On the morning of June 18 two years ago, the Atlanta Braves were 21-46. Now they're atop the NL East.Atlanta has turned its stocked farm system into a major league contender faster than expected, and after Sunday's 4-1 win over San Diego, the Braves lead second-place Washington by 3 1/2 games. At 42-29, they're even with Milwaukee for the National League's best record and look poised to be a factor in what should be an entertaining race for that league's five postseason spots.After three straight seasons with at least 90 losses, Atlanta is making a jump similar to what Minnesota did a season ago, when the Twins improved from 59 wins to 85 and earned a wild card.If you're worried Atlanta is a fluke, there aren't many obvious red flags. The Braves have a run differential of plus-67, the second-best mark in the NL. They've been fortunate at times (11-4 in one-run games) and unfortunate at times (1-6 in extra innings).The Braves are second in the NL in OPS after finishing 11th a year ago. Their... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have recalled outfielder Peter Bourjos and released right-handed pitcher Aaron Blair.Bourjos started the season with the Braves, but was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett after going 3-of-25 (.120) at the plate. He had to spend at least 30 days in the minors before he was eligible to be recalled, so he couldn't come up Monday when Ronald Acuna Jr. went on the disabled list.Dustin Peterson was promoted instead.Peterson was optioned back to Gwinnett on Thursday when Bourjos reached the 30-day limit. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Braves released Blair.Once regarded as one of the team's top pitching prospects, Blair went 2-8 with a 7.89 ERA in 16 starts over the last two seasons. He started this year in the minors but quickly went down with season-ending shoulder surgery.___For more AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ATLANTA (AP) — Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. is grateful that his knee and back injuries aren't as serious as he first thought."To be honest, I feel better than I did yesterday," Acuna said Monday through an interpreter. "I just give thanks to God it's not worse than it was."Atlanta placed Acuna on the 10-day disabled list with a mild ACL sprain in his left knee and bruises to his knee and lower back.Acuna's leg buckled while running out a grounder Sunday in Boston. He fell on his back after crossing the bag, then rolled over on his front side with what looked to be a gruesome injury. The 20-year-old surprisingly walked off the diamond, declining a wheelchair."I thought his season was over when it happened and I went out there," manager Brian Snitker said. "Now it's very optimistic."Acuna, who is hitting .265 with five homers and 13 RBIs in 51 games, is walking without a brace and even tried to talk his way into the lineup for the second game of a doubleheader before he was placed... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have placed left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. on the 10-day disabled list with a mild ACL sprain in his left knee and bruises to his knee and lower back.The team announced Acuna's MRI results during the first game of Monday's doubleheader against the New York Mets.Acuna's leg buckled while running out a grounder Sunday in Boston. He fell on his back after crossing the bag, then rolled over on his front side with what looked to be a gruesome injury. The 20-year-old surprisingly walked off the diamond, declining a wheelchair.Preston Tucker took Acuna's place in the field Monday. Ozzie Albies, the usual leadoff hitter, batted in Acuna's No. 2 spot and Ender Inciarte batted first.Acuna is hitting .265 with five homers and 13 RBIs in 51 games."It's definitely scary whenever you see a teammate go down the way he did," shortstop Dansby Swanson said. "We're definitely thankful that he was able to walk off. I think he'll bounce back just fine. It's just a matter of when."Left-hander Max Fried, the 26th man for the doubleheader, was making his first start this season and the second of his career in Game 1.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ATLANTA (AP) — Braves left fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. is out of the lineup a day after injuring his left leg running to first base.The Braves did not announce a diagnosis before Monday's doubleheader against the New York Mets, and manager Brian Snitker was not available to speak with reporters.Acuna's left leg buckled while running out a grounder Sunday in Boston. He fell on his back after crossing the bag, then rolled over on his front side with what looked to be a gruesome injury. The 20-year-old surprisingly walked off the diamond, declining a wheelchair.Preston Tucker took Acuna's place in the field. Ozzie Albies, the usual leadoff hitter, batted in Acuna's No. 2 spot and Ender Inciarte batted first.Acuna is hitting .265 with five homers and 13 RBIs in 51 games."It's definitely scary whenever you see a teammate go down the way he did," shortstop Dansby Swanson said. "We're definitely thankful that he was able to walk off. I think he'll bounce back just fine. It's just a matter of when."Left-hander Max Fried, the 26th man for the doubleheader, was making his first start this season and the second of his career in Game 1.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

