A look at what's happening around the majors today:M-V-P! M-V-P!Christian Yelich has picked up right where he left off last season. The 2018 NL MVP hit his fourth homer Sunday and then a two-run double in the ninth inning that gave Milwaukee a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He has homered in the first four games of the season to match a major league record and can break the mark by going deep when the Brewers visit Cincinnati."What we're witnessing is greatness," teammate Ryan Braun said. "I've never seen anyone this good at baseball for this long."Yelich batted .326 with 36 homers and 110 RBIs last year, leading Milwaukee to the NL Central title. He is 6 for 12 with six walks and eight RBIs already this season."Candidly, I can't recall a series like that," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "I've had some guys that are smoking hot against us, but I've never seen that kind of damage over four days."WELCOME HOMEThe Indians, Pirates and Braves are set to play their home openers.... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:MVP! MVP!Christian Yelich has picked up right where he left off last season. The 2018 NL MVP hit his fourth homer Sunday and then a two-run double in the ninth inning that gave Milwaukee a dramatic 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. He has homered in the first four games of the season to match a major league record and can break the mark by going deep when the Brewers visit Cincinnati. "What we're witnessing is greatness," teammate Ryan Braun said. "I've never seen anyone this good at baseball for this long." Yelich batted .326 with 36 homers and 110 RBIs last year, leading Milwaukee to the NL Central title. He is 6 for 12 with six walks and eight RBIs already this season. "Candidly, I can't recall a series like that," Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. "I've had some guys that are smoking hot against us, but I've never seen that kind of damage over four days."WELCOME HOMEThe Indians, Pirates and Braves are set to play their home openers.... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — As spring training neared its conclusion, a reporter mentioned to Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez that Max Scherzer was not precisely on schedule to start on opening day."He's going to be lined up," Martinez said with a laugh. "Come Thursday at 1:05, he'll be on the mound."Of course he will. Scherzer is, after all, one of the best pitchers in all of baseball, a three-time Cy Young Award winner and runner-up last season. So it makes perfect sense that when Washington hosts the NL East rival New York Mets this week, Scherzer will take on the pitcher who topped him in the NL voting, Jacob deGrom."It definitely has its prestige," Scherzer said. "It's symbolic. It's an honor to get the ball in that situation."That's because even in this data-driven age in baseball, when analytics and analysis are supposed to be replacing "gut feel" and sentiment when it comes to making any and all decisions, granting an opening day start to a particular pitcher because... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jung Ho Kang and Erik Gonzalez have won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh Pirates.General manager Neal Huntington said Monday that Kang has beaten out Colin Moran at third base and Erik Gonzalez has won the shortstop competition over Kevin Newman."It was not an easy decision because all four guys, in their own way, had legitimate claims to be the regular," Huntington said.Kang is just 5 for 28 (.185) with 13 strikeouts this spring but all five hits have been solo home runs. Moran was 6 for 28 (.214) with a double and a homer through the weekend.Moran, however, had committed four errors while Kang had two."The power has been real," manager Clint Hurdle said of Kang. "It's spring training, but it's five homers. We don't have anybody else that's hit five homers."Kang missed the entire 2017 season and the beginning of 2018 because he was unable to secure a work visa to travel from his native South Korea following a third DUI arrest. He then underwent wrist... [More]

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Jung Ho Kang and Erik Gonzalez have won starting jobs in the infield with the Pittsburgh Pirates.General manager Neal Huntington said Monday that Kang has beaten out Colin Moran at third base and Erik Gonzalez has won the shortstop competition over Kevin Newman."It was not an easy decision because all four guys, in their own way, had legitimate claims to be the regular," Huntington said.Kang is just 5 for 28 (.185) with 13 strikeouts this spring but all five hits have been solo home runs. Moran was 6 for 28 (.214) with a double and a homer through the weekend.Moran, however, had committed four errors while Kang had two."The power has been real," manager Clint Hurdle said of Kang. "It's spring training, but it's five homers. We don't have anybody else that's hit five homers."Kang missed the entire 2017 season and the beginning of 2018 because he was unable to secure a work visa to travel from his native South Korea following a third DUI arrest. He then underwent wrist... [More]

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]

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. That was the longest active streak in the majors and tied for the fourth longest ever — Jack Morris set the mark at 14. Erik Bedard was the last starter before Hernandez to open a season on the mound for the Mariners.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... [More]

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. That was the longest active streak in the majors and tied for the fourth longest ever — Jack Morris set the mark at 14. Erik Bedard was the last starter before Hernandez to open a season on the mound for the Mariners.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... [More]

