SEATTLE — He’ll be in Atlanta with three of his teammates next week, and if you’re a Mariners fan, you’re all for it.

The selection certainly beefs up a résumé that may be on the brink of the Hall of Fame when he’s retired, but if you’ve been watching him this season, you have to wonder.

For the third time in his four-year career...Read more

BOSTON — Colorado Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle raced back, back, back, but the Fenway Faithful already knew what he was about to be forced to accept.

Roman Anthony’s first Fenway home run was long gone.

418 feet, at 106.4 mph, to be precise.

The Red Sox rookie’s second big-league blast, but first at the ballpark he finally gets ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their scoreless streak on Monday night. It wasn’t enough to snap their losing streak.

The Kansas City Royals beat the Pirates, 9-3, on Monday at Kauffman Stadium, taking the lead with a three-run third off starter Andrew Heaney and adding four more in the middle innings against Chase Shugart...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Clayton Kershaw has been an All-Star 10 times before.

But no selection surprised him quite like this year's.

Included on the National League All-Star team as a "Legend Pick" by Commissioner Rob Manfred in recognition of his career accomplishments, Kershaw did not get any advance warning from Manfred or anyone in the league office...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Yoshinobu Yamamoto was one pitch away from a clean first inning Monday night.

Instead, the frame devolved into a sudden, unstoppable nightmare.

In the shortest start of his MLB career, and in an outing that somehow rivaled his disastrous debut in the majors last March in South Korea, Yamamoto missed one chance after the next to ...Read more

DETROIT — So much for that momentum carrying over from Sunday’s inspiring win over the Minnesota Twins.

The Tampa Bay Rays didn’t have much going for them in Monday’s series opener against the major-league best Detroit Tigers, losing 5-1.

The loss was the Rays’ seventh in their last 10 games, dropping them to 49-42.

Starter Shane ...Read more

CHICAGO — It’s a rare occasion when fans of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals agree on anything.

But the longtime rival fan bases found some common ground Sunday night at Wrigley Field when almost everyone in the crowd of 40,319 booed the performance of seventh-inning stretch singer Alex Cooper, a prominent podcaster.

Cooper’s ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — His breaths were heavy. His answers were interrupted by deep inhales. And beads of sweat were dripping from his forehead.

Tired? Perhaps.

But personally invigorated? There seemed little doubt.

For the newly turned 31-year-old Shohei Ohtani, the deep breaths and sweat drips were just a sign of another day's work in his return ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Byron Buxton is going back to the All-Star Game and back home to Georgia, this time with his family.

And this time, after consulting with teammates, family and friends, the Twins center fielder is going as a Home Run Derby participant, too.

Buxton played in the 2022 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, when he homered in an American ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Alex Cooper appeared to thoroughly enjoy herself during her seventh-inning stretch performance Sunday at Wrigley Field.

Not everyone on hand for the Chicago Cubs' game against the St. Louis Cardinals seemed to feel the same way about the "Call Her Daddy" podcast host's throaty, off-key and completely tongue-in-cheek rendition of...Read more

Fernando Tatis Jr. contributed like an All-Star on Sunday night.

The erstwhile Padres sparkplug scored their first run and drove in their second in a 4-1 victory over the Rangers at Petco Park.

Earlier in the day, it was announced Tatis had been named a National League All-Star for the third time in his career, something that seemed inevitable...Read more

SACRAMENTO — The Giants came out of Sacramento with a good win.

After getting off to a slow start in the series opener on Thursday, the Giants closed out the Athletics on Sunday to notch a 6-2 win in front of a sold out crowd of 12,180 fans and capture the I-80 series.

Shortstop Willy Adames went 1 for 3, hit a solo homer and drove in three ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Not many players could be considered an All-Star while playing through a severe slump that has lasted more than two months.

But Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. has been good enough and is a big enough presence that he will be on the National League All-Star team.

It was announced Sunday that Tatis and reliever Jason Adam ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Yu Darvish’s long-awaited season debut is happening.

Darvish will start Monday in the Padres’ series opener against the Diamondbacks at Petco Park after a careful comeback from an elbow issue that sidelined him in mid-March.

“We always have an open day on the schedule for Yu Darvish to start,” Padres manager Mike Shildt ...Read more

DENVER — Shane Smith has made the remarkable journey from Rule 5 draft pick to All-Star.

The Chicago White Sox right-hander earned a spot on the American League roster, which was revealed Sunday afternoon.

He’ll be the team’s lone representative for the All-Star Game on July 15 in Atlanta.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Smith said. “...Read more

CHICAGO — It may be difficult to fathom how a series that began with the St. Louis Cardinals allowing a club record amount of home runs could end even worse for them, but they found a way.

In arguably their worst loss of the season, the Cardinals yanked their starter in the second inning and trailed by 10 runs before they could get a second ...Read more

NEW YORK — With Aaron Judge already set to start the All-Star game in right field for the American League, teammates Max Fried and Jazz Chisholm Jr. found out they’ll be joining the Yankees’ captain following Sunday’s win over the Mets.

Fried was voted to his third Midsummer Classic by his fellow players, while Chisholm will attend the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When the Dodgers left Los Angeles for their final road trip before the All-Star break last summer, they had a 55-36 record and a 7 1/2-game lead in the National League West.

That team went on to win the World Series.

When this year's Dodgers land in Milwaukee on Sunday night to begin the last road trip before the All-Star break...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw was named to his 11th All-Star Game on Sunday by Commissioner Rob Manfred, who used his "Legend Pick" to select the Dodgers' left-hander. Kershaw (4-0) is one of just 20 pitchers in baseball history to strike out 3,000 batters.

He'll be joined on the National League team by right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who ...Read more