SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Monday night at Oracle Park, but the victory comes secondary to the status of utilityman Casey Schmitt.

Schmitt, who is in the midst of a career year, exited during the bottom of the second inning with an apparent lower-body injury after rounding first on a bloop single, then ...Read more

ANAHEIM — The Angels let a victory slip away with a team-wide meltdown on Monday night.

After taking a three-run lead into the eighth and a two-run lead into the ninth, the Angels lost to the Houston Astros, 6-4, amid a collection of bad pitches and defensive misplays.

It was the ninth time this season that the Angels lost a game when ...Read more

A game can turn in the blink of an eye.

The Red Sox felt that keenly throughout Monday night’s 4-2 series-opening victory over the Athletics in Sacramento.

The pendulum swung from panic – Curtis Mead leaving his Red Sox debut after getting hit on the hand by a pitch in the fourth inning – to pandemonium when Ceddanne Rafaela’s first ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Maybe it was all about the walk-up song. Brandon Lowe changed his tune for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, and he went 3 for 4 in the win.

And on Monday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park, Lowe hit a walk-off single to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-2 series opening win in 10 innings. Lowe finished ...Read more

MIAMI — The sinker from Zack Wheeler clocked 91.3 miles per hour.

Javier Sanoja whiffed on it anyway, biting on the inside fastball. But the radar gun didn’t lie. Wheeler’s pitch, which has lived around 95 mph this season, had lost more than just a tick.

In fact, all of Wheeler’s pitches trended down on Monday against the Miami Marlins...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Twenty-four hours earlier, Jameson Taillon’s self-assessment of another poor start came with a dose of reality of life in the big leagues.

Taillon knew his 2026 performance — a 5.92 ERA through 15 starts with 25 home runs allowed in 76 innings — wasn’t cutting it for a Chicago Cubs team looking to secure their playoff ...Read more

DETROIT — Jackson Holliday is heating up.

Making his first start at shortstop this season with Gunnar Henderson in the designated hitter spot, Holliday went 4 for 5 with a double and two runs scored to lead the Baltimore Orioles to an 8-5 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday. Holliday’s performance tied his career high for hits in a game,...Read more

NEW YORK — Cody Bellinger won’t be back in the New York Yankees’ injury-riddled lineup anytime soon.

An MRI on his tight left hamstring revealed a Grade 2 strain, Aaron Boone said, via the YES Network, before the Yankees’ series-opener in Chicago against the White Sox on Monday. Bellinger is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

The left fielder...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — It was the worst time for George Kirby to have his worst start of the season.

As trade rumors intensify around him, Kirby surrendered four home runs in four innings to the Texas Rangers, who turned the tables on their longtime bully and stretched their lead over the Seattle Mariners atop the AL West with an emphatic 7-3 ...Read more

NEW YORK — Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal is one of the few players who could actually elevate the Los Angeles Dodgers' roster at the trade deadline. And the Dodgers are one of the few teams that could reasonably part with the prospect capital it would take to acquire the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner.

That doesn't mean it ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm fouled off back-to-back two-strike pitches. He took a close pitch to work the count full and got a piece of another to extend the at-bat.

Then, at last, on Pitch No. 9, Bohm dropped a two-out, three-run double past the diving left fielder, the Phillies’ biggest hit Sunday night in a sweep-averting 11-4 victory over ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — St. Paul Saints reliever Woo-Suk Go, demoted from the Minnesota Twins bullpen Tuesday, started serving a 10-game suspension Saturday after he was caught with an illegal substance in his glove.

Go was ejected before he took the mound in the seventh inning Friday at CHS Field, which was his first career appearance with the Saints....Read more

ST. LOUIS — Facing the Cincinnati Reds on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium, the St. Louis Cardinals had two slim leads erased on solo homers and their chances to come away with a series win over Cincinnati dashed in the 10th inning on singles that left them with a 5-3 loss.

The Cardinals reached the 10th inning tied 2-2 with the...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Jeff Kent’s father made him a simple bet.

As Kent stood on the dais at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., he recalled his days of racing motorcycles and driving his grandparents’ Plymouth Volare as a 16-year-old. Alan Kent, Jeff’s father, knew his son’s future wasn’t in motorcycles. So, Alan made a wager: ...Read more

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox had a Munetaka Murakami bobblehead giveaway promotion on Sunday.

“Excited for him to go out there and hopefully have a great day on his bobblehead day,” manager Will Venable said before the game against the Houston Astros.

Murakami obliged, hitting two home runs while collecting a career-high six RBIs in a...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Los Angeles Angels’ 4-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday was like an infomercial for the products they have to sell.

José Soriano gave up one unearned run in five innings, and Jo Adell and Jorge Soler each hit homers. Any or all of those players could be traded by the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

Mike Trout, ...Read more

MIAMI — Not yet. And just maybe.

That is what the San Diego Padres effectively shouted by roaring back for a 5-3 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday.

A game that appeared to be rolling toward a familiar finish and what would have been another blow to their playoff chances turned quickly in the eighth inning, when Manny Machado tied the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Will Klein had just induced the New York Mets’ Marcus Semien to whiff on a high fastball. So, he went there again, a little further inside. But Semien got a hold of it for a three-run home run that put the game thoroughly out of reach.

The Dodgers ended an impressive road trip on a sour note with the...Read more