HOUSTON (AP) — Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings, Tony Kemp had a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night for their third straight win.Morton (6-0) allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in extending his career-high winning streak to nine straight dating to last September. Morton retired 19 of the first 21 batters.After Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (3-1) walked Marwin Gonzalez and Derek Fisher to lead off the seventh, Brian McCann popped out before Kemp hit his RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line to give Houston a 2-1 lead. George Springer followed with a grounder to Kipnis, but Fisher beat the throw home.Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his seventh save.ROYALS 5, YANKEES 2KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield had three hits, stole three bases and scored twice off CC Sabathia in the first four innings, Jakob Junis held down the Yankees' potent offense and Kansas City beat New York.Salvador... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Charlie Morton pitched seven solid innings, Tony Kemp had a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh and the Houston Astros beat the Cleveland Indians 4-1 on Friday night for their third straight win.Morton (6-0) allowed one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in extending his career-high winning streak to nine straight dating back to last September. Morton retired 19 of the first 21 batters.After Cleveland starter Mike Clevinger (3-1) walked Marwin Gonzalez and Derek Fisher to lead off the seventh, Brian McCann popped out before Kemp hit his RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line to give Houston a 2-1 lead. George Springer followed with a grounder to Kipnis, but Fisher beat the throw home.Ken Giles pitched the ninth for his seventh save.ROYALS 5, YANKEES 2KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Whit Merrifield had three hits, stole three bases and scored twice off CC Sabathia in the first four innings, Jakob Junis held down the Yankees' potent offense and Kansas City beat New... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Bartolo Colon laughed off having Jean Segura's line drive hit him in the stomach, allowing four hits in 7 2/3 shutout innings and giving the Texas Rangers a 5-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.Colon (2-1), who turns 45 on May 24, struck out two, walked none and threw 71 of 96 pitches for strikes.Delino DeShields gave Texas the lead with a two-out RBI double in the eighth inning that scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had singled off James Pazos (1-1). The Rangers added four more in the ninth, all after Ryon Healy's two-out error.ASTROS 2, ANGELS 0ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Justin Verlander pitched a five-hitter for his first shutout in three years and Evan Gattis hit a two-run homer as Houston beat Los Angeles.Verlander (5-2) was superb in ending his two-game skid, finishing with seven strikeouts to reach 2,500 for his career. He walked one and lowered his ERA from 1.21 to 1.05.The right-hander threw 118 pitches in his 24th career complete game and first since 2016 with... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Sean Manaea beat the Boston Red Sox again in his first outing against them since pitching a no-hitter, and Khris Davis hit one of three solo homers by the Oakland Athletics in a 6-5 victory Monday night.Matt Joyce and Matt Olson also went deep for the A's, who had lost five of six to the Astros and Yankees. Davis connected for his team-leading 12th home run as Oakland handed Rick Porcello his first loss of the season.J.D. Martinez and Rafael Devers each hit a solo shot for the Red Sox.Manaea (5-4) allowed four runs — three earned — and eight hits in six-plus innings, snapping his two-game skid. He threw the seventh no-hitter in Oakland history at home against the Red Sox on April 21.Blake Treinen got three outs for his seventh save.Porcello (5-1) gave up five runs and nine hits over six innings.BRAVES 6, CUBS 5CHICAGO (AP) — Ozzie Albies hit a leadoff drive for his 13th homer, Jose Bautista belted a three-run shot and Atlanta held off Chicago.Julio Teheran (4-1) pitched six... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have selected the contract of right-hander Anibal Sanchez from Triple-A Gwinnett.The Braves also added newly acquired catcher Carlos Perez to their 25-man roster.Atlanta signed the 34-year-old Sanchez to a minor league contract on March 16. He could serve as the team's fifth starting pitcher, possibly until left-hander Luiz Gohara recovers from a sprained left ankle. The Braves are not expected to need a No. 5 starter before April 10 due to off days.Atlanta acquired Perez from the Angels for minor league infielder Ryan Schimpf on Saturday night. Perez will provide depth with Tyler Flowers on the 10-day disabled list with a left oblique strain and Kurt Suzuki recovering from a bruised right hand.The Braves designated right-hander Miguel Socolovich for assignment and put right-hander Josh Ravin on the 10-day disabled list with a viral infection.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have added catching depth by acquiring Carlos Perez from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for infielder Ryan Schimpf.The Braves needed help at catcher after they placed Tyler Flowers on the 10-day disabled list with an oblique injury on Friday and Kurt Suzuki suffered a bruised right hand Friday night. Chris Stewart started Saturday night's game against Philadelphia.The 27-year-old Perez was designated for assignment by the Angels on Tuesday after hitting .265 in 17 spring games. He played in 11 games with the Angels last season and had two hits in 20 at-bats.Perez is a career .224 hitter in 184 major league games.The Braves acquired the 29-year-old Schimpf from Tampa Bay on March 5 and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett on March 18.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves put catcher Tyler Flowers on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left oblique on Friday and prepared to be without him for a few weeks.Flowers sustained the injury on a swing in his first at-bat of the season in Atlanta's 8-5 win over Philadelphia on Thursday. He could not complete the at-bat and headed straight to the clubhouse.Manager Brian Snitker said Friday that Flowers felt a pop. Snitker said the strain was diagnosed as being of mid-level severity."It's safe to say it's going to take a while," Snitker said, adding he expects Flowers will need "a couple weeks without doing anything" before taking the next step on his rehab.Snitker said it was "a bummer, one of those freak things" for Flowers to get hurt on his first at-bat.Snitker said Kurt Suzuki, who had been expected to split time with Flowers at catcher, will receive "the bulk" of the starts while Flowers is on the DL. Chris Stewart, already on the roster as the Braves opened the season with three catchers, will play behind Suzuki."I'm glad we kept him," said Snitker of Stewart. "This is what he does. His role is to be a backup."The Braves selected the contract of right-hander Miguel Socolovich from Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Jacob Lindgren (left elbow surgery) was placed on the 60-day disabled list.___For more AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves have put catcher Tyler Flowers on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left oblique.Flowers sustained the injury on a swing in his first at-bat of the season in Atlanta's 8-5 win over Philadelphia on Thursday. He could not complete the at-bat and headed straight to the clubhouse.Kurt Suzuki, who had been expected to split time with Flowers at catcher, now will share time with Chris Stewart.The Braves, who opened the season with three catchers, selected the contract of right-hander Miguel Socolovich from Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster, left-hander Jacob Lindgren (left elbow surgery) was placed on the 60-day disabled list.___For more AP baseball coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

