DENVER — A fantastic start and surviving a midgame letdown was enough.

For the Padres and for Matt Waldron.

The Padres scored four runs in the first inning and one more after four innings of silence en route to a sharply played and somewhat sleepy 5-2 victory over the Rockies on Wednesday night at Coors Field.

Waldron allowed one run on ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — They weren’t going to be held down for the entire series. The hard contact was going to yield not just hits, but homers. And they were eventually going to score runs. Their lineup features too many proven hitters to be stymied for an entire series.

A night after being shut out by the Mariners, the Texas Rangers ended a ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — When asked Tuesday evening about the early success by his starting rotation, Pirates manager Derek Shelton highlighted numerous factors, but first on the list was his team’s ability to avoid putting runners on base.

“We're keeping people away from free passes,” Shelton said. “I think that's been the biggest thing: staying...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Curtis Mead’s first extra-base hit of the season was huge for himself and his team.

The rookie second baseman, who had been scuffling all season, crushed a two-run homer as part of a three-run sixth as the Rays battled back to beat the Tigers, 7-5, Wednesday in front of an announced 13,754 at Tropicana Field.

The win...Read more

NEW YORK — Joe Boyle thought he caught Aaron Judge looking.

With the Yankees’ center fielder facing a 1-2 count, the Athletics’ starter fired a 99-mph fastball to the lower, outside corner of the plate in the first inning. Judge froze on the pitch, watched it zip by, and slowly began walking back to the Yankees’ dugout, dismayed by his ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Back in the spring, Gavin Lux’s biggest problem was throwing the ball.

Then the regular season started, and the Dodgers’ once highly touted infielder suddenly looked unable to hit.

A month into his return from missing 2023 with a knee injury, Lux arrived at Nationals Park this week with just nine hits in 19 games, a .148 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — It's difficult to know whether the Twins have straightened themselves out after four difficult weeks of ugly baseball or whether the White Sox are just their favorite pushovers. Either way, they have plenty of reasons to be grateful.

The Twins piled up a season-high 13 hits Wednesday night, put runners on base in every inning ...Read more

CINCINNATI — It’s hard to overstate how scattered Seranthony Domínguez looked on Wednesday night in the Phillies’ 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. He needed 32 pitches to get through two-thirds of the sixth inning. Only half of those pitches were strikes. After Spencer Turnbull gave the Phillies five innings of three-hit, one-run ball, ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals reached deep into their playbook on Wednesday night.

The Royals played a little small ball in a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays, manufacturing each run in a different manner.

In the first inning, it was star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. who put pressure on the Blue Jays. He earned a one-out walk ...Read more

It speaks to their depth and resilience that the Red Sox can still look like a complete team without so many key players.

Hours after the club placed ace Brayan Bello on the 15-day injured list with right lat tightness, they put together an impressive 8-0 victory.

Against the Cleveland Guardians, who came into the contest with a major league-...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs center fielder Cody Bellinger sounded hopeful Tuesday that his collision with the outfield wall wouldn’t cause him to miss much, if any, time.

That optimism did not last long.

Bellinger became the latest Cub to head to the injured list. A CT scan Wednesday revealed Bellinger has two fractured right ribs and a time ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals obviously haven’t won as much as they need and haven’t won as easily as they want, and even when they do, it’s sometimes followed by a carbuncle like Tuesday’s loss. But they emerged from that mess to filch an improbable series victory from Arizona by relying Wednesday on how they have won.

This is the way ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets were thrown a curveball of sorts Wednesday morning when San Francisco Giants left-hander Blake Snell was scratched from his start and placed on the injured list with a left adductor strain.

With little time to alter their game plan, the Mets approach was simple: Control the strike zone and be aggressive against San ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Coming off an American League Rookie of the Year campaign, Gunnar Henderson entered the 2024 season with massive expectations. He’s lived up to every bit of them so far.

The Orioles’ shortstop reached base five times and finished a triple shy of the cycle Wednesday to lead Baltimore to a 6-5 series-clinching win over the...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Soon, the Rays' great stadium debate will be in the hands of elected officials.

The details of the plan to reimagine the Tropicana Field parcel has taken more than a year to negotiate with the Rays, developers, Pinellas County and St. Petersburg all playing a role in what eventually will be a multibillion-dollar project...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Grayson Rodriguez’s stellar start to the season hit its first snag Tuesday night as the right-hander allowed seven runs in the Orioles’ 7-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Baltimore rallied late to get the tying run in the batter’s box but couldn’t complete the comeback, ending the club’s three-game winning streak....Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Word to the rest of baseball: Logan Webb is on a roll.

So, too, was his opponent Tuesday evening, Luis Severino, and in a battle to see which starter would break first, Webb outlasted the Mets right-hander to guide the way to a 5-1 win, only the third time all season the Giants have prevailed in consecutive games.

Webb walked...Read more

DENVER — Things went from seemingly OK to really bad quickly.

That tends to happen at Coors Field more than other ballparks, especially when a pitcher stops throwing strikes and the defense falters.

The Padres had a three-run lead and a starting pitcher on the mound who appeared in control. They had left some runners on but were continually...Read more

ATLANTA — A couple days before his start, the Braves’ Max Fried was talking to Travis d’Arnaud, and the catcher mentioned something in passing.

“Next time you go out there,” d’Arnaud told Fried, “I want a complete game.”

Fried delivered: On Tuesday versus the Marlins, the left-hander threw his fourth career shutout and his ...Read more

WASHINGTON — After weeks of worrisome late-game blunders, there was finally some redemption for the Dodgers bullpen Tuesday night.

On a night their starting pitcher failed to complete five innings, and their lineup managed only one run before the final couple frames, it was five other numbers that keyed a 4-1 Dodgers win over the Washington ...Read more