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Felix Hernandez says he's upset to have been passed over for opening day, but the longtime Seattle Mariners ace isn't surprised.Hernandez spoke publicly Sunday for the first time since manager Scott Servais announced a day earlier that Marco Gonzales would pitch Seattle's season opener against Oakland in Japan on March 20. Hernandez has pitched the Mariners' first game for 10 consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the majors and the fourth longest ever, but he's been mostly injured and ineffective the past three seasons.Asked if he was upset by Servais' decision, Hernandez simply said "yeah." Asked how he felt, he said, "I have no comment about that," and added "I knew it was going to happen."Hernandez also says he thinks Servais likely decided before spring training about opening day, and he could not have changed his mind even with a strong spring.Hernandez allowed seven runs in three-plus innings against Cleveland on Sunday, lifting his spring ERA to 15.95.___Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner___More AP MLB: https://apenws.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Left-hander Marco Gonzales will get the opening day start for the Seattle Mariners when they begin the 2019 season in Japan against the Oakland Athletics on March 20. New Japanese pitcher Yusei Kikuchi will get the ball for the second game of the series.Seattle manager Scott Servais announced the starters for the opening series on Saturday. The announcement was expected based on the Mariners' rotation during spring training.Kikuchi already was going to be in the spotlight returning to Japan after signing with Seattle in the offseason, but getting the start in the second game against the A's will only heighten the attention.Gonzales getting the nod for the opener ends Felix Hernandez's run of 10 straight opening day starts for Seattle. Gonzales is beginning his second full season with Seattle and is coming off a 13-9 record and 4.00 ERA.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — The biggest play from the Phillies' spring training game Thursday: great communication behind the home dugout.Philadelphia fans with an eye on their smartphones cried out when reports emerged that Bryce Harper had agreed to a deal with the Phillies, breaking the news to manager Gabe Kapler and his players during a 5-5 split-squad tie with the Orioles. Harper agreed to a $330 million, 13-year deal with the club, the largest contract in baseball history. Harper's agent, Scott Boras, said the deal was agreed to shortly before noon, subject to a successful physical."If the reports are true, it's a huge moment for our baseball team," Kapler said. "Certainly I think that the city of Philadelphia would embrace Bryce Harper. I think he would be very happy in this city because our fans care deeply about winning."A 26-year-old All-Star who had spent his entire big league career with the Washington Nationals, Harper topped the $325 million, 13-year agreement outfielder Giancarlo... [More]

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — The biggest play from the Phillies' spring training game Thursday: great communication behind the home dugout.Philadelphia fans with an eye on their smartphones cried out when reports emerged that Bryce Harper had agreed to a deal with the Phillies, breaking the news to manager Gabe Kapler and his players during a 5-5 split-squad tie with the Orioles. Harper agreed to a $330 million, 13-year deal with the club, the largest contract in baseball history. Harper's agent, Scott Boras, said the deal was agreed to shortly before noon, subject to a successful physical."If the reports are true, it's a huge moment for our baseball team," Kapler said. "Certainly I think that the city of Philadelphia would embrace Bryce Harper. I think he would be very happy in this city because our fans care deeply about winning."A 26-year-old All-Star who had spent his entire big league career with the Washington Nationals, Harper topped the $325 million, 13-year agreement outfielder Giancarlo... [More]

