LOS ANGELES — Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, has agreed to plead guilty in federal court to stealing millions of dollars from Ohtani to cover gambling debts, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The 39-year-old Japanese-language interpreter has reached a plea deal for one count each of bank...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The wait is finally over. Paul Skenes, the organization’s No. 1 prospect, will be promoted to the big leagues.

Rated baseball’s top pitching prospect by MLB Pipeline, Skenes will join the Pirates for their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. He is expected to make his MLB debut at 4:05 p.m. Saturday.

It’s ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Despite the loss of their star shortstop to a left hamstring strain, the Phillies haven’t faced much adversity over the past few weeks. They entered Wednesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays with a 26-11 record and a seven-game winning streak. They’ve gotten out to quick leads — outscoring their opponents by 35 runs...Read more

CHICAGO — Dylan Cease doesn't so much take the mound as command it. He wastes little motion and even less time. He throws the baseball hard and makes it move unnaturally with what seems like minimal effort.

It is the air and the ease of the rare pitcher who seems totally in control of the game.

"He competes," Luis Arraez said the other day ...Read more

CLEVELAND — No mincing of words after this one.

"You saw the mistakes," manager AJ Hinch said after the Tigers were walked off in the 10th inning, losing to the Cleveland Guardians, 5-4, at Progressive Field on Wednesday. "Too many mistakes. Pick a side of the ball and we didn't do enough to win the game. This one got away because we put ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mathematically speaking, the Pirates did enough in certain areas to win.

They tagged opposing starter Jose Soriano for four runs, and the Angels entered Wednesday afternoon just 2-13 when their starting hurler gave up at least that many tallies. The Pirates, meanwhile, came into PNC Park with a sparkling 14-1 record this season ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — If A.J. Preller wishes to trade for more starting pitching this season, he can do it without dealing his best prospects, an MLB scout told me Monday.

Preller can deal minor leaguers for help in the back of the rotation without a sharp pinch, the scout said.

It appears no matter how many prospects Preller trades, he almost always ...Read more

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is starting to give the Dodgers that feeling.

The one where, every time he takes the ball, the team will get a quality start. Where, whenever he ascends the mound, a string of zeros will follow. Where, most importantly, the days he pitches means the Dodgers should be positioned to win.

“You start to have that feeling like,...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — For so many games this season, they’ve watched their pitchers make their minimal run support stand up with their sheer dominance on the mound.

And roughly 24 hours earlier, they looked feckless and overmatched, being held to one run on three hits while striking out 14 times.

But in a game where the starters didn’t dominate ...Read more

The Mets had one big inning and that’s all they needed to secure a series victory in St. Louis on Tuesday night. The Mets scored six of their seven runs in the fifth inning in their 7-5 win over the Cardinals.

Brandon Nimmo homered for the second straight game to jump-start the scoring in the frame. With the Mets trailing 3-0, the outfielder ...Read more

The Giants didn’t get quite the offensive eruption they were hoping the Denver altitude might provide, but they scratched across plenty of runs for their precocious southpaw.

Kyle Harrison, the 22-year-old rookie, became the first Giant since Barry Zito in 2012 to toss at least seven shutout innings in Coors Field.

Harrison struck out just ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Inside the interview room at Dodger Stadium, Walker Buehler sounded conflicted.

"I wish it could've gone better," Buehler said.

In the hallway outside, the surgeon who twice repaired his elbow was beaming.

From a medical perspective, team physician Neal ElAttrache said, Buehler's return to the mound on Monday night was a ...Read more

The Red Sox had no trouble getting men on base. Boston’s lineup combined for eight hits, six walks and got runners into scoring position in six out of nine innings.

Yet when it came time to get the big hit, the Red Sox collectively couldn’t come through.

Boston went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 men on base in ...Read more

NEW YORK — With the Yankees and Astros beginning a three-game series in the Bronx on Tuesday, manager Aaron Boone fielded a series of questions concerning Houston’s long run of dominance and abysmal start to the 2024 season.

The Astros have haunted the Yankees for years, but the Bombers won the first four games of the season at Minute Maid ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals got a taste of their own medicine against the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

The Royals, who have turned in several late comebacks this season, were on the losing end against the Brewers at Kauffman Stadium. Milwaukee rallied to score three late runs to even the series with a 6-5 victory.

...Read more

CLEVELAND — The thunderstorms that were forecasted never materialized. But the Tigers’ brought their own thunder — finally.

After being limited to three runs or fewer the last four games and scoring seven runs total in those games, the Tigers plated seven runs in the first two innings Tuesday, on their way to a rollicking 11-7 win against...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Orioles have been shut out twice this season. Both times, they tallied only a few hits, barely had any opportunities to score and squandered the couple they had. And both times, ace Corbin Burnes pitched well enough to win but didn’t get any run support.

For the second time this month, Burnes delivered a quality start only ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The wins, of course, are the most important thing, and the Rays on Tuesday extended their streak to five straight with a 5-1 victory over the White Sox at Tropicana Field.

The City Connect uniforms have gotten a nice bump in attention, as the Rays’ fortunes turned with Friday’s debut of the gray-and-back, neon-...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Early on, it looked as though Quinn Priester had picked up right where Mitch Keller left off Monday evening. Through the first three innings, the 23-year-old righty was well in control, allowing just one opposing batter to reach base.

But in the fourth inning, things took a turn. And as the game progressed, they only got worse, ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — José Berríos entered Tuesday’s game with an MLB-leading 1.44 ERA. By the time the Blue Jays starter walked off the mound, that number had ballooned to 2.85, thanks to a Phillies lineup that did not contain Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm.

Turner is on the injured list with a left hamstring strain. Realmuto and Bohm...Read more