All the Cincinnati Reds needed was one extended winning streak to turn a disappointing season into a possible playoff berth. Cincinnati had high hopes after spending big in the offseason, but the Reds showed little sign of improvement until they ran off six straight victories recently. Now they're at .500 and in a three-way tie with Milwaukee and San Francisco for the final postseason spot in the National League. Cincinnati hosts a three-game series with the Brewers starting Monday night. It's the pitching staff that has led this resurgence for the Reds. They held Pittsburgh to six runs in a four-game sweep, and then they took two of three from the powerful Chicago White Sox. Trevor Bauer (4-4, 1.80 ERA) and Luis Castillo (3-5, 3.03) give Cincinnati a formidable starting pitching tandem, and Nick Castellanos, Eugenio Suarez, Jesse Winker and Joey Votto all have reached double-digit home runs. Elsewhere in the NL Central, Milwaukee and St. Louis are closing strong as well. Those two teams... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Connors, a three-time New York Yankees pitching coach and confidant of late owner George Steinbrenner, has died. He was 76.The Yankees said Wednesday that Connors died Saturday. The team held a moment of silence before their game Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium."A close and trusted friend of my family for many years," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. "Billy contributed to the organization in countless ways over his long career as a pitching coach, executive and advisor."Connors coached the Yankees from 1989-90, 1994-95 and 2000, and was vice president of player personnel from 1996-2012. He was instrumental in the development of Yankees pitchers Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and Mariano Rivera.Steinbrenner and Connors would go over pitching plans not only at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, but also while regularly watching Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games in... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Connors, a three-time New York Yankees pitching coach and confidant of late owner George Steinbrenner, has died. He was 76.The Yankees said Wednesday that Connors died Monday. The team held a moment of silence before their game Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium."A close and trusted friend of my family for many years," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. "Billy contributed to the organization in countless ways over his long career as a pitching coach, executive and advisor."Connors coached the Yankees from 1989-90, 1994-95 and 2000, and was vice president of player personnel from 1996-2012. He was instrumental in the development of Yankees pitchers Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and Mariano Rivera.Steinbrenner and Connors would go over pitching plans not only at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, but also while regularly watching Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games in... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Connors, a three-time New York Yankees pitching coach and confidant of late owner George Steinbrenner, has died. He was 76.The Yankees said Wednesday that Connors died Monday. The team held a moment of silence before their game Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium."A close and trusted friend of my family for many years," Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said in a statement. "Billy contributed to the organization in countless ways over his long career as a pitching coach, executive and advisor."Connors coached the Yankees from 1989-90, 1994-95 and 2000, and was vice president of player personnel from 1996-2012. He was instrumental in the development of Yankees pitchers Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and Mariano Rivera.Steinbrenner and Connors would go over pitching plans not only at the team's spring training complex in Tampa, Florida, but also while regularly watching Tampa Bay Lightning hockey games in... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Billy Connors, a three-time New York Yankees pitching coach and confidant of late owner George Steinbrenner, has died. He was 76.The Yankees said Wednesday that Connors died Monday. The team held a moment of silence before their game Wednesday night against the Seattle Mariners at Yankee Stadium.Connors coached the Yankees from 1989-90, 1994-95 and 2000, and was vice president of player personnel from 1996-2012. He was instrumental in the development of Yankees pitchers Orlando Hernandez, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and Mariano Rivera.Connors also coached with the Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals and Seattle.Connors spent three seasons in the major leagues, starting with the Cubs in 1966 and then with the New York Mets the following two years. He was 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA in one start and 25 relief appearances.A native of Schenectady, New York, Connors played baseball and basketball at Syracuse and was member of the Schenectady team that won the Little League World Series in 1954.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Neil Walker doubled twice in four at-bats in his first game action since signing Monday with the New York Yankees.The switch-hitting second baseman hit twice from each side and doubled both right-handed and left-handed in a minor league camp game Wednesday."It was a quality day," Walker said. "I hit a couple balls hard. That's as much as you can ask for given where we're starting from. Hopefully that's a sign of my timing coming together pretty quickly."Walker is to take part in a simulated game Thursday and appear in his first big league spring training game Friday against Houston.Walker played four innings at third and two more at first."It's something that's more natural to me," Walker said of playing second base.The free-agent infielder agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract, a 77 percent pay cut. Walker earned $17.2 million last season, when he accepted a qualifying offer from the New York Mets.Walker can make $500,000 in performance bonuses: $125,000 each for... [More]

