SAN FRANCISCO -- Brandon Belt put the Giants ahead for good Sunday with a three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 9-5 win over the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park.

Belt, in one of the hottest streaks of his career, tied in to a 1-1 pitch from left-handed pitcher Jake McGee for his 11th home run of the season, driving in Gorkys...Read more

SEATTLE -- First, Mitch Haniger helped the Mariners avoid dubious history Sunday.

Just as everyone began looking up how many times the Mariners had been no-hit in their history (the answer is three) Haniger laced a single to left-center with one out in the seventh inning to end the no-hit bid of Detroit starter Francisco Liriano.

Then, Haniger...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The streak ended with a gift from Chase Utley. Before Enrique Hernandez came up to bat in the fifth inning of a 7-2 Los Angeles Dodgers victory over the Washington Nationals on Sunday, before he ended a three-week string of futility with runners on base, he accepted an offering from Utley: A black Marucci brand, the bat model Utley...Read more

CHICAGO -- Rick Renteria strolled to the mound Sunday with an open hand and an open mind. After misfiring with his 101st pitch to issue a 3-2 walk, White Sox right-hander Reynaldo Lopez would have to convince his manager to let him keep the baseball.

"You need to have conviction if I'm going to leave you in there," Renteria said.

With the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Paul Molitor feared that the Brewers, having won the first two games during their annual trek to the Twin Cities, would approach Sunday's finale as a "house money kind of game." He just didn't realize how careless they would be with it.

Milwaukee committed an error to help the Twins score the game's first run, then walked three ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- Jack Flaherty had the best start of his young big-league career, allowing just two hits in seven-plus innings while striking out 13, the most by a Cardinal this season, as the Cardinals beat the Phillies, 5-1, on Sunday at Busch Stadium to get a split of their four-game series.

With the Cardinals bullpen low on bodies, Mike Matheny...Read more

PITTSBURGH -- The Padres appeared headed to quick and certain doom on Sunday afternoon.

Jordan Lyles had faltered late in his start, giving up a lead.

Then Kirby Yates allowed a rare run in the eighth inning that put the Padres down a run, and the Padres were 0-24 when trailing after eight innings this season.

But then Jose Pirela and ...Read more

TORONTO -- Rickey Henderson and the Bash Brothers couldn't do it. The Big Three couldn't do it. But this A's team made it happen.

After playing at least one series Toronto every season since 1977, the A's completed a four-game road sweep of the Blue Jays for the first time in franchise history with Sunday's 9-2 blowout victory.

The A's (25-22)...Read more

BOSTON -- The stadium scoreboard on the historic left-field wall of Fenway Park told the unusual story of another Orioles loss Sunday afternoon. The Orioles had 13 hits, more than the Boston Red Sox, but failed to score in a 5-0 loss that ended another frustrating road series in exasperating fashion.

An Orioles team that's found unique ways to ...Read more

ATLANTA -- Even in a year of growing pains, the Marlins have had some losses that sting.

And then there was Sunday afternoon.

On a day that Lewis Brinson hit his first career grand slam and Miguel Rojas recorded his first career multi-homer game, the Marlins' bullpen collapsed late and the Braves snatched away a 10-9 victory at SunTrust Park. ...Read more

CINCINNATI -- No cramps, no problems for Yu Darvish.

Darvish showed no signs of the right leg cramps that curtailed his Tuesday start to four innings as he pitched six innings of two-hit ball Sunday in leading the Cubs to a 6-1 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.

Darvish continued to trust his fastball, clocked as high as 97 mph, as...Read more

After Saturday's loss to the Yankees, a game in which starting pitcher Danny Duffy surrendered five earned runs over 95 pitches in four innings, Royals manager Ned Yost said he "was going over a bunch of different things," to find answers for Duffy's woes this season.

But those options do not include skipping a start or a bullpen assignment for...Read more

He's gone.

It may have been worth a try, though I'm not sure I'd have tried it. That's a classic second-guess, I concede. Still, asking a 37-year-old who'd been mostly an outfielder to move to third base was akin to wishing on a star.

Had it worked, we'd be celebrating Alex Anthopoulos as an outside-the-box visionary. That it didn't is yet ...Read more

SEATTLE--The Seattle Mariners used Jean Segura's big bat and the pitching of James Paxton to bounce the Detroit Tigers Saturday night. The Tigers (20-25) lost to the Mariners, 7-2, in Seattle. Segura hit a solo home run in the first inning, an RBI triple in the second inning and added a sac fly to right as part of a four-run sixth for the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- Logan Morrison had just hustled to second with a leadoff double in the sixth inning, giving the Twins a great scoring opportunity.

Then he was caught flat-footed as Brewers reliever Dan Jennings spun around threw to Orlando Arcia, who sneaked in behind Morrison to cover second. And the Twins slugger picked him off.

The moment ...Read more

PITTSBURGH -- Clayton Richard has reinvented himself again.

This time, for three starts at least, he's better than ever.

The Padres staked Richard a three-run lead on three consecutive doubles in the first inning, Richard again pitched effectively into the eighth inning, and the Padres held on for a 6-2 victory Saturday night at PNC Park.

It ...Read more

BOSTON -- Now that the Orioles put their club-record 13-game road losing streak in the past, they were hoping to start some winning momentum Saturday night in Boston.

Instead, the Orioles -- despite matching the Red Sox with six hits apiece -- struck out 13 times in a 6-3 loss on a rain-soaked night at Fenway Park.

"It's them and us," Orioles ...Read more

ATLANTA -- That first victory of 2018 continues to elude Jose Urena.

After facing the minimum amount of batters through the first four innings, things fell apart quickly in the fifth as the Braves scored four and later cruised to an 8-1 win Saturday night over the Marlins at SunTrust Park.

Urena lost his seventh consecutive decision to start ...Read more