Mets first. Brandon Nimmo flies out to shallow left field to Andrew Benintendi. Jeff McNeil singles to shallow center field. Pete Alonso singles to right field. Jeff McNeil to second. Michael Conforto singles to right field. Pete Alonso to second. Jeff McNeil to third. Dominic Smith reaches on a fielder's choice to second base. Michael Conforto out at second. Pete Alonso to third. Jeff McNeil scores. Yoenis Cespedes strikes out swinging.1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Mets 1, Red sox 0.Red sox fourth. J.D. Martinez grounds out to shallow infield, Jeff McNeil to Pete Alonso. Rafael Devers doubles to shallow left field. Mitch Moreland doubles to deep center field. Rafael Devers scores. Christian Vazquez grounds out to shallow infield, Jacob deGrom to Pete Alonso. Alex Verdugo grounds out to shallow infield to Pete Alonso.2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left on. Red sox 2, Mets 1.Mets fifth. Rene Rivera strikes out on a foul tip. Brandon Nimmo homers to center field. Jeff McNeil walks. Pete... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Christian Vázquez hit a tying home run off Seth Lugo in the seventh inning and a two-run single against Justin Wilson in a three-run eighth, rallying the Boston Red Sox over the Mets 6-5 Wednesday night when New York’s bullpen could not hold a lead for two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom.Boston had lost four in a row following its opening day win over Baltimore -- the equivalent of 11 straight over a full season -- that included a pair of defeats to the Mets at Fenway Park.New York closed with a run in the ninth, when a diving stop by third baseman Rafael Devers helped Brandon Workman strand the bases loaded. Workman recovered for his first save of the year by striking out Yoenis Céspedes and retiring Robinson Canó on a soft liner to shortstop.DeGrom, throwing at up to 101 mph, extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 31 innings before allowing a pair of runs in the fourth but got his second straight no-decision, allowing two runs and three hits in six innings... [More]

Mets second. J.D. Davis singles to right center field. Michael Conforto called out on strikes. Yoenis Cespedes hit by pitch. J.D. Davis to second. Robinson Cano doubles to deep left field. Yoenis Cespedes to third. J.D. Davis scores. Wilson Ramos grounds out to shallow infield, Rafael Devers to Michael Chavis. Brandon Nimmo walks. Amed Rosario singles to right field. Brandon Nimmo to third. Robinson Cano scores. Yoenis Cespedes scores. Pete Alonso flies out to deep right center field to Jackie Bradley Jr..3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Mets 3, Red sox 0.Red sox third. Kevin Plawecki doubles to deep left field. Andrew Benintendi walks. Jose Peraza singles to deep right center field. Andrew Benintendi to second. Kevin Plawecki to third. J.D. Martinez strikes out swinging. Rafael Devers reaches on a fielder's choice to shallow infield. Jose Peraza out at second. Andrew Benintendi out at third. Kevin Plawecki scores.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Mets 3, Red sox 1.Mets fifth. Pete... [More]

Orioles first. Austin Hays flies out to shallow center field to Alex Verdugo. Anthony Santander lines out to deep center field to Jackie Bradley Jr.. Jose Iglesias singles to right field. Rio Ruiz homers to right field. Jose Iglesias scores. Hanser Alberto singles to shallow infield. Chris Davis grounds out to shallow right field, Jose Peraza to Michael Chavis.2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Orioles 2, Red sox 0.Red sox second. Xander Bogaerts flies out to Anthony Santander. Kevin Pillar flies out to deep center field to Austin Hays. Christian Vazquez homers to left field. Alex Verdugo strikes out on a foul tip.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Orioles 2, Red sox 1.Orioles third. Anthony Santander walks. Jose Iglesias doubles to deep left center field. Anthony Santander scores. Rio Ruiz pops out to shallow infield to Rafael Devers. Hanser Alberto flies out to left center field to Alex Verdugo. Chris Davis lines out to left center field to Alex Verdugo.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left... [More]

