CHICAGO (AP) — Slumping slugger José Ramírez connected for a go-ahead, two-run homer off Lance Lynn in the sixth inning and the Cleveland Indians bounced back from being no-hit, beating the Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Thursday. After Carlos Rodón just missed a perfect game Wednesday night, there was a different kind of tension this time as the benches emptied in the bottom of the first. Adam Eaton singled and tried to advance when Indians right fielder Josh Naylor threw to third, hoping to get the lead runner. Eaton arrived ahead of the throw back to second, but was called out when his hand came off the bag while shortstop Andrés Giménez stood his ground and held the tag. Eaton grabbed Giménez’s leg, began barking and then pushed Giménez in the chest with two hands. Indians starter Aaron Civale plunked Eaton with a pitch in the upper arm in the third. Civale (3-0) allowed only a run — in the first — and five hits through six innings in his third straight strong start. Nick Wittgren and James... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Slumping José Ramírez connected for a go-ahead, two-run homer off Lance Lynn in the sixth inning and the Cleveland Indians bounced back from being no-hit, beating the Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Thursday. After Carlos Rodón just missed a perfect game Wednesday night, there was a different kind of tension this time as the benches emptied in the bottom of the first. Adam Eaton singled and tried to advance when Indians right fielder Josh Naylor threw to third, hoping to get the lead runner. Eaton arrived ahead of the throw back to second, but was called out when his hand came off the bag while shortstop Andrés Giménez stood his ground and held the tag. Eaton grabbed Giménez’s leg, began barking and then pushed Giménez in the chest with two hands. Indians starter Aaron Civale plunked Eaton with a pitch in the upper arm in the third. Civale (3-0) allowed only a run — in the first — and five hits through six innings in his third straight strong start. Nick Wittgren and James Karinchak... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Josh Bell swung at golf-ball-sized Wiffle balls darting about at what he estimates was 75 to 95 mph. Kyle Schwarber used virtual reality goggles to study major league pitching and took some real-world hacks with the help of a tee and net delivered to his home. Whatever it took to try to get ready for their debuts with the Washington Nationals — 11 days after the MLB season actually began. Bell, Schwarber and Josh Harrison were reinstated from the injured list Monday by the Nationals, making the team's roster nearly whole again after a coronavirus outbreak sidelined nine players and caused postponements of four games. “Our lineup’s intact,” manager Dave Martinez said before Washington's series opener at the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, when Schwarber started in left field, Bell at first base and Harrison at second — just as they had been expected to be for Game 1 of 2021. “I talked to them this morning when they landed and asked how they were doing," said Martinez,... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber, Josh Bell and Josh Harrison were reinstated from the injured list Monday by the Washington Nationals, making the team's roster nearly whole again after a coronavirus outbreak sidelined nine players and caused postponement of four games. That trio had been expected to be in Washington's opening day lineup — with Schwarber in left field, Bell at first base, Harrison at second — but they were part of the group kept away from the rest of the club because of COVID-19 protocols. Major League Baseball wound up rescheduling the Nationals' first four games of 2021. Four players tested positive for the illness, while five others were put under quarantine after contact tracing determined they might have been exposed. The Nationals never announced which players fell into which category. Now eight of the nine are back with the manager Dave Martinez's club, which took a 1-5 record and five-game losing streak into Monday night's opener of a three-game series at the St.... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against deGrom in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight during one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a stunning homer off an otherwise dominant Jacob deGrom, Trevor Rogers beat the two-time Cy Young Award winner for the second time and the Miami Marlins blanked the New York Mets 3-0 on Saturday. DeGrom (0-1) matched a career best with 14 strikeouts over eight innings, Rogers fanned 10 in six and the teams combined for 28 overall. The 23-year-old Rogers (1-1) outpitched deGrom for the second time in nine major league starts. The left-hander got his first big league win against him in a 5-3 victory last Aug. 31. This was his second. A 2017 first-round draft pick, Rogers cruised in his third career outing against New York. He scattered three hits and two walks, retiring 11 straight in one stretch. Rogers mixed a fastball averaging 95 mph with a slider and changeup, inducing 19 swing-and-misses among his 82 pitches. He ended his outing with strikeouts of Michael Conforto and Pete Alonso, stranding two runners to preserve a 1-0 lead. Dylan Floro followed... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Washington Nationals, and their opponents, the Atlanta Braves, lined up for pregame introductions Tuesday, they stood near “OPENING WEEK” stencils in white paint beside the green-as-can-be grass along the baselines. Who could have known it would take nearly a full week into the 2021 regular season before the coronavirus-hit Nationals would play — and, it turned out, beat Atlanta 6-5? And who could have imagined that the stadium announcer's enthusiastic shout to spectators — yes, 5,000 were permitted, socially distanced, after being banned last season, and 4,801 showed up — presenting “Your 2021 Washington Nationals!” would be rather misleading, because more than a third of what was supposed to be the 26-man roster was absent? “Just to have that atmosphere back here at Nationals Park, it was welcome,” Max Scherzer said after giving up a homer on the first pitch of the game and four solo shots in all during the initial three innings. “I don’t understand why we can't... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Washington Nationals, and their opponents, the Atlanta Braves, lined up for pregame introductions Tuesday, they stood near “OPENING WEEK” stencils in white paint beside the green-as-can-be grass along the baselines. Who could have known it would take nearly a full week into the 2021 regular season before the coronavirus-hit Nationals would play? And who could have imagined that the stadium announcer's enthusiastic shout to spectators — yes, 5,000 were permitted, socially distanced, after being banned last season — presenting “Your 2021 Washington Nationals!” would be rather misleading, because more than a third of what was supposed to be the 26-man roster was absent? The Nationals finally got started five days later than they were supposed to, delayed because of an outbreak in which four players tested positive for COVID-19 and seven others were told to quarantine after contact tracing deemed they potentially were exposed to the illness. “Obviously they want to... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Starting pitchers Jon Lester and Patrick Corbin, closer Brad Hand and four position players expected in the lineup — left fielder Kyle Schwarber, first baseman Josh Bell, second baseman Josh Harrison and catcher Yan Gomes — were put on the 10-day injured list by the Washington Nationals on Tuesday. Backup catcher Alex Avila and reserve infielder Jordy Mercer also went on the IL before Washington played its first game of the season at home against the Atlanta Braves. The Nationals' first four games on the schedule were postponed because of a coronavirus outbreak within the team. Four players tested positive for COVID-19, and an additional seven were placed under quarantine after contact tracing found that they might have been exposed to the illness. The Nationals have not publicly identified the 11 players involved. The team's announcement of those nine players on the IL did not specify why they are sidelined. A 10th player who was put on the injured list on Tuesday, reliever... [More]

