ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Pinch-hitter Michael Perez hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on his 28th birthday, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a two-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 1-0 on Friday night.Yoshi Tsutsugo drew a leadoff walk from Adam Ottavino (2-1) in the eighth and went to second with one out when Kevin Kiermaier walked. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Perez put the Rays up 1-0 on his fly to center.Chaz Roe (2-0) went the final two innings for the win.Masahiro Tanaka allowed one hit and struck out five over five innings, retiring his final 13 batters after giving up a first-inning single to Yandy Diaz. The Yankees’ right-hander needed just 59 pitches in his second start after beginning the season on the concussion list after being struck in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s liner during a July 4th summer camp simulated game.Three New York pitchers also limited the Rays to just two hits.MARLINS 4, METS 3NEW... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Pinch-hitter Michael Perez hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning on his 28th birthday, six Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a two-hitter and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 1-0 on Friday night.Yoshi Tsutsugo drew a leadoff walk from Adam Ottavino (2-1) in the eighth and went to second with one out when Kevin Kiermaier walked. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch before Perez put the Rays up 1-0 on his fly to center.Chaz Roe (2-0) went the final two innings for the win.Masahiro Tanaka allowed one hit and struck out five over five innings, retiring his final 13 batters after giving up a first-inning single to Yandy Diaz. The Yankees’ right-hander needed just 59 pitches in his second start after beginning the season on the concussion list after being struck in the head by Giancarlo Stanton’s liner during a July 4th summer camp simulated game.Three New York pitchers also limited the Rays to just two hits.MARLINS 4, METS 3NEW... [More]

Marlins second. Jesus Aguilar grounds out to shallow left field, J.D. Davis to Dominic Smith. Brian Anderson walks. Matt Joyce singles to shallow infield. Brian Anderson to second. Francisco Cervelli homers to right field. Matt Joyce scores. Brian Anderson scores. Logan Forsythe flies out to deep center field to Brandon Nimmo. Magneuris Sierra walks. Jonathan Villar doubles to deep left center field. Magneuris Sierra scores. Eddy Alvarez flies out to center field to Brandon Nimmo.4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 4, Mets 0.Mets second. J.D. Davis flies out to deep center field to Magneuris Sierra. Dominic Smith homers to right field. Wilson Ramos walks. Andres Gimenez called out on strikes. Amed Rosario called out on strikes.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 4, Mets 1.Mets eighth. Amed Rosario doubles to deep right center field. Brian Dozier pinch-hitting for Brandon Nimmo. Brian Dozier walks. Jeff McNeil lines out to shallow center field to Eddy Alvarez. Pete Alonso... [More]

Marlins first. Jonathan Villar homers to left field. Jon Berti lines out to deep left field to Dwight Smith Jr.. Francisco Cervelli strikes out swinging. Jesus Aguilar lines out to deep right field to Anthony Santander.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 1, Orioles 0.Orioles second. Renato Nunez homers to center field. Chance Sisco doubles to deep left field. Austin Hays lines out to deep center field to Monte Harrison. Chance Sisco to third. Chris Davis strikes out swinging. Pat Valaika flies out to deep right field to Lewis Brinson.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Orioles 1, Marlins 1.Marlins second. Brian Anderson lines out to shortstop to Hanser Alberto. Lewis Brinson walks. Logan Forsythe doubles to deep left field. Lewis Brinson to third. Magneuris Sierra out on a sacrifice fly to deep right field to Anthony Santander. Logan Forsythe to third. Lewis Brinson scores. Monte Harrison grounds out to shallow infield, Wade LeBlanc to Chris Davis.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on.... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — After enduring one final delay in their effort to return from an eight-day, coronavirus-induced hiatus, the Miami Marlins found enough power and pitching within their vastly overhauled roster to beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-0 Tuesday night.Francisco Cervelli and Jesús Aguilar homered for the Marlins, who had their season halted after 18 players tested positive for COVID-19 following the opening series in Philadelphia.Pablo López (1-0) threw five innings of two-hit ball and the bullpen allowed just one hit in Miami’s first shutout victory since Sept. 8 against Kansas City.Late Tuesday afternoon, the Marlins were still awaiting the result of further COVID-19 tests, a process that stalled their arrival at Camden Yards and pushed back the scheduled 7:35 p.m. start by 41 minutes.Orioles starter John Means (0-1) allowed one run and two hits in 4 2/3 innings. He retired 13 in a row before Cervelli drove a 3-1 pitch into the left-field seats to end the left-hander’s night. After... [More]

Marlins fifth. Brian Anderson lines out to deep center field to Austin Hays. Logan Forsythe flies out to deep right field to Anthony Santander. Francisco Cervelli homers to left field. Lewis Brinson grounds out to shortstop, Hanser Alberto to Chris Davis.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 1, Orioles 0.Marlins sixth. Monte Harrison called out on strikes. Jonathan Villar singles to deep right field. Jon Berti singles to center field. Jonathan Villar scores. Jesus Aguilar lines out to second base to Hanser Alberto. Corey Dickerson doubles to shallow left field. Jon Berti to third. Brian Anderson walks. Logan Forsythe reaches on a fielder's choice to third base. Brian Anderson to second. Corey Dickerson to third. Jon Berti scores. Fielding error by Renato Nunez. Francisco Cervelli pops out to left field to Andrew Velazquez.2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 3 left on. Marlins 3, Orioles 0.Marlins eighth. Jon Berti grounds out to shallow left field, Renato Nunez to Chris Davis. Jesus Aguilar homers to left field. Corey Dickerson grounds out to shallow infield, Andrew Velazquez to Chris Davis. Brian Anderson flies out to Anthony Santander.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 4, Orioles 0.

Phillies first. Adam Haseley singles to left field. Rhys Hoskins doubles. Adam Haseley to third. Bryce Harper homers to right field. Rhys Hoskins scores. Adam Haseley scores. J.T. Realmuto grounds out to shallow infield, Brian Anderson to Jesus Aguilar. Didi Gregorius flies out to deep left field to Corey Dickerson. Jean Segura singles to left field. Jay Bruce triples to deep center field. Jean Segura scores. Scott Kingery flies out to deep center field to Magneuris Sierra.4 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Phillies 4, Marlins 0.Marlins second. Jesus Aguilar homers to center field. Brian Anderson hit by pitch. Francisco Cervelli lines out to deep center field to Adam Haseley. Isan Diaz singles to right field. Brian Anderson to third. Miguel Rojas homers to left field. Isan Diaz scores. Brian Anderson scores. Magneuris Sierra walks. Jonathan Villar grounds out to shallow infield, Didi Gregorius to Rhys Hoskins.4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 4, Phillies 4.Phillies second.... [More]

Marlins third. Isan Diaz strikes out swinging. Francisco Cervelli singles to shallow center field. Miguel Rojas singles to right field. Francisco Cervelli to third. Jonathan Villar out on a sacrifice fly to center field to Roman Quinn. Francisco Cervelli scores. Jesus Aguilar called out on strikes.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 1, Phillies 0.Phillies fifth. Didi Gregorius homers to right field. Jean Segura strikes out swinging. Jay Bruce lines out to Corey Dickerson. Scott Kingery grounds out to shallow infield, Miguel Rojas to Jesus Aguilar.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Marlins 1, Phillies 1.Marlins sixth. Miguel Rojas walks. Jonathan Villar strikes out on a foul bunt. Jesus Aguilar homers to center field. Miguel Rojas scores. Corey Dickerson doubles. Harold Ramirez walks. Brian Anderson strikes out swinging. Garrett Cooper doubles to deep left center field. Harold Ramirez scores. Isan Diaz grounds out to shallow infield, Reggie McClain to Rhys Hoskins.4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Marlins 5, Phillies 1.Phillies seventh. J.T. Realmuto grounds out to shallow left field, Brian Anderson to Jesus Aguilar. Didi Gregorius walks. Jean Segura lines out to deep center field to Jonathan Villar. Jay Bruce reaches on error to deep center field, advances to 2nd. Didi Gregorius scores. Fielding error by Jonathan Villar. Scott Kingery grounds out to second base, Isan Diaz to Jesus Aguilar.1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 1 left on. Marlins 5, Phillies 2.

