ATLANTA (AP) — Ronald Acuna Jr. pulled off one of the rarest feats in baseball history, hitting leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader to send the first-place Atlanta Braves to a sweep of the Miami Marlins on Monday.The 20-year-old rookie hit an opposite-field drive into the Braves' bullpen in Game 1, powering Atlanta to a 9-1 victory. Haitian-American Touki Toussaint (1-0) pitched six strong innings to win his major league debut.It was more of the same from Acuna in the nightcap. He sent a towering shot into the seats in left-center, sparking the Braves to a 6-1 victory behind another strong outing on the mound from Mike Foltynewicz (10-7).Acuna appeared to be only the fourth player in big league history to hit a pair of leadoff homers in a doubleheader.Merandy Gonzalez (2-1) took the loss in the second game after being called up from Double-A Jacksonville for his first career start.Acuna hit his first leadoff homer off Pablo Lopez (2-3) and added a two-run double in the sixth,... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:LAST RIDEThe Subway Series finishes with a marquee matchup at Yankee Stadium. Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who leads the majors with a 1.77 ERA, faces Luis Severino, who tops the AL with 15 wins. The game is a makeup from a rainout last month. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has homered in five of his last six games.YOU AGAIN?Giants star Madison Bumgarner and Los Angeles lefty Clayton Kershaw face each other for the 11th time when the Giants visit Dodger Stadium. Bumgarner is 4-3 with a 2.56 ERA against Kershaw in the previous 10 head-to-head meetings. Kershaw is 3-4 with a 2.00 ERA in those starts.FLYING HIGHThe Cardinals have matched a season high with five straight wins, and now host Washington in a four-game series. Miles Mikolas (12-3, 2.74) starts for St. Louis against Tommy Milone (1-1, 5.50). Far from Busch Stadium, longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will throw an inning for the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Class A Florida State... [More]

A look at what's happening around baseball Monday:LAST RIDEThe Subway Series finishes with a marquee matchup at Yankee Stadium. Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who leads the majors with a 1.77 ERA, faces Luis Severino, who tops the AL with 15 wins. The game is a makeup from a rainout last month. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has homered in five of his last six games.YOU AGAIN?Giants star Madison Bumgarner and Los Angeles lefty Clayton Kershaw face each other for the 11th time when the Giants visit Dodger Stadium. Bumgarner is 4-3 with a 2.56 ERA against Kershaw in the previous 10 head-to-head meetings. Kershaw is 3-4 with a 2.00 ERA in those starts.FLYING HIGHThe Cardinals have matched a season high with five straight wins, and now host Washington in a four-game series. Miles Mikolas (12-3, 2.74) starts for St. Louis against Tommy Milone (1-1, 5.50). Far from Busch Stadium, longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright will throw an inning for the Palm Beach Cardinals in the Class A Florida State League... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:MATTY WOODWORKMatt Carpenter has four homers in five games heading into St. Louis' series finale against Miami. Carpenter hit his 30th home run in a 3-2 win Monday, becoming the first left-handed Cardinal to hit 30 home runs since Jim Edmonds hit 42 in 2004, according to ESPN Stats & Info. "I couldn't imagine the stretch I'm putting together," Carpenter said. "I would have never guessed that. It's uncharted territory for me."FIRED UPMike Fiers makes his first start since the Athletics acquired him Detroit earlier this week. The right-hander will pitch at the Coliseum against a tough opponent in Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fiers is 7-6 with a 3.48 ERA this season and 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA over his last seven starts."I wasn't really planning on going anywhere and just focused on what I had to do there. The time came and I was traded and now I'm here trying to do my job every fifth day," he said.BOSTON BAIL OUTThe Red Sox... [More]

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Asked about his best role in the Oakland bullpen, Shawn Kelley barbed himself."25-1's fine, whatever," he quipped Tuesday as he joined his new Athletics teammates.The Washington Nationals cut Kelley last week, a day after he slammed his glove to the ground and glared into the dugout while pitching the ninth inning of a blowout win over the New York Mets. The Nats were ahead 25-1 when Kelley surrendered a two-run homer and lost his cool.Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said of Kelley: "You're either in or you're in the way. I thought he was in the way. That's something you don't come back from."It was an embarrassing moment for Kelley. But, he says, that's not who he is."I got frustrated because I gave up a homer. I meant no disrespect," Kelley said. "I've always been a team guy."Now with his fifth big league team, the 34-year-old righty is ready to help Oakland chase a playoff berth."I hope I can help out in any way and help them keep rolling," Kelley said.Oakland... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors Wednesday:MATTY WOODWORKMatt Carpenter has four homers in five games heading into St. Louis' series finale against Miami. Carpenter hit his 30th home run in a 3-2 win Monday, becoming the first left-handed Cardinal to hit 30 home runs since Jim Edmonds hit 42 in 2004, according to ESPN Stats & Info. "I couldn't imagine the stretch I'm putting together," Carpenter said. "I would have never guessed that. It's uncharted territory for me."FIRED UPMike Fiers makes his first start since the Athletics acquired him Detroit earlier this week. The right-hander will pitch at the Coliseum against a tough opponent in Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Fiers is 7-6 with a 3.48 ERA this season and 2-2 with a 1.96 ERA over his last seven starts."I wasn't really planning on going anywhere and just focused on what I had to do there. The time came and I was traded and now I'm here trying to do my job every fifth day," he said.BOSTON BAIL OUTThe Red... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier officially announced his retirement from baseball Friday during an on-field ceremony.Ethier played all 12 of his major league seasons with the Dodgers, making his debut in 2006, less than five months after he was acquired in an offseason trade from the Oakland Athletics. He hit 162 career home runs with 1,367 hits and appeared in the postseason eight times.He drove in the team's only run in a 5-1 defeat in Game 7 of the World Series last year.Ethier, 36, said he was open to joining a team in spring training but the perfect fit never materialized. By April he started planning his first summer family vacation. The Dodgers talked him into a retirement ceremony Friday."I was honestly geared up and ready to go," Ethier said about playing in 2018. "The business side you just start to realize there's not a market. Markets just don't develop. I had been joking a lot that if you can't find a job then I guess you retire and that's what happened."The... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier officially announced his retirement from baseball Friday during an on-field ceremony.Ethier played all 12 of his major league seasons with the Dodgers, making his debut in 2006, less than five months after he was acquired in an offseason trade from the Oakland Athletics. He hit 162 career home runs with 1,367 hits and appeared in the postseason eight times.He drove in the team's only run in a 5-1 defeat in Game 7 of the World Series last year.Ethier, 36, said he was open to joining a team in spring training but the perfect fit never materialized. By April he started planning his first summer family vacation. The Dodgers talked him into a retirement ceremony Friday."I was honestly geared up and ready to go," Ethier said about playing in 2018. "The business side you just start to realize there's not a market. Markets just don't develop. I had been joking a lot that if you can't find a job then I guess you retire and that's what happened."The... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier officially announced his retirement from baseball Friday during an on-field ceremony.Ether played all 12 of his major league seasons with the Dodgers, making his major league debut in 2006, less than five months after he was acquired in an offseason trade from the Oakland Athletics. He hit 162 career home runs with 1,367 hits and appeared in the postseason eight times.He drove in the team's only run in a 5-1 defeat in Game 7 of the World Series last year.Ethier, 36, said he was open to joining a team in spring training but the perfect fit never materialized. By April he started planning his first summer family vacation. The Dodgers talked him into a retirement ceremony Friday."I was honestly geared up and ready to go," Ethier said about playing in 2018. "The business side you just start to realize there's not a market. Markets just don't develop. I had been joking a lot that if you can't find a job then I guess you retire and that's what... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Steve Pearce homered three times, the second a three-run drive in an eight-run fourth inning as the Boston Red Sox rallied from an early deficit to beat the New York Yankees 15-7 on Thursday night and take a season-high 6½-game lead in the AL East.In the opener of a four-game series that gave New York the potential to erase most of its division deficit, the Red Sox instead opened a bigger gap, taking advantage of manager Aaron Boone's decision to pull starter CC Sabathia after three innings with a 4-2 lead. Jonathan Holder (1-2) faced seven batters and did not record an out.Mookie Betts had four hits and two walks, reaching safely all six times he came to the plate. Pearce, J.D. Martinez, Ian Kinsler and Andrew Benintendi had three hits apiece for Boston.Didi Grigorius homered twice, Aaron Hicks hit one and Giancarlo Stanton got his 25th of the season for the Yankees, who have lost just twice in the past week but dropped two games in the division.Brian Johnson (2-3), making... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — When baseball stars on expiring contracts get traded in July, there's usually no need to find long-term housing.Infielders Manny Machado, Mike Moustakas and Brian Dozier; starting pitchers Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and Nathan Eovaldi; catcher Martin Maldonado; and closer Zach Britton are among the players dealt ahead of this week's deadline for trades without waivers. All could be eligible for free agency after the World Series.Most will find new clubs, like Randy Johnson (Houston for Arizona after 1998), CC Sabathia (Milwaukee for the Yankees after 2008), Aroldis Chapman (Chicago Cubs for a Yankees return following 2016) and Yu Darvish (Los Angeles Dodgers for the Chicago Cubs last offseason).Few decide to stay, such as Yoenis Cespedes with the New York Mets after the 2015 seasonAdding to the intrigue is last offseason's slow free-agent market, which saw veterans scramble during spring training to find cut-rate contracts as opening day approached.A look at some of the potential... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered on the second pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.Betts' first career game-ending homer capped a wild last few innings. The Twins rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Rafael Devers hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to force extras. Betts drove Matt Belisle's first pitch of the night over the Green Monster setting off a celebration to end a hot, muggy night at Fenway Park.Betts' teammates cooled him off by dousing him with a cooler full of ice water when the All-Start right fielder stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call.Belisle (1-1) faced only Betts, who ended it with his 25th homer of the season. Tyler Thornburg (1-0) held the Twins scoreless in the 10th after Craig Kimbrel blew a shot at his 33rd save in the ninth.Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give Minnesota its first lead.Jackie... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered on the second pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.Betts' first career game-ending homer capped a wild last few innings. The Twins rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Rafael Devers hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to force extras. Betts drove Matt Belisle's first pitch of the night over the Green Monster setting off a celebration to end a hot, muggy night at Fenway Park.Betts' teammates cooled him off by dousing him with a cooler full of ice water when the All-Start right fielder stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call.Belisle (1-1) faced only Betts, who ended it with his 25th homer of the season. Tyler Thornburg (1-0) held the Twins scoreless in the 10th after Craig Kimbrel blew a shot at his 33rd save in the ninth.Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give Minnesota its first lead.Jackie... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered on the second pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.Betts' first career game-ending homer capped a wild last few innings. The Twins rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Rafael Devers hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to force extras. Betts drove Matt Belisle's first pitch of the night over the Green Monster setting off a celebration to end a hot, muggy night at Fenway Park.Betts' teammates cooled him off by dousing him with a cooler full of ice water when the All-Start right fielder stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call.Belisle (1-1) faced only Betts, who ended it with his 25th homer of the season. Tyler Thornburg (1-0) held the Twins scoreless in the 10th after Craig Kimbrel blew a shot at his 33rd save in the ninth.Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give Minnesota its first lead.Jackie... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Mookie Betts homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.Betts' first career game-ending homer capped a wild last few innings. The Twins rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a one-run lead in the top of the ninth. Rafael Devers hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the inning to force extras. Betts drove Matt Belisle's first pitch of the night over the Green Monster setting off a celebration to end a hot, muggy night at Fenway Park.Betts' teammates cooled him off by dousing him with a cooler full of ice water when the All-Start right fielder stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call.Belisle (1-1) faced only Betts, who ended it with his 25th homer of the season. Tyler Thornburg (1-0) held the Twins scoreless in the 10th after Craig Kimbrel blew a shot at his 33rd save in the ninth.Eddie Rosario hit a two-run double with two outs in the ninth to give Minnesota its first lead.Jackie... [More]

