OAKLAND, Calif. -- Looking to get out of his rough stretch to begin the season, Oakland Athletics' Kendall Graveman changed things up.

Everything was different from Graveman Friday night against the Boston Red Sox. His usual warm-up song, Lynard Skynard's "Sweet Home Alabama," was ditched in favor of Young Jeezy's "Put On." Graveman utilized a ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Mariners weren't facing the likes of Lance McCullers, Gerrit Cole or Charlie Morton, but it took them a little while -- roughly the first seven innings of their matchup with Texas Rangers on Friday night -- to realize that.

But the offense that had been held to two runs or fewer in the past five games awoke from its ...Read more

DENVER -- Manager Joe Maddon's decision to move Javier Baez to the second spot is paying off handsomely for the Cubs.

Baez collected four hits Friday night, including a two-run, opposite-field home run in the first inning, and drove in four runs as the Cubs used a seven-run sixth inning to pull away to a 16-4 win over the Rockies at wet Coors ...Read more

PHOENIX -- History hung in the desert air on a night so perfect that the roof was open at Chase Field.

Tyson Ross, who with a strong spring training earned his way back into the Padres starting rotation after a major surgery ended his first stint with the team two years ago, flirted with the first no-hitter in the 49 years of the major league ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas -- They were kings of the Arizona Rookie League six summers ago. Rulers of the Holiday Inn Express of Surprise, Ariz.

Other teams were awed by their size, their power at the plate and on the mound and their athleticism, even though their professional careers were in their infancy.

No other team looked and played like the AZL ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- The Cardinals scored three times in the first inning and that gave Michael Wacha a chance to find his groove as the Redbirds went on to a 4-2 win on Friday night at Busch Stadium. It was the sixth win in the past seven games for the Cardinals, with five of them coming against the Reds, who were playing their first game under interim...Read more

DETROIT -- For the second time in four days, the Royals played a doubleheader.

They looked to be on the verge of being swept for the second time in a doubleheader, too.

But in an unlikely turn of events, the Royals went from almost losing their 10th game in a row to winning for the first time since April 9.

The Royals defeated the Tigers, 3-2...Read more

BALTIMORE -- Leave it to Dylan Bundy, the bright beacon in a so-far dark Orioles season, to power through the malaise that has held the team down all year. He continued his wonderful April and ended a six-game losing streak for the Orioles with a 3-1 win over the Cleveland Indians on Friday night at Camden Yards.

It was a game that began by ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Odubel Herrera slid headfirst into third base, helmet covering his eyes, and slapped the bag with his right hand.

In the language of Herrera histrionics, it was a sign that things were going well for the Phillies.

Herrera delivered the difference-making hit -- a triple in the eighth inning -- Friday night in the Phillies' 2-1 ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Twins stormed back from four runs down in the seventh inning on Friday, then took a lead in the eighth on Max Kepler's solo homer.

But Fernando Rodney blew the save in the ninth, and the Twins lost, 8-7, in 10 innings because they seemingly forgot all the pitcher's fielding practice work they put in during spring ...Read more

CHICAGO -- For a while, Trayce Thompson couldn't bring himself to watch or read about the White Sox.

That's how "devastated" the outfielder was to learn the Sox had traded him to the Dodgers at the winter meetings in December 2015. The Sox's 2009 second-round draft pick still remembers the call he received from general manager Rick Hahn to tell...Read more

MILWAUKEE -- Maybe it was the short break the Marlins gave him this week.

Or maybe it was playing again in Milwaukee.

Either way Lewis Brinson hopes he found a way out of his hitting slump Thursday night after belting his first two home runs as a member of the Marlins.

Brinson's former team rendered the blasts inconsequential, however, as the...Read more

PHOENIX -- A night after the long ball gave, the long ball took away from the San Francisco Giants.

Just three weeks into the regular season, the Giants have learned this lesson all too frequently for a team that plays its home games in the pitcher-friendly confines of AT&T Park.

Thanks to an A.J. Pollock solo shot off Ty Blach in the bottom ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Hidden behind a partition in the visitors' clubhouse at Petco Park, Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen was scrolling through his iPhone Wednesday when a reporter approached. Jansen looked up and wondered what the visitor wanted to talk about. The topic felt obvious.

On a recent four-game winning streak, the Dodgers (8-9) ...Read more