FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia's first game in nearly 10 months couldn't have gone much better — even if it lasted just one inning.Pedroia cleanly fielded a two-out grounder by Minnesota's Jake Cave, then singled off Kohl Stewart leading off the bottom half of Boston's 12-1 loss Thursday."It made me happy to run around the bases," Pedroia said. "It was really fun out there."A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia's knee problems began with a spikes-up takeout slide at second by Baltimore's Manny Machado on April 21, 2017. Pedroia went on the disabled list three times that season, twice because of knee inflammation, and had left knee surgery that Oct. 25.He played in five injury rehabilitation games at Triple-A Pawtucket last May 14-24, appeared in three games for the Red Sox from May 26-29, then went back on the disabled list for the rest of the season."I just need to keep building on this. I hadn't seen a pitch since May 29. Everything went well," Pedroia said.Cave and... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia's first game in nearly 10 months couldn't have gone much better — even if it lasted just one inning.Pedroia cleanly fielded a two-out grounder by Minnesota's Jake Cave, then singled off Kohl Stewart leading off the bottom half of Boston's 12-1 loss Thursday."It made me happy to run around the bases," Pedroia said. "It was really fun out there."A four-time All-Star and the 2008 AL MVP, Pedroia's knee problems began with a spikes-up takeout slide at second by Baltimore's Manny Machado on April 21, 2017. Pedroia went on the disabled list three times that season, twice because of knee inflammation, and had left knee surgery that Oct. 25.He played in five injury rehabilitation games at Triple-A Pawtucket last May 14-24, appeared in three games for the Red Sox from May 26-29, then went back on the disabled list for the rest of the season."I just need to keep building on this. I hadn't seen a pitch since May 29. Everything went well," Pedroia said.Cave and... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — The Colorado Rockies will be without the reliever who boasted he could strike out Babe Ruth, but they believe the bridge between their solid starting rotation and premier closer Wade Davis remains sturdy.Colorado is counting on a veteran bullpen group that includes Scott Oberg, Seunghwan Oh, Chris Rusin and Bryan Shaw to step up the way Adam Ottavino did in 2018, when his career year with the Rockies led to a three-year, $27 million free agent deal with the New York Yankees."I think we have a lot of good arms and a lot of talented guys back there," catcher Chris Iannetta said."I think we can piece it together and be really good. Guys have good years. Guys have bad years. I don't think anyone expected Adam to have the year that he had last year after the previous year. It happens all the time."Oberg had a strong second half last season, Oh pitched well after being acquired at the trade deadline and the Rockies are counting on a return to normalcy by Shaw, Rusin,... [More]

DENVER (AP) — The immediate picture for the Colorado Rockies looks grim: a slumping offense that couldn't support solid pitching led to a quick end of Rocktober .The larger view, now that's one third baseman Nolan Arenado prefers to take with him into the offseason.Although the season ended with a three-game sweep by Milwaukee in the NL Division Series, the Rockies took a step forward in 2018. A year ago, they were eliminated in the NL wild-card game. This season, they beat Chicago in the wild-card contest to make it to the division series, only to run into the Brewers and their dominant arms.Colorado (91-72) won the second-most games in franchise history and came one victory short of its first NL West title. The bats simply went silent at the wrong time."It's on the offense," said Arenado, whose team hit a franchise-worst .256 in the regular season. "We couldn't get anything going. But it was a solid year. We played really well."On a gloomy Sunday at Coors Field, the Rockies were eliminated... [More]

