May 17 1925 — Cleveland’s Tris Speaker got his 3,000th career hit, off Tom Zachary, in a 2-1 loss to the Washington Senators. 1939 — The first baseball game on television was broadcast by W2XBS, an experimental station run by NBC in New York. Bill Stern handled the play-by-play as Princeton beat Columbia, 2-1, in 10 innings. 1945 — For the fourth time in four days, every American League game in the country was postponed by rain. 1961 — Roger Maris hit his first home run of the season at Yankee Stadium (fourth overall) on his way to a record 61. 1963 — Don Nottebart pitched Houston’s first no-hitter as the Colt .45s defeated the visiting Philadelphia Phillies 4-1. 1970 — Hank Aaron scratched out an infield single against Cincinnati’s Wayne Simpson to become the ninth player with 3,000 hits. The hit came in the nightcap of the Atlanta Braves’ doubleheader loss to the Reds in Cincinnati. 1977 — The Chicago Cubs hit seven home runs in beating the San Diego Padres 23-6 at Wrigley Field. Larry... [More]

May 14 1913 — Washington’s Walter Johnson gave up a run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. The Senators won 10-5. 1914 — Jim Scott of the Chicago White Sox pitched nine innings of no-hit ball against the Washington Senators, but lost 1-0 after giving up two hits in the 10th inning. 1920 — Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators recorded his 300th victory with a 9-8 win over the Detroit Tigers. 1927 — Chicago pitcher Guy Bush went the distance for the Cubs in a 7-2 18-inning win over Boston. Charlie Robertson of the Braves almost matched the feat, leaving with one out in the 18th. 1950 — Pittsburgh first baseman Johnny Hopp hit two home runs and four singles in six at-bats, leading the Pirates to a 16-9 victory over the Cubs in the second game of a doubleheader at Chicago. 1965 — Carl Yastrzemski of Boston hit for the cycle and added another home run for five RBIs in a 12-8 10-inning loss to the Detroit Tigers. 1967 — Mickey Mantle’s... [More]

May 12 1910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians. 1937 — St. Louis’ Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. 1955 — Sam “Toothpick” Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory. 1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants. 1966 — Lou Brock’s RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves. 1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago’s 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field. 2000 — Boston’s Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — Curt Schilling, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are the leading candidates returning to baseball’s Hall of Fame ballot in a year without any favorites among the new names. Schilling was third behind Derek Jeter and Larry Walker with 278 of 397 votes last year, finishing at 70% and 20 votes shy in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Clemens had 242 votes for 61% and Bonds 241 for 60.7%, both well short of the 75% needed, which was 298 votes last year. Both were overwhelming favorites before suspicions of steroids use. Clemens has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, and Bonds says he never knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs. All three will be making their ninth appearance on the BBWAA ballot this year, one short of the limit. Omar Vizquel was next in last year's voting with 209 ballots for 52.6%. Pitchers Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Mark Buehrle and A.J. Burnett, and outfielder Torii Hunter are among the top newcomers on the ballot announced... [More]

2020 — Shane Bieber, Cleveland 2019 — Justin Verlander, Houston 2018 — Blake Snell, Tampa Bay 2017 — Corey Kluber, Cleveland 2016 — Rick Porcello, Boston 2015 — Dallas Keuchel, Houston 2014 — Corey Kluber, Cleveland 2013 — Max Scherzer, Detroit 2012 — David Price, Tampa Bay 2011 — x-Justin Verlander, Detroit 2010 — Felix Hernandez, Seattle 2009 — Zack Greinke, Kansas City 2008 — Cliff Lee, Cleveland 2007 — CC Sabathia, Cleveland 2006 — x-Johan Santana, Minnesota 2005 — Bartolo Colon, Los Angeles 2004 — x-Johan Santana, Minnesota 2003 — Roy Halladay, Toronto 2002 — Barry Zito, Oakland 2001 — Roger Clemens, New York 2000 — x-Pedro Martinez, Boston 1999 — x-Pedro Martinez, Boston 1998 — x-Roger Clemens, Toronto 1997 — Roger Clemens, Toronto 1996 — Pat Hentgen, Toronto 1995 — Randy Johnson, Seattle 1994 — David Cone, Kansas City 1993 — Jack McDowell, Chicago 1992 — Dennis Eckersley, Oakland 1991 — Roger Clemens, Boston 1990 — Bob Welch, Oakland 1989 — Bret Saberhagen, Kansas City 1988 — Frank... [More]

