HOUSTON — Two and a half hours before he stepped back onto a major league mound for the first time in eight months, George Kirby stood in the Mariners dugout, looking out at the field while his teammates went through their pregame routines.

It all should have looked and felt familiar. The last time he pitched in a major league game was in ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Pirates narrowly avoided major league history, but they waited until the last possible moment to do so.

The Pirates scored five runs on Thursday night, the first time in 27 games that they’ve reached that total. They lost anyway, falling 8-5 to the Brewers despite two runs in the ninth inning and their best offensive ...Read more

DETROIT — Manager AJ Hinch, maybe getting a little weary of answering questions about the magnitude of this series with the Guardians, finally summed it up like this:

“It’s cool and it doesn’t matter.”

Both things can be true.

The Guardians, who broke the Tigers’ hearts in Game 5 of the ALDS last October, drew first blood in the ...Read more

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The way things are going for the Angels lately, not even a bad six innings could derail them.

Taylor Ward’s seventh-inning grand slam erased a three-run deficit, leading the Angels to a 10-5 victory over the A’s on Thursday afternoon. They extended their winning streak to seven games.

The Angels (24-25) had not ...Read more

TORONTO — The Padres reminded themselves who they were.

“I like this game,” Luis Arraez said. “This game is the San Diego Padres. When we compete, we look like that.”

Looking better and feeling better about it was the only win on Thursday.

The Padres lost the crapshoot that is modern extra innings and lost a sixth straight game. A ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The tweet Jon Heyman of the New York Post posted a few days ago certainly was not meant as comic relief, but here's hoping it provided at least a little bit of that for rightfully embittered Pirates fans:

"Pirates source: Paul Skenes is not getting traded. 'No chance, no way, no how,' is the way I heard it. While there's a bit of...Read more

BOSTON — It’s not uncommon for professional athletes to receive criticism on social media, but sometimes that fan behavior can escalate into harassment or outright abuse.

On Thursday, Red Sox right-hander Liam Hendriks revealed he’d received messages that were beyond the pale.

“Just as an FYI: Threats against my life and my wife’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Slow down.

Previously limited to fastballs and splitters, Shohei Ohtani threw a handful of sliders and curveballs in his mid-week bullpen session, but that doesn't mean he will be a two-way player again before the All-Star break.

Ohtani is lined up to potentially face hitters in a simulated game on Saturday in New York, but ...Read more

BOSTON — With both Triston Casas and Romy Gonzalez out injured, the Red Sox have struggled to get by with little to no depth at first base.

Thursday the club brought in some badly needed reinforcements.

The Red Sox announced they have acquired first baseman Ryan Noda from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for cash considerations. Noda has ...Read more

NEW YORK — Shortly after Jorbit Vivas battled Ryne Stanek’s 100-mph fastball over the course of an 11-pitch at-bat in a May 18 win over the Mets — resulting in a game-changing, run-scoring grounder — Yankees manager Aaron Boone mentioned that the rookie has had a tough time against heaters since being promoted earlier this month.

“I ...Read more

On Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts made a decision.

A day after Teoscar Hernández returned to the Dodgers’ lineup, activated from the injured list Monday following a two-week absence because of an adductor strain, Roberts decided to sit the veteran slugger for the second of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It was ...Read more

WEST SACRAMENTO — The Angels have become an offensive juggernaut in the past week.

They bashed their way to a sixth consecutive victory, beating the Athletics, 10-5, on Wednesday night.

The Angels’ longest winning streak since they won six in a row last season has been fueled by an offense that has scored 7.3 runs per game, including 15 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins managed only three hits in Wednesday’s second game against the Guardians, and lost at Target Field for the first time all month.

Ryan Jeffers singled home Willi Castro in the third inning, but the Twins could not muster another run, falling, 4-1, in the regularly scheduled finale of what was supposed to be a three-...Read more

The Kansas City Royals needed a team effort to secure a series victory over the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

More precisely, they needed their offense to carry the load.

The lineup answered the call as Kansas City earned an 8-4 victory Wednesday to close out a three-game series by the bay. Team captain Salvador Perez led the charge ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — How long can the Giants keep this up?

They have a middling offense and defense (both ranked 18th by FanGraphs’ metrics), which seem to be fading further by the day. Their big, flashy and super-expensive free-agent signing, Willy Adames, is 12 percentage points worse than a league-average hitter and is the single worst ...Read more

MIAMI — A fielding error was the opportunity the Chicago Cubs needed.

The Cubs and Miami Marlins each scored a run in the first inning to open Wednesday’s series finale, which held as the game’s lone runs until the eighth. Matt Shaw’s leadoff walk and stolen base positioned the Cubs to take the lead against the Marlins bullpen. Kyle ...Read more

TORONTO — That Wednesday night’s game devolved into a rout was a technicality.

What does it matter when a team can’t score?

The San Diego Padres are not hitting, and they are not scoring. So it seemed highly unlikely they were going to come back to win even before the Toronto Blue Jays scored five runs in the seventh inning and seven ...Read more