PITTSBURGH — Bailey Falter’s strategy is not a hard one to figure out. Unlike some of his teammates, the 26-year old lefty does not possess blow-you-away type stuff that one would typically see on highlight reels.

But despite his simplicity, the Pirates southpaw has remained effective throughout the first month of the season, with Tuesday�...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Riley Greene, for the first time in his young career, slugged a pair of home runs in a game and powered the Tigers to a 4-2 come-from-behind win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field Tuesday night.

Greene’s 426-foot solo home run to dead center field in the third inning was the extent of the Tigers’ offense ...Read more

NEW YORK — Fresh off a shutout loss and an 0-for-3 performance, Anthony Rizzo answered for his and his team’s struggles on Monday afternoon.

The first baseman had a .227 average and just one home run after 23 games when he spoke following the Yankees’ 2-0, series-opening loss to the Athletics. The typically slick fielder has also made a ...Read more

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole isn’t ready to throw off a mound just yet. However, the Yankees’ ace continues to move in the right direction.

Cole is now throwing from 120 feet after making 50 tosses on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. He said he isn’t sure when he will toe the slab for the first time since being sidelined with elbow inflammation in ...Read more

The Cleveland Guardians had all week to prepare for Tanner Houck. After getting shredded by the 27-year-old right-hander in last week’s complete game shutout, the Guardians presumably studied the data, made their adjustments and came into Tuesday with a new plan of attack.

For most of the night, it didn’t work.

Houck was excellent once ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Walker Buehler has been champing at the bit for so long — it has been more than 22 months since the 29-year-old right-hander last pitched for the Dodgers — that his teeth are beginning to hurt.

"Yeah," Buehler said on Sunday, before the Dodgers wrapped up a nine-game homestand with a 10-0 victory over the New York Mets, "I'm...Read more

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is expected to look at the Monday incident involving Aaron Boone, home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt and a fan sitting behind the Yankees dugout, a source told the New York Daily News.

The source, granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, said that it is standard for the league to review “all ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — José Buttó started learning English during his first season in the minor leagues, with the Mets setting up their prospects in the Dominican Summer League with English classes. Still, it would be a little while before the Venezuelan right-hander would need to use any of the phrases and words he was learning.

Once he got to ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The legend of Albert Suárez has a sequel.

After making a stunning Orioles debut with 5 2/3 shutout innings seven years removed from his last MLB appearance, Suárez returned for a second start Monday and threw another 5 2/3 scoreless frames to lead the Orioles to a 4-2 win in their series opener against the Los Angeles ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — More than once this season Bob Melvin has been left to lament the Giants’ lack of timely hitting to explain away their losses. With the Mets in town Monday to begin a three-game series, the manager got to change his tone.

Nick Ahmed and Matt Chapman delivered a pair of well-timed base knocks, Michael Conforto slugged his ...Read more

DENVER — The Padres finally joined Dylan Cease on Monday, rewarding his seven stellar innings by stringing together hits for the first time all night to retake the lead in the eighth inning.

To that point, they were in danger of committing a crime against one of their starting pitchers for the second time in five games.

A two-out double by ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Max Kepler admitted he had trouble watching the Twins when he was on the injured list, choosing to look at only box scores afterward.

"I can't really watch games because it's too upsetting not being able to help my team win games or even just battle through whatever is going on," he said before Monday's 7-0 victory over the ...Read more

ATLANTA — Outfielder Ronald Acuña made history in the first inning of Monday’s 3-0 win over the Marlins, stealing his 190th career base to set a new Atlanta Braves record. Rafael Furcal previously held the record with 189 stolen bases.

Acuña wasn’t even aware he was on the verge of another record.

“I didn’t know I was on the brink,...Read more

ST. LOUIS — The Cardinals' offense didn't explode or unleash an onslaught that exorcised all the demons of its recent struggles, but it did provide key hits in crucial moments to stop the recent losing slide and, perhaps, allow for a momentary sigh of relief.

The two sluggers the Cardinals dropped down in the lineup in recent days, Paul ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, MO. — The Royals faced another stiff test from the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.

The Blue Jays, who reached the playoffs last season, arrived in Kansas City on a hot streak. Toronto had won six of its last eight games, all against quality opponents.

The Royals hoped to snap a streak of their own, but instead the Blue Jays ...Read more

CINCINNATI — The last time the Phillies played the Cincinnati Reds, at home from April 1-3, their bats were cold, the starting rotation nor the bullpen was pitching nearly as well, dropping two-of-three games. They set a vastly different tone on Monday night, with a 7-0 victory over Cincinnati for their seventh straight win.

Ranger Suárez ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tigers scored a total of three runs in three games the last time they played at Tropicana Field. That was in the season-opening series last year and they were outscored 21-3 in those games.

Different year. Different team. Different story.

The Tigers scored three runs in the first two innings Monday night and, ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — There was no early hook for Jared Jones this time around. Just one start after his controversial, predetermined exit last week at Citi Field, the 22-year-old rookie stood on the mound with two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the sixth inning.

The inning prior, he surrendered a solo home run to Rhys Hoskins that tied the ...Read more

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani holds the Major League Baseball record for the most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player.

He does not, however, hold that record on his own team.

That one still belongs to manager Dave Roberts — at least for the time being.

During the third inning of the Dodgers’ 10-0 win over the New York Mets on Sunday, ...Read more