PITTSBURGH — It wasn’t a perfect baseball game, but sometimes, it seems a Paul Skenes start day cures all the Pirates’ ills.

A day after a two-hit shutout loss in Cincinnati, the Pirates jumped all over the Washington Nationals, setting season-highs in hits and runs in a 10-3 win Monday at PNC Park. Skenes pitched six solid innings, third...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Prior to Monday night’s game at Citizens Bank Park, Willy Adames spent several minutes chatting with president of baseball operations Buster Posey. They shared a couple laughs, then Adames headed off for batting practice.

The contents of that conversation appear to have paid dividends.

Adames hit his first home run with his ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Admit it, there is worry.

Fess up, negative thoughts are swirling.

Could it be possible that the greatest team in baseball history isn't even the best team in their division?

Is there a chance that a team so recently dubbed, "invincible" and "unbeatable" is actually more like "maddening" and "mediocre?"

Does baseball's ...Read more

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge will captain a team other than the New York Yankees in 2026.

The reigning American League MVP has also been named captain of Team USA for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Judge, who has yet to play in the international tournament, announced the decision alongside Team USA manager Mark DeRosa MLB Network on Monday ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Seventy years ago on Saturday, April 12, Kansas City effectively was certified a “major league city” with the debut of the Kansas City Athletics at Municipal Stadium as punctuated by former President Harry S. Truman throwing out the first pitch.

You should read all about it by looking up Blair Kerkhoff’s great recent ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — It’s too early to sound any alarm bells. The lineup is too talented, they believe, for the narrative not to eventually turn.

But right now, the Dodgers’ biggest problem is not difficult to diagnose.

Their $400-million roster is not hitting, plain and simple.

And in a 4-2 defeat to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, it cost them a...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Padres starting pitchers turned a corner by running through the Colorado Rockies as if they weren’t there.

It was Michael King’s turn to shut out Major League Baseball’s worst team on Sunday. King didn’t even need any other pitchers to help complete the job.

King retired all but three of the 29 batters he faced in the ...Read more

SEATTLE — Reeling just a week ago, the Seattle Mariners are headed back out on the road after a successful homestand and rediscovering the .500 mark.

And they did it by returning to the familiar blueprint of excellent pitching and receiving one big swing at the plate.

This time it was another Cal Raleigh homer with his newly-arrived torpedo ...Read more

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Finally, the New York Mets have their ace back, and he pitched every bit like one to help the Mets finish off a series against the A’s.

Kodai Senga tossed seven scoreless innings, the first pitcher to throw seven for the Mets this season. The right-hander dueled former Mets starter Luis Severino for more than five ...Read more

Cole Ragans is the undisputed ace of the Kansas City Royals’ pitching staff. And one of the best pitchers in the game today.

He showed why, again, on Sunday at Progressive Field.

Ragans shut down the Cleveland Guardians in the Royals’ 4-2 victory at Progressive Field. He dominated the strike zone for 7 2/3 innings despite experiencing some...Read more

When the Boston Red Sox traded for Garrett Crochet this past offseason, they did so with days like Sunday in mind.

Having lost five of six and looking to avoid an embarrassing three-game sweep to one of the worst teams in baseball, the Red Sox handed the ball to their ace and Crochet delivered. Facing his former team for the first time since ...Read more

BALTIMORE — A day’s worth of Orioles baseball, fat with gusto and as full of life as they’ve been all season, can unravel quickly.

Thus was the case in the waning innings of Baltimore’s nail-biting 7-6 10-inning loss to the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon.

Gregory Soto relieved Seranthony Domínguez in the eighth inning,...Read more

HOUSTON — The encouraging start to Kyle Hendricks’ season came to a quick end with one rough inning.

Hendricks gave up five runs in the second inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 7-3 loss to the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon.

The loss also ended the Angels’ season-opening streak of four straight series wins, as they lost two of ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — When the ball got up in the air, Brandon Marsh raced in and toward the left-field line. But third baseman Alec Bohm barely gave chase, presuming it would go foul.

Instead, it dropped inside the chalk.

And that was Sunday in St. Louis for the Phillies, summed up neatly by one play — a bloop, ground-rule RBI double for the ...Read more

CINCINNATI — The Pirates' offense sunk to new lows against a talented pitcher on Sunday at Great American Ball Park, as Pittsburgh had just two hits in a 4-0 shutout loss to the Cincinnati Reds.

The Pirates’ final 23 batters of the game were retired. They last had a baserunner in the second inning, resulting in their first series sweep of ...Read more

NEW YORK — Compared to the first two games of the San Francisco Giants’ three-game series with the New York Yankees, Sunday afternoon in the Bronx may as well been the Bahamas. The temperature was up, the sun was shining and the sky featured smatterings of bright blue instead of a uniform drab gray. With playing conditions tenable for ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Edouard Julien led off the Minnesota Twins batting order for the first time this season on Sunday, and Byron Buxton also batted second for the first time.

Something else was different too.

Julien and Buxton both homered from their new spots, and the Twins salvaged the final game of three-game series with the Detroit Tigers, ...Read more

SEATTLE — It took 15 games, but the Seattle Mariners finally enjoyed a comfortable night at the ballpark.

No nervy high-leverage moments late in the game or extra innings. No walk-offs either for or against.

This win was almost relaxing.

The M’s picked up a second straight series win after a 9-2 thumping of the Texas Rangers on Saturday ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — This is Roki Sasaki’s home now. The San Gabriel Mountains at his back as he stands atop the mound at Dodger Stadium. Stands filled with adoring fans. Warm spring evenings that soon will lip into summer swelter.

Sasaki, 23, is beginning to feel at home in Chavez Ravine and with the heat that comes with choosing the Dodgers ...Read more