NEW YORK -- The parameters of the assignment precluded Clayton Kershaw from answering any significant questions about either his present or his future. The Los Angeles Dodgers did not expect Kershaw to pitch for long on Saturday night at Citi Field. He did not. For three innings in an 8-3 victory over the New York Mets, he alternated between ...Read more

HOUSTON -- For almost two hours on Saturday evening, the Royals held onto a one-run lead over the reigning-world-champion Astros.

The Royals' prospects for a victory seemed high. Royals starting pitcher Ian Kennedy had thrown seven innings of two-run baseball and was in line to win for the first time since April 7. Reliever Wily Peralta had ...Read more

BOSTON -- The Mariners' longest losing streak of the 2018 season ended at five games Saturday night.

They won't get swept at Fenway Park. They won't lose every game on the road trip. The season is not over.

A decisive 7-2 victory over the Red Sox stopped the losing and quelled the outside panic ... for now.

A night after Seattle pitchers gave...Read more

CINCINNATI -- You can probably blame Miss Manners for the ejection of Cubs bench coach Brandon Hyde in the fourth inning of Saturday's 11-2 loss to the Reds.

Manager Joe Maddon said the ejection was because of the "general nature of the moment." But according to catcher Willson Contreras, it was precipitated by what he construed as a strange ...Read more

CLEVELAND -- Trevor Bauer walked off to another standing ovation and Francisco Lindor hit his second home run in as many days in the Indians' 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers Saturday night.

It was the Indians' sixth consecutive win. They have outscored their opponents 42-7 during the winning streak.

Bauer (7-5) allowed one run on five hits and...Read more

MILWAUKEE -- Whether he was behind the plate or at the plate on this road trip, there have been times when Yadier Molina has yanked the Cardinals in a direction they have not gone enough recently.

He steered Jack Flaherty through six no-hit innings Friday night. He steadied Miles Mikolas after a difficult first inning Saturday afternoon. And at...Read more

CINCINNATI -- The Cubs dropped an 11-2 game to the Reds on Saturday afternoon at Great American Ball Park, their third straight loss in the series.

Reds starter Anthony DeSclafini earned the win and hit a grand slam in a six-run third inning, only the fourth by a Reds pitcher in franchise history.

Cubs catcher Chris Gimenez was called on to ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- For one game, at least, practice made Maikel Franco perfect.

Franco didn't play in the series opener here Friday night. Even though fellow third baseman J.P. Crawford is out with a broken left hand and rookie Jesmuel Valentin had made only one previous start at the position, the Phillies preferred to consign Franco to the bench ...Read more

ATLANTA -- The Braves know that if they hope to have closer Arodys Vizcaino healthy for the long haul of a season, they're going to have to be a bit more careful with him than most other teams are with their closers.

"Viz has been put back together a couple of times, so there's always going to be an awareness of that," Braves manager Brian ...Read more

CHICAGO -- White Sox starter Dylan Covey left in the fifth inning of Saturday's game against the Athletics with right hip soreness. He's listed as day to day.

The A's traded blows with the Sox -- after Covey's exit, it went tie, A's lead, tie, A's lead -- and held on to win 7-6 at Guaranteed Rate Field. Covey gave up a two-run homer to Stephen ...Read more

ATLANTA--It was deep in the falling action when Friday turned into Saturday at SunTrust Park and Manny Machado homered in the 15th inning to send the Baltimore Orioles to an eventual 10-7 win over the Atlanta Braves.

And the wild ninth inning that preceded it made even that advantage an uncomfortable one. Two hours earlier, the Orioles (22-52) ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--In a game of inches, punctuality is just as critical as precision.

The San Francisco Giants were neither on time or on the mark Friday against the San Diego Padres and it cost them in a 6-2 defeat to the last-place club in the National League West.

Manager Bruce Bochy's squad unraveled in a sloppy top of the sixth inning, ...Read more

DENVER -- It wasn't Coors Field that did in Wei-Yin Chen.

Not entirely.

While Chen gave up a towering home run to Nolan Arenado in a six-run Rockies outburst in the fourth, it was a series of Marlins misadventures (including one of his own) and small-ball baseball that led to Chen's undoing and an eventual 11-3 Colorado win.

There was a ...Read more

CLEVELAND -- Shane Bieber delivered his second consecutive gem and the Indians launched three home runs, including a grand slam by Yonder Alonso, in a 10-0 win over the Detroit Tigers Friday night at Progressive Field.

Bieber, in his third career major-league start, put together the best of the three thus far. He tossed seven scoreless innings,...Read more

MILWAUKEE -- For a club spiraling through a road trip that thudded Thursday with a heinous, mistake-strewn loss, the Cardinals returned to Miller Park with a chance to still stake a claim to this series if they found a spark of something, anything.

Jack Flaherty did even better.

He held Milwaukee to nothing.

It still wasn't enough.

Jesus ...Read more

BOSTON -- Due to the "quirks" that can be found in the schedule, situations like the same starting pitchers facing off against each other in back-to-back outings can arise during the season.

It's happened once already this season when Felix Hernandez and Tampa's Blake Snell faced each other June 3 at Safeco Field and June 9 at Tropicana Stadium...Read more