2020 — x-Shane Bieber, Cleveland 2019 — Justin Verlander, Houston 2018 — Blake Snell, Tampa Bay 2017 — Corey Kluber, Cleveland 2016 — Rick Porcello, Boston 2015 — Dallas Keuchel, Houston 2014 — Corey Kluber, Cleveland 2013 — Max Scherzer, Detroit 2012 — David Price, Tampa Bay 2011 — x-Justin Verlander, Detroit 2010 — Felix Hernandez, Seattle 2009 — Zack Greinke, Kansas City 2008 — Cliff Lee, Cleveland 2007 — CC Sabathia, Cleveland 2006 — x-Johan Santana, Minnesota 2005 — Bartolo Colon, Los Angeles 2004 — x-Johan Santana, Minnesota 2003 — Roy Halladay, Toronto 2002 — Barry Zito, Oakland 2001 — Roger Clemens, New York 2000 — x-Pedro Martinez, Boston 1999 — x-Pedro Martinez, Boston 1998 — x-Roger Clemens, Toronto 1997 — Roger Clemens, Toronto 1996 — Pat Hentgen, Toronto 1995 — Randy Johnson, Seattle 1994 — David Cone, Kansas City 1993 — Jack McDowell, Chicago 1992 — Dennis Eckersley, Oakland 1991 — Roger Clemens, Boston 1990 — Bob Welch, Oakland 1989 — Bret Saberhagen, Kansas City 1988 — Frank... [More]

May 121910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.1937 — St. Louis’ Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.1955 — Sam “Toothpick” Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.1966 — Lou Brock’s RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago’s 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.2000 — Boston’s Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record... [More]

May 91901 — Earl Moore of the Cleveland Indians pitched nine hitless innings against the Chicago White Sox before giving up two hits in the 10th to lose 4-2.1937 — Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds went 6-for-6 in a 21-10 rout of the Phillies in Philadelphia.1961 — Jim Gentile of the Baltimore Orioles hit consecutive grand slams in the first and second innings of a 13-5 rout of Minnesota.1973 — Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds hit three home runs off Philadelphia’s Steve Carlton for the second time in his career, in a 9-7 victory. Bench drove in seven runs.1984 — The Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers battled for eight hours and six minutes in the longest game ever. After playing 17 innings the previous day, the teams met again before a regularly scheduled game, making the total 34 innings for two days. Harold Baines homered off Chuck Porter with one out in the bottom of the 25th for a 7-6 victory. Tom Seaver won both games for the White Sox.1987 — Baltimore’s Eddie Murray became... [More]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Bruce Bochy once took a bat to a flat-screen TV during a San Francisco Giants team meeting to make a point to his players. It just took a few more swings than he expected because it didn't break on the first attempt as he had figured."It's not like a regular TV where it shatters, it just went thud," Bochy recalled this week.Such moments of madness were rare for Bochy, who is known more for his even-keel temperament, and that made them all the more meaningful. While his legacy in San Francisco will always be capturing those three World Series titles in a remarkable five-year span, Bochy's reputation for fairness and having a genuine way of dealing with players has been of utmost importance to him during a decorated 25-year managerial career."My hope is they know I care. I don't always get it right as far as communicating," said Bochy, who wraps up what has certainly been a Hall of Fame career this weekend. "I know there have been players who questioned how fair I was,... [More]