Jon Lester could tell something wasn’t right. Long known for taking the ball whenever it was his turn to pitch, no matter what — never making fewer than 31 starts in any of the past 12 full Major League Baseball seasons — Lester seemed, to use his phrase, “a little more sluggish.” During games with the Chicago Cubs. Even between games. And so he wondered: Was he putting in enough work? Is this just what getting old feels like? “There would be times where I would run out in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning and feel like I hit a brick wall. There were times last year where I would come out of the bullpen and be like: ‘God, did I pitch the game already?’” the 37-year-old Lester, who is now with the Washington Nationals, said Wednesday during a video conference from spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Just thinking that maybe I needed to do a little extra in the weight room. Maybe I needed to run a bit more. Maybe I needed to do 20 extra minutes on cardio or whatever. When in actuality,... [More]

Jon Lester could tell something wasn’t right. Long known for taking the ball whenever it was his turn to pitch, no matter what — never making fewer than 31 starts in any of the past 12 full Major League Baseball seasons — Lester seemed, to use his phrase, “a little more sluggish.” During games with the Chicago Cubs. Even between games. And so he wondered: Was he putting in enough work? Is this just what getting old feels like? “There would be times where I would run out in the fifth, sixth, seventh inning and feel like I hit a brick wall. There were times last year where I would come out of the bullpen and be like: ‘God, did I pitch the game already?’” the 37-year-old Lester, who is now with the Washington Nationals, said Wednesday during a video conference from spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida. “Just thinking that maybe I needed to do a little extra in the weight room. Maybe I needed to run a bit more. Maybe I needed to do 20 extra minutes on cardio or whatever. When in actuality,... [More]

Stephen Strasburg pronounced his fastball command better than it was before his carpal tunnel surgery and said his first game action in nearly seven full months essentially was the same as any Grapefruit League debut after throwing 1 2/3 innings Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. “It didn’t really feel any different than it has in past springs, so I guess, in a way, that’s a relief,” said the 2019 World Series MVP, who made just two starts and pitched only five innings in 2020. In 2019, he led the NL with 209 innings and 18 wins, then went 5-0 in the postseason — no pitcher ever had done that — while helping the Nationals win the franchise's first championship. “This isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to injuries and stuff,” Strasburg said on a video conference with a chuckle, knowing he has made more than 10 trips to the injured list over the years and had Tommy John surgery in 2012. “So I’m kind of at a point where I’m going to go out there and give it everything I have and roll... [More]

George Springer, Trevor Bauer and Francisco Lindor are wearing blue now. Springer received the biggest contract in the offseason from the Toronto Blue Jays. Bauer got the most money per season from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lindor was traded to the New York Mets in a six-player deal. The three star players headline the list of big names on new teams. Springer, a three-time All-Star outfielder and 2017 World Series MVP with Houston, signed a team-record $150 million, six-year contract with the Blue Jays in January. He joined a roster that includes young sluggers Vladimir Guerrero and Bo Bichette, plus Cavan Biggio, Teoscar Hernandez and Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. “I really like the blue. It’s a good color,” Springer said after his first spring training game with Toronto. “It was a little weird but I’m over it. It’s fun and I enjoy it.” Bauer, who won the NL Cy Young Award last season with Cincinnati, signed a $102 million, three-year deal with the Dodgers last month. The reigning World Series champions... [More]

