SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — In the forgettable 2019 season, the Baltimore Orioles' bullpen had a woeful 5.79 ERA, the worst in the major leagues. That was a far cry from the team's successful run years ago, when its relief corps was a strength led by Zack Britton, who converted all 47 of his save chances in 2016, Darren O'Day and Brad Brach. Brach, Britton and O'Day were all traded in July 2018, leaving Mychal Givens and Richard Bleier as the only veterans in the 'pen. Givens floundered as a closer, going 2-6 with a 4.57 ERA, blowing eight of 19 save opportunities. In his first three seasons with Baltimore, the right-hander was 18-2, but in his last two seasons, he's only 2-13. “It was tough," Givens said. "I had a lot of stretches where I was going very well, and unlucky outings that got away from me, and I think just hopefully we can continue to make better pitches.”Bleier, who missed most of 2018 after lat surgery, struggled as well last season, with a 3-0 record with four saves and a 5.37... [More]

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A year ago, Mike Elias and Brandon Hyde were in their first spring training together as Baltimore Orioles general manager and manager. After a season of 108 losses, they're back for Year 2. The Orioles have 67 players on their spring roster, and Elias said that he likes the group that the Orioles have. “Going over the 40-man roster and looking at the players that are here, we’ve got hopes for all of them, and they’re all talented, and they have things to like about them, so we definitely feel like it’s coming together," Elias said. “It’s a part of a longer process, but it’s moving in the right direction.”Baltimore's biggest issue is trying to construct a starting rotation. Last season, 18 pitchers started for the Orioles, and they had a horrifying 5.57 ERA. In December, Baltimore traded right-hander Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels for four minor league pitchers. Bundy was one of the Orioles' most accomplished starters. In the rotation so far, Baltimore has left-hander... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Orioles agreed to one-year contracts with their remaining players eligible for arbitration, securing deals Friday with slugger Trey Mancini, Mychal Givens and infielder Hanser Alberto.Mancini agreed to $4.75 million, Givens $3,225,000 and Alberto $1.65 million. Alberto would get a $50,000 bonus for making 500 plate appearances.After reaching agreement with with reliever Miguel Castro on Thursday, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias worked through the team's arbitration-eligible players on the final afternoon before the team and players would exchange salary figures.Mancini earned $575,500 last season. The first baseman/outfielder played in 154 games last season and reached career highs with 35 home runs and 97 RBIs. He also batted .291 with a career-best .364 on-base percentage.One of few power hitters on the rebuilding Orioles, Mancini was drafted by Baltimore in the eighth round of the 2013 draft. He joined the team in 2016 and quickly became a fan-favorite.Givens... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Orioles agreed to one-year contracts with their remaining players eligible for arbitration, securing deals Friday with slugger Trey Mancini, Mychal Givens and infielder Hanser Alberto.Mancini agreed to $4.75 million, Givens $3,225,000 and Alberto $1.65 million.After reaching agreement with with reliever Miguel Castro on Thursday, Baltimore general manager Mike Elias worked through the team's arbitration-eligible players on the final afternoon before the team and players would exchange salary figures.Mancini earned $575,500 last season. The first baseman/outfielder played in 154 games last season and reached career highs with 35 home runs and 97 RBIs. He also batted .291 with a career-best .364 on-base percentage.One of few power hitters on the rebuilding Orioles, Mancini was drafted by Baltimore in the eighth round of the 2013 draft. He joined the team in 2016 and quickly became a fan-favorite.Givens made $2.15 million last season in 2019, his first season as a closer.... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — Reliever Miguel Castro and the Baltimore Orioles avoided arbitration when they agreed Thursday to a one-year contract for $1.05 million.A reliever who turned 25 on Dec. 24, Castro is a hard thrower with potential to grow. He has a strong fastball but has trouble controlling it.In 2019, Castro was 1-3 with a 4.66 ERA in 65 games and converted two of five save chances. He had a salary of $569,000.The payroll-slashing Orioles have four players still on track to exchange proposed salaries Friday: pitchers Dylan Bundy, Mychal Givens and Hanser Alberto, and first-baseman-outfielder Trey Mancini.———More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BALTIMORE (AP) — The rebuilding Baltimore Orioles further slashed their slim salary payroll by trading infielder Jonathan Villar to Miami on Monday for minor league pitcher Easton Lucas.Villar played in all 162 games this year and led the Orioles with 176 hits, five triples and 40 stolen bases.“He was a tremendously exciting player for us, a joy to have,” general manager Mike Elias said Monday night. “It was hard to let him go, but we've got to keep an eye on our strategic objectives, which is prioritize the future right now.”Villar was too expensive to keep around. He is eligible for arbitration and likely to earn about $10 million next year, so Elias opted to trade the 28-year-old as part of a more substantial teardown.“It makes a lot of sense and it’s something you have to do,” Elias said.The GM described Villar as “a guy who's going into his last year of arbitration with the team and facing free agency who is set to command a large salary with his play this year and year's past” — qualities... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The rebuilding Baltimore Orioles further slashed their slim salary payroll by trading infielder Jonathan Villar to Miami on Monday for minor league pitcher Easton Lucas.Villar played in all 162 games this year and led the Orioles with 176 hits, five triples and 40 stolen bases.“He was a tremendously exciting player for us, a joy to have,” general manager Mike Elias said Monday night. “It was hard to let him go, but we've got to keep an eye on our strategic objectives, which is prioritize the future right now.”Villar was too expensive to keep around. He is eligible for arbitration and likely to earn about $10 million next year, so Elias opted to trade the 28-year-old as part of a more substantial teardown.“It makes a lot of sense and it’s something you have to do,” Elias said.The GM described Villar as “a guy who's going into his last year of arbitration with the team and facing free agency who is set to command a large salary with his play this year and year's past” — qualities... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The rebuilding Baltimore Orioles further slashed their slim salary payroll by trading infielder Jonathan Villar to Miami on Monday for minor league pitcher Easton Lucas.Villar played in all 162 games this year and led the Orioles with 176 hits, five triples and 40 stolen bases.“He was a tremendously exciting player for us, a joy to have,” general manager Mike Elias said Monday night. “It was hard to let him go, but we've got to keep an eye on our strategic objectives, which is prioritize the future right now.”Villar was too expensive to keep around. He is eligible for arbitration and likely to earn about $10 million next year, so Elias opted to trade the 28-year-old as part of a more substantial teardown.“It makes a lot of sense and it’s something you have to do,” Elias said.The GM described Villar as “a guy who's going into his last year of arbitration with the team and facing free agency who is set to command a large salary with his play this year and year's past” — qualities... [More]

BALTIMORE (AP) — The rebuilding Baltimore Orioles further slashed their slim salary payroll by trading infielder Jonathan Villar to Miami on Monday for minor league pitcher Easton Lucas.Villar played in all 162 games this year and led the Orioles with 176 hits, five triples and 40 stolen bases.But Villar is eligible for arbitration and likely to earn about $10 million next year, so general manager Mike Elias opted to trade the 28-year-old as part of a more substantial teardown.Baltimore finished last in the AL East in 2019, the first season with Elias at the helm. From the outset, Elias made it clear that the roster will be overhauled before being injected with young talent.Lucas is a 23-year-old lefty with one year of minor league experience.The Orioles also announced that they have reached a one-year agreement with lefty Richard Bleier and offer 2020 contracts to first baseman Trey Mancini, infielder Hanser Alberto, right-handers Dylan Bundy, Miguel Castro and Mychal Givens.__More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays two-way player Brendan McKay went 0 for 4 in his major league hitting debut against the Baltimore Orioles, two days after winning his first game as a starting pitcher.McKay was the designated hitter Monday night and batted eighth in the Rays' 6-3 victory."I felt like I had some good at-bats," he said. "Obviously not the results you want. Now it's just time to find holes in the defense and get your first hit out of the way."The 23-year-old McKay grounded out to first with the bases loaded and two outs against Tom Eshelman to end the first inning. He also hit a fourth-inning grounder to second against Eshelman, who was making his big league debut.McKay, playing for Louisville in a 2015 NCAA super regional, homered off Eshelman, then the Cal State Fullerton ace."To see him on the other side, it was kind of funny," Eshelman said. "I knew what not to throw him because he hit a homer off me in that game. Yeah, congrats to him. To be able to do it two... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays two-way player Brendan McKay went 0 for 4 in his major league hitting debut against the Baltimore Orioles, two days after winning his first game as a starting pitcher.McKay was the designated hitter Monday night and batted eighth in the Rays' 6-3 victory.The 23-year-old grounded out to first with the bases loaded and two outs against Tom Eshelman to end the first inning. He also hit a fourth-inning grounder to second against Eshelman, who was making his big league debut.McKay, playing for Louisville in a 2015 NCAA super regional, homered off Eshelman, then the Cal State Fullerton ace.McKay hit a fielder's choice grounder in the sixth against Miguel Castro and had a grounder to second off Jimmy Yacabonis during the eighth.McKay got picked off second base in the sixth after reaching on the fielder's choice.The left-hander took a perfect game into the sixth inning in his big league debut Saturday against Texas. He was pulled after allowing one hit... [More]

PHOENIX (AP) — Carson Kelly drilled a single into the left field corner, scoring Nick Ahmed with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks over the struggling Boston Red Sox 5-4 Saturday night.Boston has dropped three straight and fell to 2-8 overall, a lousy start to their World Series championship defense.Colten Brewer (0-1) allowed consecutive singles to Eduardo Escobar, Ahmed and Kelly in the ninth. Right fielder Mookie Betts threw out Escobar at home on Ahmed's hit, but Kelly's rip to left allowed Ahmed to score easily.Kelly had two hits and three RBIs. The walkoff knock was the first of his career.Greg Holland (1-0) pitched a scoreless top of the ninth.PADRES 6, CARDINALS 4ST. LOUIS (AP) — Austin Hedges and Manny Machado each hit a two-run homer off Andrew Miller in the eighth inning, helping San Diego beat St. Louis for its third consecutive win.Fernando Tatis Jr. opened the eighth with a walk and Hedges followed with a go-ahead drive over the wall on in left.... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bryce Harper crushed a long home run for his third hit while performing to jeers in his return to Washington, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Nationals 8-2 Tuesday night for the franchise's best start in over a century.Maikel Franco also homered for the Phillies, baseball's only undefeated team at 4-0. They had only done that in 1915 and 1897.Harper left Washington after playing 927 games over seven years, participating in six All-Star Games and winning the 2015 NL MVP Award. He listened to what the Nationals had to offer, then signed a $330 million, 13-year contract with the rival Phillies in February.Harper hasn't wasted any time providing returns for the investment. He has three homers and five RBIs in four games, along with a .429 batting average. He drove in three Tuesday.Booed during every at-bat, Harper thumped a "take that," 458-foot shot in the eighth inning off Jeremy Hellickson. As the ball soared toward the second deck in right field, Harper flipped... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bryce Harper crushed a long home run for his third hit while performing to jeers in his return to Washington, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Nationals 8-2 Tuesday night for the franchise's best start in over a century.Maikel Franco also homered for the Phillies, baseball's only undefeated team at 4-0. They had only done that in 1915 and 1897.Harper left Washington after playing 927 games over seven years, participating in six All-Star Games and winning the 2015 NL MVP Award. He listened to what the Nationals had to offer, then signed a $330 million, 13-year contract with the rival Phillies in February.Harper hasn't wasted any time providing returns for the investment. He has three homers and five RBIs in four games, along with a .429 batting average. He drove in three Tuesday.Booed during every at-bat, Harper thumped a "take that," 458-foot shot in the eighth inning off Jeremy Hellickson. As the ball soared toward the second deck in right field, Harper flipped... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Luke Voit hit two homers off David Price, Miguel Andujar popped another one barely into the right-field seats and the New York Yankees stalled Boston's division-clinching celebration by beating the Red Sox 10-1 on Wednesday night.Luis Severino (18-8) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, and the Yankees had no need for All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman on the day they activated him from the disabled list. Chapman had been out since Aug. 21 with left knee tendinitis.Mookie Betts had two strikeouts and no hits in his return to Boston's lineup. He pulled a possible grand slam just foul in the ninth before grounding into a game-ending double play. The AL MVP contender sat out Tuesday after injuring his left side two days earlier, but came back to bat leadoff as the designated hitter.The Yankees will try to send Boston packing Thursday with the AL East still undecided. The Red Sox lead the division by 9 1/2 games and entered this three-game series needing one victory to lock up... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Luke Voit hit two homers off David Price, Miguel Andujar popped another one barely into the right-field seats and the New York Yankees stalled Boston's division-clinching celebration by beating the Red Sox 10-1 on Wednesday night.Luis Severino (18-8) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, and the Yankees had no need for All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman on the day they activated him from the disabled list. Chapman had been out since Aug. 21 with left knee tendinitis.Mookie Betts had two strikeouts and no hits in his return to Boston's lineup. He pulled a possible grand slam just foul in the ninth before grounding into a game-ending double play. The AL MVP contender sat out Tuesday after injuring his left side two days earlier, but came back to bat leadoff as the designated hitter.The Yankees will try to send Boston packing Thursday with the AL East still undecided. The Red Sox lead the division by 9 1/2 games and entered this three-game series needing one victory to lock up... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Luke Voit hit two homers off David Price, Miguel Andujar popped another one barely into the right-field seats and the New York Yankees stalled Boston's division-clinching celebration by beating the Red Sox 10-1 on Wednesday night.Luis Severino (18-8) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, and the Yankees had no need for All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman on the day they activated him from the disabled list. Chapman had been out since Aug. 21 with left knee tendinitis.Mookie Betts had two strikeouts and no hits in his return to Boston's lineup. He pulled a possible grand slam just foul in the ninth before grounding into a game-ending double play. The AL MVP contender sat out Tuesday after injuring his left side two days earlier, but came back to bat leadoff as the designated hitter.The Yankees will try to send Boston packing Thursday with the AL East still undecided. The Red Sox lead the division by 9 1/2 games and entered this three-game series needing one victory to lock up... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Luke Voit hit two homers off David Price, Miguel Andujar popped another one barely into the right-field seats and the New York Yankees stalled Boston's division-clinching celebration by beating the Red Sox 10-1 on Wednesday night.Luis Severino (18-8) pitched seven innings of one-run ball, and the Yankees had no need for All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman on the day they activated him from the disabled list. Chapman had been out since Aug. 21 with left knee tendinitis.Mookie Betts had two strikeouts and no hits in his return to Boston's lineup. He pulled a possible grand slam just foul in the ninth before grounding into a game-ending double play. The AL MVP contender sat out Tuesday after injuring his left side two days earlier, but came back to bat leadoff as the designated hitter.The Yankees will try to send Boston packing Thursday with the AL East still undecided. The Red Sox lead the division by 9 1/2 games and entered this three-game series needing one victory to lock up... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Kenley Jansen in the ninth inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 3-1 victory and a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night.The Cardinals' eighth straight road win helped them improve to 17-4 this month, the most wins in the majors. They've homered in 15 straight games, one off the current season mark of 16 in a row by Philadelphia.St. Louis remained 2½ games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs.For Jansen, it was a familiar ending.The All-Star closer, who became a father for the third time earlier in the day, gave up consecutive homers to Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in the series opener Monday. That was Jansen's first game back after missing time because of an irregular heartbeat.This time, Gyorko singled off Jansen (0-5) and DeJong followed with a drive to left-center to give the Cardinals their first lead.Jordan Hicks struck out Cody Bellinger, Brian Dozier and Chris Taylor to earn his fifth... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Rookie Freddy Peralta tossed seven scoreless innings and drove in a run with his first career hit, combining with two relievers on a five-hitter to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Wednesday.Christian Yelich homered and finished a triple shy of the cycle, reaching base five times and driving in two runs for Milwaukee. He opened the first with his 21st homer, doubled in the third, walked in the fourth and singled in the sixth and eighth.Peralta (6-4) allowed just three singles, striking out seven and walking two to win for the second time in seven starts. The 22-year-old right-hander did not allow a hit until Jose Peraza's single to open the fourth.Peralta was 0-for-22 with 11 strikeouts this season before he drove in the Brewers' second run with a fourth-inning single.Robert Stephenson (0-2) allowed four runs on nine hits in five innings, walking three and striking out four.The Reds loaded the bases in the eighth against Taylor Williams, but Jeremy... [More]