Xander Bogaerts lingered at home plate, watching a high drive to left field in the second inning bend toward the foul line. The ball stayed fair long enough to drop into the third level of the Western Metal Supply Co. building for a team-leading fifth home run.

The rest of the Padres’ stars were MIA on Tuesday.

Calf cramping forced Manny ...Read more

The Kansas City Royals began their six-game road swing with a little momentum.

After securing a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals pressed their luck against another American League West opponent on Tuesday night. The first stop was Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics.

The Royals tangled...Read more

Right-hander Shohei Ohtani shook his head slightly as he walked off the field, having escaped the fifth inning with just one run yielded, stranding the bases loaded.

He strode through the dugout and straight back into the tunnel, with time to go over adjustments before coming back out for the sixth.

That was a luxury he wouldn’t have had if ...Read more

CHICAGO — On a night when José Soriano looked human again, the hitters couldn’t bail him out.

Soriano gave up three runs – two more than he had allowed all season – and the Los Angeles Angels lost to the Chicago White Sox, 5-2, on Tuesday night, dropping their fifth straight game.

As poorly as the Angels (12-19) have played over the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — After a one-day reprieve from a deep losing stretch, the same issues that have hampered the Minnesota Twins for the past two weeks resurfaced in a 7-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night at Target Field.

The Twins were hitless in 10 at-bats with a runner on second or third base, and the bullpen flopped after entering ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When public address announcer Dan Baker’s microphone cut out during the pregame ceremonies before the Phillies’ opener against the San Francisco Giants, plunging the ballpark into silence for a few minutes, it seemed like an inauspicious beginning to the Don Mattingly era in Philadelphia.

The players had other ideas.

...Read more

NEW YORK — The entire New York Mets lineup has been marred in an uncharacteristic slump, but in the bottom of the fourth inning on Tuesday night at Citi Field, Juan Soto uncorked a very characteristic home run. A two-run shot, just his second of the year, scored the sixth and seventh runs of the inning for the Mets, practically a week’s ...Read more

ATLANTA — There are losses and then there are games like Tuesday night at Truist Park.

The Tigers not only lost the first of a three-game series to the Atlanta Braves, 5-2, they lost two key players to injury.

Starting pitcher Casey Mize strained his right groin and left the game in the bottom of the third inning. Center fielder Javier Bá...Read more

After a pair of defiant wins in their first two games since the sudden firing of manager Alex Cora and the bulk of the coaching staff, the Boston Red Sox came back to earth Tuesday night.

They looked more like the team they’ve been for much of this first month of the season: a shorter-than-ideal outing from their starting pitcher, too many ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Alex Cora won’t manage another team this season after getting fired by the Red Sox on Saturday night.

Not that the Phillies didn’t try talking him into it.

Dave Dombrowski spoke with Cora by phone on Sunday to gauge his interest in replacing Rob Thomson, even though Thomson still was managing the Phillies in Atlanta at the...Read more

The Rays lost All-Star slugger Junior Caminero early in Tuesday’s game, when he fouled off a ball in his first-inning at-bat that bounced up and hit the right side of his jaw.

As big of a loss as that was, the Rays extended their win streak to a season-high-matching six games with a 1-0 victory over the Guardians in Cleveland.

They improved ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After Rob Thomson was fired earlier Tuesday as manager of the Phillies, he said he might spend the night watching some playoff hockey.

Or not.

“Actually, I’m going to watch our game,” he said. “I really am.”

That Thomson still calls the Phillies’ series opener against the San Francisco Giants our game isn’t just...Read more

NEW YORK — Another manager was fired Tuesday, with the Philadelphia Phillies cutting ties with Rob Thomson, a few days after the Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and several members of his staff. Meanwhile, in Queens, everything is “business as usual” for the New York Mets as they begin a series against the Washington Nationals on ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After 11 losses in 12 games, it ceased to be a matter of if Rob Thomson would be fired. It became a simple matter of when.

The matter that mattered, then: Why would he be fired?

Because the magic was gone.

For 3 1/2 seasons, with his calm Canadian demeanor and his insane work ethic, Thomson made the whole better than its ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Theories abound, but one is fun: Mickey Mouse had hunger pangs and strayed from Disneyland to nearby Angel Stadium where he discreetly raided a forlorn concession stand in a nosebleed section adjacent to the right-field foul pole.

That concession stand — high up in View Level Section 42 — was the only one out of about 160 at...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Rob Thomson is out as Phillies manager.

Four years after getting his long-awaited first chance to lead a team and steering the Phillies to a World Series, Thomson was fired Tuesday amid a 9-19 tailspin that included a 10-game skid and the worst overall run differential (minus-54) in baseball, all from a team with the sport’s ...Read more

The Padres scored early for a change Monday.

That did not keep them from having to play catch-up and hold on for the win.

Manny Machado doubled twice in a three-hit game, Ty France drove in four runs and the Padres survived rare misfires from both Randy Vásquez and Mason Miller in a 9-7 win in front of a crowd of 41,478 at Petco Park.

Miller...Read more

The Dodgers’ 5-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Monday was a reminder that even rotation leader Yoshinobu Yamamoto is going to have laborious starts, and the Dodgers’ bullpen will be tested in the wake of closer Edwin Díaz’ elbow surgery.

It met the challenge Monday, giving the Dodgers a chance for a walk-off win.

Yamamoto had his ...Read more