DENVER (AP) — Colorado's wait for a World Series title will extend past a quarter century.The Rockies scored in one of 28 innings against Milwaukee, hit .146 with three extra-base hits, no homers and two runs — none in their last 19 innings.So much for a return to the thin air of Coors Field to spark a dormant offense.Colorado was swept in the best-of-five NL Division Series when Milwaukee won 6-0 Sunday. The Rockies, an expansion team that started play in 1993, are 2-11 in the postseason since reaching their only World Series 11 years ago.Rockies fans have a long winter to lament manager Bud Black's decision to start German Marquez in Game 3 rather than hometown hero Kyle Freeland, who was 17-7 and pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings in the 2-1 wild-card win at Wrigley Field last Tuesday.After losing the NL West tiebreaker 5-2 in Los Angeles to the Dodgers and flying to Chicago for the win over the Cubs, the Rockies seemed flat as they lost 3-2 in 10 innings at Miller Park and then 4-0."It... [More]

A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series between the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Milwaukee, 5:07 p.m. (FS1); Game 2, Friday, at Milwaukee, 4:15 p.m. (FS1); Game 3, Sunday, at Denver, 4:37 p.m. (MLB); x-Game 4, Monday, Oct. 8, at Denver, TBA; x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Milwaukee, TBA.x-if necessary.___Season Series: Brewers won 5-2.___Projected Lineups:Rockies: CF Charlie Blackmon (.291, 29 HRs, 70 RBIs), 2B DJ LeMahieu (.276, 15, 62), LF David Dahl (.273, 16, 48) or Matt Holliday (.283, 2, 3, 12 walks, .849 OPS in 65 plate appearances), 3B Nolan Arenado (.297, 38, 110), SS Trevor Story (.291, 37, 108), RF Carlos Gonzalez (.276, 16, 64), 1B Ian Desmond (.236, 22, 88), C Chris Iannetta (.224, 11, 36).Brewers: CF Lorenzo Cain (.308, 10s, 38, 30/37 steals, .395 OBP), RF Christian Yelich (NL-best .326, 36, 110, 22/26 steals, 1.000 OPS), 1B Jesus Aguilar (.274, 35, 108, .890 OPS), 2B Travis Shaw (.241, 32, 86)... [More]

A look at the best-of-five National League Division Series between the Colorado Rockies and Milwaukee Brewers:___Schedule: (All times EDT) Game 1, Thursday, at Milwaukee, 5:07 p.m. (FS1); Game 2, Friday, at Milwaukee, 4:15 p.m. (FS1); Game 3, Sunday, at Denver, 4:37 p.m. (MLB); x-Game 4, Monday, Oct. 8, at Denver, TBA; x-Game 5, Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Milwaukee, TBA.x-if necessary.___Season Series: Brewers won 5-2.___Projected Lineups:Rockies: CF Charlie Blackmon (.291, 29 HRs, 70 RBIs), 2B DJ LeMahieu (.276, 15, 62), LF David Dahl (.273, 16, 48) or Matt Holliday (.283, 2, 3, 12 walks, .849 OPS in 65 plate appearances), 3B Nolan Arenado (.297, 38, 110), SS Trevor Story (.291, 37, 108), RF Carlos Gonzalez (.276, 16, 64), 1B Ian Desmond (.236, 22, 88), C Chris Iannetta (.224, 11, 36).Brewers: CF Lorenzo Cain (.308, 10s, 38, 30/37 steals, .395 OBP), RF Christian Yelich (NL-best .326, 36, 110, 22/26 steals, 1.000 OPS), 1B Jesus Aguilar (.274, 35, 108, .890 OPS), 2B Travis Shaw (.241, 32, 86)... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs left struggling reliever Carl Edwards Jr. off their roster for Tuesday night's NL wild-card game against the Colorado Rockies.Edwards had a 5.14 ERA in 11 September appearances. He walked 12 in seven innings.Manager Joe Maddon said Edwards also is dealing with a forearm strain."We wanted to be very careful right now, and we thought if we did not push him right now, he would be available for the next series," Maddon said.The Rockies had three catchers on their roster for the single-elimination game: Chris Iannetta, Drew Butera and Tony Wolters. They opted for 10 pitchers, including former Cubs closer Wade Davis, and 15 position players."Some other clubs might have a few more tough decisions based on the, maybe some of the experience and tenure of their roster, but in our case, it was pretty straightforward," Rockies manager Bud Black said.Reliever Pedro Strop, who has been out since Sept. 13 because of a hamstring injury, is one of 11 pitchers on Chicago's... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs have left struggling reliever Carl Edwards Jr. off their roster for their NL wild-card game against the Colorado Rockies.Edwards had a 5.14 ERA in 11 September appearances. He walked 12 in seven innings.The Rockies had three catchers on their roster for the single-elimination game: Chris Iannetta, Drew Butera and Tony Wolters. They opted for 10 pitchers, including former Cubs closer Wade Davis, and 15 position players.Reliever Pedro Strop, who has been out since Sept. 13 because of a hamstring injury, is one of 11 pitchers on Chicago's roster for Tuesday night's game at Wrigley Field. Speedy outfielder Terrence Gore also is active.Chicago and Colorado each dropped tiebreaker games for their respective division titles on Monday. The Cubs lost 3-1 to Milwaukee, and the Rockies fell 5-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

