ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Schwarber doubled in a run in his delayed Washington debut, Andrew Stevenson had a pinch-hit homer and the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on Monday night. Schwarber, Josh Bell and Josh Harrison were in the starting lineup after being sidelined for Washington’s first six games by a coronavirus outbreak that prompted the postponement of the team’s season-opening series and left the club short-handed. The Nats ended a five-game skid, while the Cardinals have lost three straight. Stevenson hit his first homer of the season into St. Louis’ bullpen in right field to lead off the seventh, putting Washington ahead 4-2. Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Brad Hand got three outs for his first save. Yadier Molina homered for St. Louis. John Gant (0-1) allowed three runs in five-plus innings. BREWERS 6, CUBS 3 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Luis Urías drove in three runs with a go-ahead double, part of a six-run sixth inning for the Brewers. Freddy... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Kyle Schwarber doubled in a run in his delayed Washington debut, Andrew Stevenson had a pinch-hit homer and the Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-2 on Monday night. Schwarber, Josh Bell and Josh Harrison were in the starting lineup after being sidelined for Washington’s first six games by a coronavirus outbreak that prompted the postponement of the team’s season-opening series and left the club short-handed. The Nats ended a five-game skid, while the Cardinals have lost three straight. Stevenson hit his first homer of the season into St. Louis’ bullpen in right field to lead off the seventh, putting Washington ahead 4-2. Kyle Finnegan (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win. Brad Hand got three outs for his first save. Yadier Molina homered for St. Louis. John Gant (0-1) allowed three runs in five-plus innings. BREWERS 6, CUBS 3 MILWAUKEE (AP) — Pinch-hitter Luis Urías drove in three runs with a go-ahead double, part of a six-run sixth inning for the Brewers. Freddy... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field. Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer's first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer. Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field. Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer's first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer. Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field. Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer's first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer. Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field. Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer's first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer. Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field. Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer's first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer. Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Juan Soto drove in the winning run with a single on a 3-0 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday, lifting the coronavirus-depleted Washington Nationals to a 6-5 comeback victory over the Atlanta Braves after waiting five days to start their season. Lefty reliever Will Smith (0-1) entered for the ninth and promptly gave up a single to new leadoff hitter Victor Robles, and then hit Trea Turner with a pitch. That brought up Soto, the 2020 NL batting champion, and he delivered a line drive to center field. Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman and Dansby Swanson homered against Washington ace Max Scherzer. Acuña drove Scherzer's first pitch of the game deep to left-center, and led off the third with his second homer. Turner hit a two-run shot for the Nationals. Daniel Hudson (1-0) got the win. Because of a COVID-19 outbreak — four players tested positive; seven were forced into quarantine after potentially being exposed — Washington’s first four scheduled games were scrapped.... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — David Bote has won the second-base job with the Chicago Cubs, and Trevor Williams and Adbert Alzolay will round out the team's pitching rotation at the beginning of the season. The Cubs cleared the way for Bote when they optioned infielder Nico Hoerner to Triple-A Iowa on Saturday. Bote, Hoerner and Eric Sogard had been in the mix at second, and manager David Ross said Bote was the choice. Bote, who turns 28 on April 7, batted .200 with seven homers and 29 RBIs during the pandemic-shortened season last year. He was selected by Chicago in the 18th round of the 2012 amateur draft. The 34-year-old Sogard is in camp on a minor league deal, but the team has told Major League Baseball he will be added to the big league roster. The Cubs also optioned reliever Brad Wieck to Iowa and released veteran outfielder Cameron Maybin. Right-handers Shelby Miller, Pedro Strop and Trevor Megill were assigned to minor league camp, along with outfielder Rafael Ortega. Miller, Strop, Megill... [More]

Chicago Cubs manager David Ross selected Kyle Hendricks to start on opening day last season, and it worked out quite well. He sees no reason to make a change this year. Ross announced Tuesday that Hendricks will get the ball when the Cubs begin the season against Pittsburgh on April 1 at Wrigley Field. The right-hander tossed a three-hitter in a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee on opening day last summer. “I feel like we've got a lot of talent,” Ross said. “I feel like Kyle, his resume, his leadership, his poise, all that goes into being the opening-day starter, just the extra, kind of, pomp and circumstance that goes with opening day, especially this coming year as well, every arrow points to Kyle.” Ross said he wasn't ready to announce the order for the rest of his starting pitchers. Chicago also has Jake Arrieta and Zach Davies, and Trevor Williams, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay and Shelby Miller are in the mix for the last two spots. But there is no question about the leader of the rotation,... [More]

