ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays are confident they can emerge from a tough five-week stretch and remain in contention for their first playoff berth in six years.With help from a surprising 14-4 start that left the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox playing catch-up in the AL East for much of the season's first half, the low-payroll Rays reached the All-Star break with 52 wins despite a 17-19 record since the beginning of June.An eight-game, seven-day trip that starts Friday at Baltimore could impact what the mostly young team does to try to bolster its roster before the July 31 trade deadline."We've had some tough times here as of late, but we've put ourselves in a tremendous position to come out of the break and compete," manager Kevin Cash said."I hope our guys recognize that," Cash added. "The game is not easy, our division is not easy, the American League is not easy, and we have done a lot of good things to put ourselves in the position we're in right now."The second-place... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Rays are confident they can emerge from a tough five-week stretch and remain in contention for their first playoff berth in six years.With help from a surprising 14-4 start that left the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox playing catch-up in the AL East for much of the season's first half, the low-payroll Rays reached the All-Star break with 52 wins despite a 17-19 record since the beginning of June.An eight-game, seven-day trip that starts Friday at Baltimore could impact what the mostly young team does to try to bolster its roster before the July 31 trade deadline."We've had some tough times here as of late, but we've put ourselves in a tremendous position to come out of the break and compete," manager Kevin Cash said."I hope our guys recognize that," Cash added. "The game is not easy, our division is not easy, the American League is not easy, and we have done a lot of good things to put ourselves in the position we're in right now."The second-place... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Houston Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick has been suspended for two games by Major League Baseball after his violent home plate collision with Los Angeles Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy.The suspension was announced Thursday before the AL West-leading Astros played a series opener at Texas in their first game after the All-Star break. Marisnick also was fined.Lucroy was carted off the field last Sunday after the collision at the end of the eighth inning of a game at Houston the Astros won 11-10 in 10 innings. The Angels catcher sustained a concussion and broken nose. Marisnick was called out for colliding with Lucroy and the call was upheld after a crew chief review.Marisnick said afterward that it was a "bad play" and that he hoped Lucroy was OK. He also posted on his Twitter later that he "made a split second decision at full speed" and he felt awful that another player got hurt.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BALTIMORE (AP) — There might come a time when Brandon Hyde wakes up in the morning, grabs a newspaper and finds the Baltimore Orioles in the standings.For now, the rookie manager simply can't bear to look.The rebuilding Orioles limped into the All-Star break with a major league-worst 27-62 record. During a particular brutal stretch in late June, Baltimore showed its youth and inexperience while losing 13 of 14 games — including blowouts of 12-3, 13-2, 16-2 and 13-3.Asked at that point to present his goal for this season, Hyde replied, "I'll be honest with you — I have no idea what our record is. I don't even want to look at it. Right now, it's about developing these guys and how we play. Eventually, I'm going to be looking at the standings and it's going to be about wins and losses."Until then, Hyde will have to grit his teeth when his outfielders throw to the wrong base, players get picked off and his pitching staff gets rocked. Baltimore is allowing a major league-high 6.07 runs per game... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Houston Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick has been suspended for two games by Major League Baseball after his violent home plate collision with Los Angeles Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy.The suspension was announced Thursday before the AL West-leading Astros played a series opener at Texas in their first game after the All-Star break. Marisnick also was fined.Lucroy was carted off the field last Sunday after the collision at the end of the eighth inning of a game at Houston the Astros won 11-10 in 10 innings. The Angels catcher sustained a concussion and broken nose. Marisnick was called out for colliding with Lucroy and the call was upheld after a crew chief review.Marisnick said afterward that it was a "bad play" and that he hoped Lucroy was OK. He also posted on his Twitter later that he "made a split second decision at full speed" and he felt awful that another player got hurt.