A look at the National League wild-card game between the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs:___Schedule: Tuesday, at Chicago, 8:09 p.m. EDT (ESPN).___Season Series: Tied 3-3.___Projected Lineups:Rockies: CF Charlie Blackmon (.291, 29 HRs, 70 RBIs), 2B DJ LeMahieu (.276, 15, 62), LF David Dahl (.273, 16, 48), 3B Nolan Arenado (.297, 38, 110), SS Trevor Story (.291, 37, 108), RF Carlos Gonzalez (.276, 16, 64), 1B Ian Desmond (.236, 22, 88), C Chris Iannetta (.224, 11, 36).Cubs: 2B Daniel Murphy (.299, 12, 42 with Nationals and Cubs), RF Ben Zobrist (.305, 9, 58), SS Javier Baez (.290, 34, NL-best 111, 21 SBs), 1B Anthony Rizzo (.283, 25, 101), 3B Kris Bryant (.272, 13, 52), LF Kyle Schwarber (.238, 26, 61), CF Jason Heyward (.270, 8, 57) or Ian Happ (.233, 15, 44) or Albert Almora (.286, 5, 41), C Willson Contreras (.249, 10, 54).___Starting Pitchers:Rockies: LH Kyle Freeland (17-7, 2.85 ERA, lowest full-season ERA for starting pitcher in team history).Cubs: LH Jon Lester (18-6, 3.32).___Relievers:Rockies:... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In a season of haves and have nots, Christian Yelich's quest to become the National League's first Triple Crown winner since 1937 will extend to a 163rd game Monday.Yelich is assured the Brewers' first batting title with a .323 average. He has 36 homers going into Monday's NL Central tiebreaker game at the Chicago Cubs, one behind Nolan Arenado's league-leading total for Colorado, and Yelich's 109 RBIs are second to the Cubs' Javier Baez, who leads with 111.Arenado and the Rockies also have one more game, a Monday NL West tiebreaker at the Los Angeles Dodgers.Yelich was acquired from payroll-slashing Miami in January. Yelich was 0 for 2 with a pair of walks when he was removed by manager Craig Counsell with two outs in the top of the eighth, even though he was due to lead off the bottom half. Yelich jogged from center field to the dugout to a standing ovation from Brewers fans, tipping his cap."I don't know what I was supposed to do there, so I hope that was good enough,"... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — In a season of haves and have nots, Christian Yelich's quest to become the National League's first Triple Crown winner since 1937 will extend to a 163rd game Monday.Yelich is assured the Brewers' first batting title with a .323 average. He has 36 homers going into Monday's NL Central tiebreaker game at the Chicago Cubs, one behind Nolan Arenado's league-leading total for Colorado, and Yelich's 109 RBIs are second to the Cubs' Javier Baez, who leads with 111.Arenado and the Rockies also have one more game, a Monday NL West tiebreaker at the Los Angeles Dodgers.There has not been a Triple Crown winner in the NL since Joe Medwick for the St. Louis Cardinals. Detroit's Miguel Cabrera in 2012 won the AL's first Triple Crown since Boston's Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.Boston's Mookie Betts won this year's AL batting title at .346, and with 32 homers and 30 stolen bases became the first player to lead either league in batting as part of a 30-30 season.Highlighting how teams decided... [More]