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — Every day for several years, Felix Hernandez has walked past large photos of himself and Randy Johnson — the Seattle Mariners' only Cy Young Award winners — in the hallway leading to the clubhouse of their spring training complex.King Felix will make those walks for perhaps the last time this year, with a bigger goal as motivation."I know this is my final year, but I don't think I am done," the 33-year-old Hernandez said on Tuesday following Seattle's first spring training workout. "I think I can do a lot of good things, and it is going to be a push for my Hall of Fame career. It means a lot. Now Edgar (Martinez) is in the Hall of Fame. We'll see."Hernandez, who has 168 victories and a career 3.34 ERA, is trying to reverse recent trends entering the final season of a seven-year contract that calls for a $27 million salary.His fastball average velocity dropped to a career-low 90.4 mph last season as calculated by Fangraphs, and his ERA was a career-high 5.55 in 29 outings.... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Major League Baseball's independent investigation found no credible evidence to support claims of disparaging comments and discriminatory treatment by members of the Seattle Mariners front office.MLB said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation found the Mariners did not violate baseball's "workplace code of conduct, or applicable anti-discrimination law," in the treatment of Lorena Martin or in her termination by the club. Martin was the club's director of high performance for one season, then was fired following the 2018 season.The investigation also concluded there was no evidence to support Martin's claims that general manager Jerry Dipoto, director of player development Andy McKay and manager Scott Servais made disparaging comments against Latino players. The Mariners have denied Martin's claims since they were first made.Martin has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the team. MLB said it will have no further comment regarding the investigation due... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Major League Baseball's independent investigation found no credible evidence to support claims of disparaging comments and discriminatory treatment by members of the Seattle Mariners front office.MLB said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation found the Mariners did not violate baseball's "workplace code of conduct, or applicable anti-discrimination law," in the treatment of Lorena Martin or in her termination by the club. Martin was the club's director of high performance for one season, then was fired following the 2018 season.The investigation also concluded there was no evidence to support Martin's claims that general manager Jerry Dipoto, director of player development Andy McKay and manager Scott Servais made disparaging comments against Latino players. The Mariners have denied Martin's claims since they were first made.Martin has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the team. MLB said it will have no further comment regarding the investigation due... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Major League Baseball's independent investigation found no credible evidence to support claims of disparaging comments and discriminatory treatment by members of the Seattle Mariners front office.MLB said in a statement Wednesday that the investigation found the Mariners did not violate baseball's "workplace code of conduct, or applicable anti-discrimination law," in the treatment of Lorena Martin or in her termination by the club. Martin was the club's director of high performance for one season, then was fired following the 2018 season.The investigation also concluded there was no evidence to support Martin's claims that general manager Jerry Dipoto, director of player development Andy McKay and manager Scott Servais made disparaging comments against Latino players. The Mariners have denied Martin's claims since they were first made."I hired her. At the end of the day we believe that, I guess, justice will prevail. There is an ongoing investigation I'm not going to get... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi has finalized four-year contract with the Seattle Mariners that guarantees $56 million and incudes club options that could make it worth $109 million over seven seasons.Seattle announced the agreement Wednesday, just ahead of the deadline for the 27-year-old to sign with a major league club.He receives a $6 million signing bonus and salaries of $8 million this year, $14 million in 2020 and $15 million in 2021. The agreement includes a $13 million player option for 2022, and Seattle has options worth $16.5 million annually for 2022-25.Seattle has until the third day after the 2021 World Series to exercise all four team options. If the Mariners decline, Kikuchi has until the fifth day after the 2021 World Series to exercise his player option."Yusei's combination of character, talent, experience and relative age made him a primary target in our roster building plans," Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "He is an exciting young pitcher... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi has finalized four-year contract with the Seattle Mariners that guarantees $56 million and incudes club options that would be make it worth $109 million over seven seasons.Seattle announced the agreement Wednesday, just ahead of the deadline for the 27-year-old to sign with a major league club or be forced to return to Japan for another season.He receives a $6 million signing bonus, salaries of $8 million this year, $14 million in 2020 and $15 million in 2021, and the agreement includes a $13 million player option for 2022. Seattle has options worth $16.5 million annually for 2002-25.Seattle has until the third day after the 2021 World Series to exercise all four team options. If the Mariners decline, Kikuchi has until the fifth day after the 2021 World Series to exercise his player option."Yusei's combination of character, talent, experience and relative age made him a primary target in our roster building plans," Seattle general manager... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Japanese left-hander Yusei Kikuchi has finalized four-year contract with the Seattle Mariners that guarantees $50 million and incudes club options that would be make it worth $103 million over seven seasons.Seattle announced the agreement Wednesday, just ahead of the deadline for the 27-year-old to sign with a major league club or be forced to return to Japan for another season.He receives salaries of $8 million this year, $14 million in 2020 and $15 million in 2021, and the agreement includes a $13 million player option for 2022. Seattle has options worth $16.5 million annually for 2002-25.Seattle has until the third day after the 2021 World Series to exercise all four team options. If the Mariners decline, Kikuchi has until the fifth day after the 2021 World Series to exercise his player option."Yusei's combination of character, talent, experience and relative age made him a primary target in our roster building plans," Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "He is... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Mariners have signed Japanese left-handed pitcher Yusei Kikuchi to a four-year deal just ahead of the deadline for him to sign with a major league club or be forced to return to Japan for another season.Seattle made the signing official Wednesday after word first surfaced of an agreement late on New Year's Eve. Kikuchi was one of the few starter options remaining on the market and he will be joining a team with a long history of success with Japanese players."Yusei's combination of character, talent, experience and relative age made him a primary target in our roster building plans," Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said. "He is an exciting young pitcher with the ability to impact the Mariners, both in the present and future."Kikuchi was posted by the Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan in early December. Under new posting rules, he had until Wednesday afternoon Seattle time to sign with a major league team or be forced to return to Japan... [More]