Oct. 26 1911 — Danny Murphy of Philadelphia had four hits as the Athletics beat the New York Giants 13-2 to win the World Series in six games. The A’s put the game out of reach with a seven-run seventh inning. 1940 — Detroit outfielder Hank Greenberg won the American League MVP with Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller finishing second. Greenberg hit .340 with 41 home runs and 150 RBIs. Greenberg, who won the award in 1935 as a first baseman, became the first player to win the MVP again playing a different position. 1977 — Sparky Lyle of the New York Yankees became the first American League relief pitcher to win the Cy Young Award. Lyle posted a 13-5 record with 26 saves and a 2.17 ERA in a league-leading 72 appearances. 1982 — Steve Carlton of the Philadelphia Phillies became the first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, taking National League honors. The 37-year-old lefthander led the league in wins (23), innings pitched (295.2), strikeouts (286) and shutouts (6). Carlton also won the award... [More]

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Baby Braves were the Battered Braves in their first loss of these playoffs. Now the young pitchers who had been so poised and effective in the postseason will have to try to get Atlanta back on track. Rookie starter Kyle Wright and the Braves gave up a postseason-record 11 runs in the first inning of a 15-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the NL Championship Series on Wednesday night. The 15 runs allowed in the first three innings were more than the Braves permitted in their first seven postseason games combined. And those 13 previous runs included seven scored by Los Angeles in the final three innings of Atlanta's 8-7 win in Game 2. The Braves will have to remind themselves they still lead the series 2-1, with Game 4 on Thursday night in the first NLCS with no days off since 1978, and the first ever at a neutral site, the home of the Texas Rangers. Wright gave up seven runs while getting just two outs after Atlanta starters allowed only five runs... [More]

Oct. 251911 — Fred Merkle's 10th-inning sacrifice fly scored Larry Doyle to give the New York Giants a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. The victory cut the A's lead in the Series to 3-2.1978 — Gaylord Perry of the San Diego Padres becomes the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both leagues. Perry wins the National League award with a 21-6 record and a 2.72 ERA.1981 — Steve Yeager and Pedro Guerrero hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees and take a 3-2 lead in the World Series.1986 — The New York Mets rallied for three runs with two outs in the 10th inning against the Boston Red Sox and pushed the World Series to a decisive seventh game. The tie-breaking run scored on Boston first baseman Bill Buckner's error on Mookie Wilson's slow grounder.1987 — The Minnesota Twins, behind Frank Viola, won their first World Series championship by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 in Game... [More]

Oct. 211959 — The Major League Players Association approved two All-Star Games in 1960, to be held at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium and New York's Yankee Stadium.1973 — Bert Campaneris and Reggie Jackson hit two-run homers in the third inning as the Oakland A's defeated the New York Mets 5-2 in Game 7 of the World Series. It was the second straight World Championship for the A's.1975 — Carlton Fisk broke up one of the best games in World Series history with a homer in the 12th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 7-6 victory against the Cincinnati Reds, forcing a seventh game.1976 — The Cincinnati Reds won the World Series in four games with a 7-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Johnny Bench had two home runs for five RBIs. It was the Reds' second straight championship and marked the first time a team had swept the playoffs and World Series.1980 — The Philadelphia Phillies became World Series champions for the first time in their 98-year history with a 4-1 triumph over the Kansas City... [More]

Oct. 201910 — Philadelphia's Jack Coombs, on one day of rest, had a complete-game victory to beat the Chicago Cubs 12-5 and give the Athletics a 3-0 lead in the World Series. Coombs also had three hits and drove in three runs in the game.1947 — The radio rights for the World Series sold for $475,000 for three years.1972 — In the fifth game of the World Series, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds homered on the first pitch of the game from Oakland's Catfish Hunter, and the Reds went on to win 5-4.1973 — Reggie Jackson of Oakland had RBI doubles in the first and third innings to lead the A's to a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets and set up a seventh game in the World Series.1982 — The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 in Game 7 to win the World Series.1988 — Orel Hershiser pitched a four-hitter and Mickey Hatcher and Mike Davis hit two-run homers to give the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-2 victory over the Oakland Athletics and the World Series title in five games. Hershiser became... [More]

