SAN DIEGO — The Padres expect their trade deadline acquisitions to eventually stabilize the rotation.

The pitching staff looks even better when this version of Michael King shows up.

King threw six strong innings, Jackson Merrill homered for the seventh time in 22 games since the All-Star break and the Padres beat the Houston Astros, 3-2, in...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — Missing: The Baltimore Orioles’ offense, last seen before the trade deadline.

Another night of frustrating results at the plate was to be expected Saturday with Jacob deGrom on the mound for the Texas Rangers. Yet despite driving his pitch count up enough to force Texas to go to its bullpen after five innings, the ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a night when Major League Baseball stars Bobby Witt Jr. and Pete Crow-Armstrong took center stage at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City Royals first baseman Jac Caglianone decided to steal the spotlight.

And he did it in a thunderous way.

Caglianone finished 4 for 4 with two homers in the game.

It was his first career game ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Throughout Saturday, the scoreboard at Oracle Park displayed highlights from the respective careers of Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval and Joe Panik, the group inducted into the Giants’ Wall of Fame in a pregame ceremony. The highlights on the scoreboard were worth watching more than the lowlights...Read more

CHICAGO — Ozzie Guillén was deemed too skinny to become an everyday major-league shortstop, but a Chicago White Sox scout named Jerry Krause saw something in him. Guillén wound up as the rookie of the year and a three-time All-Star with a 16-year playing career.

Guillén was considered too crazy to become a major-league manager, but a White...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Josh Harrison threw a perfect ceremonial first pitch before Saturday’s game. It was a sign of things to come.

Just about everything went right for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who ended a four-game losing streak with an 9-0 hammering of the New York Mets on Saturday night at PNC Park. After Harrison’s first pitch, the Pirates ...Read more

NEW YORK — On Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium, the kids were more than all right.

So was Gerrit Cole.

Yankees rookies Spencer Jones and George Lombard Jr. played starring roles in Saturday afternoon’s 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves, providing most of the offense as Cole outdueled another elite ace in Chris Sale.

Jones delivered a ...Read more

MIAMI — This time, Walbert Ureña didn’t escape.

Throughout his eye-opening rookie season, the Los Angeles Angels’ right-hander has shown a knack for minimizing the damage in the moments when his command abandoned him.

He couldn’t do it Saturday, though. He gave up four runs and didn’t get out of the third, as the Angels lost 7-0 to ...Read more

BOSTON — Few opponents seem to have the Boston Red Sox figured out these days, but Athletics rookie left-hander Gage Jump is one of them.

The Red Sox entered Saturday afternoon’s game on a nine-game win streak, and with 11 wins in their last 12.

Their only loss in that span came on July 28 in Sacramento, when Jump blanked them for six ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mariano Rivera made a momentous return to the Old-Timers’ Day game, playing in Saturday afternoon’s nostalgia-evoking exhibition 364 days after he suffered an Achilles tear during the same event.

MLB’s all-time saves leader pitched a scoreless top of the first at Yankee Stadium, where he faced Mickey Rivers, Nick Swisher, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The great causes for hope have been a letdown so far.

Robbie Ray on Friday night became the second of the two starting pitchers the San Diego Padres acquired at the trade deadline to struggle in his debut, and the opener of a six-game homestand ended with a 6-3 defeat by the Houston Astros.

The Padres made a game of it after Ray�...Read more

SEATTLE — The setup for success was in place even hours before Friday night’s first pitch at T-Mobile Park.

MLB Network did a live show from just in front of the first-base dugout in the afternoon, featuring former players like Ken Griffey Jr., Bret Boone, Jay Buhner and Alvin Davis. They later roamed the field and talked with players ...Read more

PHOENIX — Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz trudged toward the dugout as Arizona’s Ryan Waldschmidt celebrated with teammates after hitting a two-run, walk-off home run in the ninth inning to seal a 4-3 win that sent the Dodgers to a season-worst seventh straight loss.

“We’ve just got to play better,” manager Dave Roberts said ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Chase Utley, famous for his pregame routine and laser-focused preparation, was just getting warmed up. So, he led with an apology.

“Zack,” he said. “Sorry, dude. I’ll pick this up.”

No worries. In the bullpen, Zack Wheeler kept throwing. Rain shortened his last start to two innings and delayed this one by two hours. ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Kaelen Culpepper arrived a little late for his major league debut at American Family Field on Friday, the result of a delayed flight, and he received an ovation from teammates at the end of the pregame hitters’ meeting.

For the Twins’ slumping offense, maybe Culpepper’s arrival was right on time.

Culpepper injected some ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Although their offense could not get fully off the ground in their first game back at Busch Stadium following Monday's trade deadline, the Cardinals pushed across enough runs Friday night against the Rockies to give their bullpen a lead they ultimately protected.

Lifted to a lead on two runs scored on sacrifice fly outs in the ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — August hasn’t been kind to the Orioles’ offense.

Over the team’s first five games this month, the unit averaged just 1.8 runs while going 2 for 17 with runners in scoring position. Despite manager Craig Albernaz shaking up the lineup Friday, it was more of the same as Nathan Eovaldi and the Texas bullpen combined to ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch IV returned to the starting rotation on Friday night against the Chicago Cubs.

After two years as a primary reliever, Lynch finally achieved his goal of being handed the baseball first for the Royals. Unfortunately, Lynch wound up on the losing end as the Royals fell, 6-4, at ...Read more