A look at what's happening around the majors today:BANGED-UP BRAVEThe Braves are awaiting a diagnosis on standout rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. following a frightening injury at Fenway Park on Sunday. Acuna's left leg buckled and he fell hard on his back after running through a groundout at first base, and he was in significant pain before walking slowly off the field. Atlanta would only say the 20-year-old outfielder has knee and lower back pain, and manager Brian Snitker said Acuna is "being looked at, so we'll know more." Atlanta is set to open a home series against the Mets with a doubleheader.BEST OFBaseball's best offense gets a showdown with perhaps baseball's best pitcher when the Yankees host Justin Verlander and the Astros. The Aaron Judge-led Baby Bombers entered Sunday leading the majors with 284 runs, 83 home runs and an .811 OPS. Verlander, meanwhile, has the top ERA (1.08) among qualified starters and tops all pitchers with 3.1 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs.MENDING MOOKIEBoston... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Monday:BANGED-UP BRAVEThe Braves are awaiting a diagnosis on standout rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. following a frightening injury at Fenway Park on Sunday. Acuna's left leg buckled and he fell hard on his back after running through a groundout at first base, and he was in significant pain before walking slowly off the field. Atlanta would only say the 20-year-old outfielder has knee and lower back pain, and manager Brian Snitker said Acuna is "being looked at, so we'll know more." Atlanta is set to open a home series against the Mets with a doubleheader.BEST OFBaseball's best offense gets a showdown with perhaps baseball's best pitcher when the Yankees host Justin Verlander and the Astros. The Aaron Judge-led Baby Bombers entered Sunday leading the majors with 284 runs, 83 home runs and an .811 OPS. Verlander, meanwhile, has the top ERA (1.08) among qualified starters and tops all pitchers with 3.1 wins above replacement, per Fangraphs.MENDING MOOKIEBoston... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Masahiro Tanaka pitched six sharp innings and struck out Japanese countryman Shohei Ohtani twice as the New York Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Angels 3-1 Sunday.Brett Gardner had three hits for New York, which won five of six against the Angels this season.Although Ohtani was pushed back from Sunday's scheduled start due to what the Angels called "workload management," Tanaka (6-2) held up his end up of the highly anticipated pitchers' duel that never materialized. Tanaka struck out eight and allowed just Andrelton Simmons' sixth-inning home run in his longest outing in nearly a month.Pitching on his 30th birthday, Angels right-hander Garrett Richards (4-4) allowed three runs over 2 1/3 innings and matched a season high with five walks.Aroldis Chapman walked Ohtani to begin the ninth, but struck out a pair to earn his 10th save in 11 chances.BRAVES 7, RED SOX 1BOSTON (AP) — Prized rookie Ronald Acuna Jr. took a high-flying tumble while beating out an infield hit, exiting... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout homered and doubled three times during his first five-hit game in the majors, and the Los Angeles Angels quickly erased an early deficit in beating the New York Yankees 11-4 on Saturday night.Playing not far from his southern New Jersey hometown, Trout went deep for the third straight game to tie Boston's Mookie Betts for the big league lead with 17 home runs. The two-time MVP drove in four runs and set career bests with four extra-base hits and 11 total bases.Jose Briceno homered in his major league debut for Los Angeles, and rookie Jaime Barria (4-1) returned from the minors to win his third consecutive major league decision.Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Austin Romine homered for the Yankees. Sonny Gray (3-4) was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings.RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping Boston top Atlanta.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Trout homered and doubled three times during his first five-hit game in the majors, and the Los Angeles Angels quickly erased an early deficit in beating the New York Yankees 11-4 on Saturday night.Playing not far from his southern New Jersey hometown, Trout went deep for the third straight game to tie Boston's Mookie Betts for the big league lead with 17 home runs. The two-time MVP drove in four runs and set career bests with four extra-base hits and 11 total bases.Jose Briceno homered in his major league debut for Los Angeles, and rookie Jaime Barria (4-1) returned from the minors to win his third consecutive major league decision.Brett Gardner, Aaron Judge and Austin Romine homered for the Yankees. Sonny Gray (3-4) was tagged for five runs in 3 2/3 innings.RED SOX 8, BRAVES 6BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping Boston top Atlanta.