Brandon Lowe homered for the fifth time in six games, Austin Meadows also connected and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the AL East-leading New York Yankees 6-3 Tuesday night.The second-place Rays cut their deficit to 1 1/2 games in the opener of this three-game set. Tampa Bay has won four of five in the season series.Luke Voit hit his third homer in two days and Gary Sánchez also went deep, but New York ended a six-game winning streak and dropped to 10-1 at Yankee Stadium this season. Kevin Kiermaier lined a one-out triple in the third inning and scored on a hit by nine-hole hitter Michael Perez. Meadows followed with a base hit, and then Lowe drilled a three-run shot to center off Masahiro Tanaka (0-1) for a 4-0 lead.Tanaka was charged with six runs — five earned — and eight hits over four innings.Blake Snell (2-0) allowed three runs, four hits and two walks. Nick Anderson and Chaz Roe combined for a scoreless eighth and ninth, with Roe converting his first save opportunity.NATIONALS 8, BRAVES... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a four-run rally that gave the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.With the Braves trailing 6-3 against Washington closer Daniel Hudson (1-2), Adam Duvall made it close by hitting a two-run shot that just cleared the wall in left field. Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Hudson retired the next two hitters to put the Braves down to their final out.It never came.Swanson drove one over the wall in right-center for the game winner. The rally ruined a memorable night for Washington rookie Luis Garcia, who became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a big league homer. The youngest player in the majors at age 20, Garcia hit a two-run shot off Touki Toussaint in the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Soto and Eric Thames also homered for the defending World Series champs, but it wasn’t enough.DODGERS 11, MARINERS 9LOS ANGELES (AP) —... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a four-run rally that gave the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.With the Braves trailing 6-3 against Washington closer Daniel Hudson (1-2), Adam Duvall made it close by hitting a two-run shot that just cleared the wall in left field. Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Hudson retired the next two hitters to put the Braves down to their final out.It never came.Swanson drove one over the wall in right-center for the game winner. The rally ruined a memorable night for Washington rookie Luis Garcia, who became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a big league homer. The youngest player in the majors at age 20, Garcia hit a two-run shot off Touki Toussaint in the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Soto and Eric Thames also homered for the defending World Series champs, but it wasn’t enough.TWINS 4, ROYALS 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a four-run rally that gave the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.With the Braves trailing 6-3 against Washington closer Daniel Hudson (1-2), Adam Duvall made it close by hitting a two-run shot that just cleared the wall in left field. Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Hudson retired the next two hitters to put the Braves down to their final out.It never came.Swanson drove one over the wall in right-center for the game winner. The rally ruined a memorable night for Washington rookie Luis Garcia, who became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a big league homer. The youngest player in the majors at age 20, Garcia hit a two-run shot off Touki Toussaint in the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Soto and Eric Thames also homered for the defending World Series champs, but it wasn’t enough.TWINS 4, ROYALS 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson... [More]

ATLANTA (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a four-run rally that gave the Atlanta Braves a stunning 7-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Monday night.With the Braves trailing 6-3 against Washington closer Daniel Hudson (1-2), Adam Duvall made it close by hitting a two-run shot that just cleared the wall in left field. Johan Camargo followed with a single, but Hudson retired the next two hitters to put the Braves down to their final out.It never came.Swanson drove one over the wall in right-center for the game winner. The rally ruined a memorable night for Washington rookie Luis Garcia, who became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a big league homer. The youngest player in the majors at age 20, Garcia hit a two-run shot off Touki Toussaint in the second inning. Asdrubal Cabrera, Juan Soto and Eric Thames also homered for the defending World Series champs, but it wasn’t enough.TWINS 4, ROYALS 1MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Nelson... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox tied a major league record with four consecutive home runs, all against Roel Ramirez in his major league debut, and went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday. Ramirez is the first pitcher to allow four straight homers in his debut. Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, José Abreu and Eloy Jiménez connected during a six-run fifth inning.It was the 10th time in major league history a team hit four straight homers. The only other time the White Sox did it was on Aug. 14, 2008, against Kansas City, when Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe connected.The White Sox got another solid start from Dallas Keuchel (3-2) and won for just the third time in 11 home games.St. Louis right-hander Dakota Hudson (0-2) allowed one run in four innings in his first start since July 26.INDIANS 8, TIGERS 5DETROIT (AP) — Franmil Reyes homered twice, and the Indians beat the Tigers for the 20th straight time, nearing the major league record for most consecutive... [More]

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox tied a major league record with four consecutive home runs, all against Roel Ramirez in his major league debut, and went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday. Ramirez is the first pitcher to allow four straight homers in his debut. Yoán Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, José Abreu and Eloy Jiménez connected during a six-run fifth inning.It was the 10th time in major league history a team hit four straight homers. The only other time the White Sox did it was on Aug. 14, 2008, against Kansas City, when Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe connected.The White Sox got another solid start from Dallas Keuchel (3-2) and won for just the third time in 11 home games.St. Louis right-hander Dakota Hudson (0-2) allowed one run in four innings in his first start since July 26.INDIANS 8, TIGERS 5DETROIT (AP) — Franmil Reyes homered twice, and the Indians beat the Tigers for the 20th straight time, nearing the major league record for most consecutive... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Marcus Semien homered in the first after hitting a walkoff single to end a 13-inning win a night earlier and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 3-1 on Saturday for their eighth straight victory.Frankie Montas (2-1) pitched seven shutout innings, allowing two hits without walking a batter and striking out five for the AL West-leading A’s.The three-time reigning division champion Astros lost their fourth in a row. The last three defeats had been by a total of four runs.Semien became the first player in A’s franchise history with a game-ending hit and a leadoff homer on back-to-back days. Matt Chapman homered in the eighth and added an RBI groundout in the sixth as Oakland (11-4) matched the 2014 club for the best record through 15 games over the last 30 years. Houston starter Framber Valdéz (0-2) gave up two runs and seven hits, striking out nine with one walk over seven innings.GIANTS 5, DODGERS 4LOS ANGELES (AP) — Austin Slater had his first multi-homer... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland’s Shane Bieber tied the major league record for strikeouts in a pitcher’s first two starts of the season, punching out 13 Minnesota Twins over eight innings in the Indians’ 2-0 victory on Thursday night.Bieber (2-0) fanned 14 over six scoreless innings on Friday against Kansas City. His 27 strikeouts in the two games matched the record set by Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers in September 1954 during the first two starts of his short career.Facing a Twins team that came in with the second-best run differential in baseball, Bieber allowed three singles in his eight innings.Francisco Lindor supplied all the offense Cleveland needed with a two-run homer in the third inning off Jose Berríos (0-1). After Jose Ramirez singled with two outs, Berrios left an 0-2 pitch up over the plate, and Lindor drove it over the fence in right for his second homer of the season.YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 6BALTIMORE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning after New York... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland’s Shane Bieber tied the major league record for strikeouts in a pitcher’s first two starts of the season, punching out 13 Minnesota Twins over eight innings in the Indians’ 2-0 victory on Thursday night.Bieber (2-0) fanned 14 over six scoreless innings on Friday against Kansas City. His 27 strikeouts in the two games matched the record set by Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers in September 1954 during the first two starts of his short career.Facing a Twins team that came in with the second-best run differential in baseball, Bieber allowed three singles in his eight innings.Francisco Lindor supplied all the offense Cleveland needed with a two-run homer in the third inning off Jose Berríos (0-1). After Jose Ramirez singled with two outs, Berrios left an 0-2 pitch up over the plate, and Lindor drove it over the fence in right for his second homer of the season.YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 6BALTIMORE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning after New York... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland’s Shane Bieber tied the major league record for strikeouts in a pitcher’s first two starts of the season, punching out 13 Minnesota Twins over eight innings in the Indians’ 2-0 victory on Thursday night.Bieber (2-0) fanned 14 over six scoreless innings on Friday against Kansas City. His 27 strikeouts in the two games matched the record set by Karl Spooner of the Brooklyn Dodgers in September 1954 during the first two starts of his short career.Facing a Twins team that came in with the second-best run differential in baseball, Bieber allowed three singles in his eight innings.Francisco Lindor supplied all the offense Cleveland needed with a two-run homer in the third inning off Jose Berríos (0-1). After Jose Ramirez singled with two outs, Berrios left an 0-2 pitch up over the plate, and Lindor drove it over the fence in right for his second homer of the season.YANKEES 8, ORIOLES 6BALTIMORE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning after New York... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adam Eaton’s bases-loaded chopper broke a scoreless tie in the 10th inning on a close play and Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a three-run triple, helping the Nationals snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Wednesday night.In a quirky game befitting this pandemic-altered, upside-down season, Toronto’s team played its “home opener” at Washington — batting in the bottom half of each inning, wearing its white uniforms, playing its players’ walk-up music and even blaring the song “OK Blue Jays,” the club’s traditional seventh-inning stretch staple.Toronto’s Nate Pearson, in his big league debut, and Washington’s Max Scherzer, in his 358th start in the majors, put up plenty of zeros. So did the relievers that followed. In the top of the 10th, though, Washington moved ahead on an odd-looking play. After starting with the automatic runner on second base Washington loaded the bags with two walks from Toronto’s sixth pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi (0-2).After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adam Eaton’s bases-loaded chopper broke a scoreless tie in the 10th inning on a close play and Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a three-run triple, helping the Nationals snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Wednesday night.In a quirky game befitting this pandemic-altered, upside-down season, Toronto’s team played its “home opener” at Washington — batting in the bottom half of each inning, wearing its white uniforms, playing its players’ walk-up music and even blaring the song “OK Blue Jays,” the club’s traditional seventh-inning stretch staple.Toronto’s Nate Pearson, in his big league debut, and Washington’s Max Scherzer, in his 358th start in the majors, put up plenty of zeros. So did the relievers that followed. In the top of the 10th, though, Washington moved ahead on an odd-looking play. After starting with the automatic runner on second base Washington loaded the bags with two walks from Toronto’s sixth pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi (0-2).After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adam Eaton’s bases-loaded chopper broke a scoreless tie in the 10th inning on a close play and Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a three-run triple, helping the Nationals snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Wednesday night.In a quirky game befitting this pandemic-altered, upside-down season, Toronto’s team played its “home opener” at Washington — batting in the bottom half of each inning, wearing its white uniforms, playing its players’ walk-up music and even blaring the song “OK Blue Jays,” the club’s traditional seventh-inning stretch staple.Toronto’s Nate Pearson, in his big league debut, and Washington’s Max Scherzer, in his 358th start in the majors, put up plenty of zeros. So did the relievers that followed. In the top of the 10th, though, Washington moved ahead on an odd-looking play. After starting with the automatic runner on second base Washington loaded the bags with two walks from Toronto’s sixth pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi (0-2).After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adam Eaton’s bases-loaded chopper broke a scoreless tie in the 10th inning on a close play and Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a three-run triple, helping the Nationals snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Wednesday night.In a quirky game befitting this pandemic-altered, upside-down season, Toronto’s team played its “home opener” at Washington — batting in the bottom half of each inning, wearing its white uniforms, playing its players’ walk-up music and even blaring the song “OK Blue Jays,” the club’s traditional seventh-inning stretch staple.Toronto’s Nate Pearson, in his big league debut, and Washington’s Max Scherzer, in his 358th start in the majors, put up plenty of zeros. So did the relievers that followed. In the top of the 10th, though, Washington moved ahead on an odd-looking play. After starting with the automatic runner on second base Washington loaded the bags with two walks from Toronto’s sixth pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi (0-2).After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Adam Eaton’s bases-loaded chopper broke a scoreless tie in the 10th inning on a close play and Asdrúbal Cabrera followed with a three-run triple, helping the Nationals snap a three-game losing streak by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Wednesday night.In a quirky game befitting this pandemic-altered, upside-down season, Toronto’s team played its “home opener” at Washington — batting in the bottom half of each inning, wearing its white uniforms, playing its players’ walk-up music and even blaring the song “OK Blue Jays,” the club’s traditional seventh-inning stretch staple.Toronto’s Nate Pearson, in his big league debut, and Washington’s Max Scherzer, in his 358th start in the majors, put up plenty of zeros. So did the relievers that followed. In the top of the 10th, though, Washington moved ahead on an odd-looking play. After starting with the automatic runner on second base Washington loaded the bags with two walks from Toronto’s sixth pitcher, Shun Yamaguchi (0-2).After... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Manager Dave Martinez got a kick out of seeing World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg and other Washington Nationals finally open their championship rings a couple of weeks ago in the clubhouse — even if it was months later than originally planned and with no one around but other members of the organization.“It’s definitely sad that we couldn’t have the fans here with us," Martinez said, then relayed his players' reaction while checking out the bling: “They all said, ‘Hey, let’s try to go get another one.’” Easier said than done, of course, especially lately. Beginning with Thursday night's opener of the pandemic-delayed season against the New York Yankees, the Nationals will attempt to do something no major league club has done in quite some time: win back-to-back World Series. It’s been two decades since the 2000 New York Yankees capped a run of three titles in a row, making the current stretch the longest drought without anyone winning consecutive championships in baseball's... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Washington Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle moves a glove out of the way as he reaches into a shelf in his spring training locker and grabs a different one, which he then hands over with a simple, if unusual, instruction: “Smell it.” So, of course, you do -- getting a sweet whiff of lavender, the sort you might get from a candle or bowl of potpourri. And now you know what Doolittle sniffed each time he jutted his right elbow toward home plate and tucked his glove under his chin to get his catcher's signs during last season's World Series.At the suggestion of Washington's director of mental conditioning, Mark Campbell, Doolittle put lavender oil on the leather laces around the webbing of his glove for the postseason. It helped the lefty relax on the mound after a rocky regular season, much the way the bullpen as a whole morphed from disaster to asset in 2019, a trend of improvement the club figures will continue in 2020."I was so nervous during the playoffs.... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Washington Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle moves a glove out of the way as he reaches into a shelf in his spring training locker and grabs a different one, which he then hands over with a simple, if unusual, instruction: “Smell it.” So, of course, you do -- getting a sweet whiff of lavender, the sort you might get from a candle or bowl of potpourri. And now you know what Doolittle sniffed each time he jutted his right elbow toward home plate and tucked his glove under his chin to get his catcher's signs during last season's World Series.At the suggestion of Washington's director of mental conditioning, Mark Campbell, Doolittle put lavender oil on the leather laces around the webbing of his glove for the postseason. It helped the lefty relax on the mound after a rocky regular season, much the way the bullpen as a whole morphed from disaster to asset in 2019, a trend of improvement the club figures will continue in 2020."I was so nervous during the playoffs.... [More]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Washington Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle moves a glove out of the way as he reaches into a shelf in his spring training locker and grabs a different one, which he then hands over with a simple, if unusual, instruction: “Smell it.” So, of course, you do -- getting a sweet, soothing whiff of lavender, the sort you might get from a candle or bowl of potpourri. And now you know what Doolittle sniffed each time he jutted his right elbow toward home plate and tucked his glove under his chin to get his catcher's signs during last season's World Series.At the suggestion of Washington's director of mental conditioning, Mark Campbell, Doolittle put lavender oil on the leather laces around the webbing of his glove for the postseason. It helped the lefty relax on the mound after a rocky regular season, much the way the bullpen as a whole morphed from disaster to asset in 2019, a trend of improvement the club figures will continue in 2020."I was so nervous during the... [More]