Most Recent
A look at what's happening around the majors on Monday:
STICKING TO HIS STORY
Major League Baseball will deal with Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago, the first player ejected under the new crackdown against grip-enhancing sticky stuff.
CHICAGO (AP) — Seattle Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago became the first player to be ejected as part of Major League Baseball’s new foreign substance protocols when he was thrown out of Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox.
A look at what's happening around the majors on Sunday:
IT’S NOT EASY
Wander Franco got off to a smashing start this week, hitting a home run and double in his major league debut for Tampa Bay.
The four Cubs pitchers were checked one by one as they left the mound Thursday night, and all passed inspection. Getting a grip on the baseball didn’t seem to be an issue at Dodger Stadium, where the visiting hurlers combined to throw the seventh no-hitter of the season in the major leagues.
So baseball began holding “Frisk the Pitcher Night” at every big league stadium this week. Max Scherzer had the look of a guy who didn’t need help to do his job as umpires checked him at Citizens Bank Park.
CINCINNATI (AP) — Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Soroka is facing season-ending surgery after again tearing his right Achilles tendon.
The Braves said Saturday Soroka suffered the new tear on Thursday while walking to the clubhouse at Truist Park, where he was continuing his rehabilitation while the team is at Cincinnati.
A look at what's happening around the majors today:
JAKE TO BREAK?
Mets ace Jacob deGrom can set the team record for scoreless innings when he starts against the Phillies at Citi Field.
NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out 10 straight New York Mets batters Friday, tying a major league record that stood alone for more than five decades.
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.
CLEVELAND (AP) — There's no more debate or decisions forthcoming. There's still some anger and disbelief, but also the excitement that comes along with change.
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball is experimenting with pre-tacked baseballs at some Triple-A games during the last stretch of the minor league season.
The test run could be a step toward updating the big league balls after the league cracked down midseason on the use of illegal sticky substances used by pitchers to improve grip.
DENVER (AP) — The ever-reliable Max Scherzer just couldn't get his usual grip on the baseball in the thin air at Coors Field. He licked his hand. He held the ball tighter. But nothing seemed to work.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays reliever Ryan Borucki has been suspended for three games by Major League Baseball for intentionally hitting Tampa Bay's Kevin Kiermaier with a pitch in the latest salvo in a spat between the two AL East competitors.
DENVER (AP) — First Julio Urías. Now Walker Buehler.
That's back-to-back off outings from key cogs in a Los Angeles rotation that boasted the best ERA in baseball. Logging too many innings? Wearing down?
A look at what’s happening around the majors today:
___
Oakland right-hander Chris Bassitt promised to return to the mound by season’s end following a frightening 100 mph line drive to the face on Aug.
It’s that time of the baseball year again, the individual award season. Who’s the MVP? Who’s the Cy Young winner? Rookie of the Year?
Does the MVP have to come from a team in the postseason? Does MVP mean “most valuable player to a team” or “best player in the league”?
A look at what’s happening around the majors on Thursday:
___
Oakland right-hander Chris Bassitt promised to return to the mound by season’s end following a frightening 100 mph line drive to the face on Aug.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier is “shocked to see what has transpired” and finds reaction “just hard to believe" to his scooping up a scouting a card that fell out of Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk’s wristband.
DETROIT (AP) — Wednesday's game between the Chicago White Sox and the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park has been postponed because of rain. The game will be made up on Monday at 1:10 p.m.
The Tigers stalled the White Sox’s drive for the AL Central title with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday.
DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Albert Pujols drew on his vast baseball wisdom to get that clutch hit. Once he reached first base, he celebrated like a kid.
Pennant chases will do that.
Pujols drove in the go-ahead run with a single up the middle in the 10th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame a rare off night by major league wins leader Julio Urías to beat the Colorado Rockies 5-4 Tuesday.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Athletics right-hander Chris Bassitt is set to return to the mound, just over five weeks after being hospitalized when he was hit in the head by a 100 mph line drive.
Oakland manager Bob Melvin announced Bassitt will come off the injured list and start Thursday’s series finale at home against Seattle in a matchup of AL wild-card contenders.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash apologized to Blue Jays management a day after Rays veteran Kevin Kiermaier scooped up a scouting data card that fell out of Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk's wristband and refused to give it back.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego Padres All-Stars Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. stood next to each other and said it's all good between them after their weekend shouting match in the dugout during a season that's been spiraling out of control.
NEW YORK (AP) — In the midst of difficult negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, Major League Baseball and its players' association are scheduled to start a grievance hearing next Monday over the union's claim the 2020 pandemic-affected season was too short.
DENVER (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the injured list with a left rib fracture.
The team made the move Tuesday just before its game in Colorado against the Rockies and backdated the decision to Saturday.
FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) — Jo Lasorda, the widow of Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, has died. She was 91.
She died Monday night at her home in Fullerton, the team said Tuesday. No cause of death was given.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper gave the 96 mph fastball a deep ride that had a few thousand straggling fans that paid for $1 hot dogs and a pennant race standing in euphoria.
Harper's ball landed 401 feet away in Baltimore center fielder Cedric Mullins's glove, the first out in the ninth inning of a futile effort for the Phillies against the worst team in baseball.
PHOENIX (AP) — Austin Riley was smacking baseballs all around Chase Field on Monday night. Adam Duvall hit one so hard it left the yard by a long, long way.
The Atlanta Braves have ridden the ups and downs of a playoff race for weeks now.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Shane Baz pitched two-hit ball for five innings to win his major league debut and the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays cut Toronto's lead in the wild-card chase, holding off the Blue Jays 6-4 on Monday night.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Formerly a fleet outfielder, Anthony Gose returned to the majors five years later Monday night as a rocket-armed reliever for the Cleveland Indians, flashing 100 mph heat and fanning Royals slugger Salvador Perez.
The bar for the batting title is unusually low this year — and that's creating wild races for the honor in both leagues.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leads the majors in hitting with a .321 average, and Trea Turner is atop the National League at .316.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Eddie Rosario became the second Atlanta player in a month to hit for the cycle, Max Fried pitched seven strong innings and the Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 3-0 Sunday in a matchup of division leaders.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Patrick Wisdom set a Chicago Cubs record for homers by a rookie on a day that exemplified his feast-or-famine approach.
Wisdom struck out four times for a second straight day but delivered a towering three-run shot that highlighted the Chicago Cubs’ eighth-inning comeback in a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.