Using the search engine at Baseball-Reference.com, The Associated Press evaluated each team's draft performance from 1996 through 2018, adding up wins above replacement (WAR) figures for drafted players.For each pick, the player's career WAR was added to the appropriate total for the team, depending on whether or not the player signed with the team after being drafted. Some players had their WAR totals included multiple times, if they were drafted more than once.Stats are through May 25. Compensation picks were considered part of the first round where applicable.___ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKSTotal WAR for all drafted players: 581.8 (MLB rank: 4th)Total WAR for drafted players who signed: 440.1 (rank: 5th)Total WAR for drafted players who did not sign: 141.7Impact players (10 WAR or more) drafted: 17 (rank: tie-9th)Impact players drafted and signed: 13 (rank: 12th)Most recent impact player drafted and signed: Trevor Bauer, 2011, first round, pick No. 3 (15.2 WAR)Lowest pick for impact player drafted... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper homered deep into the second deck in right-center field for his first hit with Philadelphia and celebrated with an emphatic curtain call, highlighting the Phillies' 8-6 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.Hitless over five at-bats this season after signing a $330 million, 13-year deal, Harper crushed Jesse Biddle's fastball 465 feet with two outs in the seventh. Fans gave Harper a standing ovation and chanted "MVP! MVP!"After getting high fives in the dugout, Harper climbed out for a curtain call, throwing both fists in the air and shouting "Let's go!"Maikel Franco and J.T. Realmuto also went deep for Philadelphia. The game was tied at 4 in the fifth when Realmuto lined a two-run drive off Wes Parsons (0-1).Adam Morgan (1-0) faced one batter in the fifth inning.Dansby Swanson and Charlie Culberson homered, and Freddie Freeman had four hits and drove in two for the Braves.BREWERS 4, CARDINALS 2MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich became the first MVP to... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Washington Nationals' competition for the fifth starter spot could run beyond opening day.The Nationals signed eight-year veteran Jeremy Hellickson to a minor league contract over the weekend, adding him to the mix that already included A.J. Cole and Erick Fedde. He would get a $2 million, one-year deal if added to the 40-man roster and the chance to earn $4 million in performance bonuses."We like the rotation we have," Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said. "This just adds another layer of depth for us."The 30-year-old Hellickson is scheduled to make his first Grapefruit League appearance in one of Friday's split squad games. Cole will start the other game.Depending on how that outing goes, the NL East champions might leave Hellickson behind at the spring training facility when they break camp on Sunday, allowing the right-hander to continue to build arm strength in the minor league camp.Rizzo cited past experiences rushing Joe Blanton and Matt Wieters... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The Washington Nationals' competition for the fifth starter spot could run beyond opening day.The Nationals signed eight-year veteran Jeremy Hellickson to a minor league contract over the weekend, adding him to the mix that already included A.J. Cole and Erick Fedde."We like the rotation we have," Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said. "This just adds another layer of depth for us."The 30-year-old Hellickson is scheduled to make his first Grapefruit League appearance in one of Friday's split squad games. Cole will start the other game.Depending on how that outing goes, the NL East champions might leave Hellickson behind at the spring training facility when they break camp on Sunday, allowing the right-hander to continue to build arm strength in the minor league camp.Rizzo cited past experiences rushing Joe Blanton and Matt Wieters through camp as reasoning for not pushing Hellickson, who says he's ready, to join the rotation sooner. With that in mind, the... [More]

RHP Joe Blanton was reinstated from his rehab assignment Sunday after he pitched a scoreless inning for Double-A Harrisburg on Thursday. He took the roster spot of RHP Koda Glover, who went on the 10-day disabled list with lower back stiffness. Blanton pitched a scoreless ninth inning Sunday and has an 8.78 ERA.

RHP Joe Blanton was reinstated from the 10-day disabled list. Blanton, 36, returns to Washington's bullpen after missing 21 games with right shoulder inflammation. In one rehab appearance, with Double-A Harrisburg on Thursday, Blanton tossed a perfect inning, striking out two batters. Prior to being placed on the disabled list on May 17, Blanton was 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in 14 appearances out of the bullpen. He was 7-2 with a 2.48 ERA in a career-high 75 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2016.

RHP Joe Blanton came out of his minor league rehab stint feeling good, manager Dusty Baker said Friday. Blanton pitched a scoreless inning Thursday for Double-A Harrisburg of the Eastern League. Baker said Blanton will make another appearance for Harrisburg at some point and then plan to pitch back-to-back games in the minors. "Joe said he felt good. As long as he feels good we feel good," Baker said. Will Blanton be used at the back end of the bullpen when he comes back? "It depends on him," Baker said.

RHP Joe Blanton (right shoulder) began a minor league rehab assignment Thursday with Double-A Harrisburg of the Eastern League. He started the game and threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts. "He is doing fine," manager Dusty Baker said.

RHP Joe Blanton (right shoulder inflammation) began throwing for the first time since he went on the DL last week. He has a 9.49 ERA in 14 games.

RHP Joe Blanton was placed on the 10-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. Blanton was 0-2 with a 9.49 ERA in 12 1/3 innings -- the highest among qualifying National League relievers. Manager Dusty Baker said Blanton had been dealing with the shoulder issue most of the season.

RHP Joe Blanton may not be long for the Washington bullpen, and the Nationals may be losing patience. He came in to start the ninth and gave up a homer to the first batter, Paul Goldschmidt. Manager Dusty Baker brought in lefty Enny Romero, who got three outs for his first save. Blanton has given up six homers and has a 10.64 ERA in 11 innings over 12 games.

RHP Joe Blanton gave the Nationals some much-needed shut down innings out of the bullpen Saturday night, providing three shutout innings of relief in a 17-3 blowout that saw starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie last just 2/3 of an inning.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost much more than a pivotal game on Thursday when they were defeated in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series by the Chicago Cubs. They lost one of their biggest weapons in this postseason.Joe Blanton is not injured. And he won't be fatigued after the off-day on Friday. But after relying on him almost daily to get the Dodgers this far, LA manager Dave Roberts has to think very carefully about using the right-hander out of the bullpen again. He has become predictable and the Cubs know it. That's the worst thing a pitcher can be.On Thursday night, he came on for the sixth inning -- that early because the Dodgers don't have the pitching to go deep in games like this beyond Clayton Kershaw and Rich Hill. The series was tied 2-2. The game was tied 1-1. So critical would be understating the circumstances.He gave up a first-pitch single on a slider to Javier Baez and, after Baez stole second, intentionally walked Jason Heyward. Next up was Addison Russell.... [More]

RHP Joe Blanton struck out two in 1 1/3 scoreless innings and earned the win. Blanton is 3-0 in the playoffs but hadn't registered a win since Game 4 of the 2008 World Series against Tampa Bay.

RHP Joe Blanton earned the victory that gave the Los Angeles Dodgers their fourth consecutive National League West championship. Blanton allowed two hits and struck out one in his lone inning of relief in the Dodgers' 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in 10 innings. Since Sept. 3, Blanton has pitched 9 1/3 shutout innings of relief. The right-hander leads the Dodgers with 74 appearances.