Atlanta Braves outfielder Guillermo Heredia (hand) was able to avoid serious injury, according to manager Brian Snitker. He was pulled early during Wednesday's contest after getting struck in the hand by a pitch. Heredia will receive additional treatment, which could mean he ends up missing time. At this point, it's unclear whether or not Heredia will be ready in time for Opening Day. He had a fairly significant role with the Braves last season, but is likely to only carry deep league value.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Guillermo Heredia will be making his first start in the NLDS in Game 4 on Tuesday. He's playing center field and batting eighth in the lineup. The Braves were forced to shuffle some things around after Jorge Soler was placed on the COVID-19 injured list following a positive COVID test. The Braves added outfielder Cristian Pache to their NLDS roster to fill Soler's spot and he could see some time in center field going forward. Heredia wasn't very productive at the plate this year. Over 120 games, he slashed .220/.311/.354 with five home runs, 26 RBI and 46 runs.

Atlanta Braves outfielder Guillermo Heredia had a clutch two-run home run off the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. He went 1-for-5 at the plate with a two-run blast off lefty Wade Miley in the second inning. Those were an important two runs in what ended up being a 8-6 win for Atlanta. Heredia has been mediocre for the Braves this season and should lose playing time since Atlanta added reinforcements at the trade deadline. He'll be a low-end NL-only option for the time being.

MIAMI (AP) — Miami Marlins right-hander Pablo López set a major league record by striking out the first nine batters to start Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Braves. López struck out Ehire Adrianza, Freddie Freeman and Ozzie Albies each swinging in the first inning. He then fanned Austin Riley, Orlando Arcia and Dansby Swanson also all swinging in the second inning. In the third, Guillermo Heredia looked at strike three, Kevan Smith went down swinging and Ian Anderson was called out on strikes. The 25-year-old righty broke the mark of eight straight strikeouts to begin a game set by Jim Deshaies in 1986 and matched by Jacob deGrom in 2014 and German Marquez in 2018. The second time around the batting order was not as kind to López. After getting Adrianza on a grounder to begin the fourth, Freeman broke up López’s sensational start with a double and Albies and Arcia added RBI singles. López began the day with 102 strikeouts over 95 innings in 18 starts this season. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Bryce Harper blew kisses at a booing crowd to punctuate his home run, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 2-1 in eight innings Friday night for a doubleheader split after Aaron Nola matched a long-standing major league record with 10 straight strikeouts in the opener. Odúbel Herrera drove in the tiebreaking run with a groundout against reliever Sean Reid-Foley (2-1) in the eighth as both games took an extra inning to determine a winner. Nola tied Tom Seaver’s mark for consecutive strikeouts set 51 years ago, but the Mets rallied to win the first game 2-1 in eight innings on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith. Following a costly error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the bottom of the seventh, Archie Bradley (3-1) limited the damage and allowed only pinch-hitter James McCann’s tying sacrifice fly in the nightcap. In the opener, Seth Lugo (1-0) struck out three in the top of the eighth and stranded two runners for the NL East leaders, playing their third doubleheader... [More]

Aaron Nola struck out 10 straight batters to match a major league record that stood for 51 years, but the New York Mets rallied past the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 in eight innings Friday on big hits by Francisco Lindor and Dominic Smith during the first game of a doubleheader. New York took advantage of an embarrassing two-base error by reliever José Alvarado, who overthrew first base on a comebacker while clinging to a 1-0 lead in the seventh inning. That led to Lindor’s tying single with two outs, and Smith won it with an RBI single off Ranger Suárez (3-2) in the eighth. Hall of Fame ace Tom Seaver fanned his final 10 hitters for the Mets in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium on April 22, 1970. That mark for consecutive strikeouts held for more than five decades. Nola also singled off the left-field wall and doubled home Philadelphia’s run against starter Taijuan Walker. He tied a career high with 12 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball. Seth Lugo (1-0) struck... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks set a major league record with their 23rd straight road loss, making dubious history in getting trounced by the San Francisco Giants 10-3 Thursday. The dejected D-backs trudged off the field after breaking a tie with the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia Athletics for road futility. Held to just a lone single by pitcher Zac Gallen through six innings, Arizona fell behind 6-0. The Diamondbacks don’t play again on the road until June 25 at San Diego. Gallen (1-2) allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in his first start back from a sprained pitching elbow. Giants starter Kevin Gausman (8-1) limited the D-backs to two runs on four hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked one. Curt Casali homered and drove in four runs for San Francisco, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Steven Duggar went 3 for 3 with an RBI double and Mauricio Dubón and Mike Yastrzemski drove in two runs each as the Giants improved the best record in... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks set a major league record with their 23rd straight road loss, making dubious history in getting trounced by the San Francisco Giants 10-3 Thursday. The dejected D-backs trudged off the field after breaking a tie with the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia Athletics for road futility. Held to just a lone single by pitcher Zac Gallen through six innings, Arizona fell behind 6-0. The Diamondbacks don’t play again on the road until June 25 at San Diego. Gallen (1-2) allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in his first start back from a sprained pitching elbow. Giants starter Kevin Gausman (8-1) limited the D-backs to two runs on four hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked one. Curt Casali homered and drove in four runs for San Francisco, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Steven Duggar went 3 for 3 with an RBI double and Mauricio Dubón and Mike Yastrzemski drove in two runs each as the Giants improved the best record in... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks set a major league record with their 23rd straight road loss, making dubious history in getting trounced by the San Francisco Giants 10-3 Thursday. The dejected D-backs trudged off the field after breaking a tie with the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia Athletics for road futility. Held to just a lone single by pitcher Zac Gallen through six innings, Arizona fell behind 6-0. The Diamondbacks don’t play again on the road until June 25 at San Diego. Gallen (1-2) allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in his first start back from a sprained pitching elbow. Giants starter Kevin Gausman (8-1) limited the D-backs to two runs on four hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked one. Curt Casali homered and drove in four runs for San Francisco, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Steven Duggar went 3 for 3 with an RBI double and Mauricio Dubón and Mike Yastrzemski drove in two runs each as the Giants improved the best record in... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks set a major league record with their 23rd straight road loss, making dubious history in getting trounced by the San Francisco Giants 10-3 Thursday. The dejected D-backs trudged off the field after breaking a tie with the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia Athletics for road futility. Held to just a lone single by pitcher Zac Gallen through six innings, Arizona fell behind 6-0. The Diamondbacks don’t play again on the road until June 25 at San Diego. Gallen (1-2) allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in his first start back from a sprained pitching elbow. Giants starter Kevin Gausman (8-1) limited the D-backs to two runs on four hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked one. Curt Casali homered and drove in four runs for San Francisco, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Steven Duggar went 3 for 3 with an RBI double and Mauricio Dubón and Mike Yastrzemski drove in two runs each as the Giants improved the best record in... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Arizona Diamondbacks set a major league record with their 23rd straight road loss, making dubious history in getting trounced by the San Francisco Giants 10-3 Thursday. The dejected D-backs trudged off the field after breaking a tie with the 1963 Mets and ’43 Philadelphia Athletics for road futility. Held to just a lone single by pitcher Zac Gallen through six innings, Arizona fell behind 6-0. The Diamondbacks don’t play again on the road until June 25 at San Diego. Gallen (1-2) allowed four earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in his first start back from a sprained pitching elbow. Giants starter Kevin Gausman (8-1) limited the D-backs to two runs on four hits in eight innings. The right-hander struck out six and walked one. Curt Casali homered and drove in four runs for San Francisco, finishing a double shy of the cycle. Steven Duggar went 3 for 3 with an RBI double and Mauricio Dubón and Mike Yastrzemski drove in two runs each as the Giants improved the best record in... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Braves starter Charlie Morton has not allowed a hit through six innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. Morton hit Matt Carpenter with a pitch in the third inning Thursday night and also drilled Dylan Carlson in the fourth, the only baserunners he's allowed. The 37-year-old right-hander has struck out six and thrown 72 pitches. St. Louis starter John Gant didn't allow a hit until Ronald Acuña Jr. singled to open the fourth. Freddie Freeman followed with a single, but the inning ended when Austin Riley lined out to third. Morton entered 2-12 with a 5.68 ERA in 18 career starts against St. Louis. Plagued often by big innings this year, Morton has been steady with a fastball up to 96 mph, mixing in plenty of curves and cutters, too. The Braves led 2-0 on Guillermo Heredia's third homer in the fifth and Ozzie Albies' RBI triple in the sixth. There have been six no-hitters already this season, and a seventh would match 1990, 1991, 2012 and 2015 for the most since 1900, one shy... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. left Sunday night's 13-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs after experiencing pain in his lower abdominal muscles. Acuña led off the fourth with a walk. Kyle Hendricks threw over a couple times while he was on first, and it looked as if Acuña did something to his midsection on a dive back to the bag. He was checked by a trainer while he was on second, but he stayed in. He got up slowly after diving home to score on Travis d'Arnaud's sacrifice fly, and then was replaced in the field in the bottom half. “He’s got an abdominal strain, and we’ll know more tomorrow,” manager Brian Snitker said. Snitker said he isn’t sure if Acuña is going to need a stint on the injured list. “It was so late here that they couldn’t get the test that they wanted, so they’ll get it tomorrow in New York and, like I said, we’ll know more then,” he said. Acuña is off to a terrific start this year, batting .419 with seven homers and 16 RBIs in 16 games. The outfielder... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The last-place New York Yankees lost their fifth straight game as Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a tiebreaking double off Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-2 win Sunday and a three-game sweep. Four pitchers combined on the Rays’ second three-hitter of a series in which New York managed 11 hits in all. Cole (2-1) was hurt by slipshod defense that made three mistakes in the third inning alone, two by center fielder Aaron Hicks and one by left fielder Clint Frazier. Joey Wendle added a ninth-inning home run off Darren O’Day. Tampa Bay has won 18 of its last 23 against the Yankees, including in last year’s Division Series. Ryan Yarbrough (2-1) followed opener Andrew Kittredge and allowed one run and two hits in five innings. Diego Castillo got four outs, and Jeffrey Springs pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first big league save. PADRES 5, DODGERS 2 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eric Hosmer delivered the tying and go-ahead RBIs in the seventh and eighth innings, helping... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Braves left-hander Max Fried was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained right hamstring Wednesday after injuring himself while running the bases. Fried is off to a rocky start coming off a stellar 2020 season, and now he's sidelined by a fluke injury in Tuesday night's loss to the Miami Marlins. He tweaked his hamstring running from second to third on a wild pitch. The Braves also placed rookie outfielder Cristian Pache on the IL with a strained left groin. Left-hander Tucker Davidson and outfielder Guillermo Heredia were called up from the alternate-training site to fill the openings. Fried (0-1) has an 11.45 ERA through three starts after going 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA last season and finishing fifth in the NL Cy Young Award balloting. He was dreadful in the 14-8 loss to the Marlins, allowing nine hits, eight runs (seven earned) and two homers in four innings. In his previous start, he lasted only two innings against the Nationals while surrendering five runs. Manager... [More]

For a 22-year-old rookie who has had only four regular-season at-bats, Cristian Pache has good reason to look comfortable with Atlanta Braves starters in spring training. Pache already has delivered offensive and defensive highlights on one of the game's biggest stages. Pache unveiled his talents with six starts in center field in Atlanta's NLCS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His second-deck homer and above-the-wall catch were enticing previews of the big plays he might provide as a starter in 2021. The big-game exposure changed Pache's offseason. Suddenly, he didn't blend in as easily when he returned to his home in the Dominican Republic. “I think it was a little different,” Pache said Wednesday through a translator. “When I went back home I was recognized a little bit more around town." The postseason experience was especially valuable after the coronavirus pandemic took away the minor league season. Already this spring, manager Brian Snitker sees evidence of the young outfielder’s... [More]