SEATTLE — There are three players in baseball who will make you stop what you're doing whenever they step in the batter's box.

One is Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers prodigy who entered Wednesday with 30 home runs. One is Aaron Judge, the Yankees phenom who also had 30 dingers coming into Wednesday. The other is Cal Raleigh, the Mariners catcher �...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Infielder Ha-Seong Kim is being activated off the injured list and will join the Rays on Friday in Minneapolis.

Infielder Curtis Mead was optioned to Triple-A Durham to make room on the 26-man active roster. The Rays had an open spot on the 40-man roster because they designated pitcher Forrest Whitley for assignment last weekend...Read more

DENVER — The Colorado Rockies flipped the script.

Thursday afternoon’s game was the kind they have lost so many times this year. And last year. And the year before that.

But they got the key hits in the key moments and beat Houston, 7-6, at Coors Field.

Of course, Houston made the game interesting in the ninth against closer Seth ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The slider was sizzling. The hitter was frozen. The strikeout was roaring.

With an 85-mph pitch on the black in the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday at a rollicking Dodger Stadium, Clayton Kershaw struck out Vinny Capra looking to become the 20th player in baseball history to record 3,000 strikeouts.

As ...Read more

Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz was placed on paid leave Thursday and is facing a gambling investigation from the league, according to multiple reports.

Ortiz, 26, was expected to start the Guardians’ game Thursday night against the Chicago Cubs but will instead be on leave through July 18, the Athletic reported. Multiple sources told ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — When Ryan O’Hearn saw the more than 1.7 million votes that had him leading American League designated hitters in All-Star voting last week, he was blown away. Maybe there was an orange wave, he thought, courtesy of his mom and her friends canvassing their 55-and-over community in Buckeye, Ariz.

“It seems like a lot of ...Read more

MIAMI — A thunderstorm raged outside loanDepot Park on Thursday, the lightning visible through the windows. Underneath the dome, the Twins offense shut down, perhaps out of habit.

The Twins managed only five hits and one run in the matinee finale, losing 4-1 to the Marlins in the rubber game of the series. It’s the eighth consecutive series...Read more

The last time Randy Arozarena found a power streak like this he was on his way to becoming the MVP of the American League Championship Series.

For now, he’s a little bit of pop to an offense that in the first three games of its homestand has been rather punchless.

Arozarena homered for the third straight game on Wednesday night and added a ...Read more

When Clayton Kershaw made his major league debut as a gangly 20-year-old with a devastating curveball, he was considered a one-in-a-million talent.

On Wednesday he entered a much smaller club, becoming the 20th pitcher in history to strike out 3,000 batters. The milestone came in the sixth inning on his 100th pitch of the night, a 1-and-2 ...Read more

PHOENIX — It was not the most sustainable formula for a win, but the Giants will take anything they can get amidst their worst stretch of the season.

Camilo Doval blew a save in the bottom of the ninth inning by allowing a game-tying, two-run homer to All-Star starter Ketel Marte, but immediately rebounded to secure a 6-5 win by pitching a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When Clayton Kershaw made his major league debut as a gangly 20-year-old with a devastating curveball, he was considered a one-in-a-million talent.

On Wednesday he entered a much smaller club, becoming the 20th pitcher in history to strike out 3,000 batters. The milestone came in the sixth inning on his 100th pitch of the night,...Read more

DENVER — Jose Altuve had a couple Hall of Fame moments on Wednesday, while the Rockies lacked any game-changing ones of their own.

Houston’s star second baseman laid down a crafty bunt in the opening inning that helped the Astros take an early lead, and then he delivered a two-out, two-RBI single later in the game that passed Jeff Bagwell ...Read more

BOSTON — The Red Sox had a plan all mapped out, but there wasn’t much room for error.

Brayan Bello would pitch most, if not all, of the suspended game on Wednesday afternoon, with Aroldis Chapman available to close things out if necessary. Then, with the bullpen fully rested and an off-day coming Thursday, the rest of the staff would piece ...Read more

ATLANTA — It took seven minutes in the sixth inning for the Angels to go from a two-run lead to a five-run deficit, on their way to a nightmarish loss.

Just moments after second baseman Christian Moore left the game with an injury suffered while diving for a ground ball, Ryan Zeferjahn gave up the first of two homers in a 16-pitch disaster, ...Read more

NEW YORK — Between the dismal performance of the Mets over the weekend in Pittsburgh and two days off that followed, Wednesday’s doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers took on more significance than it otherwise might have.

The results were mixed: The Mets took a bad loss in the afternoon game, 7-2, and earned a much-needed win in the ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — Not so long ago, Tomoyuki Sugano was among the most efficient pitchers on Baltimore’s staff. The past month hasn’t been so kind to him.

He hasn’t completed five innings in any of his past five starts. The 35-year-old rookie allowed 22 earned runs in that span, the most of any five-game stretch in his short MLB career....Read more

The Yankees are no longer sole owners of first place in American League East standings.

They now move into second place behind the Toronto Blue Jays after their neighbors up north scored seven first-inning runs in an 11-9 loss at Rogers Centre on Wednesday night.

The two teams ending the night with identical records, but Toronto owns the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Max Kepler watched it fly.

On Monday, he would have had his first homer — and extra-base hit — since June 16, but the Padres’ Jackson Merrill hauled it back over the wall before it could become a three-run shot.

Kepler didn’t have to wait very much longer after that to end his drought. In the fourth inning of the ...Read more

MIAMI — It’s always a little heartwarming when a rookie makes a play that changes the outcome of a game, especially when it ends a losing streak. Emil Jimenez was that hero for the Twins on Wednesday.

Who?

OK, Jimenez is not a ballplayer, but an umpire, promoted to the majors full-time this spring. His play on Kyle Stowers’ sixth-inning ...Read more