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]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox have claimed first baseman A.J. Reed off waivers from the Houston Astros and have assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte.Reed has a .153 career average over 48 games for Houston from 2016-18. He had spent this season at Triple-A Round Rock and was designated for assignment by the Astros on July 2.The White Sox also transferred right-hander Ryan Burr to the 60-day injured list. He has been sidelined since late May and had Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow on June 25.Burr was 1-1 with a 4.58 ERA in 16 games — one start — this season.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Alex Bregman's decision to sign a long-term contract with the Houston Astros was not impacted by the second slow free-agent market."I wanted to play here," the third baseman said Friday after the team announced a $100 million, five-year contract covering 2020-24. "I didn't want to play anywhere else. I wanted to be in orange and blue for as long as I possibly can. I love this organization. I want to win here for a long time."Selected by Houston with the second overall pick in the 2015 amateur draft, Bregman debuted with the Astros in July 2016 and helped Houston win its first World Series title in 2017.His contract was renewed this month by the Astros for a major league salary of $640,500 this year. The new deal includes a $10 million signing bonus, half payable within 30 days of the agreement's approval by the commissioner's office and the rest within 90 days' of approval.Bregman gets salaries of $11 million annually from 2020-22 and $28.5 million in both 2023... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Houston Astros catcher Brian McCann finally got to a point that something had to be done to try to fix his troublesome right knee.McCann will have surgery after going on the disabled list Tuesday for the second time this season, and the third time in less than a year, because of knee discomfort.Manager A.J. Hinch said he and McCann had a long conversation about the recurring knee problems when the team played in Tampa last weekend."It's just continually the same issue over and over with his right knee," Hinch said. "One of the options is surgery, and he went back to Houston to take care of it."McCann was home in Houston when the Astros opened a two-game set at Texas on Tuesday night.Hinch didn't say when the surgery would be done. He didn't know how long McCann would be out, other than "for the foreseeable future."Catcher Tim Federowicz, who made two starts earlier this season when McCann was on the DL, was promoted from Triple-A Fresno.Max Stassi was the Astros'... [More]

Houston Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel will have to wait even longer before playing this season.Gurriel had surgery on his left hand Wednesday and the normal recovery time is six weeks.Opening day for the World Series champions is March 29, when the Astros visit Texas. When Gurriel returns, he will serve a five-game suspension imposed by Major League Baseball for making an inappropriate gesture toward Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish during the World Series.Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said Gurriel's hand was broken before he came to camp. Luhnow said he did not know the original cause of the fracture."It was non-symptomatic until recently and he started to feel something," Luhnow said. "Once you start feeling something, the right course of action is to just remove it because it's a pretty reliable surgery, and we know what the outcome is going to be."The 33-year-old Gurriel hit .299 with 18 homers and 75 RBIs last year in his first full season in the majors. He played in one exhibition... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel had surgery on his left hand Wednesday and is expected to miss the start of the season.Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow says doctors removed the hook of the hamate bone, which was broken before Gurriel arrived at camp.Luhnow said he did not know the original cause of the fracture."It was non-symptomatic until recently and he started to feel something," Luhnow said. "Once you start feeling something, the right course of action is to just remove it because it's a pretty reliable surgery, and we know what the outcome is going to be."The 33-year-old Gurriel hit .299 with 18 homers and 75 RBIs last year in his first full season in the majors. He signed with Houston following a stellar career in Cuba and a brief stint in Japan.Gurriel appeared in one exhibition game this spring training, homering in the second of his two at-bats. The Astros scratched Gurriel from Monday's lineup and he returned to Houston on Tuesday.Manager A.J.... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel had surgery on his left hand Wednesday and is expected to miss the start of the season.Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow says doctors removed the hook of the hamate bone, which was broken before Gurriel arrived at camp.Luhnow said he did not know the original cause of the fracture."It was non-symptomatic until recently and he started to feel something," Luhnow said. "Once you start feeling something, the right course of action is to just remove it because it's a pretty reliable surgery, and we know what the outcome is going to be."The 33-year-old Gurriel hit .299 with 18 homers and 75 RBIs last year in his first full season in the majors. He signed with Houston following a stellar career in Cuba and a brief stint in Japan.Gurriel appeared in one exhibition game this spring training, homering in the second of his two at-bats. The Astros scratched Gurriel from Monday's lineup and he returned to Houston on Tuesday.Manager A.J.... [More]