NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was removed from Friday Night's Subway Series opener against the New York Mets with stiff hamstrings shortly after scoring his first major league run.Tanaka reached in the sixth inning when first baseman Adrian Gonzalez allowed his grounder to bounce off the heel of his glove for an error. Tanaka took second on Gleyber Torres' single and advanced to third when Brett Gardner walked.Tanaka appeared to step awkwardly while running home on Aaron Judge's fly to right. Tanaka seemed about to slide, but scored standing up to tie the game 1-1.Jonathan Holder relieved in the bottom half, and the team says Tanaka has stiffness in both hamstrings.Tanaka allowed one hit, a home run to Brandon Nimmo on his second pitch. The 29-year-old right-hander struck out eight and walked one.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

HOUSTON (AP) — George Springer dashed home from second base on a wild pitch by Chris Sale, then homered off the Boston ace to send the Houston Astros over the Red Sox 7-3 Friday night in a matchup of AL division leaders.Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis homered late to boost the Astros.Mitch Moreland and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers off Gerrit Cole (6-1) to start the fourth inning and get within 4-3. Martinez hit his major league-leading 19th homer.Springer's sprint put the Astros ahead in the first inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Sale (5-3) threw a hard slider that caught Correa swinging for strike three. But the ball bounced off catcher Sandy Leon's glove and caromed toward the first base dugout, and Springer hustled home on the wild pitch.Cole won his fourth straight decision, giving up three runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven, raising his AL-leading total to 116.ATHLETICS 16, ROYALS 0KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Olson hit two homers and... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — George Springer dashed home from second base on a wild pitch by Chris Sale, then homered off the Boston ace to send the Houston Astros over the Red Sox 7-3 Friday night in a matchup of AL division leaders.Carlos Correa and Evan Gattis homered late to boost the Astros.Mitch Moreland and J.D. Martinez hit back-to-back homers off Gerrit Cole (6-1) to start the fourth inning and get within 4-3. Martinez hit his major league-leading 19th homer.Springer's sprint put the Astros ahead in the first inning. With runners at first and second and one out, Sale (5-3) threw a hard slider that caught Correa swinging for strike three. But the ball bounced off catcher Sandy Leon's glove and caromed toward the first base dugout, and Springer hustled home on the wild pitch.Cole won his fourth straight decision, giving up three runs and five hits in seven innings. He struck out seven, raising his AL-leading total to 116.ATHLETICS 16, ROYALS 0KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Matt Olson hit two homers and... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner tied it with his second homer of the game, a one-out, two-run drive in the ninth inning, Gleyber Torres hit a winning single in the 10th and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Houston Astros 6-5 Tuesday night.The Yankees won despite making five errors — including two by Torres at second base — for the first time since 2014. They also came up with a startling defensive play in the 10th when Aroldis Chapman (2-0) threw a 100 mph fastball to the backstop that took a fortuitous carom to catcher Gary Sanchez, who threw out Tony Kemp at third base.Miguel Andujar doubled against Brad Peacock (1-3) with two outs in the 10th, and Torres lined an opposite-field single to right.RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 3BOSTON (AP) — Sandy Leon hit a home run and two doubles, Xander Bogaerts also homered and Rick Porcello took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, helping Boston beat Toronto to match the second-best start in franchise history.J.D. Martinez also had two of Boston's... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Brett Gardner tied it with his second homer of the game, a one-out, two-run drive in the ninth inning, Gleyber Torres hit a winning single in the 10th and the New York Yankees rallied to beat the Houston Astros 6-5 Tuesday night.The Yankees won despite making five errors — including two by Torres at second base — for the first time since 2014. They also came up with a startling defensive play in the 10th when Aroldis Chapman (2-0) threw a 100 mph fastball to the backstop that took a fortuitous carom to catcher Gary Sanchez, who threw out Tony Kemp at third base.Miguel Andujar doubled against Brad Peacock (1-3) with two outs in the 10th, and Torres lined an opposite-field single to right.RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 3BOSTON (AP) — Sandy Leon hit a home run and two doubles, Xander Bogaerts also homered and Rick Porcello took a three-hitter into the seventh inning, helping Boston beat Toronto to match the second-best start in franchise history.J.D. Martinez also had two of Boston's... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball attendance is headed to its lowest average in 15 years. And it's not only because of the historically bad weather that's plagued the first third of the season.Strikeouts exceeded hits in a full calendar month for the first time in April and are on track to do so again in May. Five teams are on pace to lose 100 or more games in the same season for the first time.Yet, there are trends Major League Baseball views as positive: New pace rules have cut the average time of a nine-inning game by five minutes, mound trips have dropped dramatically and home runs have receded from last year's record level."We've got a long way to go," baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said. "We're relatively early in the season still and it has been an aberrational part of a season."Heading into the weekend, the average attendance of 27,207 was down 6 percent from 28,931 on the Friday before Memorial Day last season. Last year's final average of 30,042 was the second straight... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In a somewhat surprising move, the New York Yankees sent reserve infielder Ronald Torreyes to the minors to clear a roster spot for first baseman Greg Bird.The diminutive and popular Torreyes, batting .339 in a backup role, was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Friday night's victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Bird was reinstated from the disabled list Saturday and started at first base, batting sixth. He had been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27."I feel like I'm going to hit the ground running. We've got a great team and I'm excited to be back," Bird said. "I'm ready to go every day."He went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts as the Yankees lost 11-4 to the Angels."Great being out there. Obviously, would've liked a different result," Bird said. "But it felt great being out there, really. And I think it's just only going to keep getting better."Rather than demote first baseman Tyler Austin or one of their eight relief pitchers, the Yankees... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In a somewhat surprising move, the New York Yankees sent reserve infielder Ronald Torreyes to the minors to clear a roster spot for first baseman Greg Bird.The diminutive and popular Torreyes, batting .339 in a backup role, was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Friday night's victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Bird was reinstated from the disabled list Saturday and was in the starting lineup, batting sixth and playing first base. He had been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27."I feel like I'm going to hit the ground running. We've got a great team and I'm excited to be back," Bird said. "I'm ready to go every day."Rather than demote first baseman Tyler Austin or one of their eight relief pitchers, the Yankees chose to send down Torreyes, who has a solid .785 OPS in 22 games and can play several positions."Obviously, a very difficult decision for us," manager Aaron Boone said. "Hopefully, it's something that's temporary. I mean, for what... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In a somewhat surprising move, the New York Yankees sent reserve infielder Ronald Torreyes to the minors to clear a roster spot for first baseman Greg Bird.The diminutive and popular Torreyes, batting .339 in a backup role, was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Friday night's victory over the Angels. Bird was reinstated from the disabled list Saturday and was in the starting lineup against Los Angeles, batting sixth and playing first base. He had been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27."I feel like I'm going to hit the ground running. We've got a great team and I'm excited to be back," Bird said. "I'm ready to go every day."Rather than demote first baseman Tyler Austin or one of their eight relief pitchers, the Yankees chose to send down Torreyes, who has a solid .785 OPS in 22 games and can play several positions."Obviously, a very difficult decision for us," manager Aaron Boone said. "I think the thinking was — and hopefully it's something... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees plan to activate first baseman Greg Bird from the disabled list before Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Angels, forcing New York to make a difficult roster decision.Bird has been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27. New York likely will decide whether to cut from eight relief pitchers to seven or option Tyler Austin to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre despite his strong performance in Bird's absence."It's something that we had a lot of conversations about, are still mulling over, just met a little bit ago to work through things and what we think the best way to go is," manager Aaron Boone said before Friday's series opener against the Los Angeles Angels. "It leads to a difficult decision, not a simple one, not an obvious one and something we're still kind of working through."New York optioned left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Double-A Trenton after Wednesday's game at Texas and maintained its eight-man bullpen by activating right-hander Tommy... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres became the youngest American League player to homer in four straight games, Aaron Judge threw out a pair of runners from right field and the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday night.Shohei Ohtani, the two-way Japanese rookie sensation, came up with the potential tying run on base and two outs in the eighth. New York brought in closer Aroldis Chapman to face Ohtani with Justin Upton at first. Chapman threw a wild pitch that advanced the runner, Ohtani sent a 100 mph pitch just foul of the left-field pole, then grounded out on a 101 mph offering.Mike Trout tied the score in the fifth for Los Angeles with his 16th homer.Torres drove in New York's first run with an infield hit in the second. He broke a 1-all tie in the seventh against Jim Johnson (2-2) with a drive over the right-field scoreboard, his ninth homer since coming up to the Yankees on April 22 and his fifth in four games. At 21 years, 163 days, he became the fourth-youngest... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The Yankees plan to activate first baseman Greg Bird from the disabled list before Saturday's game against the Los Angeles Angels, forcing New York to make a difficult roster decision.Bird has been sidelined since having right ankle surgery on March 27. New York likely will decide whether to cut from eight relief pitchers to seven or option Tyler Austin to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre despite his strong performance in Bird's absence."It's something that we had a lot of conversations about, are still mulling over, just met a little bit ago to work through things and what we think the best way to go is," manager Aaron Boone said before Friday's series opener against the Los Angeles Angels. "It leads to a difficult decision, not a simple one, not an obvious one and something we're still kind of working through."New York optioned left-hander Ryan Bollinger to Double-A Trenton after Wednesday's game at Texas and maintained its eight-man bullpen by activating right-hander Tommy... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander got some run support for the first time in nearly a month and led the Houston Astros over the San Francisco Giants 4-1 on Wednesday.Verlander (6-2) struck out nine and walked one in six innings, allowing one run and three hits as his major league-leading ERA rose slightly to 1.08. He had given up just three runs over 29 innings during his previous four starts, but the Astros had scored just three runs in that span, getting shut out twice.Ken Giles pitched the ninth to remain perfect in nine save chances.George Springer hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the fifth on a 93 mph fastball from Jeff Samardzija (1-3), driving the ball off the facade above the left-field seats. Carlos Correa added an RBI single later in the inning.INDIANS 1, CUBS 0CHICAGO (AP) — Adam Plutko carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Andrew Miller provided stellar relief work, helping Cleveland beat Chicago.Plutko (2-0) struck out four and walked four in his second major league... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Mookie Betts hit his major league-leading 16th homer, Chris Sale struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Tuesday night.Sale (5-1) gave up four hits and walked two. He has allowed three runs or fewer in his first 11 starts, the longest stretch by a Boston pitcher to open a season since Pedro Martinez's 12 in 2001.Joe Kelly finished the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel got into a bases-loaded jam before finishing his 14th save in 16 chances when Mallex Smith grounded into a game-ending forceout.Willy Adames made his big league debut and hit a solo home run off Sale in his second at-bat. The 22-year-old shortstop prospect went 1 for 4 with three strikeouts.Betts hit a three-run drive in the third off Jake Faria (3-3), who left two batters later because of a strained left oblique.Two hitters following Faria's departure, Wilson Ramos was taken out due to a bruised left hand after Austin Pruitt's 0-2 pitch to Xander Bogaerts... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Mookie Betts hit his major league-leading 16th homer, Chris Sale struck out nine in 7 2/3 innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 on Tuesday night.Sale (5-1) gave up four hits and walked two. He has allowed three runs or fewer in his first 11 starts, the longest stretch by a Boston pitcher to open a season since Pedro Martinez's 12 in 2001.Joe Kelly finished the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel got into a bases-loaded jam before finishing his 14th save in 16 chances when Mallex Smith grounded into a game-ending forceout.Willy Adames made his big league debut and hit a solo home run off Sale in his second at-bat. The 22-year-old shortstop prospect went 1 for 4 with three strikeouts.Betts hit a three-run drive in the third off Jake Faria (3-3), who left two batters later because of a strained left oblique.Two hitters following Faria's departure, Wilson Ramos was taken out due to a bruised left hand after Austin Pruitt's 0-2 pitch to Xander Bogaerts... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Kemp had a pinch-hit, two-run double in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers survived a sterling performance by Max Scherzer to beat the Washington Nationals 5-4 on Saturday night and sweep a day-night doubleheader.Scherzer struck out 13 in seven innings, and Washington led 4-3 entering the ninth. But closer Sean Doolittle (1-2) allowed singles to Austin Barnes and Logan Forsythe, and Kemp then hit a line drive to the wall in left field to score them both.Erik Goeddel (3-0) worked a scoreless eighth in his Dodgers debut after being acquired off waivers on Friday from Seattle Mariners. Kenley Jansen worked the ninth for his eighth save, and his second on the day.The Dodgers used eight pitchers. Starter Rich Hill threw just two pitches before leaving with a recurrence of the blister on his left middle finger that has already put him on the disabled list twice this season.In the first game, Ross Stripling (1-1) struck out a career-high nine in six strong innings... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Miguel Andujar will keep the New York Yankees' third base job, for now.Brandon Drury was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday following the end of his injury rehabilitation assignment.Acquired from Arizona just after the start of spring training in February, the 25-year-old Drury hit .217 (5 for 23) with one homer and four RBIs in New York's first eight games, then went on the disabled list April 7 with severe migraines that caused blurry vision.Drury started the rehab assignment April 25 and batted .315 with two homers, seven RBIs and a .914 OPS in 11 games with Scranton and six with Double-A Trenton.The 23-year-old Andujar is among a wave of players who have sparked the Yankees to a 28-12 record, tied with AL East rival Boston for the best in the major leagues. Andujar is hitting .282 with 12 doubles, three homers and 14 RBIs. He has walked just three times in 135 plate appearances.New York has 13 pitchers on its roster, leaving room for just three bench... [More]