Yes, the Houston Astros can still be beat, even after assembling baseball's newest super rotation.The Astros acquired six-time All-Star Zack Greinke from Arizona just before Wednesday's trade deadline, adding him to a pitching staff that already included Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole. Then, as if to show off, Houston threw a combined no-hitter Saturday night against Seattle — with Aaron Sanchez, another new acquisition, tossing six innings.Still, recent history tells us that in baseball's fickle postseason, even a trio of aces often isn't enough. Here's a look at some of the best rotations of the wild-card era — and how those teams ultimately fared.Atlanta Braves (1995-99): The Atlanta trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz actually joined forces before the wild-card era and stayed together into the new century, but the peak was probably the mid-to-late 1990s, when the Braves won three pennants and a World series in a five-year span. Maddux won the Cy Young Award in 1995, Smoltz... [More]

Using the search engine at Baseball-Reference.com, The Associated Press evaluated each team's draft performance from 1996 through 2018, adding up wins above replacement (WAR) figures for drafted players.For each pick, the player's career WAR was added to the appropriate total for the team, depending on whether or not the player signed with the team after being drafted. Some players had their WAR totals included multiple times, if they were drafted more than once.Stats are through May 25. Compensation picks were considered part of the first round where applicable.___ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKSTotal WAR for all drafted players: 581.8 (MLB rank: 4th)Total WAR for drafted players who signed: 440.1 (rank: 5th)Total WAR for drafted players who did not sign: 141.7Impact players (10 WAR or more) drafted: 17 (rank: tie-9th)Impact players drafted and signed: 13 (rank: 12th)Most recent impact player drafted and signed: Trevor Bauer, 2011, first round, pick No. 3 (15.2 WAR)Lowest pick for impact player drafted... [More]

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barry Zito has written a book detailing his rise and fall as a baseball pitcher and his intensifying belief in religion."Curveball" will be published Sept. 17 by Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. It was authored by Zito with Robert Noland, who has worked on books for Christian publishers in recent years.Zito, who turns 41 on Monday, was a three-time All-Star with Oakland and the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner after he went 23-5. He went 102-63 in seven seasons with Oakland, then signed a $126 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco after the 2006 season and was 63-80 for the Giants.He became more religious during the time of his mound struggles. Zito returned to the Athletics for three games in 2015, then retired with a 165-143 record. He has pursued a career as a country acoustic guitar artist.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barry Zito has written a book detailing his rise and fall as a baseball pitcher and his intensifying belief in religion."Curveball" will be published Sept. 17 by Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. It was authored by Zito with Robert Noland, who has worked on books for Christian publishers in recent years.Zito, who turns 41 on Monday, was a three-time All-Star with Oakland and the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner after he went 23-5. He went 102-63 in seven seasons with Oakland, then signed a $126 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco after the 2006 season and was 63-80 for the Giants.He became more religious during the time of his mound struggles. Zito returned to the Athletics for three games in 2015, then retired with a 165-143 record. He has pursued a career as a country acoustic guitar artist.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Barry Zito has written a book detailing his rise and fall as a baseball pitcher and his discovery of religion."Curveball" will be published Sept. 17 by Thomas Nelson, a division of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. It was authored by Zito with Robert Noland, who has worked on books for Christian publishers in recent years.Zito, who turns 41 on Monday, was a three-time All-Star with Oakland and the 2002 AL Cy Young Award winner after he went 23-5. He went 102-63 in seven seasons with Oakland, then signed a $126 million, seven-year contract with San Francisco after the 2006 season and was 63-80 for the Giants.He became more religious during the time of his mound struggles. Zito returned to the Athletics for three games in 2015, then retired with a 165-143 record. He has pursued a career as a country acoustic guitar artist.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

May 121910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.1937 — St. Louis' Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.1955 — Sam "Toothpick" Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.1966 — Lou Brock's RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago's 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.2000 — Boston's Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record... [More]

