The Minnesota Twins have played 10,398 games in team history, and Joe Ryan picked Monday to become the club’s first pitcher to give up six home runs in a game.

Talk about poor timing.

Beginning a four-game series against the Cleveland Guardians, one of the two teams the Twins are chasing in the American League Central standings with two ...Read more

TORONTO — For all the things the Tampa Bay Rays did poorly or didn’t do at all during their lost weekend at Fenway Park that resulted in a four-game sweep by the Red Sox — and there were plenty — manager Kevin Cash said Monday afternoon there actually was a simple solution.

Getting the heck out of Boston.

“Running into the wrong team...Read more

Willy Adames was the reason that the San Francisco Giants didn’t lose in the top of the ninth on Monday evening at Kauffman Stadium. He’s also one of the reasons that the Giants did lose to the AKnsas City Royals in the bottom of the ninth.

Talk about an absolute whirlwind of a sequence.

Adames hit a game-tying two-run home run in the top ...Read more

NEW YORK — Typically a man of many words, Jazz Chisholm Jr. offered a succinct summary of his season on Sunday night.

The second baseman had just played the part of hero, launching an eighth-inning solo shot that spared the New York Yankees from being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series and a doubleheader. But when the ...Read more

ATLANTA — Some key players have been injured. Some key players have been inefficient.

But if there is one trait that defines the San Diego Padres and will likely doom the Padres, it is inconsistency.

A day after scoring 19 runs, they scored two.

In a 3-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, it was entirely on-brand for the 2026 Padres too that they ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — There was talk last week about Wander Franco getting back on the field, as the Dominican baseball federation was seeking to add the TampaBay Rays shortstop to its roster for the upcoming Central American and Caribbean Games, though that seems unlikely due to eligibility issues.

Monday, there was news that Franco, 25, is headed ...Read more

NEW YORK — Eliezer Alfonzo jumped on a first-pitch cutter, keeping his hands inside to send it into shallow center field.

Two weeks after making his major league debut under tragic circumstances, Alfonzo recorded his first hit.

It was a heartwarming moment early in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2-1 loss to the New York Yankees in the second ...Read more

PHOENIX — Not even a seven-run lead was enough for the St. Louis Cardinals to overcome a few charitable walks, Nolan Arenado and their own ragged play in the late innings.

The erosion of their lead and their play started slow, and then it was over quickly, suddenly and completely. The Arizona Diamondbacks scored eight unanswered runs to ...Read more

DENVER — Maybe Hunter Goodman wanted to show the rest of baseball that leaving him out of the Home Run Derby was a huge mistake. Or, maybe it was just a day off on Saturday that gave him some pop back in his bat.

Either way, he stands alone in Colorado Rockies franchise history after his heroics on Sunday in a 9-6 loss to the Cincinnati Reds,...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The San Diego Padres drove in runners. Lots of runners.

More than they had all season.

“It was needed,” Fernando Tatis Jr. said afterward. “It’s definitely great when it’s your team doing it.”

A day after squandering piles of opportunities and losing a second straight game, which was its own kind of grander ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ryan Johnson made the pitch that was the difference between a good outing and a bad one.

With the bases loaded and Detroit Tigers’ All-Star Dillon Dingler at the plate in the fifth inning, the Angels right-hander threw a sweeper to get the strikeout.

His 91st and final pitch of the game was the biggest one, and the Angels...Read more

SEATTLE — Luke Raley started so hot — relatively speaking — with his power production at the plate that there was bound to be a course correction.

But maybe not to the extreme of the past six weeks.

Between the beginning of June and when Raley arrived at T-Mobile Park on Sunday morning, the lefty had enjoyed the feeling of rounding the ...Read more

HOUSTON — The characteristic of the 2026 Baltimore Orioles that separates them from their competition is the catching position.

Baltimore has a powerful catching duo in Major League Baseball with three-time All-Star Adley Rutschman and budding star Samuel Basallo.

But Rutschman was seemingly unavailable Sunday with his health status in ...Read more

CHICAGO – The Minnesota Twins are walking a tightrope, trying to stay afloat in the playoff race with an underwhelming bullpen, a shorthanded starting rotation and an evolving defense that has been one of the worst in the league.

Sunday’s 10-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs showed how quickly the Twins can fall down and fall apart.

The Twins ...Read more

TORONTO — Sean Burke allowed two hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings on Sunday, leading the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays in front of a sellout crowd of 41,288 at Rogers Centre.

Burke and relievers Bryan Hudson and Grant Taylor combined for the four-hit shutout.

Colson Montgomery paced the offense with two hits...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Nearly two years ago, Francisco Lindor stood on the same field where he played Sunday with a group of trainers begging them to let him play on an injured back. The New York Mets were in the mix for a wild-card playoff spot, but far from locking it up, and Lindor was trying to convince the Mets’ medical staff that he could play...Read more

CLEVELAND — Billy Cook is one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ avid crossword puzzlers.

They’re a common activity across MLB clubhouses, and Cook can usually be found in front of his locker before games, pen in hand, contemplating the clues on his sheet of paper. But for Cook, Sunday featured far more than the crossword or leading the dugout ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t know when Shohei Ohtani will be on the mound again.

He was tentatively scheduled to start Wednesday against the Phillies, after promising initial reports on his recovery from an injection in his left knee. But after seeing his knee’s response to playing catch, the team decided to give him more ...Read more