Chicago Cubs manager David Ross selected Kyle Hendricks to start on opening day last year, and it worked out quite well. He sees no reason to make a change this year. Ross announced Tuesday that Hendricks will get the ball when the Cubs begin the season against Pittsburgh on April 1 at Wrigley Field. The right-hander tossed a three-hitter in a 3-0 victory over Milwaukee on opening day last summer. “I feel like we've got a lot of talent,” Ross said. “I feel like Kyle, his resume, his leadership, his poise, all that goes into being the opening-day starter, just the extra, kind of, pomp and circumstance that goes with opening day, especially this coming year as well, every arrow points to Kyle.” Ross said he wasn't ready to announce the order for the rest of his starting pitchers. Chicago also has Jake Arrieta and Zach Davies, and Trevor Williams, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay and Shelby Miller are in the mix for the last two spots. But there is no question about the leader of the rotation, especially... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Arrieta won a Cy Young Award, threw two no-hitters and helped end a championship drought in his first go-around with the Chicago Cubs. If his second tenure goes anything like that, they sure would take it. Arrieta returned to the Chicago Cubs, finalizing a $6 million, one-year contract on Wednesday. He can earn $1 million in performance bonuses for innings under the deal: $250,000 each for 150, 160, 170 and 180. "This guy's been battle tested,” manager David Ross said. “He's got the mentality. He's got the poise. And that example, just how he goes about his preparation, how he goes about his performance and that presence that he has, I think ... just kind of bleeds out to the other guys.” To open a roster spot, Chicago placed left-hander Kyle Ryan on the COVID-19 related injured list. Chicago also agreed to to contracts with veteran relievers Brandon Workman and Pedro Strop, people familiar with the deals said. The 34-year-old Arrieta won the NL Cy Young Award with Chicago... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Arrieta won a Cy Young Award, threw two no-hitters and helped end a championship drought in his first go-around with the Chicago Cubs. If his second tenure goes anything like that, they sure would take it. Arrieta returned to the Chicago Cubs, finalizing a $6 million, one-year contract on Wednesday. He can earn $1 million in performance bonuses under the deal. “This guy's been battle tested,” manager David Ross said. “He's got the mentality. He's got the poise. And that example, just how he goes about his preparation, how he goes about his performance and that presence that he has, I think ... just kind of bleeds out to the other guys.” To open a roster spot, Chicago placed left-hander Kyle Ryan on the COVID-19 related injured list. Chicago also agreed to to contracts with veteran relievers Brandon Workman and Pedro Strop, people familiar with the deals said. The 34-year-old Arrieta won the NL Cy Young Award with Chicago in 2015 and helped the Cubs win the 2016 World... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Arrieta returned to the Chicago Cubs, finalizing a $6 million, one-year contract on Wednesday. Arrieta can earn $1 million in performance bonuses under the deal. To open a roster spot, the Cubs placed left-hander Kyle Ryan on the COVID-19 related injured list. The 34-year-old Arrieta won the NL Cy Young Award with Chicago in 2015 and helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series for their first championship since 1908. He went 68-31 with a 2.73 ERA in 128 starts over five years in his first stint with the team. While the reunion is a feel-good story for the reigning NL Central champions after a tough winter, Arrieta hasn’t experienced the same level of success since he left Chicago after the 2017 season. The 6-foot-4 right-hander signed a $75 million, three-year contract with Philadelphia in free agency and went 22-23 with a 4.36 ERA in 64 starts with the Phillies. He had a 4-4 record and a 5.08 ERA in nine starts last year during the pandemic-shortened season. Arrieta rejoined... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Arrieta is returning to the Chicago Cubs, agreeing to a $6 million, one-year contract on Friday. Arrieta can earn $1 million in performance bonuses, according to a person familiar with the situation who confirmed the deal on condition of anonymity because it is pending a physical. The 34-year-old Arrieta won the NL Cy Young Award with Chicago in 2015 and helped the Cubs win the 2016 World Series for their first championship since 1908. He went 68-31 with a 2.73 ERA in 128 starts over five years in his first stint with the team. While the reunion is a feel-good story for the reigning NL Central champions after a tough winter, Arrieta hasn't experienced the same level of success since he left Chicago after the 2017 season. The 6-foot-4 right-hander signed a $75 million, three-year contract with Philadelphia in free agency and went 22-23 with a 4.36 ERA in 64 starts with the Phillies. He had a 4-4 record and a 5.08 ERA in nine starts last year during the pandemic-shortened... [More]