RHP Chien-Ming Wang, designated for assignment by Kansas City on Saturday, was released Thursday. He resurrected his career as a Royals reliever this season after not pitching in the majors since 2013. Wang, 36, went 6-0 with a 4.22 ERA, allowing 25 earned runs and 60 hits in 53 1/3 innings while striking out 30 and walking 18. He had pitched only 59 1/3 innings in the majors since the start of the 2012 season before this year. He won 19 games in 2006 and 2007 with the Yankees.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang, who resurrected his career as a Royals reliever this season after not pitching in the majors since 2013, was designated for assignment. Wang, 36, went 6-0 with a 4.22 ERA, allowing 25 earned runs and 60 hits in 53 1/3 innings while striking out 30 and walking 18. He had pitched only 59 1/3 innings in the majors since the start of the 2012 season before this year. He won 19 games in 2006 and 2007 with the Yankees.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang is eligible to come off the disabled list Wednesday, but manager Ned Yost indicated he will not. "He's making progress," Yost said. Wang went on the DL Aug. 31 with right biceps tendinitis.

Royals RHP Chien-Ming Wang, who went on the disabled list August 31 with right biceps tendinitis, is eligible to be reinstated Wednesday, but probably will not be.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang, who pitched two scoreless innings Tuesday, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday due to right biceps tendinitis. Wang is 6-0 with a 4.22 ERA in 38 relief appearances. He had a 1.64 ERA over 11 innings in his past five appearances.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang, pitching for the first time since Aug. 10, worked two scoreless innings to pick up his sixth victory. He is the only pitcher with at least six wins with no defeats. He had permitted a run in his previous four appearances and had a 7.54 ERA in his previous 16 appearances. He had a 2.08 ERA through his first 18 appearances.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang struggled from the start in relief, giving up a three-run home run to his first batter, then loading the bases again without giving up a hit, allowing another run to score on his throwing error. He's still 5-0 on the season, remarkably, given his 5.10 ERA.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang retired only one of the eight hitters he faced in the ninth, allowing four runs charged to him, plus two inherited runners to score. Wang has yielded 16 runs in his past 14 appearances.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang will not be RHP Chris Young's successor in the rotation. Wang, who had started 126 of his 136 appearances before this season, has not started a game for the Royals in 2016. He had not pitched in the major leagues since 2013. "Of course there was some thought about (putting him in the rotation," Yost said. "But (pitching coach) Dave (Eiland) had him when he was a starter and Dave feels pretty strongly that he's best suited for the role he's in now."

RHP Chien-Mien Wang, the former Yankees starter, has generally been effective out of the Kansas City bullpen this season, going 5-0 with a 3.82 ERA. Wang, who with the Yanks' Andrew Miller is one of two relievers in the major leagues with at least five victories and no defeats, did allow a run in one inning Friday at Philadelphia. Cesar Hernandez singled and stole second in the sixth, and with two outs, Odubel Herrera brought him home with another single.

RHP Chien-Ming Wang earned a spot in the Royals' Opening Day bullpen, and the team purchased his contract from Triple-A Omaha. Wang, 36, last pitched in the majors in 2013, when he went 1-2 with a 7.67 ERA in seven games (six starts) for Toronto. He spent the last two years in the minors.

Wang agreed to a minor-league contract with the Mariners, the Tacoma News Tribune reports.

Wang struggled for the Braves' Triple-A affiliate earlier this season, posting a 6.10 ERA in 11 games. He'll join the starting rotation at Triple-A Tacoma, but the Mariners will likely look elsewhere when the need for a spot starter arises.

Wang was released by the Braves on Friday, Kevin McAlpin of Braves Radio Network reports.

Wang failed to make the Braves' rotation out of spring training, and his poor showing (6.10 ERA, 1.887 WHIP) over 62 innings in 11 games (10 starts) has led to his release from the club. The 35-year-old hurler will hope to latch on elsewhere, but his chances at pitching in the majors again remain minimal.

Wang will begin the season as a member of the Triple-A rotation, David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Wang struggled a bit in spring training, and the late addition of Trevor Cahill to the rotation pretty much spelled the end to any hopes for the vet. He will provide the club with organizational depth in Triple-A, though it's unclear where he ranks among the options to replace a member of the rotation should an injury occur.