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BALTIMORE (AP) — There might come a time when Brandon Hyde wakes up in the morning, grabs a newspaper and finds the Baltimore Orioles in the standings.For now, the rookie manager simply can't bear to look.The rebuilding Orioles limped into the All-Star break with a major league worst 27-62 record. During a particular brutal stretch in late June, Baltimore showed its youth and inexperience while losing 13 of 14 games — including blowouts of 12-3, 13-2, 16-2 and 13-3.Asked at that point to present his goal for this season, Hyde replied, "I'll be honest with you — I have no idea what our record is. I don't even want to look at it. Right now, it's about developing these guys and how we play. Eventually, I'm going to be looking at the standings and it's going to be about wins and losses."Until then, Hyde will have to grit his teeth when his outfielders throw to the wrong base, players get picked off and his pitching staff gets rocked. Baltimore is allowing a major league high 6.07 runs per game... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joe Maddon didn't let the free time created by a rare ejection go to waste.Shortly after getting tossed by home-plate umpire Joe West on July 4 following an outburst in which the Chicago Cubs' manager appeared ready to take on any and all comers from the Pittsburgh dugout after taking exception to the way the Pirates kept pitching up and in to his players, Maddon retired to the visiting manager's office at PNC Park. He eased into a chair, opened a bottle of wine, flipped on the television and watched his wildly uneven team put the finishing touches on an 11-3 victory that avoided a four-game sweep.Veteran move. Opportunities to relax over the next two-plus months will be scarce in the most competitive division in the majors.The National League Central enters the second half with the first-place Cubs and last-place Cincinnati separated by just 4 1/2 games, an outlier during an otherwise yawn-inducing first half in which five divisions reached the All-Star break with at... [More]

First the players, now the ball. Home runs are skyrocketing, and once again Major League Baseball officials claim they don't know the reason why.Then again, it might be that they're just not looking hard enough.Unlike the players, the ball still looks the same. Commissioner Rob Manfred said it tests much the same as before, too, though he conceded there might be less drag on the ball than there was in the past.So why are batters teeing off at a rate nearing three home runs a game, a 19 percent increase from a year before? Why are hitters on a pace to hit 1,000 more home runs than the Steroids Era high mark of 5,693 in 2000?Good question, Manfred says, but it's not because anyone juiced the ball."Manipulation of the baseball is a great conspiracy theory," Manfred said Tuesday at the All-Star Game in Cleveland. "How you manipulate a human-dominated handmade manufacturing process in any consistent way, it's a smarter human being than I."Don't tell that to pitchers like Justin Verlander, who... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — The only errors on the scoreboard at the All-Star Game were by the scoreboard.At least one player noticed — and wasn't too pleased.The giant board at Progressive Field was filled with mistakes Tuesday night, including a couple of misspelled names, a wrong picture and a pair of incorrect team logos."They had what, two weeks to get ready for this? That can't happen," New York Mets sparkplug Jeff McNeil said.McNeil is leading the majors with a .349 batting average, an impressive feat seeing how he made his major league debut less than a year ago.A late sub, he came up for the National League in the eighth inning and noticed the headshot on the scoreboard wasn't of him. Instead, it was of Mets teammate Jacob deGrom."That was tough, to see deGrom's picture up there," McNeil said. "I didn't really like that.""I wanted to see my picture up there. I know my family did, too. What are you going to do? I guess, but I don't think that should happen," he said.David Dahl didn't fare... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Work crews have begun extending the protective netting to the foul poles at Guaranteed Rate Field, a step the Chicago White Sox are taking following a couple of high-profile injuries this season.The White Sox say the majority of the work should be completed Wednesday and the netting will be in place when the team returns home July 22 to host the Miami Marlins.The White Sox are the first major league team to take the step after a liner by Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. struck a 4-year-old girl in Houston in May. A woman was hit by a foul ball off the bat of White Sox slugger Eloy Jiménez in Chicago on June 10.Commissioner Rob Manfred has said extending protective netting down foul lines is a ballpark-to-ballpark decision because of differing configurations. Major League Baseball mandated ahead of the 2018 season that netting extend to the far end of each dugout.The Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals are among the other teams that have announced they'll extend netting.

