CINCINNATI — Longtime Dodger Max Muncy blinked away beer and champagne as he stepped away from his alcohol-doused SportsNet LA interview in the visiting locker room at Great American Ball Park. But he was a veteran of these celebrations, too.

He stepped right into the next interview without missing a beat.

"It's not something that I ever ...Read more

SEATTLE — Age truly seems to be just a number to Ichiro.

Since turning 50, the Mariners legend has been inducted into the Hall of Fame, launched eight homers at the Mariners Alumni Home Run Derby this summer and, most recently, tossed a 127-pitch shutout with 17 strikeouts during an annual All-Star Game against the best high school girls in ...Read more

DENVER — The Padres came down from the mountains with the margin they need after winning on Thursday by a large margin.

With a 9-2 victory over the Rockies, the Padres increased their lead in the race for the final National League playoff spot to four games with nine games remaining in the regular season.

That dropped the Padres’ “magic ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — After clinching the National League Central, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy announced a change to his rotation. Instead of starting right-hander Dustin May on Thursday, he’d go with lefty Kyle Harrison.

The question was which lefty the Pirates would face. Would it be the Harrison who struck out 22 Pirates over two starts ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Let’s go back in time. Not too far. You don’t even need to turn a calendar page.

Back on Sept. 7, Shane McClanahan had just gone back on the injured list with forearm tightness. Griffin Jax had recently been hammered in his first start coming off the injured list. And Freddy Peralta was barely a month removed from ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — If a random baseball fan happened upon Angel Stadium on Wednesday night, looking to watch a Major League Baseball game, the Mariners and Angels would have offered a pretty solid encapsulation of how and why both teams will finish the 2026 season with losing records.

In terms of execution or precision, it was lacking in ...Read more

The limp to October goes on for the Boston Red Sox, who blew an early 2-0 lead over the Rangers and dropped their series in Texas with a 7-3 loss Wednesday night.

Boston batters managed just three hits in the contest, their runs coming via Willson Contreras’ first-inning two-run homer and Caleb Durbin scoring on a balk in the fifth.

Early on...Read more

HOUSTON — Kansas City Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV felt like he was getting close. In his last seven starts, he had made progress after returning to the starting rotation.

Yet, he still hadn’t put together a dominant outing.

On Wednesday, Lynch stood tall against the Houston Astros. The left-hander pitched with conviction across five ...Read more

DENVER — The San Diego Padres called up Ethan Salas earlier this month and dropped him into a postseason race.

The 20-year-old catcher is in the major leagues for the experience. And the Padres’ catcher of the future is being asked to produce now.

“We believe in Ethan, and we think he could really help us get to the playoffs and then in ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates broke their franchise record for homers in a season on Wednesday night, but fell another game further from a winning year.

The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pirates, 5-4, at PNC Park, despite three homers for the Pirates. They’ve hit 174 this season, breaking a tie with the 1999 team (171) for the most in ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Most of the Phillies were already gone from the clubhouse to catch the team bus. But just in case of any stragglers, Kyle Schwarber’s voice rose by an octave.

“It’s going to be a grind,” he said here the other night. “It’s not like it’s guaranteed. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We have to go out, and we ...Read more

CINCINNATI — Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday after one inning, with what the team identified as left groin tightness.

Snell gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending rundown.

Snell threw 19 ...Read more

NEW YORK — Not dead yet.

The playoff odds matter little to the Orioles now. With a week and a half left to play in the regular season and ground to make up in the wild-card race, they need wins any way they can get them. The rest is out of their hands.

Baltimore did its part this week in Queens, beating the New York Mets, 7-1, on Wednesday ...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — There was nothing flashy about the Rays’ win over the A’s Wednesday night, nothing overly exciting or dramatic like, you know, a walk-off home run by Junior Caminero or something.

But sometimes, boring is better.

Just ask the Yankees, who rallied frantically for two runs in the ninth inning Thursday afternoon at ...Read more

CLEVELAND — Chicago White Sox relievers lost their command in the sixth inning Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians.

And the Sox lost their grip on the American League Central.

The Sox fell to second place in the division with a 6-3 loss to the Guardians in front of 23,336 at Progressive Field. The Sox had held at least a share of the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Carlos Correa is out. Max Fried is back. Shohei Ohtani is somewhere in between. And questions linger over the postseason availability of several other MLB difference-makers as October approaches.

Here is a look at the injury status and hopeful returns of impact players on playoff qualifiers and contenders:

American League East ...Read more

CINCINNATI — Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday after one inning, with what the team identified as left groin tightness.

Snell gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.

Snell threw 19 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — After all the ways the Twins have lost to the New York Yankees this century, all the letdowns in their long saga of misery, maybe they were due for a game like Wednesday's 5-4 win.

Victor Caratini, a pinch hitter, ended the longest (and maybe wackiest) game of the Twins season with a walk-off single in the 13th inning, a ground ...Read more