PHOENIX -- Chaos. Insanity. Launch angle.

It's hard to know what to believe anymore when watching a sport where hitting a ball over the fence was once an accomplishment worth celebrating.

Up until this season, it would have been all-too-easy to write that surely, neither San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy nor Arizona Diamondbacks skipper...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- In a span of about 15 minutes Friday night, Angels star Mike Trout showcased the flashiest tools in his belt.

He crushed Chicago White Sox starter Lucas Giolito's low-hanging slider 438 feet to straight-away center field for his 41st home run of the season in the fifth inning at Angel Stadium. In the sixth, he threw out ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif.--The way Kemba Walker bounced off a screen that was closer to a cross check from Spanish center Willy Hernangomez, the way he recovered to challenge the shooter, the way he sprinted down court and got two easy points, you could see that this meant something to him.

While so much talk around Team USA heading into the FIBA World ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jonathan Schoop's playing time is gradually being eroded away by rookie Luis Arraez. But the veteran infielder occasionally leaves reminders for his team that he's still around.

A game-turning two-run homer off an All-Star left-hander makes for quite a Post-It Note.

Schoop, making just his fifth start of August, lofted an ...Read more

DENVER -- Just one day ago, the Miami Marlins' offense put on a small ball spectacle against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Marlins Park en route to a convincing win over the National League's top baseball team.

That production didn't carry over into their first game at Coors Field. Instead, the Marlins fell, 3-0, to the Colorado Rockies in a brisk...Read more

ATLANTA -- The Dodgers' latest late-inning, game-changing salvo began with a two-out single in their 8-3 win Friday night at SunTrust Park. Pinch-hitter A.J. Pollock, limited by a sore groin, supplied it off the bench against Atlanta Braves right-hander Mike Soroka in the seventh inning. It was an inconspicuous launch. Soroka had been keeping ...Read more

PITTSBURGH -- Another ninth-inning lead. Another walk-off loss.

For the second time in as many nights, the Cubs couldn't put away an opponent. They blew a 2-1 lead as the Pirates scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to steal a 3-2 win and hand the Cubs their fourth consecutive loss.

A bases-loaded single by Kevin Newman off Brandon Kintzler...Read more

BOSTON -- Before Friday night at Fenway Park, Aaron Brooks last took a major league mound as the starting pitcher of the Orioles' 23-2 drubbing at the hands of the Houston Astros, a loss that provided the lowest point of the most brutal week in the first year of the Baltimore's rebuild.

Brooks seemed bound for another rough outing in a series ...Read more

CINCINNATI -- Luis Castillo, the Cincinnati Reds' All-Star right-hander, had throttled the Cardinals twice this season, holding them to two runs in 12 innings. But it was the Cardinals who worked over Castillo early in the game Friday night, requiring him to throw 52 pitches to traverse the first two innings.

The 50th of those pitches was a 3-0...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper grabbed his glove Friday night off the bench in the Phillies dugout, tugged on his red Phillies cap, and made his way to right field. Minutes earlier, his three-run homer sliced to left field and made an 8-4 win over the Padres feel safe. And now the fans were waiting to greet him.

The tides of the season seemed to ...Read more

TORONTO -- Before Mike Trout punished them at levels that seem beyond comprehension, there were other players that seemed always seemed to hit and produce when playing the Mariners.

Before him there was of Vladimir Guerrero, who spent seven seasons of his Hall of Famer career playing in the American League West -- six with the Angels, one with ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Every minor league baseball player attends spring training in Arizona or Florida. With rare exceptions, those players are not paid until the regular season begins.

Thousands of players who participated in spring training from 2014 to 2019 can join a lawsuit alleging that baseball's owners have not complied with labor laws. Minor ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Fernando Tatis Jr.'s phenomenal rookie season is likely finished.

As expected, the rookie shortstop has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a stress reaction in his lower back after leaving Tuesday's game in the seventh inning. While the team originally believed he could play again in a couple weeks, it is now expected ...Read more

PITTSBURGH -- The Cubs shook up their roster before Friday night's game against the Pirates, recalling infielder Addison Russell and sending center fielder Albert Almora Jr. to Triple-A Iowa.

Russell gives the Cubs more flexibility in the middle of the infield. Thursday night, backup shortstop David Bote committed an error and second baseman ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Billy Hamilton's stint in Kansas City was always intended to be short-lived.

It's even shorter now.

The Royals designated Hamilton for assignment Friday, two months before the conclusion of the one-year contract he signed last December.

The reasoning: They created room for outfielder Brett Phillips, who was to join the ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif.--Mike Trout leaned forward and extended his hands, stretching to get the barrel of his bat to the far side of the plate. Chicago White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez had put his changeup where he wanted, burying it low and on the outside corner. Trout launched the ball onto the left-center field rockpile anyway.

"I like it down," ...Read more

PHOENIX -- Exactly one month after Dereck Rodriguez made a Coors Field cameo to lead the San Francisco Giants to a victory in Game 2 of a doubleheader, the right-hander returned to the rotation on Thursday in Arizona.

After coming up from Triple-A to toss five innings of one-run ball against the Colorado Rockies, Rodriguez was rewarded with a ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Rocco Baldelli got his wish.

Wrung out often by the Twins' habit of momentum swings and dramatic finishes, the Twins manager Wednesday pined for an uneventful, wire-to-wire blowout victory.

"There's nothing wrong with going through those games, taking a lead and not having the drama," Baldelli said. "Just cruise along."

It...Read more

CINCINNATI -- There was no late-game magic for the Cardinals Thursday after they were no-hit for the first half of the game for a second consecutive night.

Cincinnati Reds starter Sonny Gray, who carried a scoreless streak of 13 innings into the game, no-hit the Cardinals for the first 4 2/3 innings until Dexter Fowler singled to right center ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Joe Maddon left the visiting dugout at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday night, just as the ballpark was starting to turn into a hornets nest. Maddon, the Cubs manager, watched his team stifle the Phillies lineup for the first eight innings, silence the crowd, and appear to cruise towards a win.

But now the bases were loaded for ...Read more