PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Phillies did not tender contracts to first baseman Justin Bour and left-hander Luis Avilan, allowing the players to become free agents.Both players were acquired in trades during the season and saw limited action in Philadelphia.Bour hit .224 with one homer and five RBIs in 49 at-bats after batting .227 with 19 homers and 54 RBIs in 112 games for the Marlins.Avilan had a 3.18 ERA in 12 games for the Phillies, spanning 5 2/3 innings. He was 2-1 with two saves and a 3.86 ERA in 58 appearances for the White Sox.The Phillies tendered contracts to other arbitration-eligible players on Friday, including right-handers Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez, Hector Neris, Jerad Eickhoff and Luis Garcia; left-hander Adam Morgan; infielders Cesar Hernandez and Maikel Franco; and outfielder Aaron Altherr.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton and 2017 All-Stars Avisail Garcia and Jonathan Schoop became free agents Friday when they were among 43 players cut loose by teams that failed to offer 2019 contracts, but the Chicago Cubs hung onto shortstop Addison Russell despite his 40-game domestic violence suspension that extends until May.Cubs president of president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called the decision a procedural step and said it "does not represent the finish line nor rubber-stamp his future" with them."It does however reflect our support for him as long as he continues to make progress and demonstrates his commitment to these important issues," Epstein added.Russell accepted the suspension following allegations made by his ex-wife Melisa Reidy. Though Russell has denied the allegations, he apologized to Reidy and his family for "my past behavior.""Since accepting my suspension, I've had time to reflect on my past behavior and think about the next steps I need... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Neil Walker hit a three-run homer, Zach Britton started a game-ending double play on New York's third try in the ninth inning and the Yankees kept the Boston Red Sox from a bubbly celebration in the Bronx for at least another night with a 3-2 victory Tuesday.Batting from the left side, Walker launched a no-doubter in the seventh inning off Ryan Brasier for the Yankees' third hit of the game and a 3-1 lead.Aaron Judge returned to New York's lineup for the first time since breaking his right wrist July 26, while AL MVP candidate Mookie Betts got a day off for Boston after injuring his left side Sunday. Judge hit a pop fly to the warning track but finished 0 for 4.New York moved 2½ games ahead of Oakland for the top AL wild card. The A's lost at home to the Angels.Boston is trying to clinch the AL East at Yankee Stadium for the second time in three years. The Red Sox lead the Yankees by 10 1/2 games and entered the night with a magic number of four over the Astros to lock up... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A surprising first half and a surge in early August had the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to reach the postseason.Then they fell apart.Since completing a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5, the Phillies (74-71) are 11-23 and 0-10-1 in those series. They went from 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East to 7 1/2 games behind with only 17 games to play.Philadelphia was only one game behind the Cubs for best record in the National League before the tailspin began. Now, finishing with a winning mark will be a challenge.Manager Gabe Kapler's positive approach hasn't wavered, but even he can't find a way to sugarcoat this collapse."There's no question that we can play better baseball," Kapler said. "We are more talented and more prepared than the outcomes that we're getting, the losses we've racked up recently."So, what happened?"It's not one thing," Kapler said. "It's a collection of many, many things. And to try to boil it down to one thing doesn't... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A surprising first half and a surge in early August had the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to reach the postseason.Then they fell apart.Since completing a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5, the Phillies (74-71) are 11-23 and 0-10-1 in those series. They went from 1½ games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East to 7½ games behind with only 17 games to play.Philadelphia was only one game behind the Cubs for best record in the National League before the tailspin began. Now, finishing with a winning mark will be a challenge.Manager Gabe Kapler's positive approach hasn't wavered, but even he can't find a way to sugarcoat this collapse."There's no question that we can play better baseball," Kapler said. "We are more talented and more prepared than the outcomes that we're getting, the losses we've racked up recently."So, what happened?"It's not one thing," Kapler said. "It's a collection of many, many things. And to try to boil it down to one thing doesn't... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies acquired veteran slugger Jose Bautista from the New York Mets on Tuesday for a player to be named or cash.Bautista has batted .196 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs for the Braves and Mets this season. The Phillies entered Tuesday night's game against Washington 3½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.A six-time All-Star for Toronto from 2010-15, the 37-year-old Bautista has 342 career homers. The right-handed hitter is expected to come off the bench for the Phillies.Philadelphia has been active, acquiring infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and two-time All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos last month, then first baseman Justin Bour and lefty reliever Luis Avilan in August.Right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for Bautista, who joins his third NL East team this year. Philadelphia will be his eighth club overall in 15 major league seasons."He came to us at a time where we had some injuries and needed... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired veteran slugger Jose Bautista from the New York Mets for a player to be named later or cash.Bautista batted .196 with 11 homers and 42 RBIs for the Braves and Mets this season. The Phillies entered Tuesday night's game against Washington 3½ games behind Atlanta in the NL East.A six-time All-Star for Toronto between 2010-2015, Bautista has 342 career homers. The right-handed hitter is expected to come off the bench for the Phillies.Philadelphia has been active, acquiring infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and two-time All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos last month and first baseman Justin Bour and lefty reliever Luis Avilan in August.Right-hander Mark Leiter Jr. was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster for Bautista.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-1 victory and a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.The Cardinals' eighth straight road win helped them improve to 17-4 this month, the most wins in the majors. They've homered in 15 straight games, one off the current season mark of 16 in a row by Philadelphia.St. Louis remained 2½ games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs.For Jansen, it was a familiar ending.The All-Star closer, who became a father for the third time earlier in the day, gave up consecutive homers to Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in the series opener Monday. That was Jansen's first game back after missing time because of an irregular heartbeat.This time, Gyorko singled off Jansen (0-5) and DeJong followed with a drive to left-center to give the Cardinals their first lead.Jordan Hicks struck out Cody Bellinger, Brian Dozier and Chris Taylor to earn his fifth... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Freddy Peralta tossed seven scoreless innings and drove in a run with his first career hit, combining with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Wednesday.Christian Yelich homered and finished a triple shy of the cycle, reaching base five times and driving in two runs for Milwaukee. He opened the first with his 21st homer, doubled in the third, walked in the fourth and singled in the sixth and eighth.Peralta (6-4) allowed just three singles, striking out seven and walking two to win for the second time in seven starts. The 22-year-old right-hander did not allow a hit until Jose Peraza's single to open the fourth.Peralta was 0-for-22 with 11 strikeouts this season before he drove in the Brewers' second run with a fourth-inning single.Robert Stephenson (0-2) allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings, walking three and striking out four.The Reds loaded the bases in the eighth against Taylor Williams, but Jeremy... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Freddy Peralta tossed seven scoreless innings and drove in a run with his first career hit, combining with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Wednesday.Christian Yelich homered and finished a triple shy of the cycle, reaching base five times and driving in two runs for Milwaukee. He opened the first with his 21st homer, doubled in the third, walked in the fourth and singled in the sixth and eighth.Peralta (6-4) allowed just three singles, striking out seven and walking two to win for the second time in seven starts. The 22-year-old right-hander did not allow a hit until Jose Peraza's single to open the fourth.Peralta was 0-for-22 with 11 strikeouts this season before he drove in the Brewers' second run with a fourth-inning single.Robert Stephenson (0-2) allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings, walking three and striking out four.The Reds loaded the bases in the eighth against Taylor Williams, but Jeremy... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies have acquired first baseman Justin Bour and cash from the Miami Marlins for a minor league pitcher.Bour is batting .227 with 19 homers and 54 RBIs. He's expected to be a pinch-hitter in Philadelphia, where Carlos Santana is the starting first baseman in the first year of a $60 million, three-year contract.The left-handed hitting Bour has a .347 on-base percentage. The 30-year-old hit .289 with 25 homers and 83 RBIs last season."I envision him being a dynamic, power-hitting weapon off the bench," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said."The numbers against righties are outrageously good and the plate discipline fits right in with our lineup. He knows how to look over the baseball. He attacks it when it's in the zone. He fouls balls off. He fights. He is a tough out," he said.The Marlins got Single-A left-hander McKenzie Mills. The 22-year-old was 2-5 with a 3.51 ERA at Clearwater.The Phillies also will receive $466,129 from Miami, which... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies have acquired first baseman Justin Bour and cash from the Miami Marlins for a minor league pitcher.Bour is batting .227 with 19 homers and 54 RBIs. He's expected to be a pinch-hitter in Philadelphia, where Carlos Santana is the starting first baseman in the first year of a $60 million, three-year contract.The left-handed hitting Bour has a .347 on-base percentage. The 30-year-old hit .289 with 25 homers and 83 RBIs last season.The Marlins got Single-A left-hander McKenzie Mills. The Phillies also will receive $466,129 from Miami, which is half of Bour's remaining salary this year.Bour is earning $3.4 million after winning in arbitration. He is eligible for free agency after the 2020 season.The Phillies acquired infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos last month.They entered a three-game series in San Diego on Friday night with a one-game lead over Atlanta and 5 ½ games ahead of Washington.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies have acquired first baseman Justin Bour from the Miami Marlins for a minor league player.Bour is batting .227 with 19 homers and 54 RBIs. He's expected to be a pinch-hitter in Philadelphia where Carlos Santana is the starting first baseman in the first year of a $60 million, three-year contract.The left-handed hitting Bour has a .347 on-base percentage. He hit .289 with 25 homers and 83 RBIs last season.Single-A left-handed pitcher McKenzie Mills goes to Miami and the Phillies also received cash in the deal.The Phillies acquired infielder Asdrubal Cabrera and All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos last month.They entered a three-game series in San Diego on Friday night with a one-game lead over Atlanta and 5 ½ games ahead of Washington.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — Andrew Benintendi's RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning capped Boston's rally from three runs down in the ninth against New York closer Aroldis Chapman, and the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep over the rival Yankees with a 5-4 victory on Sunday night.Boston opened a 9 1/2-game lead atop the AL East over the Yankees, who lost their season-high fifth straight.Boston (79-34) has won eight of nine games and owns the majors' best record.The Yankees hadn't been swept in a four-game series by the Red Sox when they entered a series 30 or more games over .500 since 1939, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Sandy Leon looped a two-out single off Jonathan Holder (1-3) in the 10th and advanced on a wild pitch. Tony Renda pinch-ran before Benintendi's single bounced up the middle to the right of second-base.Matt Barnes (4-3) worked a perfect inning in the top of the 10th.DODGERS 3, ASTROS 2LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier delivered a two-run double in the first... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Brian Dozier delivered a two-run double in the first inning and Manny Machado had three hits with two runs scored as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Houston Astros 3-2 on Sunday.Cody Bellinger had an RBI double for the Dodgers, who prevented a three-game sweep by the team that beat them in last year's World Series.George Springer and Tony Kemp homered for the Astros, but Springer exited in the third with left thumb discomfort after he was thrown out trying to steal second base.New reliever Roberto Osuna did not pitch in his first game on the active roster for Houston. Osuna was reinstated from the restricted list after serving a 75-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy. The All-Star closer was acquired Monday in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays while he was still serving his suspension.Dodgers starter Walker Buehler (5-4) gave up two runs over 5 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts. Kenley Jansen closed for his 31st save.Gerrit... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Corey Kluber pitched a three-hitter for his first shutout this season and new arrival Leonys Martin homered again as the Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 Saturday night.After the game, there was a report that Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia is expected to step down at the end of this season. The report by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic cited unidentified major league sources.The 59-year-old Scioscia is the longest-tenured manager in the majors and has guided the Angels since 2000. They are 55-57 this year.Kluber (14-6) matched zeros for five innings with Felix Pena (1-3), who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Martin led off with a homer. Martin has two homers in three games since coming to Cleveland in a trade with Detroit.The Angels were again without All-Star outfielder Mike Trout, who missed his third straight game with a sore right wrist.ASTROS 14, DODGERS 0LOS ANGELES (AP) — Josh Reddick's three-run homer highlighted Houston's... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Corey Kluber pitched a three-hitter for his first shutout this season and new arrival Leonys Martin homered again as the Cleveland Indians beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 Saturday night.After the game, there was a report that Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia is expected to step down at the end of this season. The report by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic cited unidentified major league sources.The 59-year-old Scioscia is the longest-tenured manager in the majors and has guided the Angels since 2000. They are 55-57 this year.Kluber (14-6) matched zeros for five innings with Felix Pena (1-3), who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Martin led off with a homer. Martin has two homers in three games since coming to Cleveland in a trade with Detroit.The Angels were again without All-Star outfielder Mike Trout, who missed his third straight game with a sore right wrist.REDS 7, NATIONALS 1, 1ST GAMENATIONALS 6, REDS 2, 2ND GAMEWASHINGTON (AP) — Nationals slugger... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The last-place Miami Marlins were sellers at the trade deadline, as usual, but kept a foundation for their future.All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto and closer Kyle Barraclough, both subjects of trade talk, were among those staying in Miami. The Marlins parted with right-handed reliever Brad Ziegler and outfielder Cameron Maybin, two well-traveled veterans who increased their market value by playing well lately.Ziegler returned to his former team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who bolstered their bullpen for the pennant race and gave up Double-A reliever Tommy Eveld. Maybin went to another contender, the Seattle Mariners, for minor league middle infielder Bryson Brigman and international slot money.There had been considerable trade speculation regarding Realmuto, but instead he could now become the centerpiece in CEO Derek Jeter's rebuilding project, with the Marlins interested in a long-term contract.Also staying are Barraclough, outfielder Derek Dietrich and first baseman Justin... [More]

MIAMI (AP) — The last-place Miami Marlins kept All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto on Tuesday but were sellers at the trade deadline, parting with right-handed reliever Brad Ziegler and outfielder Cameron Maybin, two well-traveled veterans who increased their market value by playing well lately.Ziegler returned to his former team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, who bolstered their bullpen for the pennant race and gave up Double-A reliever Tommy Eveld. Maybin went to another contender, the Seattle Mariners, for minor league infielder Bryson Brigman and international slot money.There had been trade speculation regarding Realmuto, but he remains with Miami and could become a cornerstone in CEO Derek Jeter's rebuilding project. Also staying are outfielder Derek Dietrich, first baseman Justin Bour and closer Kyle Barraclough, all subjects of trade speculation in recent days.Veterans Ziegler and Maybin weren't part of Jeter's long-term plans.The 38-year-old Ziegler is 1-5 with a 3.98 ERA this season. The... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Manny Machado homered before making an early exit, Adam Jones hit a three-run double and the Baltimore Orioles rallied past the Texas Rangers 6-5 Sunday.Machado was removed in the fifth inning by manager Buck Showalter after a 26-minute rain delay, taking the All-Star shortstop off a sloppy field. The last-place Orioles are entertaining offers for Machado, who is expected to be dealt before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.After being replaced by Jace Peterson, Machado sat in the dugout, wearing a sweatshirt and joking with his teammates.In a matchup between two teams staggering into the All-Star break, Texas got a first-inning grand slam from rookie Ronald Guzman but quickly gave the lead away in losing for the seventh time in nine games.Machado ignited the comeback with his 24th homer, and Jones' bases-clearing double in the third off Mike Minor (6-6) put Baltimore ahead to stay.Tanner Scott (1-1) earned his first big league win. Zach Britton worked the ninth for... [More]