The Latest on baseball's opening day (all times Eastern):7:20 p.m.Matt Davidson became the fourth player in major league history to homer three times on opening day, and the White Sox have homered six times total against the Kansas City Royals, as they spoil their AL Central rivals' 50th anniversary celebration at Kauffman Stadium.Tim Anderson also homered twice and Jose Abreu went deep for the White Sox, matching the big league record for opening-day homers set by the Mets in 1988.Three of the four players to homer three times on opening day have done so against the Royals.___7:15 p.m.Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw gave up consecutive singles to open the first inning against the San Francisco Giants.Austin Jackson singled to left center and Joe Panik followed with a single to right field. Kershaw then got Giants newcomer Andrew McCutchen to hit into a double play to shortstop before striking out clean-up hitter Buster Posey to end the inning.Kershaw had a 0.00 ERA in six spring training starts.___7:10... [More]

The Latest on baseball's opening day (all times Eastern):7 p.m.Felix Hernandez will join select company when he makes his 10th straight opening day start for the Seattle Mariners.Hernandez will become just the seventh pitcher to make at least 10 straight opening day starts, joining Steve Carlton, Roy Halladay, Walter Johnson, Robin Roberts, Tom Seaver and Jack Morris. Carlton, Johnson and Halladay started 10 straight; Roberts and Seaver started 12 straight; and Morris started 14 straight opening days from 1980 to 1993.Hernandez has started 11 season openers overall in his career beginning in 2007. The one gap came in 2008 when Erik Bedard started the opener for Seattle.___5:50 p.m.Justin Verlander has finished his first opening day start for the Houston Astros with six scoreless innings.Verlander struck out five, walked two and hit a batter while throwing 90 pitches for the World Series champions in their season opener at the Texas Rangers. The big right-hander, who had started nine of... [More]

The Latest on baseball's opening day (all times Eastern):5:50 p.m.Justin Verlander has finished his first opening day start for the Houston Astros with six scoreless innings.Verlander struck out five, walked two and hit a batter while throwing 90 pitches for the World Series champions in their season opener at the Texas Rangers. The big right-hander, who had started nine of the previous 10 openers for Detroit, allowed four singles.Verlander has a 0.90 ERA in his six regular-season starts since getting traded from the Tigers to the Astros last Aug. 31. He was 5-0 last September, then won four more postseason games, and was the AL Championship Series MVP.Houston led 3-0 when Chris Devenski took over for Verlander at the start of the seventh inning.___5:45 p.m.Some of the biggest names in Dodgers history are gathering for opening day against the rival Giants as the franchise marks its 60th anniversary in Los Angeles.Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela chatted each other up on the field under... [More]

