LOS ANGELES — The boos were already loud when Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman, a member of the scandal-embroiled 2017 Houston Astros, came up to bat in the eighth inning. They swelled when he launched a game-tying home run off Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen and rounded the bases.

Then in the ninth, Dodgers left-hander Tanner Scott surrendered...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — It was, plain and simple, a night to forget for Adrian Houser.

Houser matched his career-high in earned runs (eight) and hits (11) across four innings as the San Francisco Giants fell 9-4 to the Miami Marlins on Friday evening at Oracle Park.

The right-handed Houser, who signed a two-year, $22 million deal with a club option ...Read more

CINCINNATI — If you left this game during the one-hour, 49-minute rain delay Friday night, you missed one wild seesaw ride.

The rains, which were threatening most of the night at Great American Ball Park, finally came at the end of the sixth inning with the Tigers up 5-3 and the Reds charging.

Down 5-0 in the fourth inning, the Reds scored ...Read more

BALTIMORE — There were no more fireworks by the sixth inning.

Call it what it was Friday night at Camden Yards: An offensive barrage so loud that the video board announced that there would be no more pyrotechnics, thanks to the rockets flying off the Baltimore Orioles’ bats.

Baltimore launched six home runs, piled up 20 hits and rolled to ...Read more

To all of those New York Mets fans who thought their team would heal up vs. the lowly Colorado Rockies, “Fuhgeddaboudit!”

The resurgent Rockies held on to beat the Mets, 4-3, at Citi Field on Friday night behind a terrific start from Michael Lorenzen and some timely hits.

The Mets, who took two games from the Minnesota Twins after losing ...Read more

HOUSTON — Jazz Chisholm Jr. continued to show signs of life in Space City on Friday, tallying four RBI in the New York Yankees’ 12-4, series-opening win over the Houston Astros.

The second baseman’s performance included his second home run of the season, as well as his second in as many days. That came in the fourth inning when Chisholm ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Josh Naylor got to trot a lot Friday night, and that was very good news for the Seattle Mariners in their 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals before 31,304 at Busch Stadium.

Furthering distancing himself from the worst slump of his career to begin a season, Naylor belted the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning off St. Louis...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Taj Bradley was welcomed back to Tropicana Field with an aerial assault.

His fifth pitch of the game, a 98-mph four-seam fastball at the top of the strike zone, was torched by Junior Caminero for a 450-foot home run. The pitch, which left Caminero’s bat at 111 mph, rapidly carried towards center field and landed in the netting...Read more

MILWAUKEE — It was a near-perfect day for the Pittsburgh Pirates, resulting in one heck of a win.

Paul Skenes took a perfect game into the seventh inning, Konnor Griffin hit his first career home run, and the Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-0, on Friday night at American Family Field. The Pirates allowed just two baserunners. Isaac ...Read more

ATLANTA — Garrett Stubbs did the talking. Andrew Painter nodded in agreement. Once the mound meeting ended, the Phillies had a plan.

To stymie the Atlanta Braves’ rally.

And end a miserable slide.

Mostly to restore order to their world, if only for a night.

But three pitches later, Painter left a fastball over the plate and pinch-hitting...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The audacious Joyce Hall was all of 18 years old when he reckoned his Nebraska hometown wasn’t big enough to realize the potential of his family’s wholesaling Norfolk Post Card Co.

So on to Omaha it was going to be. But whether by happenstance or fate, a Kansas City cigar salesman warming himself in the store one day ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — This dream, in its way, was born with Connor Harris.

“I came home from the hospital with a Yankee uniform on,” Harris says. “My Dad started calling me ‘Jeet’ when I was literally still in the hospital. So all my hometown friends in Avon, they still call me ‘Jeet,’ short for Derek Jeter.”

So as he played ...Read more

NEW YORK — Don’t look now, but the Mets have won two games in a row.

A 10-8 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night at Citi Field gave the Mets their first series win in four tries. They won in a way that only the Mets could: They used two starting pitchers and one long reliever; they made mistakes on the basepaths, then made up for ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — On the night the NFL draft began, the Texas Rangers picked on an almost-Clemson QB.

The Rangers jumped all over Bubba Chandler, the one-time college football recruit turned Pirates rookie, tagging the right-hander with six runs in four innings in a 6-1 Rangers win on Thursday night at Globe Life Field.

Chandler struggled ...Read more

PHOENIX — Andrew Benintendi hit a tie-breaking, three-run home run in the ninth inning Thursday, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 4-1 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 20,405 at Chase Field.

The Sox went 4-2 on their six-game trip, taking two of three against the Athletics and Diamondbacks.

“Obviously going on a road ...Read more

BOSTON — The last time Cam Schlittler pitched at Fenway Park, he wore a Red Sox uniform.

With a crimson batting practice jersey, white pants and a stylized “B” on his cap, the childhood Red Sox fan took the same mound that some of his favorites, including Clay Buchholz and Chris Sale, once worked off of. This was back when Schlittler was ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Dodgers tout Yoshinobu Yamamoto as a Cy Young award contender, and every one of his starts has been a quality start, including the one he made here Tuesday.

The Dodgers talk up Shohei Ohtani as a Cy Young award contender, and Ohtani has given up one run all season. He pitched six shutout innings here Wednesday.

But the ...Read more

CHICAGO — It doesn’t seem to matter what happens to the Chicago Cubs these days.

When you’re on a roll, everything seems to go your way.

Blown late lead? Another closer goes down? A rat in da kitchen? What are you gonna do?

The Cubs don’t sweat the small things, as evidenced by Thursday’s 8-7, 10-inning, walk-off win over the ...Read more

DENVER — Just when it seemed the Padres were not up to making Thursday afternoon a full-fledged Coors Field thrill ride, they put together a five-run ninth inning and beat the Rockies, 10-8.

All of their runs in the final inning came before they made an out — on a walk by Jackson Merrill, singles by Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Miguel...Read more