A look at what's happening around the majors today:DOMINANT DODGERSClayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers will look to keep up their domination of the Atlanta in the second game of their weekend series at SunTrust Park.The Dodgers won the series opener Thursday night, routing the Braves 8-2 behind seven dominant innings from Rich Hill and Manny Machado's first homer with his new team.Kershaw has never lost to the Braves, going 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in nine career starts. The Dodgers haven't lost a series to the Braves since 2015, winning 21 of the last 30 games between the teams.Machado was acquired last week from Baltimore, bolstering a lineup that already led the National League in homers. He now had 25 homers on the season."Get it out of the way," he said. "Get the first hit, the first home runs out of the way. Now it's just concentrate on playing baseball and winning games."The Dodgers hold a 1 1/2-game lead in the NL West. The Braves slipped 2 1/2 games behind Philadelphia in the... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Aroldis Chapman had flamed out, throwing three of 19 pitches for strikes and enabling the Mets to cut a four-run, ninth-inning deficit in half.Chasen Shreve to the rescue. Yes, Chasen Shreve.Maligned last month, Shreve entered with the bases loaded, got Devin Mesoraco to hit into a run-scoring, double-play grounder and retired Wilmer Flores on a slow roller in front of the mound.With his second big league save and first since August 2016, Shreve preserved a 7-6 Subway Series victory Saturday that enabled Sonny Gray (7-7) to win consecutive starts for the first time since the Yankees acquired him last summer.On another tumult-filled day for the last-place Mets, closer Jeurys Familia was traded to Oakland for a pair of minor leaguers and slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes was out of the lineup because of body soreness, one game after returning from a two-month absence. Cespedes said Friday night he may need surgery on both heels that would require an eight-to-10-month recovery.Aaron... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Aroldis Chapman had flamed out, throwing three of 19 pitches for strikes and enabling the Mets to cut a four-run, ninth-inning deficit in half.Chasen Shreve to the rescue. Yes, Chasen Shreve.Maligned last month, Shreve entered with the bases loaded, got Devin Mesoraco to hit into a run-scoring, double-play grounder and retired Wilmer Flores on a slow roller in front of the mound.With his second big league save and first since August 2016, Shreve preserved a 7-6 Subway Series victory Saturday that enabled Sonny Gray (7-7) to win consecutive starts for the first time since the Yankees acquired him last summer.On another tumult-filled day for the last-place Mets, closer Jeurys Familia was traded to Oakland for a pair of minor leaguers and slugging outfielder Yoenis Cespedes was out of the lineup because of body soreness, one game after returning from a two-month absence. Cespedes said Friday night he may need surgery on both heels that would require an eight-to-10-month recovery.Aaron... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers have activated Ryan Braun from the 10-day disabled list after the outfielder was sidelined by a strained back.Braun returns to a team that has lost seven straight and fallen three games behind of the first-place Cubs in the NL Central. He was hitting cleanup Saturday against the Dodgers and left-handed ace Clayton Kershaw.Braun is hitting just .235 with 10 homers and 35 RBIs. Manager Craig Counsell says he expects Braun to improve after the outfielder had some bad luck at the plate in the season's first half.The banged-up Brewers are slowly getting healthier, with starting catcher Manny Pina returning from DL on Friday from a left biceps strain. Outfielder-first baseman Eric Thames (right hamstring) and starter Junior Guerra (right forearm) are among other key players on the disabled list.Catcher Jacob Nottingham was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs to make room for Braun.___More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball

A look at what's happening around the majors today:ST. LOUIS STUNNERThe Cardinals will play their first game under interim manager Mike Shildt after firing Mike Matheny late Saturday night. Matheny's stunning dismissal comes with the team 47-46 and 7 1/2 games back of the NL Central-leading Cubs. The prospect of a third straight year without a postseason berth, paired with reports of clubhouse unrest, spelled the end for Matheny, who was 591-473 and made four postseasons in 6 1/2 years on the job. St. Louis will send All-Star Miles Mikolas (10-3, 2.65 ERA) to the mound against Cincinnati.STAR-STUDDED SLIDEDespite boasting an NL-best four All-Stars, the Braves are freefalling going into the midsummer break. Atlanta has lost 8 of 10, including the first two games of its series against Arizona, to drop out of first place in the NL East. Julio Teheran (6-6, 4.26) tries to get the Braves a victory to close out the unofficial first half against the Diamondbacks' Patrick Corbin (6-3, 3.09).AILING... [More]