The Latest on baseball's opening day (all times Eastern):5:22 p.m.Zach Duke performed a baseball rarity at Camden Yards, striking out four in an inning.Unfortunately for the Twins reliever, he yielded two runs in the process.Duke entered in the seventh inning of a scoreless game and promptly struck out Trey Mancini, who reached when the third strike got past catcher Jason Castro.Duke also struck out Tim Beckham, Craig Gentry and Chris Davis. Between those Ks, however, Caleb Joseph hit a two-run triple.The last Twins pitcher to strike out four in an inning was Tyler Duffy in May 2016.___4:50 p.m.Braves catcher Tyler Flowers has left the game after injuring his left oblique while batting in Atlanta.In his first at-bat of the season, Flowers fouled off a pitch and a winced in pain before heading straight to the clubhouse.He was replaced by Kurt Suzuki.Flowers had surgery on both his left wrist and forearm after the 2017 season, the result of being hit by 20 pitches over the course of the season.... [More]

The Latest on baseball's opening day (all times Eastern):4:50 p.m.Braves catcher Tyler Flowers has left the game after injuring his left oblique while batting in Atlanta.In his first at-bat of the season, Flowers fouled off a pitch and a winced in pain before heading straight to the clubhouse.He was replaced by Kurt Suzuki.Flowers had surgery on both his left wrist and forearm after the 2017 season, the result of being hit by 20 pitches over the course of the season. But the Braves announced that he left the game with "left oblique discomfort."The 32-year-old Flowers is coming off one of his best years, hitting a career-high .281 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs. He combined with Suzuki to give the Braves one of baseball's most productive catching duos.___4:40 p.m.Just like that, Shohei Ohtani has his first major league hit.Ohtani lined a first-pitch single down the right-field line against Oakland's Kendall Graveman with two outs in the second inning and the Angels ahead 1-0.The two-way Japanese... [More]

Capsules of National League East teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Washington Nationals2017: 97-65, first place, lost to Cubs in NLDS.Manager: Dave Martinez (first season).He's Here: 1B-OF Matt Adams, C Miguel Montero, RHP Jeremy Hellickson, RHP Joaquin Benoit, INF Matt Reynolds.He's Outta Here: Manager Dusty Baker, LF Jayson Werth, 1B-LF Adam Lind, C Jose Lobaton, RHP Matt Albers.Projected Lineup: SS Trea Turner (.284, 11 HRs, 45 RBIs, 46 SBs in 98 games), LF Adam Eaton (.297, 2, 13 in 23 games), RF Bryce Harper (.319, 29, 87), 3B Anthony Rendon (.301, 25, 100, 41 2Bs), 2B Daniel Murphy (.322, 23, 93, 43 2Bs; expected to begin season on DL recovering from knee surgery), 1B Ryan Zimmerman (.303, 36, 108, 33 2Bs), CF Michael A. Taylor (.271, 19, 53), C Matt Wieters (.225, 10, 52).Rotation: RH Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.51 ERA, NL-high 268 Ks, 200 2/3 IP, 3rd Cy Young Award), RH Stephen Strasburg (15-4, 2.52, 204 Ks), LH Gio Gonzalez (15-9, 2.96, 79 walks), RH Tanner Roark (13-11,... [More]

Capsules of National League East teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Washington Nationals2017: 97-65, first place, lost to Cubs in NLDS.Manager: Dave Martinez (first season).He's Here: 1B-OF Matt Adams, C Miguel Montero, RHP Jeremy Hellickson, RHP Joaquin Benoit, INF Matt Reynolds.He's Outta Here: Manager Dusty Baker, LF Jayson Werth, 1B-LF Adam Lind, C Jose Lobaton, RHP Matt Albers.Projected Lineup: SS Trea Turner (.284, 11 HRs, 45 RBIs, 46 SBs in 98 games), LF Adam Eaton (.297, 2, 13 in 23 games), RF Bryce Harper (.319, 29, 87), 3B Anthony Rendon (.301, 25, 100, 41 2Bs), 2B Daniel Murphy (.322, 23, 93, 43 2Bs; expected to begin season on DL recovering from knee surgery), 1B Ryan Zimmerman (.303, 36, 108, 33 2Bs), CF Michael A. Taylor (.271, 19, 53), C Matt Wieters (.225, 10, 52).Rotation: RH Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.51 ERA, NL-high 268 Ks, 200 2/3 IP, 3rd Cy Young Award), RH Stephen Strasburg (15-4, 2.52, 204 Ks), LH Gio Gonzalez (15-9, 2.96, 79 walks), RH Tanner Roark (13-11,... [More]

