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]

PLAYERS TO PICK UPJack Flaherty, SP, St. Louis (54 percent owned in Yahoo) - Thirteen strikeouts. One walk. One earned run. Those were the numbers from Flaherty's last outing. How is he owned in just over half of leagues? If Flaherty is available in your league, you need to open a new tab, add him and then return here to read the rest of this column. With an outstanding slider, Flaherty is dominating hitters each outing. He's given up a total of six earned runs in 23 1/3 innings this year. Despite the too-many-guys-but-not-enough-spots problem the Cardinals' rotation has right now, Captain Jack's spot is safe.Tyler O'Neill, OF, St. Louis (41 percent) - Speaking of young Cardinals making a difference, O'Neill had a stretch of three home runs in three games earlier this week. Dexter Fowler is lost at the plate, and Marcel Ozuna is failing to replicate his success from a season ago. As long as O'Neill hits, Mike Matheny will find room for him in the Cardinals' lineup. There's a lot of Aaron... [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]

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]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals have placed Adam Wainwright back on the 10-day disabled list after the right-hander struggled with velocity in his last start and said he needed "to pause and get it right."The 36-year-old Wainwright also was on the DL with elbow inflammation before returning Sunday in San Diego. But he lasted just 2 1/3 innings in the Cardinals' 5-3 loss to the Padres.Wainwright is 1-3 with a 4.00 ERA in four starts this season.St. Louis also called up Jack Flaherty from Triple-A Memphis, and the rookie right-hander is slated to start Tuesday night's game at Minnesota.Flaherty, 22, made two starts earlier this season for the Cardinals and is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA at Memphis this year.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

BOSTON (AP) — Wilson Ramos went deep again and scored on Denard Span's inside-the-park homer, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 12-6 on Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory.It's the longest win streak for Tampa Bay since taking nine in a row in July 2014. The resurgent Rays have won nine of 10 overall to move within one game of .500 at 12-13.Johnny Field and Carlos Gomez also connected for Tampa Bay, and Matt Duffy finished with four hits. Field's three-run drive in the ninth was his first career homer.Ramos belted a two-run shot in the third against David Price (2-3), extending his homer streak to three games.Boston lost for the fifth time in seven games. It also had to replace star outfielder Mookie Betts after the fourth inning due to tightness in his right hamstring.ASTROS 11, ATHLETICS 0HOUSTON (AP) — Lance McCullers threw seven sharp innings, Jose Altuve had four hits and Houston beat Oakland.Altuve hit a towering home run that left the ballpark and doubled.... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Wilson Ramos went deep again and scored on Denard Span's inside-the-park homer, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 12-6 on Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory.It's the longest win streak for Tampa Bay since taking nine in a row in July 2014. The resurgent Rays have won nine of 10 overall to move within one game of .500 at 12-13.Johnny Field and Carlos Gomez also connected for Tampa Bay, and Matt Duffy finished with four hits. Field's three-run drive in the ninth was his first career homer.Ramos belted a two-run shot in the third against David Price (2-3), extending his homer streak to three games.Boston lost for the fifth time in seven games. It also had to replace star outfielder Mookie Betts after the fourth inning due to tightness in his right hamstring.ASTROS 11, ATHLETICS 0HOUSTON (AP) — Lance McCullers threw seven sharp innings, Jose Altuve had four hits and Houston beat Oakland.Altuve hit a towering home run that left the ballpark and doubled.... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The St. Louis Cardinals plan to activate right-hander Adam Wainwright from the 10-day disabled list on Thursday to start their home opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks.Wainwright has been sidelined by a strained left hamstring. He has been running and shagging fly balls with the team in Milwaukee, where the Cardinals were wrapping up a three-game series on Wednesday.Manager Mike Matheny says the team decided that Wainwright was ready after giving him one last checkup on Wednesday morning.The Cardinals optioned Jack Flaherty to Triple-A Memphis to make room for Wainwright. Flaherty allowed one run on six hits in five innings against Milwaukee on Tuesday.Matheny says the rest of the rotation will be pushed back a day to make room for Wainwright.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit his first major league home run in his first Angel Stadium at-bat, helping the Los Angeles Angels beat the Cleveland Indians 13-2 on Tuesday night.Ohtani capped a six-run first inning with a three-run drive to center off Josh Tomlin (0-1). The Japanese two-way player got the silent treatment from teammates when he returned to the dugout, but not from the crowd. After players broke character and jumped around Ohtani to celebrate, Mike Trout pointed to the field and instructed Ohtani to take a curtain call.Trout, Justin Upton, Luis Valbuena and Rene Rivera also homered for the Angels, who broke a 12-game losing streak to the Indians. Garrett Richards (1-0) got the win.Jose Ramirez hit a two-run home run in the first for the Indians.BREWERS 5, CARDINALS 4MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich and Ryan Braun hit consecutive homers off Dominic Leone with two out in the ninth, sending Milwaukee to the win.Leone (0-1) retired the first two batters, but then... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — No more practice runs for Mickey Callaway.Opening day has arrived for the rookie manager of the New York Mets, and his heart probably will be pounding at a mile a minute by the time Noah Syndergaard fires his first 100 mph fastball Thursday against the St. Louis Cardinals."I usually go out in the dugout about an hour before the game because I like to watch the fans come in and feel the ballpark come alive," Callaway said. "I've never been able to do that here at Citi Field. I can only imagine what it's going to be like, so that's when I'm going to get the goose bumps."Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce and the rest of Callaway's club worked out Wednesday under overcast skies in Queens as they got ready to face Carlos Martinez and the Cardinals in their opener. Traditional bunting was already draped around the stands, while painters and other workers put the finishing touches on some spruced-up clubs and corridors inside.Syndergaard will get the ball for his second consecutive opening-day... [More]