May 121910 — Chief Bender of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cleveland Indians.1937 — St. Louis' Joe Medwick hit two home runs and two doubles to lead the Cardinals to a 15-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.1955 — Sam "Toothpick" Jones of the Cubs got a no-hitter the hard way. In the ninth inning against Pittsburgh, he walked the bases full and then struck out the next three batters for a 4-0 victory.1956 — Carl Erskine of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched a 3-0 no-hitter against the New York Giants.1966 — Lou Brock's RBI single in the 12th inning gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 4-3 victory over Atlanta in the opening of Busch Memorial Stadium. Felipe Alou hit two home runs for the Braves.1970 — Ernie Banks hit his 500th home run off Pat Jarvis in Chicago's 4-3 victory over Atlanta at Wrigley Field.2000 — Boston's Pedro Martinez, who had 17 strikeouts in his last start May 6 against Tampa Bay, struck out 15 in a 9-0 win over Baltimore, to tie an AL record... [More]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper homered deep into the second deck in right-center field for his first hit with Philadelphia and celebrated with an emphatic curtain call, highlighting the Phillies' 8-6 win over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.Hitless over five at-bats this season after signing a $330 million, 13-year deal, Harper crushed Jesse Biddle's fastball 465 feet with two outs in the seventh. Fans gave Harper a standing ovation and chanted "MVP! MVP!"After getting high fives in the dugout, Harper climbed out for a curtain call, throwing both fists in the air and shouting "Let's go!"Maikel Franco and J.T. Realmuto also went deep for Philadelphia. The game was tied at 4 in the fifth when Realmuto lined a two-run drive off Wes Parsons (0-1).Adam Morgan (1-0) faced one batter in the fifth inning.Dansby Swanson and Charlie Culberson homered, and Freddie Freeman had four hits and drove in two for the Braves.BREWERS 4, CARDINALS 2MILWAUKEE (AP) — Christian Yelich became the first MVP to... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander had just 10 victories, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.The AL prize also reflected a change in voters' values, with Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beating out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first Cy Young. Snell pitched just 180 2/3 innings, fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter. Over full seasons, Snell is the second starter to win the award with fewer than 200 innings after Clayton Kershaw logged 198 1/3 in 2014."I definitely think the game has changed in that aspect," deGrom said."I feel like it's just turning more into quality of work and what did you accomplish in those innings," Snell said. "I think that's just the way it's going."DeGrom easily beat out Washington's Max Scherzer,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander had just 10 victories, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.The AL prize also reflected a change in voters' values, with Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beating out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first Cy Young. Snell pitched just 180 2/3 innings, fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter. Over full seasons, Snell is the second starter to win the award with fewer than 200 innings after Clayton Kershaw logged 198 1/3 in 2014."I definitely think the game has changed in that aspect," deGrom said."I feel like it's just turning more into quality of work and what did you accomplish in those innings," Snell said. "I think that's just the way it's going."DeGrom easily beat out Washington's Max Scherzer,... [More]

NEW YORK (AP) — After a season marred by narrow defeats, Jacob deGrom became a runaway winner.The New York Mets ace easily won the National League Cy Young Award on Wednesday night, a reward for a historically fruitless season in Flushing. The right-hander won just 10 games, the fewest ever by a Cy Young-winning starter.DeGrom easily beat out Washington's Max Scherzer, who was seeking a third straight Cy Young and fourth overall. DeGrom got 29 first-place votes and 207 points from members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Scherzer had the other first-place vote.Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays narrowly beat out past winners Justin Verlander and Corey Kluber for his first AL Cy Young after leading the majors with 21 victories.In his first season after chopping off his distinctive long hair, deGrom cut down hitters from start to finish despite little help from teammates. He had a 1.70 ERA, the lowest in the NL since Zack Greinke's 1.66 mark in 2015. Yet the 30-year-old right-hander... [More]