Zebby Matthews considers himself a perfectionist, but his biggest growth as a pitcher this season was learning he didn’t need to be perfect.

Matthews completed a strong month when he gave up one run over seven innings Monday, and he matched a season-high seven strikeouts during the Minnesota Twins’ 5-4 victory over the Houston Astros at ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles are back to where they were when the Tampa Bay Rays handed them a rock-bottom sweep in mid-May.

Baltimore was reeling when the Rays took all three games at Tropicana Field in dominant fashion, dropping the club to a season-worst eight games under .500. It appeared to be a wake-up call for the Orioles at ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — And, exhale. There was no collapse this time.

The Pirates and Phillies combined for seven home runs Monday night at Citizens Bank Park, but it was Endy Rodriguez’s three-run shot in the ninth that helped the Pirates open the four-game set with an 11-7 victory.

Braxton Ashcraft (8-3, 3.33 ERA) earned the win and struck out ...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox have been waiting for a run like this all season long.

After months of spinning their wheels and stinking up the joint at Fenway Park, the Red Sox are playing their best baseball of the season. With Monday’s 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals, the club has now won a season-best five games in a row, this time ...Read more

NEW YORK — Well, that was refreshing.

After losing back-to-back, late-inning, spirit-sucking games to the Houston Astros at Comerica Park over the weekend, the Detroit Tigers unleashed some pent-up aggression on the New York Yankees Monday night in the Bronx.

Aided by a couple of costly errors, the Tigers scored seven runs in the first four ...Read more

The more things change for the New York Mets, the more things stay the same — even in a different country.

Left-hander Sean Manaea looked solid over 5 2/3 innings Monday night, but the defense behind him turned a leadoff hit by George Springer into a little league home run. One run was all the difference in a 2-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Almost 40,000 people packed Target Field on Wednesday to watch Shohei Ohtani pitch against the Minnesota Twins, but they were also treated to seeing Albert Einstein, Machine Gun Kelly, Betty Boop and Ric Flair in the crowd.

In the middle of the third inning, the Twins run their popular “Celebrity Look-Alikes” on the stadium�...Read more

BOSTON — Over the past week the Boston Red Sox pitching staff has been on an epic run, with each day’s starting pitcher seemingly turning in a better performance than the last. But Sunday night at Fenway Park Sonny Gray spun a gem that will be hard for anyone to top, carrying a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

That should have been the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — There’s one important thing to keep in mind when watching Connor Prielipp fall behind hitters, struggle to finish hitters off and pitch with company on the basepaths:

Since graduating from Tomah (Wis.) High School in 2019, he entered Sunday having thrown a total of 212 innings. That includes 28 innings in two seasons at the ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — True to how the visit from the Miami Marlins had through two games, the St. Louis Cardinals spent most of Sunday’s game with the slimmest margin possible to still pull off a win.

This time, the scarce offense was enough.

Riley O’Brien inherited a one-run lead and zipped through the ninth inning to secure his 20th save of the ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Robbie Ray was everything the San Francisco Giants could ask for on Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park.

In a performance that continued a strong recent stretch, the 34-year-old went eight innings and gave up a single unearned run, leading San Francisco to a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.

It was an outing that will only ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Los Angeles Dodgers claimed a series win against the San Diego Padres with a 4-2 victory Sunday, widening the gap between division rivals to 10 games.

The Dodgers (54-30), who have the best record in the majors, have won five of the first six games of a three-city trip that ends in Sacramento.

A bounce-back start from right-...Read more

NEW YORK — Kyle Schwarber watched it go.

Just a guess, but when you’ve hit as many homers as the Phillies’ star slugger — 30 this season, more than any player in baseball; 370 in his career, tied fittingly with 1969 Miracle Mets manager Gil Hodges for 87th all-time — you probably know it when you feel it.

And so, with one swing, ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox wrapped up a productive homestand on a sour note on Sunday, losing 5-4 to the Kansas City Royals in front of 27,301 at Rate Field.

Miguel Vargas had a two-run home run and scored twice in the defeat.

The Sox had to settle for winning two of three in the series, their franchise-record 10th straight home series ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif. — It didn’t take long for Josh Lowe to shake off the pain.

Two pitches after his foul ball bounced up and hit him in … a very tender area, Lowe blasted a second-inning grand slam, leading the Angels to a 4-1 victory over the Athletics on Sunday.

“That’s not really fun, hitting it off that area, you know?,” Lowe said...Read more

BALTIMORE — Sunday’s starting pitching matchup presented the Baltimore Orioles with a prime opportunity to do something they hadn’t in a month: Win a home series.

Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish had accumulated 21 strikeouts over his last two starts, both Orioles wins in which he pitched into the seventh inning. The Washington Nationals ...Read more