NEW YORK — For years baseball people have marveled at the Tampa Bay Rays’ ability to remain competitive in the American League East despite consistently low industry payrolls and annual attendance. Since 2008, the Rays have been to the postseason nine times, including the World Series twice, always with payrolls of well over $100 million ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It's too early to say the Los Angeles Dodgers have flipped the September switch the way they did last year.

But they certainly earned a collective bat flip Saturday night, after Tommy Edman hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning to wake up the offense and help his recently sputtering team to a 6-5 victory over the ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Nick Pivetta threw a bullpen Saturday afternoon. The Padres have not announced what Joe Musgrove’s next step is, other than to reveal that they are considering shorter starts to help him ease past the elbow fatigue that’s slowed him following sharp rehab appearances.

So maybe, just maybe the Padres have options if their two ...Read more

The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles played eight straight innings without either team scoring a run Friday. Mickey Gasper’s solo homer in the first was all the offense mounted by either side, so heading into Saturday night surely the two clubs would scratch at least a few runs across, right?

Eventually, yes, but it took a while.

For the...Read more

DENVER — There was calm before each avalanche of offense.

Before the innings that came completely apart on the Cardinals and overwhelmed their pitchers, there was a swift, efficient, even dominant stretch of pitching that kept the Colorado Rockies scoreless. But when the Rockies did score, they went crooked and they went big. Colorado rallied...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The details are not set in stone yet, but Aaron Judge is expected to face live pitching on Monday at Yankee Stadium. It will be his first time doing so since going on the injured list with a stress fracture in his first right rib on June 5.

“We’re working on something,” Aaron Boone said of the plan before the Yankees faced ...Read more

Ryan Jeffers knows the stakes involved with each game this month, the importance of every at-bat for the Minnesota Twins and himself.

Jeffers bashed a go-ahead, three-run homer in the fifth inning Saturday, leading the Twins to a 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. It was Jeffers’ fourth homer in the last five games, ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — Drew Rasmussen delivered a dominant outing for the Rays over seven innings on Saturday night.

Then things got interesting for Tampa Bay.

What had been a two-run lead disappeared in the eighth between some ineffective relief pitching and an apparent mix-up in communication between left fielder Chandler Simpson and center ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals finished Saturday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays without one of their key offensive contributors.

Prior to the third inning, Royals standout Jac Caglianone exited the game with left elbow soreness. Caglianone had been playing right field. And Royals manager Matt Quatraro inserted utilityman ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The bases were loaded with one out in the first inning, and you could feel the anxiety over the status of the Phillies’ longtime ace creeping back to DEFCON levels.

If ever Zack Wheeler needed a strikeout, it was now.

And J.T. Realmuto made sure he got it.

Wheeler threw a two-strike fastball that clipped the outer edge of ...Read more

CLEVELAND — In the aftermath of their Friday nightmare, the Detroit Tigers showed up for work with no visible scars, no signs of PTSD. There was no team meeting. No holes in the clubhouse walls.

Just a later report time after the long day and another chance to beat the Cleveland Guardians.

“Just trying to take it all a little more ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — There’s been some good for the Pirates lately, a strong stretch allowing them to creep back towards .500.

But on Saturday night, a season-long weakness showed itself again.

Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi threw six shutout innings, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 6-1 win at PNC Park. The Angels, who had lost 10 of 11 and own the...Read more

MIAMI — Even when Javier Assad doesn’t possess his best command, the right-hander finds a way to put the Chicago Cubs in position to win.

Assad worked around a season-high five walks as he grinded through 4 2/3 innings Saturday against the Miami Marlins, ultimately limiting enough damage in the Cubs’ 6-5 win at loanDepot Park. Ryan ...Read more

The San Francisco Giants right now are almost expecting Rafael Devers to do something special every time he comes to the plate.

But a few other Giants hitters flexed their muscles on Saturday.

Devers hit two more home runs to continue his torrid two-week stretch, and the normally light-hitting Christian Koss also went deep twice for the first ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani has not played since Wednesday, when he struck out four times and winced noticeably at the plate.

On Saturday, the Dodgers held him out of the lineup for the third consecutive game because of pain in his right biceps.

Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani's path back to the field is predicated on how he ...Read more

CHICAGO — Justin Ishbia’s vision of a new White Sox ballpark on the banks of the Chicago River in the South Loop was unveiled Saturday morning in a development plan called the Railyards.

It’s still a long way from coming to fruition, but renderings of the stadium at the Amtrak site across from the new Fire stadium show a packed, open-air ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers manager Dave Roberts' tone shifted slightly Friday, as he addressed Shohei Ohtani's absence from the lineup for the second straight day.

After describing a stint on the injured list as "unlikely but not impossible" on Thursday, Roberts said Friday that he was "hopeful, but I wouldn't say confident," that Ohtani would ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Luis Campusano arguably saved the game three times before he won it.

On a night in which he threw out three runners trying to steal, including for the second out in the 10th inning, Campusano homered on the first pitch he saw in the 10th inning to give the San Diego Padres a 3-2 walkoff victory over the New York Yankees.

The ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — On Date Night at Dodger Stadium, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked like they had a sure thing only to struggle to close the deal.

The Dodgers cruised into the ninth inning with a five-run lead and a shutout only to trip up on the way to the exit. The Washington Nationals scored three runs in the ninth inning to make it awkward, but...Read more

SEATTLE — The pitcher the Seattle Mariners have turned to so often when they desperately needed a victory this season unexpectedly faltered Friday night.

Asked to stymie losing streaks with a strong start or follow up crushing losses with momentum-changing outings, Logan Gilbert has embraced the responsibility that comes with being atop a ...Read more