ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Angels have lived on the outskirts of playoff contention, sliding on and off the bubble, for the better part of four months. Always too far behind the Houston Astros in the division race to be taken seriously. Never too far away from .500 to be counted out.

With an opportunity to play the Astros at Angel ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Pitcher Jakob Junis showed exactly why the Royals have stuck with him through his ups and downs. Flashes of his potential, such as his outing on Monday, will make you wonder what Junis might become if he performs that way consistently.

Junis set a career high for strikeouts in a game with 10 as he set the tone for a 5-2 win ...Read more

CLEVELAND -- Once the storm cleared, the Indians charged.

A fierce, swirling wall of rain hit Progressive Field in the seventh inning of Monday night's game with the Indians and Detroit Tigers still tied. After the tarp was removed, the rain moved on and the wind died down, the Indians quickly jumped on the Tigers' bullpen to put together a ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The Los Angeles Dodgers' merciless and methodical one-inning destruction Monday of the Philadelphia Phillies, a club that appeared poised to contend with them for National League supremacy for a fleeting period before the calendar turned to summer, began with a single off Alex Verdugo's bat. It ended, after six Dodgers runs and a...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- Tyler O'Neill continued his robust hitting and the Cardinals continued their string of strong pitching since the All-Star break Monday night as they blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-0, behind Miles Mikolas at rainy Busch Stadium.

O'Neill banged one homer to center field at 414 feet in the fifth and one even longer at 433 feet to ...Read more

DENVER -- In the middle of a 93-degree day at Coors Field, the Giants' offense caught fire, launching baseballs toward the sun in a historic 19-2 rout of the Rockies.

By the conclusion of the evening portion of Monday's doubleheader, the temperature had dropped more than 20 degrees and the Giants had mustered just two runs and six hits in nine ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Cubs President Theo Epstein plans to speak "soon" with Ben Zobrist with the hope the valued hitter will rejoin the team later this season.

And those talks could have some bearing on what the Cubs do before the July 31 trade deadline.

"At this point it doesn't," Epstein said Monday night before the Cubs opened a three-game series ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- One day after tweaking a muscle in his leg, Los Angeles Angels star Mike Trout was out of the lineup for Monday's series opener against the Houston Astros at Angel Stadium. The Angels, however, remain optimistic that Trout's tight right calf is a minor issue.

Trout had not returned from an MRI appointment and was not ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- The Los Angeles Dodgers announced that Chris Taylor was placed on the 10-day injured list Monday with a fractured left forearm after he was hit by a pitch in the 11th inning in Sunday night's win over the Boston Red Sox. Matt Beaty was recalled from triple-A Oklahoma City to take his place on the roster.

The Dodgers left Boston ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- There are rough innings and nightmarish innings and innings that test a manager's intestinal fortitude while simultaneously graying his hair.

And then there was whatever the heck happened to the Phillies in the fourth inning Monday night.

It ranked somewhere between a full-scale meltdown and a raging dumpster fire, and ...Read more

DENVER -- Remember the 2019 Giants? The team with the lowest batting average in franchise history? The lineup that made fans feel lucky when they witnessed a four-run outburst?

If you've already forgotten what those days looked like, so did the offense that suddenly can't be stopped.

The Giants arrived at Coors Field for a doubleheader Monday ...Read more

BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox were threatening to snatch the win late Sunday night and Kenley Jansen was restless. He watched from the visitors bullpen behind the right-field wall at Fenway Park and knew the meat of Boston's lineup was looming. He wanted to pitch. So he asked bullpen coach Mark Prior for permission to call the LosDodgers' dugout....Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Early last month, the Padres were considering their options with Manuel Margot.

Or rather, they were considering Margot's options.

It was a real possibility the center fielder would be optioned to Triple-A to get more at-bats in an effort to let him finally work out -- without the pressure and difficulty of daily major league ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In the week since being knocked unconscious in a home plate collision in Houston, Los Angeles Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy has walked around sporting a shiner and spoken as though plagued by a cold.

He will address one issue Tuesday. He is scheduled to undergo a closed reduction surgery on his broken nose, an injury ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Chad Pinder led off the ninth inning with a single and Ramon Laureano placed a ground ball perfectly enough to force White Sox shortstop Jose Rondon into a throwing error to score Pinder for a walk-off 3-2, series-sweeping victory on Sunday afternoon in Oakland. The A's have won 10 of their last 12 games and are 12 games above...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas -- A four-game split against the American League West leaders and one of the best teams in baseball would be an acceptable result ordinarily.

The Texas Rangers, though, had their eyes on a series win over the Houston Astros, especially after winning the first two games. A 3-1 start to the second half would have been a strong ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The search for the Mariners' first win following the All-Star break will have to resume in a few days and in a different city.

With their best chance at a victory in perhaps their most competitive game in weeks, their best reliever -- which isn't necessarily a lofty distinction given the bullpen roster -- entered a tie game ...Read more