MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Rafael Devers homered for the fourth straight game and the streaking Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 on a snowy Tuesday in a series opener moved back following the fatal police shooting of a Black man in a nearby suburb. Hunter Renfroe hit a solo homer and Bobby Dalbec added a pair of RBI doubles as Boston won its seventh in a row after losing its first three games of the season. Monday’s game was postponed due to safety and sensitivity concerns in the Twin Cities after the police shooting a day earlier of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. The Twins held a moment of silence for Wright prior to Tuesday’s game. Snow flurries fell for most of the game and it was 33 degrees for the first pitch. That made for the third-coldest start at Target Field, the record being 27 degrees on April 7, 2018. Adam Ottavino (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Matt Barnes pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season. Randy Dobnak (0-2) ... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Wednesday: ___ VIRUS SCARE The Chicago Cubs hope to stay on schedule amid a coronavirus scare that’s landed four players on the COVID-19 injured list the past two days. Scheduled starter Kyle Hendricks was scratched Tuesday after the right-hander indicated he wasn’t feeling well — the team didn’t immediately provide more info on his status, other than to say the move was made out of caution. The team said prior to Tuesday's game that no players have tested positive. Bullpen coach Chris Young and first base coach Craig Driver have been flagged for positive tests. Chicago is set to wrap a series in Milwaukee, with Brewers ace Corbin Burnes (0-1, 0.73) facing Jake Arrieta (2-0, 2.25). CUP OF JOE Joe Musgrove is back on the mound after pitching the first no-hitter in Padres history in his previous start. This time, he’ll face the Pirates at PNC Park -- the 28-year-old righty played three seasons for the Pirates before getting traded t... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians manager Terry Francona called racist social media messages sent to first baseman Yu Chang “stupid and ignorant” and said they have no place in baseball or “anywhere.” On Tuesday, Chang shared some anti-Asian postings he received on Twitter after he made a costly error in the ninth inning of Monday night's game in Chicago. The throwing error allowed the White Sox to score the winning run. Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the tweets on his account while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus. “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all." He included the hashtag StopAsianHate. Chang’s tweet included a screenshot of three of the messages. Two of the accounts seem to have been deleted. Soon after his posting, the 25-year-old Chang received a... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians manager Terry Francona called racist social media messages sent to first baseman Yu Chang “stupid and ignorant” and said they have no place in baseball or “anywhere.” On Tuesday, Chang shared some anti-Asian postings he received on Twitter after he made a costly error in the ninth inning of Monday night's game in Chicago. The throwing error allowed the White Sox to score the winning run. Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the tweets on his account while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus. “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all." He included the hashtag StopAsianHate. Chang’s tweet included a screenshot of three of the messages. Two of the accounts seem to have been deleted. Soon after his posting, the 25-year-old Chang received a... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist tweets he received after he made a costly error in the ninth inning of Monday night's game in Chicago. Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian tweets on his Twitter account Tuesday while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus. “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all." He included the hashtag StopAsianHate. Chang’s tweet included a screenshot of three of the messages. Two of the accounts seem to have been deleted. Soon after his posting, the 25-year-old Chang received an outpouring of positive responses and support from Indians fans and others across social media. Indians manager Terry Francona texted with Chang earlier in the day, and then met with him along with the player's interpreter bef... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Chicago Cubs manager David Ross said Tuesday that none of his players have tested positive for COVID-19 as infielder Matt Duffy joined three teammates on the virus-related injured list. The Cubs already had placed relievers Brandon Workman, Jason Adam and Dan Winkler on the coronavirus-related injured list Monday. Bullpen coach Chris Young and first base coach Craig Driver have tested positive. “We still do not have any players on the positive COVID list,” Ross said before the Cubs’ game with the Milwaukee Brewers. “I would tell you right now with protocols and being extra cautious, if you have a headache, if you have a runny nose, if you have body aches, if you have just about anything going on that would or could be one of the 10 COVID symptoms, we’re going to err on the side of caution.” Ross said Driver was in the three-week waiting period between vaccination doses and that Young already had received both shots when they tested positive. “It’s tw... [More]

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernández has tested positive for the coronavirus. Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo announced the news before Tuesday night's game against the New York Yankees. The positive result was discovered during testing on Tuesday. Hernández went on the injured list last Friday after he was exposed to someone with a positive coronavirus case outside of the team. Montoyo said Hernández started experiencing symptoms on Monday night. He has been away from the team since last Thursday. “He has been in isolation since Friday," Montoyo said. “He's going to have to stay out because of protocols for at least 10 days and that begins today." Two other Toronto players missed time due to vaccination-related symptoms. A number of Blue Jays received shots last Thursday. Left-hander Ryan Borucki had side effects, which included a fever and fatigue, and was sent home Friday. Left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. left after two innings in Friday night’s game with symptoms including nausea. Both rejoined the team within a couple days. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PITTSBURGH (AP) — This no-hitter, it turned out, came with a cup of Joe. Fresh off pitching the first no-no in the San Diego Padres' 52-year history, Joe Musgrove found out his achievement served up a positive effect on his family, too. The right-hander’s parents own and operate a coffee shop in the San Diego suburb of Alpine, California. Padres fans have been flocking there since Musgrove tossed his gem last Friday against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. “It’s something that’s been in the family for 20 years, a small drive through in a small town, so they don’t usually do crazy business,” Musgrove said Tuesday. “But the last few days have been some of the best days they’ve ever had. I really appreciate people helping support their small business," he said. Musgrove will see some familiar faces in his first start since the history-making effort. He's set to pitch Wednesday night in Pittsburgh — last January, after three seasons with the Pirates, he was traded to the... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Seattle Mariners left-hander James Paxton will undergo season-ending surgery, manager Scott Servais said Tuesday. Paxton left his April 6 start — his first since returning to Seattle on a 1-year, $8.5 million deal — with left elbow discomfort. Paxton received a second opinion Monday, when the need for surgery was confirmed. “It’s a blow,” Servais said. “This is a guy who is a top-end starter, a top-of-the-rotation type of guy. Certainly nothing against our other guys, but they just don’t have the experience and the track record that Pax has accumulated over his time in the big leagues. It’s disappointing to lose him. On the flip side, you can’t do anything about it.” The 32-year-old Paxton pitched for Seattle from 2013 to 2018, going 41-26 with a 3.42 ERA. He spent the past two seasons with the New York Yankees, but was limited to five starts in 2020 because of a left flexor strain. “I feel terrible for Pax and having to deal with this one again... [More]

April 14 1910 — William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington. 1910 — Chicago’s Frank Smith pitched a one-hitter in the season opener to give the White Sox a win over the St. Louis Browns. 1915 — In the opening game at Philadelphia, left-hander Herb Pennock of the A’s blanked the Red Sox 5-0. He gave up only one hit — a scratch single by Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth. 1917 — Ed Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns. 1925 — The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one club on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler had four errors in the game. 1967 — Boston rookie Bill Rohr lost a no-hit bid in his first major league start when Elston Howard singled in the ninth inning for the New York Y... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist tweets he received after making a costly error in Monday night's game in Chicago. Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian tweets on his Twitter account Tuesday while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus. “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all." He included the hashtag StopAsianHate. Soon after his posting, Chang received an outpouring of positive responses and support from Indians fans and others across social media. The 23-year-old who came up as a middle infielder in Cleveland's organization is playing first base for the first time this season. The Indians signed him as a free agent in 2013. With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning and the White Sox threatening with two runners on base,... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist tweets he received after making a costly error in Monday night's game in Chicago. Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian tweets on his Twitter account Tuesday while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus. “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all." He included the hashtag StopAsianHate. Soon after his posting, Chang received an outpouring of positive responses and support from Indians fans and others across social media. The 23-year-old who came up as a middle infielder in Cleveland's organization is playing first base for the first time this season. The Indians signed him as a free agent in 2013. With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning and the White Sox threatening with two runners on base,... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians first baseman Yu Chang shared some racist tweets he received after making a costly error in Monday night's game in Chicago. Chang, who is Taiwanese, posted some of the anti-Asian tweets on his Twitter account Tuesday while asking for tolerance. One of the messages referred to the shape of his eyes and another referred to the coronavirus. “Exercise your freedom of speech in a right way, I accept all comments, positive or negative but DEFINITELY NOT RACIST ONES,” Chang wrote. “Thank you all and love you all." He included the hashtag StopAsianHate. The 23-year-old Chang, who came up as a middle infielder in Cleveland's organization, is playing first base for the first time this season. With the game tied 3-3 in the ninth inning and the White Sox threatening with two runners on base, Chang fielded a ground ball and attempted to get the force-out at second but hit Chicago's Yasmani Grandal in the helmet. The ball ricocheted toward the left-field line, allowing pinch runner Nick Madrigal to score the winning run. The racist social media postings directed toward Chang are part of an ugly trend of abusive behavior toward Asians. Former NBA player Jeremy Lin has been outspoken about the racist behavior and sports organizations have offered support to quell incidents. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHOENIX (AP) — Right-hander Zac Gallen is set to return for the Arizona Diamondbacks after missing the season's first few weeks with a hairline fracture in his right forearm. Manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that Gallen is scheduled to start on Tuesday against the Oakland Athletics. The 25-year-old was the Diamondbacks' best pitcher last season and finished ninth in the National League Cy Young voting after finishing the abbreviated 2020 season with a 2.75 ERA and 82 strikeouts over 72 innings. Gallen was hurt during spring training while taking batting practice, saying he got jammed by an inside pitch. Lovullo also confirmed on Monday that the D-backs had signed veteran Josh Reddick to a minor league deal and that the veteran would report to the team's alternate site in Scottsdale, Arizona. The 34-year-old Reddick has 144 career homers over with the Astros, A's, Red Sox and Dodgers. Reddick hit .245 last season with four homers and 23 RBIs. If added to the 40-man roster, he would receive a one-year contract with a $750,000 salary while in the major leagues plus the chance to earn performance bonuses. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — The 150 free agents who have signed, with name, position, former club if different, and contract. The contract information was obtained by The Associated Press from player and management sources. For players with minor league contracts, terms for major league contract base salaries are in parentheses: AMERICAN LEAGUEBALTIMORE (3) — Signed Freddy Galvis, ss, Cincinnati, to a $1.5 million, one-year contract; re-signed Wade LeBlanc, lhp, to a $700,000, one-year contract; signed Matt Harvey, rhp, Kansas City, to a $1 million, one-year contract. BOSTON (4) — Signed Kiké Hernández, of-inf, Los Angeles Dodgers to a $14 million, two-year contract; signed Garrett Richards, rhp, San Diego, to a $10 million, one-year contract; re-signed Martin Pérez, lhp, to a $5 million, one-year contract; signed Marwin Gonzalez, inf, Minnesota, to a $3 million, one-year contract. CHICAGO (2) — Signed Adam Eaton, of, Washington, to an $8 million, one-year contract; signed Liam Hendriks... [More]

A look at what’s happening around the majors today: ___ POSTPONED The Red Sox and Twins were scheduled to begin their series in Minnesota a day late. Monday's opener of a four-game set at Target Field was postponed because of safety concerns following the fatal police shooting of a Black man in Minnesota and the potential for unrest in the area. The NBA's Timberwolves and NHL's Wild also postponed their games a day after the shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright following a traffic stop in a nearby suburb of Minneapolis. The Twins said their decision was made in consultation with Major League Baseball and state and local officials. FINGERS CROSSED The Chicago Cubs are concerned about a possible COVID-19 outbreak after two coaches tested positive for the virus and three relievers were placed on the COVID-19-related injured list. The team announced the positive test for bullpen coach Chris Young before its 6-3 loss at Milwaukee. First base coach Craig Driver already was away from the ... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Trevor Rogers’ major league debut was only about half what he expected. “A lot of jitters,” the Miami Marlins left-hander recalled. “And a lot of cardboard cutouts.” Rogers, like the other 211 players who made their big league debuts in 2020, got an unusual introduction to baseball’s top level — a pandemic-shortened season when fans were almost entirely banned from the ballpark. Now, many of those players are back in the majors, and all those cutouts have been replaced by limited-capacity crowds that are still some of the biggest those rookies have seen. “It has been amazing,” said fellow Marlins youngster Jazz Chisholm Jr. “I feel like every day is a new opening day for me because I’ve never had the chance to play with fans in the big leagues.” Chisholm and Rogers both broke in with Miami last season, part of an up-and-coming club that overcame a season-stalling coronavirus outbreak to end a 16-year playoff drought. Rogers admits the fans mom... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Schwarber doubled in a run in his delayed Washington debut, Andrew Stevenson had a pinch-hit homer and the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on Monday night. Schwarber, Josh Bell and Josh Harrison were in the starting lineup after being sidelined for Washington’s first six games by a coronavirus outbreak that prompted the postponement of the team’s season-opening series and left the club short-handed. The Nats ended a five-game skid, while the Cardinals have lost three straight. Stevenson hit his first homer of the season into St. Louis’ bullpen in right field to lead off the seventh, putting Washington ahead 4-2. Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Brad Hand got three outs for his first save. Yadier Molina homered for St. Louis. John Gant (0-1) allowed three runs in five-plus innings. BREWERS 6, CUBS 3 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Luis Urías drove in three runs with a go-ahead double, part of a six-run sixth inning for t... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Schwarber doubled in a run in his delayed Washington debut, Andrew Stevenson had a pinch-hit homer and the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on Monday night. Schwarber, Josh Bell and Josh Harrison were in the starting lineup after being sidelined for Washington’s first six games by a coronavirus outbreak that prompted the postponement of the team’s season-opening series and left the club short-handed. The Nats ended a five-game skid, while the Cardinals have lost three straight. Stevenson hit his first homer of the season into St. Louis’ bullpen in right field to lead off the seventh, putting Washington ahead 4-2. Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Brad Hand got three outs for his first save. Yadier Molina homered for St. Louis. John Gant (0-1) allowed three runs in five-plus innings. BREWERS 6, CUBS 3 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Luis Urías drove in three runs with a go-ahead double, part of a six-run sixth inning for t... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Chicago Cubs are concerned about a possible COVID-19 outbreak after two coaches tested positive for the virus and three relievers were placed on the COVID-19-related injured list. The team announced the positive test for bullpen coach Chris Young before its series opener at Milwaukee. First base coach Craig Driver already was away from the team following his positive test. Relievers Brandon Workman, Jason Adam and Dan Winkler were placed on the COVID-19-related injured list on Monday. There was no word on whether their designation was the result of a positive test or contact tracing. Left-handers Justin Steele and Brad Wieck were recalled from the team's alternate site in South Bend, Indiana. Veteran reliever Pedro Strop was selected as a replacement player from the alternate site. Manager David Ross said the team is being “extra cautious” right now. “I think that once you get a positive and what we got with Craig, it’s just on your radar for a while,” ... [More]