NEW YORK (AP) — Gerrit Cole’s dad will watch him pitch at Yankee Stadium in pinstripes for the first time, one of about 10,850 fans allowed in to watch New York’s opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. “I had trouble sleeping last night, so I probably anticipate going to be the same thing tonight,” Cole said Wednesday. “There’s just a lot of different emotions. Everybody is tired of spring training, ready for opening day. Most people’s families are in town, which is special. There’s a lot of hope. There’s a lot of excitement. There’s a lot of projections. There’s a lot of baseball out in front of you. And you’ve prepared up to this point and there’s nothing else. You just want the gates to open and you want it to start.” Cole’s first season with Yankees was played entirely without fans because of the pandemic. “It was a bit surreal at first, and then it became kind of standard operating procedure. There were more important things that we needed to focus on,” Cole said. “Every time I see... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone got fired up at a rookie umpire in a profane rant, and New York awoke from a sleepy start to rally past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 in a doubleheader opener Thursday.New York rallied to win the second game 5-1 and reopen an eight-game AL East lead over the second-place Rays. Luke Voit tied the score in the fifth with his first home run since June 14, and catcher Mike Zunino caused Charlie Morton to balk home the tiebreaking run in a four-run sixth that included Didi Gregorius' two-run single. The Yankees won three straight after wasting a ninth-inning lead in the series opener and improved to 34-11 against the AL East, including 12-5 against Tampa Bay.After Domingo Germán (12-2) gave up solo homers to his first two batters in the first game, Gio Urshela hit a tying home run in the second off Yonny Chirinos (9-5), and Gary Sánchez smashed a go-ahead 110 mph single off the glove of third baseman Yandy Díaz during a three-run fifth. Díaz had helped the... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds are down to their fourth and fifth catchers after placing two more on the injured list on Thursday.Curt Casali went on the 10-day injured list with a right knee sprain that manager David Bell said could keep him out for as long as a month. Casali is expected to spend two weeks wearing a brace.Kyle Farmer was placed on the seven-day concussion list after taking two foul balls off his mask in the ninth inning of Tuesday's game against the Cubs in Chicago.Gold Glove catcher Tucker Barnhart has been out since June 28 with a right oblique strain.Juan Graterol was promoted from Triple-A Louisville and rushed to Chicago to start Wednesday's day game. The Reds shored up the position on Thursday by signing Ryan Lavarnway, one day after he was released by Yankees.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CINCINNATI (AP) — Speedy outfielder Billy Hamilton became a free agent when the Cincinnati Reds failed to offer a 2019 contract by Friday's deadline.The 28-year-old hit .236 with four homers and 29 RBIs this year as his stolen bases dropped to 34. He swiped 56 bases and in 2014 and increased his total by one annually in each of the next three seasons.Hamilton had a $4.6 million salary on the last-place Reds, who went 67-95. He would have been eligible for free agency after next season.Cincinnati also failed to offer contracts to outfielder-first baseman Jordan Patterson, outfielder Aristides Aquino and catcher Juan Graterol.___More AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports