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

BOSTON — Over the past three weeks the Boston Red Sox starting pitching has been firing on all cylinders, and most days throughout this historic win streak it’s felt like the starter has had his best stuff.

That was not the case for Sonny Gray on Sunday, but the Red Sox veteran battled through and got the job done anyway.

Despite spotty ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — What if the Los Angeles Dodgers never get a full season of pitching from Shohei Ohtani?

In his first season with the Dodgers, he did not pitch at all. In his second, he did not pitch until June. And, halfway through this third season, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted Sunday he could not say when Ohtani might pitch again.

"...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Tarik Skubal was punching out hitters and dancing off the mound after innings. Spencer Torkelson was sending baseballs out to the lovely landscaping beyond the center field wall at Angels Stadium. Kevin McGonigle was doing Ty Cobb-type stuff.

The Tigers had themselves a grand time Saturday night, beating the Los Angeles ...Read more

SEATTLE — The youthful middle infield for the Mariners' present and their future shined when it was desperately needed.

Cole Young did it with the bat. Colt Emerson did it with the glove. Their moments in the spotlight came at different points of the game, but each were equally important in lifting the M’s to a 4-3 victory over the San ...Read more

CLEVELAND — A day that began with clear afternoon skies and warm temperatures turned to a downpour, which later gave way to a chilly breeze and blurry nighttime haze.

The atmosphere Saturday above Progressive Field told the story for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who split their doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians in a pair of games that ...Read more

CHICAGO — If the Cubs ever win the World Series, they’ll build statues of the players and none of them will ever have to pay for a drink in Chicago again.

We heard that maxim for years. The 2016 Cubs finally ended the franchise’s 107-year championship drought, putting it to the test.

Ten years later, there are still no statues. But the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Kody Clemens hit two home runs Saturday at Wrigley Field in an otherwise quiet afternoon for the Twins offense, but he should’ve hit in the ninth inning with the bases loaded as the potential tying run.

Instead, an embarrassing baserunning mistake cost the Twins a comeback bid in their 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs.

After Josh ...Read more

BOSTON — Boston seemed to be setting the stage for the Red Sox’s 11-game win streak to come to an end Saturday evening. Rain drenched Fenway Park for hours in the late afternoon, pushing the scheduled 4:10 p.m. ET first pitch back 61 minutes.

Humidity blanketed the ballpark and heavy air pollution from the Canadian wildfires obscured the ...Read more