Shohei Ohtani has a starting assignment, and the Los Angeles Dodgers have a mess on their hands.With the regular season set to begin Thursday, the Angels scheduled Ohtani to make his major league pitching debut Sunday in their fourth game at Oakland. The two-way sensation from Japan is expected to be Los Angeles' designated hitter in at least one of the first three games, but manager Mike Scioscia said Tuesday night the team hadn't decided on an opening-day lineup yet.The 23-year-old Ohtani, who struggled in spring training, was told after the exhibition finale against the Dodgers that he'll pitch Sunday."He's gotten into the mid-80-pitch range and should be able to get over 90 if he's throwing to his capabilities," Scioscia said. "That's plenty of pitches for him to get deep into the game. We're going to take it one pitch at a time with all of our pitchers."Ohtani was supposed to get an at-bat or two Tuesday night but that didn't happen because the game was called in the bottom of the... [More]

The Philadelphia Phillies are banking on young Scott Kingery.A prized prospect who has never played in the majors, Kingery reached a six-year deal with the Phillies on Sunday that takes him through the 2023 season.The contract includes three team options running through 2026. Multiple media reports said Kingery was guaranteed more than $23 million.The 23-year-old Kingery is batting .392 in 20 spring training games and is tied for the Grapefruit League lead with 20 hits.Kingery hit a combined .304 with 26 home runs and 29 steals as a second baseman for Triple-A Lehigh Valley and Double-A Reading last year. He was a second-round pick in the 2015 draft from the University of Arizona.Kingery is regarded as the best second-base prospect in baseball. The Phillies currently have Cesar Hernandez as their starting second baseman, so Kingery has also seen time at third base this spring and worked in the outfield.Coming off a 66-96 record and last-place finish in the NL East, the Phillies have been... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright will start the season on the disabled list because of a strained left hamstring.The Cardinals made the announcement Sunday. With the longtime ace out, rookie Jack Flaherty will begin the year in the rotation as the fifth starter.Wainwright recently hurt his hamstring in a conditioning drill. Closer Luke Gregerson also injured a hamstring during a drill and will be on the DL.The 36-year-old Wainwright had pitched well this spring and was set to start the second game of the season, on Saturday in New York against the Mets. That slot also would've lined him up to pitch the home opener on April 5 against Arizona.Wainwright was 12-5 with a 5.11 ERA last year.The 22-year-old Flaherty made his major league debut last season and went 0-2 with a 6.33 ERA in six games.