HOUSTON (AP) — Aaron Sanchez looked like a reinvented pitcher in his Houston debut, throwing six stellar innings to start the Astros on a combined no-hitter Saturday night in their 9-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners.Sanchez was an All-Star in 2016 and led the American League in ERA, but he's struggled badly this season and had lost 13 straight decisions to lead the majors with 14 losses. Three days after he was acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline, the 27-year-old right-hander teamed with Will Harris, Joe Biagini and Chris Devenski to shut down Seattle.It was the second time in less than a month the last-place Mariners were no-hit by multiple pitchers. The Los Angeles Angels used two pitchers in a combined no-hitter July 12 against Seattle on a night when they honored late left-hander Tyler Skaggs by all wearing his No. 45 in their first home game since his death.Sanchez (4-14) struck out six, walked two and hit a batter in his first victory since April 27 for Toronto.Seattle's... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Charlie Morton struck out 11 over seven innings and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep by beating David Price and Boston 3-2 in a game that the Red Sox protested on Wednesday.Confusion reigned in the top of the eighth when a series of defensive changes involving reliever Adam Kolarek prompted Boston manager Alex Cora to protest the game due to the placement of subs into the Rays lineup after the designated hitter was removed.Kolarek replaced Morton and retired pinch-hitter Sam Travis on a pop fly. The left-hander then shifted to first base when Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in reliever Chaz Roe, who got a fly ball from Mookie Betts.After Kolarek then returned to the mound and Nate Lowe entered to play first base, Cora met with the umpires, which prompted around a 15-minute stoppage as the umpires discussed the matter.After the protest was made and the game resumed, Kolarek got a first-pitch grounder from Rafael Devers.An unhappy Cora again talked... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Charlie Morton struck out 11 over seven innings and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep by beating David Price and Boston 3-2 in a game that the Red Sox protested on Wednesday.Confusion reigned in the top of the eighth when a series of defensive changes involving reliever Adam Kolarek prompted Boston manager Alex Cora to protest the game due to the placement of subs into the Rays lineup after the designated hitter was removed.Kolarek replaced Morton and retired pinch-hitter Sam Travis on a pop fly. The left-hander then shifted to first base when Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in reliever Chaz Roe, who got a fly ball from Mookie Betts.After Kolarek then returned to the mound and Nate Lowe entered to play first base, Cora met with the umpires, which prompted around a 15-minute stoppage as the umpires discussed the matter.After the protest was made and the game resumed, Kolarek got a first-pitch grounder from Rafael Devers.An unhappy Cora again talked... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Charlie Morton struck out 11 over seven innings and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep by beating David Price and Boston 3-2 in a game that the Red Sox protested on Wednesday.Confusion reigned in the top of the eighth when a series of defensive changes involving reliever Adam Kolarek prompted Boston manager Alex Cora to protest the game due to the placement of subs into the Rays lineup after the designated hitter was removed.Kolarek replaced Morton and retired pinch-hitter Sam Travis on a pop fly. The left-hander then shifted to first base when Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in reliever Chaz Roe, who got a fly ball from Mookie Betts.After Kolarek then returned to the mound and Nate Lowe entered to play first base, Cora met with the umpires, which prompted around a 15-minute stoppage as the umpires discussed the matter.After the protest was made and the game resumed, Kolarek got a first-pitch grounder from Rafael Devers.An unhappy Cora again talked... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Charlie Morton struck out 11 over seven innings and the Tampa Bay Rays avoided a three-game sweep by beating David Price and Boston 3-2 in a game that the Red Sox protested on Wednesday.Confusion reigned in the top of the eighth when a series of defensive changes involving reliever Adam Kolarek prompted Boston manager Alex Cora to protest the game due to the placement of subs into the Rays lineup after the designated hitter was removed.Kolarek replaced Morton and retired pinch-hitter Sam Travis on a pop fly. The left-hander then shifted to first base when Rays manager Kevin Cash brought in reliever Chaz Roe, who got a fly ball from Mookie Betts.After Kolarek then returned to the mound and Nate Lowe entered to play first base, Cora met with the umpires, which prompted around a 15-minute stoppage as the umpires discussed the matter.After the protest was made and the game resumed, Kolarek got a first-pitch grounder from Rafael Devers.An unhappy Cora again talked... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins' home run in the 11th inning.Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.That's when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter's box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies' dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins' home run in the 11th inning.Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.That's when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter's box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies' dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended, and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins' home run in the 11th inning.Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park.That's when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter's box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies' dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away.Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play.Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning.Phillies reliever Ranger Suárez (3-0) got Starling Marte... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Mike Leake of the Seattle Mariners lost his bid to pitch a perfect game on a leadoff single in the ninth inning by rookie Luis Rengifo, then finished off the Los Angeles Angels for a 10-0 win Friday night.A week after the worst start of his career, Leake almost achieved baseball immortality.The Angels hadn't come close to a hit and Leake hadn't gone to a three-ball count before Rengifo grounded a clean hit to right field on Leake's 79th pitch.The fans gave Leake a standing ovation and he quickly waved to acknowledge their cheers.After a walk, Leake (8-8) retired the next three batters for a one-hitter, striking out Mike Trout on a full-count pitch to end it. Leake fanned six overall and walked one.Leake's second career shutout came exactly a week after he was tagged by the Angels in his previous start, giving up seven runs on eight hits and a walk while getting just two outs. The Angels pitched a combined no-hitter that night in Anaheim while the entire club wore jerseys... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Josh Donaldson's bases-loaded single off Fernando Rodney in the ninth inning lifted the Atlanta Braves over the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Friday night after Luke Jackson allowed a tying, two-run homer to Victor Robles in the top half.Ronald Acuña Jr., who had three hits, led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk off Rodney (0-3) and took second on Dansby Swanson's single. Freddie Freeman walked on four pitches, loading the bases.Nationals manager Dave Martinez brought in left fielder Juan Soto as a fifth infielder, including three on the left side against the right-handed hitting Donaldson.Donaldson hit a 2-0 pitch over Robles to center-field warning track, and the Braves boosted their NL East lead to 6½ games over the second-place Nationals. Atlanta had lost its previous five home games against Washington.YANKEES 8, ROCKIES 2NEW YORK (AP) — Edwin Encarnación hit a go-ahead grand slam, a trio of ex-Rockies beat up on their former team and New York defeated Colorado.Encarnación... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone got fired up at a rookie umpire in a profane rant, and New York awoke from a sleepy start to rally past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 in a doubleheader opener Thursday.New York rallied to win the second game 5-1 and reopen an eight-game AL East lead over the second-place Rays. Luke Voit tied the score in the fifth with his first home run since June 14, and catcher Mike Zunino caused Charlie Morton to balk home the tiebreaking run in a four-run sixth that included Didi Gregorius' two-run single. The Yankees won three straight after wasting a ninth-inning lead in the series opener and improved to 34-11 against the AL East, including 12-5 against Tampa Bay.After Domingo Germán (12-2) gave up solo homers to his first two batters in the first game, Gio Urshela hit a tying home run in the second off Yonny Chirinos (9-5), and Gary Sánchez smashed a go-ahead 110 mph single off the glove of third baseman Yandy Díaz during a three-run fifth. Díaz had helped the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone got fired up at a rookie umpire in a profane rant, and New York awoke from a sleepy start to rally past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 in a doubleheader opener Thursday.After Domingo Germán (12-2) gave up solo homers to his first two batters, Gio Urshela hit a tying home run in the second off Yonny Chirinos (9-5), and Gary Sánchez smashed a go-ahead 110 mph single off the glove of third baseman Yandy Díaz during a three-run fifth. Díaz had helped the Yankees come alive when he dropped Didi Gregorius' leadoff popup in the second for a two-base error.Boone fumed after rookie umpire Brennan Miller called Brett Gardner out on strikes in the second inning. Miller, umpiring behind the plate for the fifth time in the major leagues, had punched out Aaron Judge in the first. Gardner batted in the second after Urshela's tying, two-run homer and struck out on a 1-2 pitch.Gardner returned to the dugout, slammed his bat into the bat rack nine times, then eight times... [More]

July 141916 — St. Louis Browns pitcher Ernie Koob went the distance in a 17-inning 0-0 tie with the Boston Red Sox. Carl Mays went the first 15 innings for the Red Sox and Dutch Leonard finished.1946 — Cleveland player-manager Lou Boudreau hit four doubles and a home run in the first game of a doubleheader against Boston, but Ted Williams connected for three home runs and drove in eight runs for an 11-10 Red Sox victory.1956 — Mel Parnell of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox for a 4-0 victory at Fenway Park.1967 — Eddie Mathews of the Astros hit his 500th home run off San Francisco's Juan Marichal at Candlestick Park. Houston beat the Giants 8-6.1968 — Hank Aaron got his 500th home run off Mike McCormick as the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2.1968 — Don Wilson of the Houston Astros struck out 18 Reds in a 6-1 victory over Cincinnati in the nightcap of a doubleheader.1969 — Oakland's Reggie Jackson knocked in 10 runs in a 21-7 win over... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Phillies had just become the latest visiting team to win a game in Miami, and from the top of baseball's food chain, $330 million man Bryce Harper tried to be kind as he assessed the low-budget, low-expectation Marlins."They've got a good pitching staff," Harper said. "They're young. They're energetic. It's going to be a good club."But when?For the rebuilding Marlins, this season is about trying to get closer to competitive, and in the standings there's little sign of progress.Starting with a loss to Harper and the Phillies, the Marlins dropped six of their final seven games before the All-Star break, which left their record at 33-55, by far the worst in the National League. The Marlins are assured of their 10th consecutive losing season, and even by the franchise's low standards, this season's .375 winning percentage is bad.At the break a year ago, they were 41-57 (.418). Two years ago, shortly before CEO Derek Jeter's group bought the franchise and began to reboot, the... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Phillies had just become the latest visiting team to win a game in Miami, and from the top of baseball's food chain, $330 million man Bryce Harper tried to be kind as he assessed the low-budget, low-expectation Marlins."They've got a good pitching staff," Harper said. "They're young. They're energetic. It's going to be a good club."But when?For the rebuilding Marlins, this season is about trying to get closer to competitive, and in the standings there's little sign of progress.Starting with a loss to Harper and the Phillies, the Marlins dropped six of their final seven games before the All-Star break, which left their record at 33-55, by far the worst in the National League. The Marlins are assured of their 10th consecutive losing season, and even by the franchise's low standards, this season's .375 winning percentage is bad.At the break a year ago, they were 41-57 (.418). Two years ago, shortly before CEO Derek Jeter's group bought the franchise and began to reboot, the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven weeks ago, the Washington Nationals didn't have much to dance about.They were 12 games below .500 with the fourth-worst record in baseball. They weren't giving ace Max Scherzer and Co. enough run support, and the bullpen was a ticking time bomb to another deflating loss."Any way we could lose a game, we found a way to do it," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "Then you go to New York and get swept, lose four games in a row, you feel like you're at rock bottom."Since waking up at rock bottom on May 24, the Nationals have gone a major league-best 28-11 to vault into playoff contention. With its combination of power hitting, stellar starting pitching and some dance parties in the dugout, Washington can legitimately think about playing into October and challenging the Atlanta Braves for NL East supremacy."We know the guys in this clubhouse are very talented," Scherzer said. "When we can go out there and play our best baseball and play mistake-free baseball, we're a... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Matt Adams homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.Washington has won seven of its last eight and is 25-10 since May 24. The Nationals improved to 44-41, the first time they've been three games over .500 this season.Strasburg (10-4) was, as usual, brilliant against the Marlins. He allowed two hits and two walks while extending his personal winning streak against Miami to 11. The right-hander is 20-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 34 career starts against the Marlins, who didn't get a man past first until the eighth.Strasburg's gem included the first immaculate inning of his career. Strasburg needed just nine pitches to strike out Garrett Cooper, Neil Walker and Starlin Castro in the fourth.Miami's Sandy Alcantara (4-8), making his first start since earning an All-Star nod Sunday, allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.ANGELS 6,... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Matt Adams homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.Washington has won seven of its last eight and is 25-10 since May 24. The Nationals improved to 44-41, the first time they've been three games over .500 this season.Strasburg (10-4) was, as usual, brilliant against the Marlins. He allowed two hits and two walks while extending his personal winning streak against Miami to 11. The right-hander is 20-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 34 career starts against the Marlins, who didn't get a man past first until the eighth.Strasburg's gem included the first immaculate inning of his career. Strasburg needed just nine pitches to strike out Garrett Cooper, Neil Walker and Starlin Castro in the fourth.Miami's Sandy Alcantara (4-8), making his first start since earning an All-Star nod Sunday, allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.ANGELS 6,... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Matt Adams homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.Washington has won seven of its last eight and is 25-10 since May 24. The Nationals improved to 44-41, the first time they've been three games over .500 this season.Strasburg (10-4) was, as usual, brilliant against the Marlins. He allowed two hits and two walks while extending his personal winning streak against Miami to 11. The right-hander is 20-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 34 career starts against the Marlins, who didn't get a man past first until the eighth.Strasburg's gem included the first immaculate inning of his career. Strasburg needed just nine pitches to strike out Garrett Cooper, Neil Walker and Starlin Castro in the fourth.Miami's Sandy Alcantara (4-8), making his first start since earning an All-Star nod Sunday, allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.ANGELS 6,... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Matt Adams homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.Washington has won seven of its last eight and is 25-10 since May 24. The Nationals improved to 44-41, the first time they've been three games over .500 this season.Strasburg (10-4) was, as usual, brilliant against the Marlins. He allowed two hits and two walks while extending his personal winning streak against Miami to 11. The right-hander is 20-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 34 career starts against the Marlins, who didn't get a man past first until the eighth.Strasburg's gem included the first immaculate inning of his career. Strasburg needed just nine pitches to strike out Garrett Cooper, Neil Walker and Starlin Castro in the fourth.Miami's Sandy Alcantara (4-8), making his first start since earning an All-Star nod Sunday, allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.ANGELS 6,... [More]