The catcher position may be the most frustrating and challenging to deal with, and it has long been that way throughout fantasy baseball history. The position is top-heavy with the best players and then full of risks and guys to settle for. It was seemingly the same in the days when Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez were superior to anyone else at catcher.Gary Sanchez seems to be the modern-day fantasy equivalent of Piazza, as he is clearly unrivaled as the best pick at the position. He has hit 53 home runs in 672 major league at-bats in his first two years and has a National Fantasy Baseball Championship average draft position of 19.3. Considering he delivers a solid average and above-average power comparable with many top players at other positions, he is worth the early round pick because of the depth scarcity at catcher. This is especially true in two-catcher leagues.Willson Contreras is the No. 2 catcher off the board at about pick No. 51, but that number indicates the gap between Sanchez... [More]

Capsules of National League East teams, listed in order of finish last year:___Washington Nationals2017: 97-65, first place, lost to Cubs in NLDS.Manager: Dave Martinez (first season).He's Here: 1B-OF Matt Adams, C Miguel Montero, RHP Jeremy Hellickson, RHP Joaquin Benoit, INF Matt Reynolds.He's Outta Here: Manager Dusty Baker, LF Jayson Werth, 1B-LF Adam Lind, C Jose Lobaton, RHP Matt Albers.Projected Lineup: SS Trea Turner (.284, 11 HRs, 45 RBIs, 46 SBs in 98 games), LF Adam Eaton (.297, 2, 13 in 23 games), RF Bryce Harper (.319, 29, 87), 3B Anthony Rendon (.301, 25, 100, 41 2Bs), 2B Daniel Murphy (.322, 23, 93, 43 2Bs, expected to begin season on DL recovering from knee surgery), 1B Ryan Zimmerman (.303, 36, 108, 33 2Bs), CF Michael A. Taylor (.271, 19, 53), C Matt Wieters (.225, 10, 52).Rotation: RH Max Scherzer (16-6, 2.51 ERA, NL-high 268 Ks, 200 2/3 IP, 3rd Cy Young Award), RH Stephen Strasburg (15-4, 2.52, 204 Ks), LH Gio Gonzalez (15-9, 2.96, 79 walks), RH Tanner Roark (13-11,... [More]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Catcher Chris Stewart has agreed to $575,000, one-year contract with the Atlanta Braves.The 35-year-old hit .183 in 51 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season. He is a seven-year major league veteran.Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos announced the roster addition after the Braves' first spring training workout for pitchers and catchers."This is a depth move, an insurance move," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Wednesday before the first spring training workoutStewart will back up catchers Tyler Flowers and Kurt Suzuki."He's on a big league, non-guaranteed deal," Anthopoulos said. "We'll see how he looks in camp. If something happens in the next six weeks, it gives us another option."___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Brandon McCarthy figures his slider needs some work this spring. The last one he threw didn't end up where he expected."I gave up a game-winning home run in the World Series on it," McCarthy said Wednesday before his first organized spring workout with the Atlanta Braves. "So I really want to get back to work on it. I need the time and the reps to really get it under control and be effective with it."George Springer hit a two-run homer off McCarthy's slider in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, a game the Houston Astros won 7-6 at Dodger Stadium. It was the last game the 34-year-old right-hander pitched for Los Angeles Dodgers, who threw him into a five-player trade with the Braves for Matt Kemp."The way things ended last year is really a letdown, but it was still great to go through the whole experience. It's something you'd like to get past as the season goes along," said McCarthy, who will be pitching for his seventh major league team."There's a little... [More]

KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) — Brandon McCarthy figures his slider needs some work this spring. The last one he threw didn't end up where he expected."I gave up a game-winning home run in the World Series on it," McCarthy said Wednesday before his first organized spring workout with the Atlanta Braves. "So I really want to get back to work on it. I need the time and the reps to really get it under control and be effective with it."George Springer hit a two-run homer off McCarthy's slider in the 11th inning of Game 2 of the World Series, a game the Houston Astros won 7-6 at Dodger Stadium. It was the last game the 34-year-old right-hander pitched for Los Angeles Dodgers, who threw him into a five-player trade with the Braves for Matt Kemp."The way things ended last year is really a letdown, but it was still great to go through the whole experience. It's something you'd like to get past as the season goes along," said McCarthy, who will be pitching for his seventh major league team."There's a little... [More]