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Harrison Bader tripled and homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals clinch a postseason berth on the final day of the regular season with a 5-2 win over Milwaukee, and the Brewers also earned a playoff spot Sunday via help on the West Coast moments later. St. Louis (30-28) will be the fifth seed in the NL and open a three-game wild-card series at San Diego on Wednesday. By winning, the Cardinals avoided having to travel to Detroit for two makeup games Monday. The Brewers (29-31) locked up the eighth seed and a third consecutive postseason berth after the Padres beat San Francisco 5-4 in a game that ended about 15 minutes later. The Giants finished with an identical record as the Brewers but lost out on a tiebreaker due to an inferior intradivision record. Milwaukee will face the top-seeded Dodgers in Los Angeles in a three-game series that also starts Wednesday. The Brewers haven’t had a winning record at any point this season. Milwaukee and Houston will be the first teams... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Manny Machado hit a grand slam with one out in the 10th inning and the San Diego Padres beat the Texas Rangers for the third straight game, 6-3 Wednesday night.Machado’s 11th career grand slam and sixth walkoff homer came off Rafael Montero (0-1), whose only out in the 10th came on pinch-hitter Greg Garcia’s sacrifice.Fernando Tatis Jr., who hit his MLB-leading 12th homer earlier, drew a walk off Montero to load the bases ahead of Machado, who hit his sixth homer of the season.The Padres have hit grand slams in three straight games for the first time in club history.Texas had gone ahead 3-2 in the top of the inning when Willie Calhoun’s dribbler in front of the plate off Tim Hill (1-0) scored Nick Solak with two outs.Joey Gallo had tied the game at 2 with a homer off Matt Strahm leading off the ninth, his seventh. The Padres beat the Rangers in Arlington on Monday and Tuesday.Roughned Odor homered off Chris Paddack with one out in the second, his third.INDIANS 6, PIRATES... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Civale struck out six and didn’t issue a walk while picking up the first complete game of his young career as the Cleveland Indians pushed their winning streak to five with a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.The 25-year-old Civale allowed five hits and narrowly missed a shutout when Pittsburgh pushed across a run with Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly in the ninth. Carlos Santana broke open a scoreless game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Domingo Santana added a bases-clearing double in the eighth as the Indians improved to a season-best six games over .500 (15-9).Santana turned on a full-count cutter from reliever Dovydas Neverauskas (0-3) and sent it over the right-field seats for his third home run of the season. Pittsburgh’s National League-worst batting average dropped to .211 when it failed to muster much of anything against Civale. The Pirates have dropped 13 of 15 and their 4-16 record is the worst in the major leagues.METS 5, MARLINS... [More]

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Civale struck out six and didn’t issue a walk while picking up the first complete game of his young career as the Cleveland Indians pushed their winning streak to five with a 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.The 25-year-old Civale allowed five hits and narrowly missed a shutout when Pittsburgh pushed across a run with Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly in the ninth. Carlos Santana broke open a scoreless game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning. Domingo Santana added a bases-clearing double in the eighth as the Indians improved to a season-best six games over .500 (15-9).Santana turned on a full-count cutter from reliever Dovydas Neverauskas (0-3) and sent it over the right-field seats for his third home run of the season. Pittsburgh’s National League-worst batting average dropped to .211 when it failed to muster much of anything against Civale. The Pirates have dropped 13 of 15 and their 4-16 record is the worst in the major leagues.METS 5, MARLINS... [More]

Cubs second. Kyle Schwarber walks. Willson Contreras walks. Kyle Schwarber to second. Jason Heyward strikes out on a foul tip. Victor Caratini singles to center field. Willson Contreras scores. Kyle Schwarber scores. David Bote grounds out to shallow right field. Victor Caratini out at second.2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Cubs 2, Cardinals 0.Cardinals fifth. Tyler O'Neill reaches on error to shortstop, advances to 2nd. Throwing error by David Bote. Max Schrock grounds out to shallow infield, Adbert Alzolay to Anthony Rizzo. Tyler O'Neill to third. Andrew Knizner out on a sacrifice fly to deep center field to Ian Happ. Tyler O'Neill scores. Harrison Bader strikes out swinging.1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 0 left on. Cubs 2, Cardinals 1.Cardinals sixth. Kolten Wong grounds out to second base, Jason Kipnis to Anthony Rizzo. Dylan Carlson walks. Paul Goldschmidt walks. Dylan Carlson to second. Matt Carpenter flies out to deep left field to Kyle Schwarber. Brad Miller singles to left field.... [More]