LOS ANGELES--Just past 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Hyun-Jin Ryu rose from his seat inside the Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen and climbed atop a mound. A pitcher warming up should not sound an alarm. But these are strange times for the pitching staff of the Dodgers.

Earlier in the afternoon, hours before a 7-3 victory over St. Louis, manager Dave ...Read more

Dee Gordon, antsy as always on first base, took off for second. In a matter of a few steps and even fewer seconds, he not only swiped second but also moved to third when an errant throw sailed into center.

The sequence was a productive one for Gordon on two fronts. For the Miami Marlins, he moved closer to scoring the first run of the team's ...Read more

MILWAUKEE -- Did the rebuilding Milwaukee Brewers provide their fans false hope by playing much better than expected for the first seven weeks of the season?

We are about to find out.

The Brewers are in their first real funk of the season after dropping their fourth game in a row Thursday night, 4-0, to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Miller Park....Read more

BOSTON -- Drew Pomeranz tied his career-high with 11 strikeouts in six innings Thursday, and Xander Bogaerts connected for his first homer of the season as the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers, 6-2, to complete a three-game sweep.

Elvis Andrus homered for the Rangers, and Nomar Mazara had two hits and an RBI, but two-run innings in the ...Read more

HOUSTON -- This was Justin Verlander's kind of game.

His team was trying for a split against one of the best teams in baseball. They needed a good taste in their mouths, for the late-night flight that would follow and the straight doubleheader to come after that.

They needed innings, quality innings, to beat the Astros and save the bullpen.

...Read more

As an animated character, Mike Scioscia will live forever.

This is not the kind of animation you see in his face when he goes jaw to jaw with an umpire. This is the animation that made him a cartoon catcher, in a beloved episode of "The Simpsons" that first aired 25 years ago and pays him residuals to this day.

"Sometimes, I'll net 47 cents," ...Read more

NEW YORK -- The prospect of a spoiled evening loomed. It was not enough that Dinelson Lamet was scheduled to face major league hitters. An undefeated foe threatened to deprive him of the chance.

In the opposing clubhouse, the New York Mets bowed to Mother Nature. Forecasts called for thunderstorms beginning around 9 p.m. Jacob deGrom was ...Read more

NEW YORK -- With no burdensome contracts on their roster, the Padres are not expected to be as busy this upcoming trade season as they were last summer.

Yet, with an unabashed rebuild underway, a lack of activity would come as a surprise. The Padres, who opened Thursday with the majors' worst winning percentage, are likely to consider just ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The Angels started Thursday's game without their cleanup hitter, and by the end of it they were also without their leadoff hitter.

They hope both will back by Friday.

With Albert Pujols getting the day off and sizzling leadoff hitter Cameron Maybin leaving the game because of a sore right knee, the Angels slogged ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- It wasn't the emotional and deserved criticism from their manager less than 24 hours before, questioning their intensity and effort. It wasn't seeing Scott Servais getting ejected mid-game for having issues with the typically meandering and unpredictable strike zone of home plate umpire Adam Hamari.

No, the key to the Mariners' 4-...Read more

NEW YORK -- The Royals' series finale against the New York Yankees on Thursday afternoon has been postponed because of inclement weather, the Yankees announced Thursday morning.

The game has been rescheduled for Monday, Sept. 25 at Yankee Stadium. The start time is still to be determined. The Royals lost two of three here in New York, falling ...Read more

CLEVELAND -- After causing a two-hour delay in Wednesday's game, the rain finished the job on Thursday, as the Indians' game against the Cincinnati Reds was postponed due to inclement weather.

The game has been rescheduled for July 24 at 7:10 p.m. Tickets marked for the May 25 rainout game will be valid for the July 24 make-up game. Fans who ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- After the St. Louis Cardinals had managed one run and lost in the 13th inning of Tuesday's game, that night's starter, Lance Lynn, outlined the obvious way for a starter to come away from that game with a victory.

He shouldn't have allowed a single run.

Mike Leake took note.

The Cardinals' ascendant sinkerballer faced the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- The disdain dripped from Rich Hill's voice. He is an introspective man, but this was not self-deprecation. It was self-loathing, the only emotion he could muster after plummeting the Los Angeles Dodgers into an early deficit in a 6-1 loss to St. Louis.

"I was just terrible tonight," Hill said. "Honestly, it was embarrassing."

...Read more

MILWAUKEE -- Manager Craig Counsell warned beforehand that the Toronto Blue Jays were not the same struggling team the Milwaukee Brewers swept in a two-game road series in early April.

And he was right.

The Blue Jays returned the favor Wednesday afternoon by pummeling the Brewers with a long-ball barrage to win 8-4 at Miller Park and sweep the...Read more

ATLANTA -- For Andrew McCutchen, the road to redemption was short. Left out of the starting lineup Wednesday because of a sagging batting average and little luck lately at the plate, McCutchen entered as a pinch-hitter in the 10th inning and came around to score the deciding run.

McCutchen singled off reliever Josh Collmenter, snapping an 0-for...Read more

CLEVELAND -- The Indians suffered a rare, ninth-inning loss in a rain-delayed, 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field.

The Indians led 3-2 entering the ninth inning with closer Cody Allen on the mound, who entered a perfect 13 for 13 in save chances this season. That streak ended Wednesday night.

The Reds began the...Read more