Carter Kieboom, a first-round draft pick and the expected starting third baseman for the Washington Nationals, was sent to the minor leagues on Saturday. Drafted in 2016, Kieboom has struggled at the plate in limited opportunities in the majors, batting .181 in 44 games over two seasons with Washington. Kieboom and Starlin Castro had been getting time at third in preseason camp. Also optioned to Triple-A Rochester were INF Luis Garcia, LHP Sam Clay, RHP Kyle McGowin and OF Yadiel Hernández. Surprising additions to the team’s major league roster were INF Jordy Mercer and INF/OF Hernán Pérez. Mercer has a split contract: $1,000,000 while he’s in the majors and $150,000 in the minors, plus $50,000 each for 100, 150, 200, and 250 plate appearances, and $100,000 each for 300 and 400 plate appearances. Re-assigned to minor league camp were RHP Aaron Barrett, RHP Paolo Espino, RHP Javy Guerra, RHP Todd Peterson, C Welington Castillo, C Brandon Snyder, C Blake Swihart, INF Adrían Sanchez, OF Gerardo Parra and OF Carlos Tocci. The Nationals also released Yasmany Tomás and T.J. McFarland from their minor league contracts and first baseman Jake Noll was designated for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster. ___ More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SEATTLE (AP) — The Texas Rangers have placed closer Shawn Kelley on the 10-day injured list with biceps soreness in his right arm, but manager Chris Woodward said the injury appears far less severe than first believed.The Rangers made the move with Kelley on Monday before opening a three-game series in Seattle. Texas selected the contract of reliever Rafael Montero from Triple-A Nashville to take Kelley's roster spot and designated for assignment outfielder Carlos Tocci to clear a 40-man roster spot.Kelley left Sunday's game in Houston in the bottom of the eighth after throwing several warmup pitches. Woodward said he immediately thought the injury was serious enough Kelley's season could be over.An MRI showed no acute injury and Woodward said it was "way better than we all thought." Woodward expects Jose Leclerc and Chris Martin to handle the late-inning duties with Kelley out.Kelley, 35, is 5-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 33 appearances, including 11 saves.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman left Wednesday's 11-5 victory over the Miami Marlins because of back stiffness.Bregman walked in the first inning and was replaced after the second. He was playing his third spring training game following arthroscopic elbow surgery on Jan. 11.Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Bregman probably will be held out a day and return to the lineup on Friday.AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUESBLUE JAYS 9, PHILLIES 7Cavan Biggio, the son of Astros Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, and Anthony Alford both homered for the first time for the Blue Jays. Dalton Pompey hit two doubles and drove in three runs for Toronto. Aaron Sanchez made his second start, allowing a hit and two walks in 2 2/3 scoreless innings.Vince Velasquez made his first start for Philadelphia, allowing one run, one hit and two walks in one inning. Aaron Althier went 0 for 3, striking out twice and lowering his average to .143.ORIOLES 9, RAYS 6Mike Yastrzemski, a grandson... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman left Wednesday's 11-5 victory over the Miami Marlins because of back stiffness.Bregman walked in the first inning and was replaced after the second. He was playing his third spring training game following arthroscopic elbow surgery on Jan. 11.Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Bregman probably will be held out a day and return to the lineup on Friday.AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUESBLUE JAYS 9, PHILLIES 7Cavan Biggio, the son of Astros Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, and Anthony Alford both homered for the first time for the Blue Jays. Dalton Pompey hit two doubles and drove in three runs for Toronto. Aaron Sanchez made his second start, allowing a hit and two walks in 2 2/3 scoreless innings.Vince Velasquez made his first start for Philadelphia, allowing one run, one hit and two walks in one inning. Aaron Althier went 0 for 3, striking out twice and lowering his average to .143.ORIOLES 9, RAYS 6Mike Yastrzemski, a grandson... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Zack Greinke and Madison Bumgarner appear to be available for teams looking to bolster starting rotations.Hometown star Bryce Harper and Manny Machado, the two top free agents, remain unsigned heading into the traditional high-point of the offseason.Catcher J.T. Realmuto, third baseman Kyle Seager could be among the position players dangled as trade bait in the suites of Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay, where executives and agents gather next week for the annual swap session, which in an age of complicated finances and medical records serves as a midpoint for talks as much as a place to finish deals.Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein predicted the week will be "really active.""It seems like there is plenty of trade talk, and there are still a lot of good free agents out there," he said. "A couple of moves have already occurred that sort of always set the stage for increased activity in the next week or so."First baseman Paul Goldschmidt... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius has torn cartilage in his right wrist and is unsure whether he will be able to play in the AL wild-card game on Oct. 3.Gregorius, who has 27 homers and 86 RBIs, got injured Saturday when he slid headfirst on Aaron Hicks' 11th-inning double to score the run that clinched a postseason berth for New York, which disclosed the injury after a 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.New York remained 1½ games ahead of Oakland for the top AL wild card. Baltimore (45-110) is one loss shy of matching the franchise record for defeats set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns, who went 43-111.Tim Beckham homered twice for the lowly Orioles, who trailed 3-0 early. Ryan Meisinger (2-0) pitched two perfect innings and Mychal Givens worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save. A.J. Cole (3-1) was the loser.INDIANS 4, RED SOX 3, 11 INNINGSCLEVELAND (AP) — Greg Allen singled with one out and the bases loaded in the 11th inning and Cleveland denied Boston's bid for... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees shortstop Didi Gregorius has torn cartilage in his right wrist and is unsure whether he will be able to play in the AL wild-card game on Oct. 3.Gregorius, who has 27 homers and 86 RBIs, got injured Saturday when he slid headfirst on Aaron Hicks' 11th-inning double to score the run that clinched a postseason berth for New York, which disclosed the injury after a 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday.New York remained 1½ games ahead of Oakland for the top AL wild card. Baltimore (45-110) is one loss shy of matching the franchise record for defeats set by the 1939 St. Louis Browns, who went 43-111.Tim Beckham homered twice for the lowly Orioles, who trailed 3-0 early. Ryan Meisinger (2-0) pitched two perfect innings and Mychal Givens worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save. A.J. Cole (3-1) was the loser.TWINS 5, ATHLETICS 1OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Oakland will have to take its bubbly on the road. Kyle Gibson (9-13) allowed one run over 7 1/3 innings and Jake Cave... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Felix Hernandez briefly looked like the ace he used to be for the Seattle Mariners, even playfully pointing former teammate Adrian Beltre back to the dugout after striking out baseball's active career hits leader.After getting through the first two innings unscathed Tuesday night, including another entertaining on-field exchange with his friend, the struggles returned for the former AL Cy Young Award winner.Beltre grounded into a double play to end the third, but only after the Texas Rangers had scored four runs that inning to put them ahead to stay. And when Beltre homered to straightaway center in the sixth, it marked the most runs Hernandez has ever given up in his career."Yeah, I'm frustrated. What can I say? What can I say?" Hernandez said after giving up all the runs in six innings of an 11-4 loss.Hernandez (8-10) is 0-4 in his last five starts for the playoff-contending Mariners. This was the only time in that span he pitched more than five innings.Robinson... [More]

DETROIT (AP) — Texas manager Jeff Banister was ejected from Sunday's game at Detroit in the second inning after one of his players was called out for interference.With men on first and second and the Rangers already up 2-0, Carlos Tocci dropped a bunt and took off for first. The throw hit him and bounced away, and it looked like Texas had scored a run on the play, but Tocci was called out for interference, and the runners were sent back to first and second.Banister argued for a while. The ejection was the 14th of his managerial career and his third this season.Texas did score that run anyway on an error by first baseman John Hicks, but that was the only further scoring in the top of the second.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ATLANTA (AP) — Nationals ace Max Scherzer singled as a pinch hitter in the 14th inning and scored the tiebreaking run on Wilmer Difo's triple, sparking Washington to a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.In his third big league pinch-hit appearance, Scherzer singled up the middle against Miguel Socolovich (0-1) and sped home from first base on Difo's hit to right-center field. Spencer Kieboom added an RBI single. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, touched off a dugout celebration after he scored.Justin Miller (2-0) struck out five in three innings, facing the minimum, and Sean Doolittle got three straight outs for his 14th save.Juan Soto and Michael Taylor homered for Washington. Johan Camargo hit his third home run this week for Atlanta.YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 5BALTIMORE (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar homered to help Masahiro Tanaka win his fifth straight decision, and the New York Yankees extended the Orioles' losing streak to seven games.Tanaka (7-2) allowed... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Seattle Mariners have recalled right-hander Erasmo Ramirez from a rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma to make his season debut starting the series finale at Texas.Ramirez didn't appear in a spring training game and started the season on the disabled list because of a strained right lat.Seattle made the move before Sunday's game. Guillermo Heredia, one of five outfielders that had been on the roster, was optioned to Tacoma to make room on the 25-man roster.The remaining outfielders are Dee Gordon, Mitch Haniger, Ben Gamel and Ichiro Suzuki. The 44-year-old Ichiro was hitting .212 with seven singles and no walks in his 11 games before starting Sunday in right field.Heredia was hitting .310 with two homers in 16 games.Texas activated center fielder Delino DeShields from the 10-day DL and put Carlos Tocci on the DL with a hip issue.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The losses are mounting quickly for the Texas Rangers, both in the standings and their starting lineup.By the time the Rangers finally had their first day off of the season Thursday, the last team in the majors to get a break, they were the first team with 10 losses.They also found out they will be without No. 3 hitter and 10-season starting shortstop Elvis Andrus for 6 to 8 weeks because of a broken right elbow, though additional tests Thursday determined that he won't need surgery.He was hit by a pitch on his throwing arm in the bottom of the ninth inning of their fourth straight loss, 7-2 to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night."A freak deal ... not a whole lot you can do to prevent it," general manager Jon Daniels said. "Definitely an emotional one for all us to see him go down."Andrus will go on the disabled list for the first time in his career before the series opener in Houston on Friday, when the Rangers plan to recall first baseman Ronald Guzman from... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Texas Rangers center fielder Delino DeShields is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his left hand while taking a swing.The Rangers put DeShields on the 10-day disabled list Saturday, a day after he hurt his hamate bone against Houston. DeShields was injured in the seventh inning, but stayed in the game.DeShields was scheduled to be examined further on Saturday. He was 1 for 7 after two games.To take DeShields' roster spot, Texas recalled right-hander Nick Gardewine from Triple-A Round Rock for Saturday's game against the Astros. Rule 5 draft pick Carlos Tocci was in the Rangers' lineup in center field, batting ninth in his major league debut.

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — David Price made his delayed spring-training debut for Boston, allowing one hit over four scoreless innings in a 7-5 win over Toronto on Thursday.Price struck out five and walked one. An elbow injury limited to a career-low 11 starts last season."Felt good," Price said. "I had really good fastball command early. I made good pitches when I needed to. I stayed away from the big part of the plate with the exception of a couple of fastballs. I thought it was a good day."Price was 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA last year. The 32-year-old left-hander is entering the third season of a $217 million, seven-year contract."This is March 15 and I've never had a four-pitch mix this early in spring training," he said. "I've never been this far along even though I've only thrown in one game. I'm excited about it."Andrew Benintendi drove in two runs with a pair of doubles for the Red Sox, while Christian Vazquez hit his first home run — a two-run drive. Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and two... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — David Price made his delayed spring-training debut for Boston, allowing one hit over four scoreless innings in a 7-5 win over Toronto on Thursday.Price struck out five and walked one. An elbow injury limited to a career-low 11 starts last season."Felt good," Price said. "I had really good fastball command early. I made good pitches when I needed to. I stayed away from the big part of the plate with the exception of a couple of fastballs. I thought it was a good day.Price was 6-3 with a 3.38 ERA last year. The 32-year-old left-hander is entering the third season of a $217 million, seven-year contract."This is March 15 and I've never had a four-pitch mix this early in spring training," he said. "I've never been this far along even though I've only thrown in one game. I'm excited about it."Andrew Benintendi drove in two runs with a pair of doubles for the Red Sox, while Christian Vazquez hit his first home run — a two-run drive. Teoscar Hernandez had two hits and two... [More]