game skid while ending Washington’s four-game winning streak. YANKEES 7, ASTROS 3 NEW YORK (AP) — Boos and bad words streamed loudly from the seats in Houston’s return to Yankee Stadium, and New York got a homer and four hits from Giancarlo Stanton to sate those spiteful fans. In Houston’s first visit to the Bronx since its sign-stealing scam was exposed, an error by Astros third baseman Alex Bregman in the sixth inning let New York blow the game open. A pandemic-limited,... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huascar Ynoa (3-1) hit a grand slam and allowed an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Ynoa drove a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning for the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth against Joe Ross (2-2). Atlanta stopped a four-game skid while ending Washington’s four-game winning streak. MARLINS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3 MIAMI (AP) — NL RBIs leader Jesús Aguilar delivered a tiebreaking single in a six-run eighth against Kevin Ginkel (0-1) following Miguel Rojas' double, Corey Dickerson followed with an infield single, and catcher Stephen Vogt’s throwing error allowed Aguilar to score all the way from first. Lewis Brinson added a three-run homer off Alex Young. Richard Bleier (2-0) came out of the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huascar Ynoa (3-1) hit a grand slam and allowed an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Ynoa drove a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning for the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth against Joe Ross (2-2). Atlanta stopped a four-game skid while ending Washington’s four-game winning streak. MARLINS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3 MIAMI (AP) — NL RBIs leader Jesús Aguilar delivered a tiebreaking single in a six-run eighth against Kevin Ginkel (0-1) following Miguel Rojas' double, Corey Dickerson followed with an infield single, and catcher Stephen Vogt’s throwing error allowed Aguilar to score all the way from first. Lewis Brinson added a three-run homer off Alex Young. Richard Bleier (2-0) came out of the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huascar Ynoa (3-1) hit a grand slam and allowed an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Ynoa drove a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning for the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth against Joe Ross (2-2). Atlanta stopped a four-game skid while ending Washington’s four-game winning streak. MARLINS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3 MIAMI (AP) — NL RBIs leader Jesús Aguilar delivered a tiebreaking single in a six-run eighth against Kevin Ginkel (0-1) following Miguel Rojas' double, Corey Dickerson followed with an infield single, and catcher Stephen Vogt’s throwing error allowed Aguilar to score all the way from first. Lewis Brinson added a three-run homer off Alex Young. Richard Bleier (2-0) came out of the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huascar Ynoa (3-1) hit a grand slam and allowed an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Ynoa drove a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning for the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth against Joe Ross (2-2). Atlanta stopped a four-game skid while ending Washington’s four-game winning streak. MARLINS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3 MIAMI (AP) — NL RBIs leader Jesús Aguilar delivered a tiebreaking single in a six-run eighth against Kevin Ginkel (0-1) following Miguel Rojas' double, Corey Dickerson followed with an infield single, and catcher Stephen Vogt’s throwing error allowed Aguilar to score all the way from first. Lewis Brinson added a three-run homer off Alex Young. Richard Bleier (2-0) came out of the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Huascar Ynoa (3-1) hit a grand slam and allowed an unearned run and four hits in seven innings, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night. Ynoa drove a fastball from Tanner Rainey 427 feet to center field in the sixth inning for the first grand slam by a major league pitcher since Cincinnati’s Anthony DeSclafani on June 23, 2018. Ronald Acuña Jr. also homered for the Braves, breaking a scoreless tie in the fifth against Joe Ross (2-2). Atlanta stopped a four-game skid while ending Washington’s four-game winning streak. MARLINS 9, DIAMONDBACKS 3 MIAMI (AP) — NL RBIs leader Jesús Aguilar delivered a tiebreaking single in a six-run eighth against Kevin Ginkel (0-1) following Miguel Rojas' double, Corey Dickerson followed with an infield single, and catcher Stephen Vogt’s throwing error allowed Aguilar to score all the way from first. Lewis Brinson added a three-run homer off Alex Young. Richard Bleier (2-0) came out of the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto, the reigning NL batting champion, is on the 10-day injured list. So is Stephen Strasburg, the 2019 World Series MVP. Key relievers Will Harris and Wander Suero, too. Jon Lester has yet to make his debut since arriving as a free agent. That’s just a sampling of the ways in which things already have not gone according to plan for the Washington Nationals in the early going of 2021 — and that substantial list doesn’t even include the COVID-19 outbreak that sidelined nine players on opening day, more than a third of the roster. “We’ve had a lot thrown at us the first couple weeks of the season,” reliever Daniel Hudson said. And yet Washington will head into the start of a three-game series at the NL East rival New York Mets on Friday with a 7-9 record. Certainly not where the Nationals want to be — “I’d much prefer being 9-7 or above .500,” manager Dave Martinez said — but thanks to a 6-4 stretch, it looks a lot better than the 1-5 mark with which they began. The... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Atlanta pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval drove a two-run homer to the deepest part of the ballpark off a Washington reliever who took over after Stephen Strasburg’s six scoreless innings Wednesday, lifting the Braves to a 2-0 victory over the Nationals and a doubleheader sweep. Sandoval drove a 96 mph fastball from Tanner Rainey (0-1) more than 400 feet following Dansby Swanson’s two-out single in the seventh and final inning. Luke Jackson (1-0) earned the win in Game 2, and Sean Newcomb got three strikeouts for the save. Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and had a pair of singles as Atlanta won the opener 7-6. The Braves put up five runs in the second inning off Erick Fedde (0-1), then wound up barely holding on with a save by Will Smith. Andrew Stevenson grounded into a game-ending double play. Josh Tomlin (1-0) pitched two hitless innings. Washington is missing nine players because of a coronavirus outbreak that led to the postponement of the team’s first four games. Four players... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Atlanta pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval drove a two-run homer to the deepest part of the ballpark off a Washington reliever who took over after Stephen Strasburg’s six scoreless innings Wednesday, lifting the Braves to a 2-0 victory over the Nationals and a doubleheader sweep. Sandoval drove a 96 mph fastball from Tanner Rainey (0-1) more than 400 feet following Dansby Swanson’s two-out single in the seventh and final inning. Luke Jackson (1-0) earned the win in Game 2, and Sean Newcomb got three strikeouts for the save. Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and had a pair of singles as Atlanta won the opener 7-6. The Braves put up five runs in the second inning off Erick Fedde (0-1), then wound up barely holding on with a save by Will Smith. Andrew Stevenson grounded into a game-ending double play. Josh Tomlin (1-0) pitched two hitless innings. Washington is missing nine players because of a coronavirus outbreak that led to the postponement of the team’s first four games. Four players... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Atlanta pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval drove a two-run homer to the deepest part of the ballpark off a Washington reliever who took over after Stephen Strasburg’s six scoreless innings Wednesday, lifting the Braves to a 2-0 victory over the Nationals and a doubleheader sweep. Sandoval drove a 96 mph fastball from Tanner Rainey (0-1) more than 400 feet following Dansby Swanson’s two-out single in the seventh and final inning. Luke Jackson (1-0) earned the win in Game 2, and Sean Newcomb got three strikeouts for the save.. Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and had a pair of singles as Atlanta won the opener 7-6. The Braves put up five runs in the second inning off Erick Fedde (0-1), then wound up barely holding on with a save by Will Smith. Andrew Stevenson grounded into a game-ending double play. Josh Tomlin (1-0) pitched two hitless innings. Washington is missing nine players because of a coronavirus outbreak that led to the postponement of the team’s first four games. Four players... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Atlanta pinch-hitter Pablo Sandoval drove a two-run homer to the deepest part of the ballpark off a Washington reliever who took over after Stephen Strasburg’s six scoreless innings Wednesday, lifting the Braves to a 2-0 victory over the Nationals and a doubleheader sweep. Sandoval drove a 96 mph fastball from Tanner Rainey (0-1) more than 400 feet following Dansby Swanson’s two-out single in the seventh and final inning. Luke Jackson (1-0) earned the win in Game 2, and Sean Newcomb got three strikeouts for the save.. Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and had a pair of singles as Atlanta won the opener 7-6. The Braves put up five runs in the second inning off Erick Fedde (0-1), then wound up barely holding on with a save by Will Smith. Andrew Stevenson grounded into a game-ending double play. Josh Tomlin (1-0) pitched two hitless innings. Washington is missing nine players because of a coronavirus outbreak that led to the postponement of the team’s first four games. Four players... [More]

Jon Lester was back on a mound Thursday, wearing a Washington Nationals uniform while facing opposing batters for the first time in spring training and striking out a couple during his two innings, less than two weeks after surgery to remove a parathyroid gland. “Baseball, for me, is an escape. I come to the field, I’ve got stuff I need to do. I forget about this,” Lester said, pointing to the scar on the front of his throat, after Washington's 3-1 exhibition victory against the New York Mets at Port St. Lucie, Florida. "You dive into that routine," the 37-year-old left-hander said. Wearing a red Nationals No. 34 uniform, Bryce Harper's old number, along with a green hat the day after St. Patrick's Day, Lester allowed one run and one hit while throwing 31 pitches, 21 for strikes. He went to 0-2 counts on each of the first three Mets hitters, getting the first two out before walking J.D. Davis and giving up a first-pitch RBI double to James McCann. Then Lester pitched a 1-2-3 second inning,... [More]

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo declined to specify Monday why Jeremy Jeffress was released from a minor league contract by the team, saying only that he considered it an “employment issue” and acknowledging it was not related to the reliever's baseball performance. “We’re just going to stand by the statement I made yesterday. It’s a 'personnel matter',” Rizzo said in a video conference with reporters a day after the team cut ties with Jeffress, a 2018 NL All-Star for the Brewers who was with the Cubs last season. "We’re not going to discuss it any further, per our policy on personnel matters, and we’re just going to keep it at that.” Asked to define the term he used in relation to the move, Rizzo responded, "A 'personnel reason’ is an employment issue." After Washington announced his release Sunday, Jeffress tweeted: “I’m not what they say I am, I’m what God says! I don’t deserve this false negativity!” Manager Dave Martinez wouldn't comment on Jeffress at all. “I’m really... [More]