Orioles first. Austin Hays singles to right field. Hanser Alberto doubles. Austin Hays to third. Jose Iglesias strikes out swinging. Anthony Santander lines out to right field to Alex Verdugo. Renato Nunez doubles to deep left field. Hanser Alberto scores. Austin Hays scores. Pedro Severino reaches on error. Renato Nunez scores. Fielding error by Rafael Devers. Chris Davis reaches on a fielder's choice to shallow infield. Pedro Severino out at second.3 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 left on. Orioles 3, Red sox 0.Orioles second. Pat Valaika singles to shallow center field. Cedric Mullins walks. Pat Valaika to second. Austin Hays pops out to second base to Jose Peraza. Hanser Alberto singles to center field. Cedric Mullins to third. Pat Valaika scores. Jose Iglesias singles to left field. Hanser Alberto to second. Cedric Mullins scores. Anthony Santander pops out to shallow infield to Jose Peraza. Hanser Alberto doubled off second.2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Orioles 5, Red sox 0.Red sox... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — In the first major league game with the new, unpopular extra-inning rule, automatic runner Marcus Semien began the bottom of the 10th on second base and scored on Matt Olson’s grand slam, sending the Oakland Athletics over the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 Friday night.Olson, whose alert throw from first base nailed Angels free runner Shohei Ohtani in the top of the 10th, connected with one out. Major League Baseball instituted the controversial extra-inning runner rule for this season to keep games from dragging on amid a compressed, 60-game schedule that started late because of the virus outbreak.After Semien took second, the A’s loaded the bases against Hansel Robles (0-1) on a hit by pitch, wild pitch and a walk.New Angels manager Joe Maddon brought in reliever Hoby Milner and, with a five-man infield in place, Olson hit the first pitch far over the right-field wall.According to STATS, Olson became the third player to hit a walkoff grand slam on opening day. He joined... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks convinced new manager David Ross to let him finish a three-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered and dished out hand sanitizer, and the Chicago Cubs started the season by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Friday night.Ian Happ also had a two-run drive and Ross got his first victory as a big league manager as the Cubs opened this pandemic-shortened 60-game season without fans at Wrigley Field. Hendricks struck out nine and walked none in his first career opening-day start and fourth career shutout.Orlando Arcia had each of Milwaukee’s hits off Hendricks (1-0). After he singled with two out in the third for the Brewers’ first baserunner, he accepted a splash of sanitizer from a smiling Rizzo at first and cleaned off his hands.Ross came out to check on Hendricks with two out and a runner on first in the ninth. He decided to leave him in, and Keston Hiura bounced into a game-ending fielder’s choice on Hendricks’ 103rd pitch.Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff allowed... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks convinced new manager David Ross to let him finish a three-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered and dished out hand sanitizer, and the Chicago Cubs started the season by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Friday night.Ian Happ also had a two-run drive and Ross got his first victory as a big league manager as the Cubs opened this pandemic-shortened 60-game season without fans at Wrigley Field. Hendricks struck out nine and walked none in his first career opening-day start and fourth career shutout.Orlando Arcia had each of Milwaukee’s hits off Hendricks (1-0). After he singled with two out in the third for the Brewers’ first baserunner, he accepted a splash of sanitizer from a smiling Rizzo at first and cleaned off his hands.Ross came out to check on Hendricks with two out and a runner on first in the ninth. He decided to leave him in, and Keston Hiura bounced into a game-ending fielder’s choice on Hendricks’ 103rd pitch.Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff allowed... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks convinced new manager David Ross to let him finish a three-hitter, Anthony Rizzo homered and dished out hand sanitizer, and the Chicago Cubs started the season by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3-0 on Friday night.Ian Happ also had a two-run drive and Ross got his first victory as a big league manager as the Cubs opened this pandemic-shortened 60-game season without fans at Wrigley Field. Hendricks struck out nine and walked none in his first career opening-day start and fourth career shutout.Orlando Arcia had each of Milwaukee’s hits off Hendricks (1-0). After he singled with two out in the third for the Brewers’ first baserunner, he accepted a splash of sanitizer from a smiling Rizzo at first and cleaned off his hands.Ross came out to check on Hendricks with two out and a runner on first in the ninth. He decided to leave him in, and Keston Hiura bounced into a game-ending fielder’s choice on Hendricks’ 103rd pitch.Milwaukee right-hander Brandon Woodruff allowed... [More]

Red sox third. Jackie Bradley Jr. doubles to left field. Jose Peraza doubles to deep left field. Jackie Bradley Jr. scores. Andrew Benintendi strikes out swinging. J.D. Martinez doubles to left field. Jose Peraza scores. Rafael Devers walks. Xander Bogaerts strikes out swinging. Kevin Pillar doubles. Rafael Devers scores. J.D. Martinez scores. Christian Vazquez flies out to deep right field to Anthony Santander.4 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Red sox 4, Orioles 0.Red sox fourth. Michael Chavis walks. Jackie Bradley Jr. walks. Michael Chavis to second. Jose Peraza singles to left field. Jackie Bradley Jr. to second. Michael Chavis to third. Andrew Benintendi walks. Jose Peraza to second. Jackie Bradley Jr. to third. Michael Chavis scores. J.D. Martinez doubles to deep right field. Andrew Benintendi to third. Jose Peraza scores. Jackie Bradley Jr. scores. Rafael Devers grounds out to shortstop, Rio Ruiz to Chris Davis. Xander Bogaerts singles to center field. J.D. Martinez to third.... [More]

The Washington Nationals are ready to take the field as defending champs.The fans won't be there, but the ballpark will reflect the team's proud status.The Nationals are planning to raise a new 2019 World Series champions flag before Thursday night's opener against the New York Yankees. Other festivities include a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Dr. Anthony Fauci and a previously recorded Presidents Race to be shown during the fourth inning.“We definitely feel a connection with the fans so we’re really going to miss them and we’ll be thinking about them. We’ll be pumping in crowd noise to try to make up the difference,” reliever Sean Doolittle said.“I think opening day, like I said, we’ve got that patch on our uniform sleeve that says world champs. Going out there to start to defend our championship is something we’ve been looking forward to since the end of October," he added.The Nationals also say a Black Lives Matter stencil will appear on the pitcher's mound during games on opening... [More]

The Washington Nationals are ready to take the field as defending champs.The fans won't be there, but the ballpark will reflect the team's proud status.The Nationals are planning to raise a new 2019 World Series champions flag before Thursday night's opener against the New York Yankees. Other festivities include a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Dr. Anthony Fauci and a previously recorded Presidents Race to be shown during the fourth inning.“We definitely feel a connection with the fans so we’re really going to miss them and we’ll be thinking about them. We’ll be pumping in crowd noise to try to make up the difference,” reliever Sean Doolittle said.“I think opening day, like I said, we’ve got that patch on our uniform sleeve that says world champs. Going out there to start to defend our championship is something we’ve been looking forward to since the end of October," he added.The Nationals also say a Black Lives Matter stencil will appear on the pitcher's mound during games on opening... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts has grown accustomed to being on big stages during his first seven years in the major leagues.He won a World Series ring as a rookie with the Red Sox in 2013 and became a full-time starter the following season. He's since earned another ring in 2018 and followed that up last year by becoming the first Boston shortstop since Nomar Garciaparra to post 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in a season. It helped Bogaerts earn his second All-Star selection, third Silver Slugger award and a fifth-place finish in American League MVP balloting.Now, as the Red Sox prepare for the shortened 2020 season with low expectations after trading 2018 MVP Mookie Betts and left-hander David Price to the Dodgers, the 27-year-old Bogaerts believes he's ready to step into a leadership role.“I think so," he said Tuesday. “Obviously those are two guys that are still missed. Guys that were well-loved by our teammates and obviously the city. So I’m looking forward to the season.”Usually... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — A pitching mound in a picnic area. Exercise bicycles in the concourse. Lockers in the luxury suites.Banished from their spring training complex in COVID 19-ravaged Florida to their historic but cozy home, the Red Sox are squeezing any space they can out of Fenway Park for the reboot of spring training that baseball is calling summer camp.When players arrived last week, they found their lockers set up not in the traditional home clubhouse used since the days of Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski but in the upper-deck luxury suites along the first-base line.“It’s pretty cool eating breakfast in the suite looking out into the field,” first baseman Mitch Moreland said on Monday. “I don’t know if we’ll move back.”Major league teams, including the Red Sox, have elaborate complexes at their spring training homes to help them prepare for the season, with enough lockers for everyone still trying to make the team and extra fields for them all to get their work in.But the century-old... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Win. Dance. Delete.When the Boston Red Sox traded Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers on the eve of spring training, they broke up the "Killer B's” who patrolled the Fenway outfield and led the team to a World Series championship in 2018. Together, Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi formed one of the best outfields in baseball and became fan favorites by following spectacular catches with their choreographed “Win, Dance, Repeat” postgame celebrations. Now, as the Red Sox learn to live without Betts, his former fellow outfielders are figuring things out with their new partner, Alex Verdugo, who came to Boston in the trade that send the 2018 AL MVP and pitcher David Price to the Dodgers.“It’s one of those things where you have to get to know the person and see him play, hands-on,” Bradley said this week. "Sometimes people just have that natural connection. It could be something that’s just seamless. “As long as you’re able to talk,” he said. “That’s... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Win. Dance. Delete.When the Boston Red Sox traded Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers on the eve of spring training, they broke up the "Killer B's” who patrolled the Fenway outfield and led the team to a World Series championship in 2018. Together, Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Andrew Benintendi formed one of the best outfields in baseball and became fan favorites by following spectacular catches with their choreographed “Win, Dance, Repeat” postgame celebrations. Now, as the Red Sox learn to live without Betts, his former fellow outfielders are figuring things out with their new partner, Alex Verdugo, who came to Boston in the trade that send the 2018 AL MVP and pitcher David Price to the Dodgers.“It’s one of those things where you have to get to know the person and see him play, hands-on,” Bradley said this week. "Sometimes people just have that natural connection. It could be something that’s just seamless. “As long as you’re able to talk,” he said. “That’s... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — The crack of the bat at spring training camps replaced the sound of trash can lids banging in homemade YouTube videos as baseball emerged from its winter of cheating scandals and salary dumps to bask in the Florida and Arizona sun.The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres held their first official workouts, and pitchers and catchers for 16 other teams reported to their Grapefruit and Cactus League complexes on Tuesday. The rest of the major leagues will filter in this week. Red Sox players checked in without knowing who their manager will be, almost a month after Alex Cora was fired for his part in the Houston Astros 2017 sign-stealing scheme. Bench coach Ron Roenicke, a former Brewers skipper, will serve as interim manager while the team waits for Major League Baseball to wrap up its investigation into Boston's attempts to steal signs after Cora arrived in '18.The Red Sox were also without a former MVP and Cy Young Award winner after the long-haggled trade of... [More]

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — The crack of the bat at spring training camps replaced the sound of trash can lids banging in homemade YouTube videos as baseball emerged from its winter of cheating scandals and salary dumps to bask in the Florida and Arizona sun.The Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres held their first official workouts, and pitchers and catchers for 16 other teams reported to their Grapefruit and Cactus League complexes on Tuesday. The rest of the major leagues will filter in this week. Red Sox players checked in without knowing who their manager will be, almost a month after Alex Cora was fired for his part in the Houston Astros 2017 sign-stealing scheme. Bench coach Ron Roenicke, a former Brewers skipper, will serve as interim manager while the team waits for Major League Baseball to wrap up its investigation into Boston's attempts to steal signs after Cora arrived in '18.The Red Sox were also without a former MVP and Cy Young Award winner after the long-haggled trade of... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Free agent outfielder Nick Castellanos signed a $64 million, four-year deal Monday with the Reds, Cincinnati's latest big-money move to emerge from years of losing.The deal allows Castellanos to opt out and become a free agent after the 2020 or 2021 seasons. He gets salaries of $16 million in 2020, $14 million in 2021, and $16 million in 2022 and 2023. There's a mutual option for 2024 at $20 million with a buyout of $2 million.It was the fourth significant move by the Reds, among the most active teams in free agency since their sixth consecutive losing season.“This is an off-season where we have prioritized adding to the offensive side of the club,” said Dick Williams, president of baseball operations. “Nick was one of the most attractive options on the market. He has been a consistently elite producer offensively and that complements our existing team well.”The Reds have has committed $164 million to new players, including the two biggest free agent deals in club history.Cincinnati... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Outfielder Mookie Betts agreed Friday to a $27 million contract with the Boston Red Sox, the largest one-year salary for an arbitration-eligible player. Outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. also agreed to an $11 million deal, ensuring Boston will avoid salary arbitration with two of its biggest stars.Outfielder Andrew Benintendi and left-handed starter Eduardo Rodríguez did not agree to deals and swapped numbers for arbitration. Benintendi asked for $4.15 million and was offered $3.4 million — a big raise from his $717,500 salary in 2019. Rodríguez is seeking $8,975,000 and was offered $8.3 million, a bump from $4,325,000.Boston also agreed to salaries for relievers Brandon Workman ($3.5 million), Matt Barnes ($3.1 million) and Heath Hembree ($1,612,500)Betts' deal topped the $26 million agreement last winter for third baseman Nolan Arenado, which led to negotiations for a $260 million, eight-year deal.A four-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner, Betts is eligible for free... [More]