Kohei Arihara finished what he started this time. The Texas Rangers newcomer bounced back from a shaky spring training debut, pitching three solid innings Monday in a 9-0, seven-inning loss to the Chicago Cubs. Arihara retired his final seven batters, setting down Ian Happ, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant to end his outing. Overall, he allowed a run on two singles without a strikeout or walk. Signed to a $6.2 million, two-year contract after six seasons in Japan, the 28-year-old right-hander allowed a three-run homer in the first inning of his initial spring start against the Chicago White Sox last week. He worked two innings, both of them cut short before the third out because of high pitch counts. After his three innings against the Cubs, Arihara went to the bullpen to throw additional pitches to get him up to 50 for the day. All in all, a bit different than the adrenaline and excitement of his first game against big league hitters last week. Arihara said he was just thinking about doing... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The sport of baseball, much like the rest of the world, is craving normalcy after a full year of disruptions caused by the pandemic. So the familiar feel of February spring training has pitchers eager to unleash fastballs, spin a few breaking balls and get ready for the 162-game long haul. But the message from coaches and executives is clear: No need to rush. “Spring training is 50 days long,” Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “To put that in perspective, our season last year was 66 days long. So we have time.” As of Thursday, almost all 30 teams had started workouts for pitchers and catchers. Now organizations are working on how to manage their pitchers' workloads after most threw less than half of their usual innings in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Pitch counts or innings limits are hardly new concepts. Organizations do everything in their power to protect their pitchers, especially elite prospects. The bump in workload from 60 games to 162 just provides... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — The sport of baseball, much like the rest of the world, is craving normalcy after a full year of disruptions caused by the pandemic. So the familiar feel of February spring training has pitchers eager to unleash fastballs, spin a few breaking balls and get ready for the 162-game long haul. But the message from coaches and executives is clear: No need to rush. “Spring training is 50 days long,” Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “To put that in perspective, our season last year was 66 days long. So we have time.” As of Thursday, almost all 30 teams had started workouts for pitchers and catchers. Now organizations are working on how to manage their pitchers' workloads after most threw less than half of their usual innings in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Pitch counts or innings limits are hardly new concepts. Organizations do everything in their power to protect their pitchers, especially elite prospects. The bump in workload from 60 games to 162 just provides... [More]

A team-by-team look at the National League East entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad: ___ Atlanta Braves Manager: Brian Snitker (sixth season). 2020: 35-25, first place, lost to Dodgers in NL Championship Series. Training Town: North Port, Florida. Park: CoolToday Park. First Workout: Feb. 18/23. He’s Here: RHP Charlie Morton, LHP Drew Smyly, RHP Carl Edwards, SS Ehire Adrianza, RHP Victor Arano. He’s Outta Here: OF Nick Markakis, OF Adam Duvall, INF Charlie Culberson, RHP Mike Foltynewicz, RHP Mark Melancon, C Tyler Flowers, RHP Shane Greene, RHP Darren O’Day, RHP Jhoulys Chacin, INF Adeiny Hechavarria, LHP Cole Hamels. Going campin’: The key offseason move was re-signing left fielder Marcell Ozuna to a four-year, $65 million deal. Morton and Smyly add experience to the rotation. The team can take a cautious approach with 2020 opening day starter Mike Soroka’s return from... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Avila finalized a $1.5 million, one-year contract Wednesday with the Washington Nationals, who are expected to use him as the primary backup to starting catcher Yan Gomes. Avila, who turned 34 last week, was a free agent after playing in 2020 for the Minnesota Twins, batting .184 in 49 at-bats during the coronavirus-shortened season. His deal calls for a $500,000 signing bonus that is protected against a shortened season and a $1 million guaranteed salary. While he hasn't had any detailed discussions about his role with manager Dave Martinez or GM Mike Rizzo, Avila said: "Whenever Davey needs me in the lineup, I’ll be ready to go.” He has played 12 years in the majors for five clubs and has a .235 career batting average with a .348 on-base percentage, 104 homers and 388 RBIs. “I don't think I'm going to be hitting fourth for this team,” joked Avila, who has thrown out 14 of 32 runners trying to steal over the past two seasons. He has caught current Nationals starters... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Avila finalized a $1.5 million, one-year contract Wednesday with the Washington Nationals, who are expected to use him as the primary backup to starting catcher Yan Gomes. Avila, who turned 34 last week, was a free agent after playing in 2020 for the Minnesota Twins, batting .184 in 49 at-bats during the coronavirus-shortened season. While he hasn't had any detailed discussions about his role with manager Dave Martinez or GM Mike Rizzo, Avila said: "Whenever Davey needs me in the lineup, I’ll be ready to go.” He has played 12 years in the majors for five clubs and has a .235 career batting average with a .348 on-base percentage, 104 homers and 388 RBIs. “I don't think I'm going to be hitting fourth for this team,” joked Avila, who has thrown out 14 of 32 runners trying to steal over the past two seasons. He has caught current Nationals starters Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin and Jon Lester in previous stops. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was the first... [More]