Opening day rosters gained clarity on Tuesday when the Atlanta Braves reached an agreement with Yasiel Puig, and Tampa Bay pitcher Tyler Glasnow provided hopes for teams awaiting players to be cleared following positive tests for the coronavirus.Puig agreed to a one-year deal pending a physical, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is not official until Puig passes the physical.The 29-year-old Puig, who began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit a combined .267 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs for Cincinnati and Cleveland in 2019. He also stole 19 bases.Puig was the last big-name free agent from the offseason who had not signed with a team. He helps the Braves fill a void left when Nick Markakis opted out for the season.Glasnow rejoined the Rays after missing the first 11 days of summer camp following his positive test. The right-hander immediately jumped into a simulated game at Tropicana... [More]

Opening day rosters gained clarity on Tuesday when the Atlanta Braves reached an agreement with Yasiel Puig, while Tampa Bay pitcher Tyler Glasnow provided hopes for teams awaiting players to be cleared following positive tests for the coronavirus.Puig agreed to a one-year deal pending a physical, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is not official until Puig passes the physical.The 29-year-old Puig, who began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit a combined .267 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs for Cincinnati and Cleveland in 2019. He also stole 19 bases.Puig was the last big-name free agent from the offseason who had not signed with a team. He helps the Braves fill a void left when Nick Markakis opted out for the season.Glasnow re-joined the Rays on after missing the first 11 days of summer camp following his positive test. The right-hander immediately jumped into a simulated game at Tropicana... [More]

Opening day rosters gained clarity on Tuesday when the Atlanta Braves reached an agreement with Yasiel Puig, while Tampa Bay pitcher Tyler Glasnow provided hopes for teams awaiting players to be cleared following positive tests for the coronavirus.Puig agreed to a one-year deal pending a physical, a person with knowledge of the agreement told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement is not official until Puig passes the physical.The 29-year-old Puig, who began his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, hit a combined .267 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs for Cincinnati and Cleveland in 2019. He also stole 19 bases.Puig was the last big-name free agent from the offseason who had not signed with a team. He helps the Braves fill a void left when Nick Markakis opted out for the season.Glasnow re-joined the Rays on after missing the first 11 days of summer camp following his positive test. The right-hander immediately jumped into a simulated game at Tropicana... [More]

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Zack Greinke wants to sharpen his slider without neglecting his other pitches.“Sometimes if you spend a lot of time on something new, the stuff you do good sometimes suffers from it,” Greinke said Friday after his first spring training outing. “You've got to, No. 1, make sure your other stuff stays good, then, hopefully, improve in some ways.”Greinke arrived at spring training on Feb. 22, nine days after the voluntary reporting date, preferring to stay on his own program.”Everybody's worried about him not being in camp,” new manager Dusty Baker said. "That shows that he's been working. He came to camp ready.”Greinke mixed about a half dozen sliders into his two-inning, 28-pitch outing for Houston in a 6-4 victory over the Miami Marlins. The 36-year-old right-hander threw 22 strikes.“The second inning was much better than the first inning, slider wise,” catcher Martín Maldonado said.Greinke's fastball approached 90 mph. He struck out three of seven batters, mixing in... [More]

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Zack Greinke wants to sharpen his slider without neglecting his other pitches.“Sometimes if you spend a lot of time on something new, the stuff you do good sometimes suffers from it,” Greinke said Friday after his first spring training outing. “You've got to, No. 1, make sure your other stuff stays good, then, hopefully, improve in some ways.”Greinke arrived at spring training on Feb. 22, nine days after the voluntary reporting date, preferring to stay on his own program.”Everybody's worried about him not being in camp,” new manager Dusty Baker said. "That shows that he's been working. He came to camp ready.”Greinke mixed about a half dozen sliders into his two-inning, 28-pitch outing for Houston in a 6-4 victory over the Miami Marlins. The 36-year-old right-hander threw 22 strikes.“The second inning was much better than the first inning, slider wise,” catcher Martín Maldonado said.Greinke's fastball approached 90 mph. He struck out three of seven batters, mixing in... [More]

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Adam Conley has pitched in the Miami Marlins’ organization since 2011, which gives him a unique perspective on the quality of their rotation through a decade of losing.It's on the rise, he says.“The depth is noticeably improved,” Conley says. “Now you can't pitch for the Marlins with a 6.00 ERA. Someone will come to get your job.”Conley had a 6.17 ERA in 20 starts for Miami in 2017, and if he makes the team this spring, it will be as a reliever. There are more than a dozen young arms contending for the rotation this season, and the Marlins expect to be significantly better thanks in part to their emerging starters.“The pitching is ahead of the position player grouping,” president of baseball operations Michael Hill says. “You have talented young pitchers who are continuing to get better. That’s how we get better. And that’s how we make it to October.”The Marlins haven't played in the postseason since 2003 and likely won't get there this year. But more than three years... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — The son's stay in town has outlasted the father's. The irony isn't lost on Jacob Stallings.It wasn't necessarily supposed to be this way. Stallings was still a catching prospect — and not necessarily a young one — in the Pirates' organization four years ago when his dad Kevin left a successful run as the men's basketball coach at Vanderbilt to take on the same job at the University of Pittsburgh. The marriage between the elder Stallings and the Panthers lasted all of two nightmarish seasons. By the spring of 2018, Pitt moved on. It seemed the younger Stallings might meet the same fate. Pittsburgh designated for him assignment several times as he pogoed between the minors and the majors after making his debut in 2016. The odds of him ever sticking in Pittsburgh seeming to grow more and more remote as his mid-20s turned into his late-20s.Yet rather than worry about it, Stallings buried himself in the game. When he spent the first half of 2019 as the third catcher while... [More]

JUPITER, Fla. (AP) — Francisco Cervelli says he’s fully recovered from his latest concussion, and Jorge Alfaro says he’s feeling fitter after a winter spent working on the farm and running sprints.At catcher, at least, the Miami Marlins appear in good shape.Alfaro, who returns as the starter, reported for spring training this week 15 pounds lighter thanks to an active offseason regimen that included time on his dad's small farm in Colombia.Cervelli signed a $2 million, one-year contract last month after missing much of 2019 with a concussion that limited him to 48 games for the Pirates and Braves. The 12-year veteran has a long history of concussions, but said he's now fully healthy and anticipates a bounce-back season as more than just a backup.“That word,” he said, “is not in my bag.”Alfaro also wants to play a lot — even more than the 130 games he logged last year. That's why he spent the offseason improving his fitness.He helped his dad by herding cattle and harvesting yuca roots. He... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Baseball’s news cycle of late has been dominated by the sign-stealing scandal that led to upheaval in Houston and Boston, as well as Derek Jeter missing out on being a unanimous selection for Baseball’s Hall of Fame.Don Mattingly was bothered by both stories.Miami’s manager spoke out Saturday at the team’s annual FanFest, expressing dismay over how Jeter — the Marlins’ CEO — was one vote away from appearing on 100% of the ballots submitted in this year’s Hall of Fame voting, as well as the sign-stealing controversy that is could well taint Houston’s World Series win in 2017 and Boston’s title in 2018.“You could see it kind of coming, honestly, with the technology, with the cameras, just how fast that has come to the forefront with everything you can do with replay,” Mattingly said. “You could actually see how it could ... how something could start to happen. Unfortunately, it did.”Houston manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended for a year by MLB Commissioner... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League East entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:___Atlanta Braves Manager: Brian Snitker (fifth season). 2019: 97-65, first place, lost to Cardinals in Division Series.Training Town: North Port, Florida.Park: CoolToday Park. First Workout: Feb. 13/18. He's Here: LF Marcell Ozuna, C Travis d'Arnaud, LHP Cole Hamels, LHP Will Smith, RHP F�lix Hern�ndez.He's Outta Here: 3B Josh Donaldson, LHP Dallas Keuchel, RHP Julio Teheran, C Brian McCann, OF Matt Joyce, RHP Anthony Swarzak, RHP Josh Tomlin, LHP Jerry Blevins, OF Billy Hamilton, C Francisco Cervelli. Going campin': The Braves are coming off their second straight NL East title, led by one of baseball's brightest young stars. In his first full season in the big leagues, 22-year-old OF Ronald Acu�a Jr. hit 41 homers, led the league with 127 runs and tallied 37 stolen bases to become the second-youngest... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — Catcher Francisco Cervelli finalized a $2 million, one-year contract with the Miami Marlins on Thursday to provide depth behind Jorge Alfaro.Cervelli played in 48 games last year for the Pirates and Braves. He is a career .269 hitter in 12 seasons. To make room on the roster, the Marlins designated outfielder Austin Dean for assignment. The Marlins are still in the market to add to their bullpen before spring training begins next month.———More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

MIAMI (AP) — Catcher Francisco Cervelli finalized a $2 million, one-year contract with the Miami Marlins on Thursday to provide depth behind Jorge Alfaro.Cervelli played in 48 games last year for the Pirates and Braves. He is a career .269 hitter in 12 seasons. To make room on the roster, the Marlins designated outfielder Austin Dean for assignment. The Marlins are still in the market to add to their bullpen before spring training begins next month.———More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports