NEW YORK (AP) — Rich Hill finished May with the lowest monthly ERA in 75 years of a pitcher in his 40s, and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 16th time in 17 games by keeping up their domination of the reeling Yankees with a 3-1 victory Monday. Hill (4-2), a 41-year-old left-hander who is the oldest player in Rays’ history, improved to 3-0 against the Yankees this season. Hill was 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA in six May starts. Miguel Andújar homered in the seventh, just his second since 2018. J.P. Feyereisen, acquired May 21 from Milwaukee for shortstop Willy Adames, finished a five-hitter for his third save. The AL East-leading Rays (35-20) improved to 7-3 against the Yankees this season. New York (29-25) limped to the season’s one-third mark with its fourth straight defeat and sixth in seven games. Jameson Taillon (1-4) lost to Hill for the second time this year. He allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings. Manuel Margot hit an RBI double in the third. Austin Meadows homered into the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Rich Hill finished May with the lowest monthly ERA in 75 years of a pitcher in his 40s, and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the 16th time in 17 games by keeping up their domination of the reeling Yankees with a 3-1 victory Monday. Hill (4-2), a 41-year-old left-hander who is the oldest player in Rays’ history, improved to 3-0 against the Yankees this season. Hill was 3-1 with a 0.78 ERA in six May starts. Miguel Andújar homered in the seventh, just his second since 2018. J.P. Feyereisen, acquired May 21 from Milwaukee for shortstop Willy Adames, finished a five-hitter for his third save. The AL East-leading Rays (35-20) improved to 7-3 against the Yankees this season. New York (29-25) limped to the season’s one-third mark with its fourth straight defeat and sixth in seven games. Jameson Taillon (1-4) lost to Hill for the second time this year. He allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings. Manuel Margot hit an RBI double in the third. Austin Meadows homered into the... [More]

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Francisco Mejía hit a tiebreaking, two-run single during a seven-run burst in the 11th inning and the Tampa Bay Rays won their 11th straight game, outlasting the Toronto Blue Jays 14-8 on Monday. Tampa Bay moved within one win of the team record for consecutive victories. In 2004, playing as the Devil Rays, they won 12 in a row under manager Lou Piniella. After both teams scored twice in the 10th to make it 7-all, the Rays broke loose. Mejía’s hit came off Joel Payamps (0-2) with the bases loaded. Randy Arozarena doubled home a run, Austin Meadows had an RBI grounder, Manuel Margot knocked in two with a triple and Mike Brosseau added an RBI single against Tim Mayza. Joey Wendle hit a grand slam as Tampa Bay took a 5-0 lead in the first. The Rays wound up with a four-game sweep and took over sole possession of first place in the AL East. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit two of Toronto’s five home runs. The Blue Jays lost their sixth in a row. Tampa Bay scored twice in the 10th,... [More]

HOUSTON (AP) — Kent Emanuel worked 8 2/3 innings in relief in his major league debut, saving Houston’s bullpen after Jake Odorizzi left early with an injury, and the Astros pounded the Los Angeles Angels 16-2 on Saturday. Emanuel (1-0) allowed five hits and two runs. The 28-year-old became the fourth pitcher in the modern era to have a relief outing of 8 2/3 innings or more in his debut. Alex Bregman hit a three-run homer, Yordan Alvarez had a season-high four RBIs and Carlos Correa had three hits including a homer for Houston. The Astros had season highs in runs and hits (18) to win their third straight following a three-game skid. Odorizzi exited with tightness in his right forearm after retiring leadoff batter David Fletcher on five pitches. The Angels got solo homers from Albert Pujols in the second and Shohei Ohtani in the third. Bregman padded the lead when he sent a slider from Griffin Canning (1-2) to make it 6-2 in the third. YANKEES 2, INDIANS 1 CLEVELAND (AP) — Gerrit Cole was... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jurickson Profar singled and scored the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning, and the San Diego Padres opened the second series of the season in Southern California’s lively baseball rivalry with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. Trent Grisham homered and had two hits for the Padres, who snapped a three-game skid as they opened a four-game series at chilly Chavez Ravine with the Dodgers’ first home loss of the season. Los Angeles took two of three in San Diego last weekend, but the Padres answered with timely hits, strong pitching and a fantastic inning-ending double play in the eighth, capping yet another well-played matchup between two stacked rosters. AJ Pollock and Sheldon Neuse hit back-to-back homers leading off the seventh for the major league-leading Dodgers, who have lost three of four after a 13-2 start to the season. With several key hitters injured, Los Angeles has scored just 10 runs in its last five games. Profar and Victor Caratini... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The last-place New York Yankees lost their fifth straight game as Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a tiebreaking double off Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-2 win Sunday and a three-game sweep. Four pitchers combined on the Rays’ second three-hitter of a series in which New York managed 11 hits in all. Cole (2-1) was hurt by slipshod defense that made three mistakes in the third inning alone, two by center fielder Aaron Hicks and one by left fielder Clint Frazier. Joey Wendle added a ninth-inning home run off Darren O’Day. Tampa Bay has won 18 of its last 23 against the Yankees, including in last year’s Division Series. Ryan Yarbrough (2-1) followed opener Andrew Kittredge and allowed one run and two hits in five innings. Diego Castillo got four outs, and Jeffrey Springs pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first big league save. PADRES 5, DODGERS 2 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eric Hosmer delivered the tying and go-ahead RBIs in the seventh and eighth innings, helping... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — The last-place New York Yankees lost their fifth straight game as Yoshi Tsutsugo hit a tiebreaking double off Gerrit Cole in the seventh inning that lifted the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-2 win Sunday and a three-game sweep. Four pitchers combined on the Rays’ second three-hitter of a series in which New York managed 11 hits in all. Cole (2-1) was hurt by slipshod defense that made three mistakes in the third inning alone, two by center fielder Aaron Hicks and one by left fielder Clint Frazier. Joey Wendle added a ninth-inning home run off Darren O’Day. Tampa Bay has won 18 of its last 23 against the Yankees, including in last year’s Division Series. Ryan Yarbrough (2-1) followed opener Andrew Kittredge and allowed one run and two hits in five innings. Diego Castillo got four outs, and Jeffrey Springs pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first big league save. PADRES 5, DODGERS 2 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Eric Hosmer delivered the tying and go-ahead RBIs in the seventh and eighth innings, helping... [More]

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Corey Seager hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer on Tim Hill’s first pitch of the 12th inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres 11-6 Friday night in a tense, entertaining first matchup this season between NL West rivals who have visions of deep playoff runs. It took 4 hours, 57 minutes to decide this one, which ended early Saturday morning. The benches emptied after Dodgers reliever Dennis Santana hit Jorge Mateo with a pitch to put runners on the corners with one out in the 10th. Trent Grisham walked to load the bases, but Santana struck out Fernando Tatis Jr. to escape. The teams met for the first time since the Dodgers swept San Diego in their Division Series last year en route to winning the World Series. The Padres responded by beefing up their rotation, trading for Yu Darvish, Blake Snell and Joe Musgrove. Darvish and Snell are scheduled to pitch in the final two games of the three-game series. Seager homered with Mookie Betts on second base after... [More]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning, helping the Washington Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 1-0 on Friday night after Max Scherzer passed Cy Young on baseball’s career strikeouts list. The lefty-batting Schwarber connected on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Alex Young (0-3), sending a drive to right that traveled an estimated 463 feet for his first homer for Washington. Brad Hand (1-0) worked a scoreless ninth for the win. The Nationals allowed just three hits. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, struck out the side in the seventh while passing Cy Young to move into 22nd place on baseball’s strikeout list. He finished with 10 on the day, giving him 2,808 for his career. RAYS 8, YANKEES 2 NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Lowe hit a two-run double in the first inning off opener Nick Nelson (0-2), and AL champion Tampa Bay kept up its domination of New York, setting off frustrated fans who caused a brief interruption. The young, athletic Rays... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Castellanos stood over, flexed and jawed at St. Louis pitcher Jake Woodford after scoring, setting off a series of scuffles that included relievers shoving in the outfield as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cardinals 9-6 Saturday. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was knocked around for six runs and chased in the third. The next inning, the teams started tagging each other. Castellanos, who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was plunked by Woodford with two outs and none on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play. A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead as he bumped into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate. As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene. There was... [More]

CINCINNATI (AP) — Nick Castellanos stood over, flexed and jawed at St. Louis pitcher Jake Woodford after scoring, setting off a series of scuffles that included relievers shoving in the outfield as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Cardinals 9-6 Saturday. St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright was knocked around for six runs and chased in the third. The next inning, the teams started tagging each other. Castellanos, who homered on opening day and hopped out of the box before tossing his bat, was plunked by Woodford with two outs and none on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved the ball and offered to toss it back to Woodford before flipping it out of play. A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos scampering home from third and he scored with a headfirst slide for a 7-2 lead as he bumped into Woodford, who took the throw from catcher Yadier Molina at the plate. As Castellanos began walking away, Molina rushed up and tapped him from behind, and the benches and bullpens emptied in a wild scene. There was... [More]

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Cincinnati Reds infielder Jonathan India might be forcing his way onto the big league roster and even a starting spot in the infield thanks to an impressive spring performance. The fifth overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Florida is showing why he was such a highly regarded prospect a few seasons ago. Through his first 17 spring games, he hit .333 with four doubles and two homers and is a candidate to start at second base. The 24-year-old India had a slow start to his professional career, producing good but not great numbers during his first two minor league seasons. He spent all of 2020 at the team's alternate training site during the shortened 60-game season and was never promoted to the big leagues. But now he looks like he belongs. “It says so much about the difference a year makes in a young player's career,” Reds manager David Bell said last week. “Not that he wasn't in a good place last year, but the development has been very significant over the past... [More]

Michael Kopech is getting used to his new relief role with the Chicago White Sox. Judging by his first Cactus League appearance, it looks like he's going to be just fine. The talented right-hander worked a perfect fourth inning Tuesday against San Diego. It was his first game since he opted out of the pandemic-shortened season for a variety of reasons, including concerns about his mental health. “It’s been a while, obviously,” Kopech said. “But it just felt good to kind of knock some rust off and get back out there and compete.” The 24-year-old Kopech, one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, was a starter coming up through the minors and likely will return to Chicago’s rotation at some point. But he is expected to begin the year in the White Sox bullpen. Part of his spring training work involves getting up to speed when it comes to life as a reliever. He worked out of the stretch against the Padres. “If I am going to be throwing out of the bullpen for part of this year at least and maybe... [More]

Michael Kopech is getting used to his new relief role with the Chicago White Sox. Judging by his first Cactus League appearance, it looks like he's going to be just fine. The talented right-hander worked a perfect fourth inning Tuesday against San Diego. It was his first game since he opted out of the pandemic-shortened season for a variety of reasons, including concerns about his mental health. “It’s been a while, obviously,” Kopech said. “But it just felt good to kind of knock some rust off and get back out there and compete.” The 24-year-old Kopech, one of baseball’s top pitching prospects, was a starter coming up through the minors and likely will return to Chicago’s rotation at some point. But he is expected to begin the year in the White Sox bullpen. Part of his spring training work involves getting up to speed when it comes to life as a reliever. He worked out of the stretch against the Padres. “If I am going to be throwing out of the bullpen for part of this year at least and maybe... [More]

Shohei Ohtani figured he’d be careful in his return to the mound after two injury-spoiled seasons. A few batters in, the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way sensation reached back for a little extra — and brought back some of the buzz that surrounded his major league debut three years ago. Ohtani reached 100 mph with his fastball and showed off his signature splitter while striking out five over 1 2/3 innings in the Angels’ 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday. The right-hander allowed a run, three hits and two walks, struggling to command his slider but showcasing the arm strength and stuff that allowed him to dominate in the majors before Tommy John surgery in 2018. “Since this was my first game, I wasn’t planning on letting it go in the beginning, especially early in counts,” Ohtani said via translator. “As the game went on, I felt better and I started throwing harder, but I think that led to me cutting the ball a couple times, so it’s something I have to work on.” The 26-year-old Japanese... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Randy Arozarena homered twice and the Tampa Bay Rays clinched their first AL East title in 10 years Wednesday night with an 8-5 victory over the New York Mets. Joey Wendle and Brandon Lowe also went deep to help Tyler Glasnow (5-1) win his fifth straight decision. Tampa Bay will be home at quirky Tropicana Field for a best-of-three first-round playoff series beginning next Tuesday. It is the third division crown for the thrifty Rays, who also won the AL East in 2008 and 2010. Their inaugural season was 1998. After missing a chance to clinch Tuesday, the Rays went into Wednesday again needing just a win or a New York Yankees loss against Toronto to lock up the division championship. The Rays (37-20) broke a 2-all tie in the sixth on Arozarena’s two-run homer off Michael Wacha (1-4) and pulled away. As has become customary during this pandemic-shortened season, the celebration was muted. After Nick Anderson fanned Andres Gimenez for the final out, the closer exchanged a hug... [More]

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Nate Lowe hit two homers and drove in four runs as Tampa Bay fielded a lineup of all lefties, Blake Snell worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings and the AL East-leading Rays routed the cellar-dwelling Boston Red Sox 11-1 on Friday night.Tampa Bay became the first major league team since at least 1900 to use a batting order with only left-handed batters, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.Snell (4-1) gave up five hits and two walks. He struck out five.Yoshi Tsutsugo also homered for the Rays, who stopped a three-game skid. Boston rookie Bobby Dalbec had his five-game home run streak end but had an RBI double in the ninth.Rays manager Kevin Cash stacked his lineup with lefties against right-hander Andrew Triggs, who made his second start with Boston.Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke quickly countered by removing Triggs after he allowed a hit and walk in a scoreless first. However, Tsutsugo started the second with a homer off lefty Matt Hall (0-3).Kevin Kiermaier had an RBI... [More]

Diamondbacks first. Tim Locastro singles to center field. Josh Rojas reaches on a fielder's choice to shallow infield. Tim Locastro out at second. Christian Walker triples to right field. Josh Rojas scores. Eduardo Escobar out on a sacrifice fly to deep left center field to Dylan Moore. Christian Walker scores. Kole Calhoun doubles. Nick Ahmed singles to right field. Kole Calhoun scores. Wyatt Mathisen strikes out swinging.3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Diamondbacks 3, Mariners 0.Mariners third. Dee Strange-Gordon grounds out to first base to Christian Walker. Dylan Moore homers to left field. Ty France pops out to Wyatt Mathisen. Kyle Lewis grounds out to shallow left field, Nick Ahmed to Christian Walker.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Diamondbacks 3, Mariners 1.Diamondbacks third. Josh Rojas singles to right field. Christian Walker grounds out to shallow infield, Ty France to Evan White. Josh Rojas to second. Eduardo Escobar doubles. Josh Rojas to third. Kole Calhoun out on... [More]

Mariners first. J.P. Crawford walks. Ty France walks. J.P. Crawford to second. Kyle Lewis grounds out to shallow infield. Ty France out at second. J.P. Crawford to third. Kyle Seager homers to center field. J.P. Crawford scores. Evan White grounds out to shallow left field, Isiah Kiner-Falefa to Ronald Guzman.2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Mariners 2, Rangers 0.Rangers second. Joey Gallo homers. Jose Trevino flies out to deep left center field to Kyle Lewis. Ronald Guzman walks. Derek Dietrich strikes out swinging. Anderson Tejeda flies out to left field to Jose Marmolejos.1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Mariners 2, Rangers 1.Mariners fourth. Kyle Lewis homers to center field. Kyle Seager singles to right field. Evan White strikes out on a foul tip. Jose Marmolejos grounds out to shallow infield, Jordan Lyles to Ronald Guzman. Kyle Seager to second. Phillip Ervin grounds out to shortstop, Anderson Tejeda to Ronald Guzman.1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Mariners 3, Rangers 1.Rangers... [More]

SEATTLE (AP) — Jerry Dipoto expected a quiet lead-up to the trade deadline. The only player the Seattle Mariners general manager knew he wanted to and could move with ease was pitcher Taijuan Walker. The last thing Dipoto planned on was a massive seven-player swap that ended up landing the Mariners a couple of prime prospects they have long coveted. “We’re excited about the group we’re building,” Dipoto said. “Frankly, when we made the Taijuan Walker deal I really did think that we were probably done and that would be the extent of our activity. But it took on a little bit of a different light.”Seattle ended up making four trades before Monday’s deadline but the most notable was the seven-player deal with San Diego that landed the Mariners four players with the potential to contribute to their rebuilding plans. Taylor Trammell, one of the top 100 prospects in the minors, headlined the trade. But the depth of the deal is what made it successful for the Mariners, who also added infielder... [More]