ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Freddie Freeman homered off Yu Darvish in the sixth inning, Touki Toussaint allowed one run and three hits in his season debut, and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 on Tuesday night. Toussaint, who missed the first 3½ months rehabbing a right shoulder strain, retired the first seven batters he faced before walking Victor Caratini in the third. He didn’t allow a hit until Manny Machado doubled with one out in the fourth. The Padres tied it 1-all in the fourth when Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch, advanced to third on Machado’s double and scored on Tommy Pham’s sacrifice fly. Freeman made it 2-1 by taking Darvish deep over the wall in left field with an opposite-field shot, his 22nd homer. Toussaint (1-0) walked two and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. Darvish (7-4) was making his first start since July 8 after a stint on the injured list due to left hip inflammation. He allowed four hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Eduardo Rodriguez shut down the short-handed Yankees into the sixth inning, Christian Arroyo and J.D. Martinez homered and the Boston Red Sox beat their rivals 4-0 on Friday night with New York missing slugger Aaron Judge and five others due to a coronavirus outbreak. A day after the series opener was postponed for testing and contact tracing, Judge, third baseman Gio Urshela and catcher Kyle Higashioka were added to the COVID-19 injured list. They joined Yankees pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Wandy Peralta, who have also tested positive over the past week. New York was also without first baseman Luke Voit, who went on the injured list Friday with a bone bruise in his left knee. Rodriguez (7-5) allowed two hits over 5 2/3 innings, retiring 10 straight during one stretch and finishing with eight strikeouts. Hirokazu Sawamura got the final out of the sixth, and Tanner Houck pitched the final three innings, closing out Boston’s three-hitter for his first... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Nestor Cortes and three relievers combined for a three-hitter and Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu each drove in two runs to lead the New York Yankees over the Houston Astros 4-0 on Friday night. Making a spot start, Cortes permitted two hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking two and lowering his ERA to 1.05. Lucas Luetge (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win. Chad Green gave up one hit in two innings and Jonathan Loaisiga threw a perfect ninth. It was New York’s first visit to Houston since Game 6 of the 2019 AL Championship Series. The Astros advanced to the World Series with a 6-4 win in that game on a two-run homer by Jose Altuve with two outs in the ninth. The Astros are commemorating the event by giving away replica 2019 AL champions trophies on Friday night, 2019 AL champions replica rings on Saturday and Altuve jerseys for the finale on Sunday. GIANTS 5, NATIONALS 3 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Curt Casali hit a two-run homer while filling in for injured... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Nestor Cortes and three relievers combined for a three-hitter and Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu each drove in two runs to lead the New York Yankees over the Houston Astros 4-0 on Friday night. Making a spot start, Cortes permitted two hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking two and lowering his ERA to 1.05. Lucas Luetge (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win. Chad Green gave up one hit in two innings and Jonathan Loaisiga threw a perfect ninth. It was New York’s first visit to Houston since Game 6 of the 2019 AL Championship Series. The Astros advanced to the World Series with a 6-4 win in that game on a two-run homer by Jose Altuve with two outs in the ninth. The Astros are commemorating the event by giving away replica 2019 AL champions trophies on Friday night, 2019 AL champions replica rings on Saturday and Altuve jerseys for the finale on Sunday. GIANTS 5, NATIONALS 3 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Curt Casali hit a two-run homer while filling in for injured... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Nestor Cortes and three relievers combined for a three-hitter and Brett Gardner and DJ LeMahieu each drove in two runs to lead the New York Yankees over the Houston Astros 4-0 on Friday night. Making a spot start, Cortes permitted two hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking two and lowering his ERA to 1.05. Lucas Luetge (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings for the win. Chad Green gave up one hit in two innings and Jonathan Loaisiga threw a perfect ninth. It was New York’s first visit to Houston since Game 6 of the 2019 AL Championship Series. The Astros advanced to the World Series with a 6-4 win in that game on a two-run homer by Jose Altuve with two outs in the ninth. The Astros are commemorating the event by giving away replica 2019 AL champions trophies on Friday night, 2019 AL champions replica rings on Saturday and Altuve jerseys for the finale on Sunday. CUBS 10, CARDINALS 5 CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks won his ninth straight decision, Patrick Wisdom hit... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks won his ninth straight decision, Patrick Wisdom hit a two-run homer and Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5 on Friday afternoon. Kris Bryant drove in three runs with a pinch-hit double to start Chicago’s five-run burst in the seventh inning before Wisdom went deep against his former team. Joc Pederson doubled twice, including a three-run hit in the first. Chicago won for the second time in three games following an 11-game losing streak. Bryant didn’t start for a second straight game because of a strained right hamstring, but hit the first pitch he saw from Junior Fernández to the wall in left filed with the bases loaded. The All-Star came home when Wisdom connected for his 12th homer to make it 9-2. Hendricks (11-4) allowed two runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings while walking one and hitting a batter. INDIANS 2, ROYALS 1 CLEVELAND (AP) — Bobby Bradley homered leading off the ninth inning as Cleveland overcame some brutal baserunning that led to... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, a season high by a Japanese player in the major leagues, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Wednesday. Fellow All-Star Jared Walsh homered twice for the Angels, who won for the sixth time in seven games and took two of three from the AL-leading Red Sox. Ohtani topped Hideki Matsui’s total with the 2004 Yankees by hitting a 433-foot shot to right off Eduardo Rodríguez (6-5), putting the Angels ahead to stay in the fifth inning. The two-way star has 15 homers in his past 20 games. Andrew Heaney (5-6) pitched six-hit ball into the sixth, and Raisel Iglesias struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save. RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 RAYS 8, INDIANS 1 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Five Tampa Bay pitchers combined for seven hitless innings to finish a doubleheader sweep. Collin McHugh (two perfect innings), Josh Fleming (7-4 after allowing one walk in 2 2/3 innings), Diego Castillo (one out), Matt... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead single during a nine-run rally in the seventh inning after Washington ace Max Scherzer departed, and the Los Angeles Dodgers surged past the Nationals 10-5 Friday night for their seventh straight win. The Nationals lost slugger Kyle Schwarber in the second inning when he grabbed at his hamstring after a single. He hit a franchise-record 16 home runs in June. Julio Urías (10-3) allowed one earned run in six innings. Scherzer also allowed one earned run in six innings and struck out eight. Left-handed reliever Sam Clay (0-1) found trouble when he replaced Scherzer. Chris Taylor hit a leadoff double, a dribbler by pinch-hitter Albert Pujols scored him, and Austin Barnes was hit by a pitch. ANGELS 8, ORIOLES 7 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani went deep twice to reach 30 homers this season and then scored the winning run on Jared Walsh’s two-out single in the ninth inning that lifted Los Angeles over Baltimore. Ohtani drew a walk from Paul Fry... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Mookie Betts hit a go-ahead single during a nine-run rally in the seventh inning after Washington ace Max Scherzer departed, and the Los Angeles Dodgers surged past the Nationals 10-5 Friday night for their seventh straight win. The Nationals lost slugger Kyle Schwarber in the second inning when he grabbed at his hamstring after a single. He hit a franchise-record 16 home runs in June. Julio Urías (10-3) allowed one earned run in six innings. Scherzer also allowed one earned run in six innings and struck out eight. Left-handed reliever Sam Clay (0-1) found trouble when he replaced Scherzer. Chris Taylor hit a leadoff double, a dribbler by pinch-hitter Albert Pujols scored him, and Austin Barnes was hit by a pitch. ANGELS 8, ORIOLES 7 ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani went deep twice to reach 30 homers this season and then scored the winning run on Jared Walsh’s two-out single in the ninth inning that lifted Los Angeles over Baltimore. Ohtani drew a walk from Paul Fry... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trea Turner completed his record-tying third career cycle by hitting a sixth-inning triple for the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, accomplishing the feat on his 28th birthday in a 15-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The speedy shortstop became the fifth player in major league history with three cycles, joining Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel and John Reilly, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He also scored four times in the victory, which sealed a two-game sweep as well as Washington’s fourth straight win and 14th in its last 17 games. Turner singled in the first off Tampa Bay opener Drew Rasmussen, doubled in the third against Ryan Sherriff (0-1), then hit his 14th homer in the fourth off Michael Wacha. Two innings later, Turner hit a ball into the right-field corner and beat second baseman Mike Brosseau's throw to third with a headfirst slide. Jon Lester (2-3) allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out three and walking two. ANGELS... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trea Turner completed his record-tying third career cycle by hitting a sixth-inning triple for the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, accomplishing the feat on his 28th birthday in a 15-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. The speedy shortstop became the fifth player in major league history with three cycles, joining Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel and John Reilly, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He also scored four times in the victory, which sealed a two-game sweep as well as Washington’s fourth straight win and 14th in its last 17 games. Turner singled in the first off Tampa Bay opener Drew Rasmussen, doubled in the third against Ryan Sherriff (0-1), then hit his 14th homer in the fourth off Michael Wacha. Two innings later, Turner hit a ball into the right-field corner and beat second baseman Mike Brosseau's throw to third with a headfirst slide. Jon Lester (2-3) allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings, striking out three and walking two. BREWERS... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Max Scherzer threw his glove and hat to the grass, then stared down Phillies manager Joe Girardi after getting checked for a third time by umpires for sticky stuff as the Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia 3-2 Tuesday night. Scherzer (6-4) looked sharp in his return to the rotation after missing a start due to a groin injury, striking out eight in five innings. Girardi apparently didn’t like what he saw. In the fourth, Scherzer threw high and inside to Alec Bohm, sending him sprawling to the ground before striking him out. Prior to the next batter, Girardi asked the umpires to check Scherzer. Scherzer already had been checked by second-base umpire Alfonso Marquez after the first and third inning. So, when he was approached for a third time, this time at Girardi’s request, Scherzer threw his glove and hat to the ground, unbuckled his belt and appeared ready to take his pants off. Yan Gomes had a pair of RBI singles for the Nationals, who have won three straight and... [More]