CHICAGO (AP) — Work crews have begun extending the protective netting to the foul poles at Guaranteed Rate Field, a step the Chicago White Sox are taking following a couple of high-profile injuries this season.The White Sox say the majority of the work should be completed Wednesday and the netting will be in place when the team returns home July 22 to host the Miami Marlins.The White Sox became the first major league team to take the step after a liner by Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. struck a 4-year-old girl in Houston in May. A woman was hit by a foul ball off the bat of White Sox slugger Eloy Jiménez in Chicago on June 10.Commissioner Rob Manfred has said extending protective netting down foul lines is a ballpark-to-ballpark decision because of differing configurations. Major League Baseball mandated ahead of the 2018 season that netting extend to the far end of each dugout.The Pittsburgh Pirates, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals are among the other teams that have announced they'll extend netting.

CHICAGO (AP) — Francisco Lindor and the Cleveland Indians, looking up at Nelson Cruz and the surprising Minnesota Twins. Matt Chapman and the Oakland Athletics, trying to run down José Altuve and the Houston Astros. Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals, chasing Ronald Acuña Jr. and the Atlanta Braves.Baseball ramps up again this weekend, and a handful of contenders have a lot of work to do.Five of the majors' six divisions feature deficits of at least 5½ games as play resumes after the All-Star Game, in which the American League beat the National League 4-3 Tuesday night. Life is pretty good for two iconic franchises, with Cody Bellinger and the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the NL West again and Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees looking down on the rest of the AL East despite a rash of injuries."This team is capable of some great things," Yankees pitcher James Paxton said. "You've got some really talented players here, guys with a lot of drive, great leadership. We're set up... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Francisco Lindor and the Cleveland Indians, looking up at Nelson Cruz and the surprising Minnesota Twins. Matt Chapman and the Oakland Athletics, trying to run down José Altuve and the Houston Astros. Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals, chasing Ronald Acuña Jr. and the Atlanta Braves.Baseball ramps up again this weekend, and a handful of contenders have a lot of work to do.Five of the majors' six divisions feature deficits of at least 5½ games as play resumes after the All-Star Game, in which the American League beat the National League 4-3 Tuesday night. Life is pretty good for two iconic franchises, with Cody Bellinger and the Los Angeles Dodgers in control of the NL West again and Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees looking down on the rest of the AL East despite a rash of injuries."This team is capable of some great things," Yankees pitcher James Paxton said. "You've got some really talented players here, guys with a lot of drive, great leadership. We're set up... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Phillies had just become the latest visiting team to win a game in Miami, and from the top of baseball's food chain, $330 million man Bryce Harper tried to be kind as he assessed the low-budget, low-expectation Marlins."They've got a good pitching staff," Harper said. "They're young. They're energetic. It's going to be a good club."But when?For the rebuilding Marlins, this season is about trying to get closer to competitive, and in the standings there's little sign of progress.Starting with a loss to Harper and the Phillies, the Marlins dropped six of their final seven games before the All-Star break, which left their record at 33-55, by far the worst in the National League. The Marlins are assured of their 10th consecutive losing season, and even by the franchise's low standards, this season's .375 winning percentage is bad.At the break a year ago, they were 41-57 (.418). Two years ago, shortly before CEO Derek Jeter's group bought the franchise and began to reboot, the... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Phillies had just become the latest visiting team to win a game in Miami, and from the top of baseball's food chain, $330 million man Bryce Harper tried to be kind as he assessed the low-budget, low-expectation Marlins."They've got a good pitching staff," Harper said. "They're young. They're energetic. It's going to be a good club."But when?For the rebuilding Marlins, this season is about trying to get closer to competitive, and in the standings there's little sign of progress.Starting with a loss to Harper and the Phillies, the Marlins dropped six of their final seven games before the All-Star break, which left their record at 33-55, by far the worst in the National League. The Marlins are assured of their 10th consecutive losing season, and even by the franchise's low standards, this season's .375 winning percentage is bad.At the break a year ago, they were 41-57 (.418). Two years ago, shortly before CEO Derek Jeter's group bought the franchise and began to reboot, the... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seven weeks ago, the Washington Nationals didn't have much to dance about.They were 12 games below .500 with the fourth-worst record in baseball. They weren't giving ace Max Scherzer and Co. enough run support, and the bullpen was a ticking time bomb to another deflating loss."Any way we could lose a game, we found a way to do it," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "Then you go to New York and get swept, lose four games in a row, you feel like you're at rock bottom."Since waking up at rock bottom on May 24, the Nationals have gone a major league-best 28-11 to vault into playoff contention. With its combination of power hitting, stellar starting pitching and some dance parties in the dugout, Washington can legitimately think about playing into October and challenging the Atlanta Braves for NL East supremacy."We know the guys in this clubhouse are very talented," Scherzer said. "When we can go out there and play our best baseball and play mistake-free baseball, we're a... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — The only errors on the scoreboard at the All-Star Game were by the scoreboard.At least one player noticed — and wasn't too pleased.The giant board at Progressive Field was filled with mistakes Tuesday night, including a couple of misspelled names, a wrong picture and a pair of incorrect team logos."They had what, two weeks to get ready for this? That can't happen," New York Mets sparkplug Jeff McNeil said.McNeil is leading the majors with a .349 batting average, an impressive feat seeing how he made his major league debut less than a year ago.A late sub, he came up for the National League in the eighth inning and noticed the headshot on the scoreboard wasn't of him. Instead, it was of Mets teammate Jacob deGrom."That was tough, to see deGrom's picture up there," McNeil said. "I didn't really like that.""I wanted to see my picture up there. I know my family did, too. What are you going to do, I guess, but I don't think that should happen," he said.David Dahl didn't fare... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — The only errors on the scoreboard at the All-Star Game were by the scoreboard.At least one player noticed — and wasn't too pleased.The giant board at Progressive Field was filled with mistakes Tuesday night, including a couple of misspelled names, a wrong picture and a pair of incorrect team logos."They had what, two weeks to get ready for this? That can't happen," New York Mets sparkplug Jeff McNeil said.McNeil is leading the majors with a .349 batting average, an impressive feat seeing how he made his major league debut less than a year ago.A late sub, he came up for the National League in the eighth inning and noticed the headshot on the scoreboard wasn't him. Instead, it was Mets teammate Jacob deGrom."That was tough, to see deGrom's picture up there," McNeil said. "I didn't really like that.""I wanted to see my picture up there. I know my family did, too. What are you going to do, I guess, but I don't think that should happen," he said.David Dahl didn't fare any better.... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Baseball players' union head Tony Clark says a poor job has been done of marketing Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, the reigning AL MVP."Mookie should be a household name," Clark told the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday. "Mookie should be a one-name guy. You say Ronaldo. You say Messi. You say Mookie. You should know who Mookie is, and outside of the baseball world, I don't know how many do."Betts earned his fourth straight All-Star selection after helping Boston win the World Series last year."In the grand scheme of things with respect to players that should be at the forefront of every conversation and should be in conversations even with non-baseball fans, Mookie is one of them," Clark said. "No doubt about it. And unless or until we fix that, it's going to be difficult for others to be a part of that conversation, too."Clark said baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred probably would be in position to answer what is required to increase Betts' recognition."I... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — When the national spotlight turns on, the Los Angeles Dodgers go dark.They're lucky this one doesn't count.Clayton Kershaw dropped to 0-2 in All-Star Games, and so did Dave Roberts."You always want to win every game you play, but the American League has had our number for quite some time, so hopefully we can get them next year," Roberts said after the National League's 4-3 loss in the All-Star Game on Tuesday night, making it sound more significant than most participants treat it. "They took one more one better swing than we did."Maybe someday Roberts will get to celebrate on the national stage as Dodgers manager in the same way he did as a Boston Red Sox player.Falling short has gotten familiar.Kershaw gave up Michael Brantley's go-ahead double in the second inning, following his 2015 defeat when he gave up a tiebreaking single to Prince Fielder at Cincinnati followed by Lorenzo Cain's RBI double.Walker Buehler allowed Jorge Polanco's run-scoring single that put the NL... [More]