DENVER (AP) — The NL West-leading Colorado Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies remained one game ahead of Los Angeles as they try to wrap up the franchise's first division crown. The Dodgers won 3-1 in San Francisco.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to... [More]

DENVER (AP) — The NL West-leading Colorado Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies remained one game ahead of Los Angeles as they try to wrap up the franchise's first division crown. The Dodgers won 3-1 in San Francisco.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to... [More]

DENVER (AP) — The NL West-leading Colorado Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies remained one game ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers as they try to wrap up the franchise's first division crown. The Dodgers won 3-1 in San Francisco.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night... [More]

DENVER (AP) — The NL West-leading Colorado Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies entered the night with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers as they try to wrap up the franchise's first division crown.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to finish the... [More]

DENVER (AP) — The NL West-leading Colorado Rockies locked up a playoff berth for the second straight season, beating the Washington Nationals 5-2 on Friday night for their eighth win in a row behind a resilient start from Kyle Freeland.David Dahl homered for the fifth consecutive game and Ian Desmond hit a two-run homer against his former team to help Colorado clinch at least a wild card with two games remaining. The Rockies entered the night with a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers as they try to wrap up the franchise's first division crown.Wade Davis struck out Bryce Harper looking to end the game and earn his 43rd save. The sellout crowd at Coors Field roared and fireworks went off.The Rockies are headed to the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time in team history. This is their fifth playoff trip since the franchise began in 1993 — last year, they lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game.Freeland (17-7) wiggled out of jam after jam on a cool night to finish the... [More]

DENVER (AP) — David Dahl homered for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Rockies opened a one-game NL West lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday that extended their winning streak to seven.Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra also went deep. Trying for the first division title in team history, Colorado (89-70) closes at home with three games against Washington while the Dodgers finish at San Francisco. The Dodgers are one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth.Scott Oberg (8-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Wade Davis got his NL-leading 42nd save.Philadelphia (78-81) has lost a season-high eight straight and has gone 15-33 since moving a season-high 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5.Jake Arrieta (10-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. He had a 3.96 ERA, his highest since 2013, in his first season after agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract with the Phillies.YANKEES 12, RAYS 1ST. PETERSBURG,... [More]

DENVER (AP) — David Dahl homered for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Rockies opened a one-game NL West lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday that extended their winning streak to seven.Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra also went deep. Trying for the first division title in team history, Colorado (89-70) closes at home with three games against Washington while the Dodgers finish at San Francisco. The Dodgers are one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth.Scott Oberg (8-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Wade Davis got his NL-leading 42nd save.Philadelphia (78-81) has lost a season-high eight straight and has gone 15-33 since moving a season-high 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5.Jake Arrieta (10-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. He had a 3.96 ERA, his highest since 2013, in his first season after agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract with the Phillies.YANKEES 12, RAYS 1ST. PETERSBURG,... [More]

DENVER (AP) — David Dahl homered for the fourth straight game, and the Colorado Rockies opened a one-game NL West lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday that extended their winning streak to seven.Trevor Story and Gerardo Parra also went deep. Trying for the first division title in team history, Colorado (89-70) closes at home with three games against Washington while the Dodgers finish at San Francisco. The Dodgers are one game ahead of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card berth.Scott Oberg (8-1) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings, and Wade Davis got his NL-leading 42nd save.Philadelphia (78-81) has lost a season-high eight straight and has gone 15-33 since moving a season-high 15 games over .500 on Aug. 5.Jake Arrieta (10-11) gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. He had a 3.96 ERA, his highest since 2013, in his first season after agreeing to a $75 million, three-year contract with the Phillies.YANKEES 12, RAYS 1ST. PETERSBURG,... [More]