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games.... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping the Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 8-6 on Saturday.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games. Mitch Moreland had a key two-run double, Steven Wright (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings, and Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 16th save.The 34-year-old Pedroia went 0 for 4 with a walk and scored in his first game after offseason knee surgery.Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer for Atlanta, and Ronald Acuna Jr. connected for a solo shot. Sean Newcomb, a Massachusetts native, struggled with his control in his first career game at Fenway Park, giving up three runs and walking four in three innings. Sam Freeman (1-2) got the loss.PHILLIES 2, BLUE JAYS 1PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Nick Williams hit his third pinch-hit homer in the eighth and the Phillies moved into first in the NL East.Nola did not allow a... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi homered and drove in three runs, helping the Boston Red Sox beat the Atlanta Braves 8-6 on Saturday.The AL East-leading Red Sox celebrated the return of Dustin Pedroia with their sixth win in seven games. Mitch Moreland had a key two-run double, Steven Wright (1-0) pitched three scoreless innings, and Craig Kimbrel got three outs for his 16th save.The 34-year-old Pedroia went 0 for 4 with a walk and scored in his first game after offseason knee surgery.Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer for Atlanta, and Ronald Acuna Jr. connected for a solo shot. Sean Newcomb, a Massachusetts native, struggled with his control in his first career game at Fenway Park, giving up three runs and walking four in three innings. Sam Freeman (1-2) got the loss.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out nine while throwing 7 2/3 innings of excellent six-hit ball in his seventh career start, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped their five-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.Martin Maldonado homered and drove in two runs, and Zack Cozart drove in two more runs on sacrifice flies as the Angels wrapped up a disappointing 11-game homestand with only four victories — including both games started by Ohtani (4-1).Los Angeles' rookie two-way sensation had another strong outing in the longest start of his stateside career. Ohtani retired 12 straight Rays after yielding rookie Johnny Field's homer leading off the third. Blake Parker pitched the ninth for his second save.While Ohtani threw 110 pitches, reliever Sergio Romo started for Tampa Bay for the second consecutive day. He faced the Angels' first six batters and got four outs while becoming the first pitcher in 38 years to last at least one inning in back-to-back starts.... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani struck out nine while throwing 7 2/3 innings of excellent six-hit ball in his seventh career start, and the Los Angeles Angels snapped their five-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday.Martin Maldonado homered and drove in two runs, and Zack Cozart drove in two more runs on sacrifice flies as the Angels wrapped up a disappointing 11-game homestand with only four victories — including both games started by Ohtani (4-1).Los Angeles' rookie two-way sensation had another strong outing in the longest start of his stateside career. Ohtani retired 12 straight Rays after yielding rookie Johnny Field's homer leading off the third. Blake Parker pitched the ninth for his second save.While Ohtani threw 110 pitches, reliever Sergio Romo started for Tampa Bay for the second consecutive day. He faced the Angels' first six batters and got four outs while becoming the first pitcher in 38 years to last at least one inning in back-to-back starts.... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHTOzzie Albies, Ronald Acuna Jr. and the baby Braves play their series finale against the visiting Chicago Cubs. Rookie right-hander Mike Soroka (1-1, 3.68 ERA) makes his fourth start for surprising Atlanta, which boasts the best record in the National League at 26-16. Veteran lefty Jon Lester (3-1, 2.66) is 6-2 with a 2.47 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves. He has a 1.83 ERA in six games at Atlanta.MR. AUTOMATICOdubel Herrera tries to extend his on-base streak to 43 games for the surging Phillies when they visit St. Louis. Philadelphia (24-16) has won six of seven and is eight games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season. "We're really, really positive in here right now," pitcher Nick Pivetta said. "Everybody is gelling together, you guys can see it. It's really fun in here right now."BORDER PATROLThe Oakland Athletics will be without catcher Bruce Maxwell for a four-game series in... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Bartolo Colon laughed off having Jean Segura's line drive hit him in the stomach, allowing four hits in 7 2/3 shutout innings and giving the Texas Rangers a 5-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.Colon (2-1), who turns 45 on May 24, struck out two, walked none and threw 71 of 96 pitches for strikes.Delino DeShields gave Texas the lead with a two-out RBI double in the eighth inning that scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had singled off James Pazos (1-1). The Rangers added four more in the ninth, all after Ryon Healy's two-out error.ASTROS 2, ANGELS 0ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched a five-hitter for his first shutout in three years and Evan Gattis hit a two-run homer as Houston beat Los Angeles.Verlander (5-2) was superb in ending his two-game skid, finishing with seven strikeouts to reach 2,500 for his career. He walked one and lowered his ERA from 1.21 to 1.05.The right-hander threw 118 pitches in his 24th career complete game and first since 2016 with... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Thursday:THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHTOzzie Albies, Ronald Acuna Jr. and the baby Braves play their series finale against the visiting Chicago Cubs. Rookie right-hander Mike Soroka (1-1, 3.68 ERA) makes his fourth start for surprising Atlanta, which boasts the best record in the National League at 26-16. Veteran lefty Jon Lester (3-1, 2.66) is 6-2 with a 2.47 ERA in nine career starts against the Braves. He has a 1.83 ERA in six games at Atlanta.MR. AUTOMATICOdubel Herrera tries to extend his on-base streak to 43 games for the surging Phillies when they visit St. Louis. Philadelphia (24-16) has won six of seven and is eight games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2011 season. "We're really, really positive in here right now," pitcher Nick Pivetta said. "Everybody is gelling together, you guys can see it. It's really fun in here right now."BORDER PATROLThe Oakland Athletics will be without catcher Bruce Maxwell for a four-game series... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Wei-Yin Chen and four relievers and were beaten by a last-place team for the fifth straight game, losing to the Miami Marlins 4-2 Tuesday night.The NL champions managed only five hits after being swept in a four-game series at home by woeful Cincinnati. Alex Wood (0-4) lost despite allowing only one earned run in six innings for the Dodgers (16-25), who are off to their worst start in 60 years. Miami (15-26) could pass them by sweeping the three-game series.Nick Wittgren (2-0) entered in the fifth and worked 1 2/3 perfect innings to lower his ERA to 0.69. Brad Ziegler gave up a home run to Cody Bellinger in the ninth but earned his sixth save.Dodgers infielders Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe were activated from the disabled list but couldn't spark the defending NL champions, who have scored 11 runs during their skid.ASTROS 5, ANGELS 3ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Jose Altuve hit a go-ahead, three-run double... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Wei-Yin Chen and four relievers and were beaten by a last-place team for the fifth straight game, losing to the Miami Marlins 4-2 Tuesday night.The NL champions managed only five hits after being swept in a four-game series at home by woeful Cincinnati. Alex Wood (0-4) lost despite allowing only one earned run in six innings for the Dodgers (16-25), who are off to their worst start in 60 years. Miami (15-26) could pass them by sweeping the three-game series.Nick Wittgren (2-0) entered in the fifth and worked 1 2/3 perfect innings to lower his ERA to 0.69. Brad Ziegler gave up a home run to Cody Bellinger in the ninth but earned his sixth save.Dodgers infielders Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe were activated from the disabled list but couldn't spark the defending NL champions, who have scored 11 runs during their skid.PADRES 4, ROCKIES 0SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jordan Lyles came (1-1) within five outs of... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position against Wei-Yin Chen and four relievers and were beaten by a last-place team for the fifth straight game, losing to the Miami Marlins 4-2 Tuesday night.The NL champions managed only five hits after being swept in a four-game series at home by woeful Cincinnati. Alex Wood (0-4) lost despite allowing only one earned run in six innings for the Dodgers (16-25), who are off to their worst start in 60 years. Miami (15-26) could pass them by sweeping the three-game series.Nick Wittgren (2-0) entered in the fifth and worked 1 2/3 perfect innings to lower his ERA to 0.69. Brad Ziegler gave up a home run to Cody Bellinger in the ninth but earned his sixth save.Dodgers infielders Justin Turner and Logan Forsythe were activated from the disabled list but couldn't spark the defending NL champions, who have scored 11 runs during their skid.PADRES 4, ROCKIES 0SAN DIEGO (AP) — Jordan Lyles came (1-1) within five outs of... [More]