PITTSBURGH — It’s an oft-used baseball cliche that hitting can be contagious. On Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds showed that walks can be contagious, too.

The Pittsburgh Pirates hammered the Reds 17-7 on Saturday afternoon at PNC Park, aided by 19 hits and 11 Reds walks. The Reds walked seven consecutive batters in the second inning, allowing...Read more

BOSTON — Some teams are built to play with the lead, not come from behind, but over the course of a long baseball season almost every club eventually rallies for a few big comeback wins.

It will probably happen for the Boston Red Sox at some point too, but it hasn’t happened yet.

More than a month into the season the Red Sox still have yet...Read more

MIAMI — Zack Wheeler is correct. The Phillies’ road back from a dreadful opening month is paved with a string of quality outings from a high-priced stable of veteran starting pitchers.

But sometimes they will just need Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper to mash.

Saturday was one of those days. Brandon Marsh didn’t play after getting hit by ...Read more

NEW YORK — In the city that never sleeps, the Baltimore Orioles can’t wake up.

After a lopsided loss on Friday, the Orioles sleepwalked through Saturday’s matinee en route to a 9-4 loss to the American League-best New York Yankees.

Starting pitcher Kyle Bradish didn’t give his offense a chance, giving up five runs in four innings to ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins put right-handed reliever Luis García in their bullpen on April 28, two weeks after the struggling New York Mets released him. Five days later, they were counting on him to save their bullpen.

The sorry state of the Twins bullpen, especially after Cole Sands went on the 15-day injured list, meant they needed García ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Another step has been taken in the process that will shape the future of San Diego’s only major sports franchise, as the Seidler family announced it has entered into a definitive agreement for transfer of control of the Padres to a group led by José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones.

And it seems a team will be running the team.

�...Read more

SEATTLE — One clunker is an outlier, particularly given his consistency displayed since about the middle of the 2024 season.

But back-to-back outings where hitters are hitting lasers and long balls off him?

If it’s not a concern, it’s certainly a curiosity.

It’s probably a little too soon to ask, “What’s wrong with Bryan Woo?”

...Read more

ANAHEIM — The Angels have been playing enough bad baseball that the last thing they need is to add bad luck to the mix.

Right-hander Walbert Ureña was pitching a shutout in the sixth inning when he was hit in the knee by a 103 mph comebacker.

That knocked Ureña out of the game, opening the door for a rough sequence for the beleaguered ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The Chicago White Sox began May with a bang, as Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery homered in an 8-2 victory against the San Diego Padres on Friday.

Murakami’s three-run home run, his major-league leading 13th, came during a six-run second inning. Montgomery hit a solo shot in the fifth, helping the Sox to a season-high ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The last time Henry Davis hit two home runs in a game was July 21, 2023, against the Los Angeles Angels — both coming off Shohei Ohtani.

Friday night was as good a time as any for Davis, who hadn’t yet homered this season, to regain that power. He went deep in back-to-back innings against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park as ...Read more

MIAMI — When the ball disappeared into the bullpen, Bryce Harper walked onto the field and applauded.

It was an appropriate reaction. Bryson Stott‘s three-run homer in the seventh inning here Friday night gave the Phillies a five-run lead, and they held on for dear life in a 6-5 cuticle-cutter over the Marlins.

The Phillies are 4-0, albeit...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins had one of the league’s strongest starting rotations in April, despite the team’s record, but Simeon Woods Richardson has been the weak link over the past few weeks.

Woods Richardson had another rough outing during the Twins’ 7-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, May 1, at Target Field in front of an ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — The Dodgers’ offensive slump continued Friday in a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals.

They scored just one run in the first five innings, on Max Muncy’s second-inning RBI double. Then in the sixth, they squeezed just one run out of a bases-loaded situation, brought in by a sacrifice fly from Kyle Tucker.

They went 0 for 6 with ...Read more

NEW YORK — Through one month, the American League had one good team and 14 middling ones.

The Orioles are one of the 14. The Yankees are on top.

In the first game of their series on Friday night, it looked that way.

The Yankees pummeled Orioles starting pitcher Cade Povich for five runs in the first two innings en route to handing Baltimore...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Junior Caminero got a pregame clubhouse visit Friday from former Ray Willy Adames, who talked to him about how to handle some ancillary aspects of his role as the star and face of the Tampa Bay team.

Then Caminero went out and showed part of why and how he ascended to that position, lacing a 432-foot homer to left that ...Read more

Karma works like a boomerang.

A very expensive one, at that.

A dozen years ago, the Giants lucked out when the Boston Red Sox signed Pablo Sandoval. They watched the Panda waddle East, cash a massive check, and promptly forget how to hit a baseball.

It took a while, but the Red Sox might have exacted their revenge.

Rafael Devers has not ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The Twins played some of their best baseball against the Toronto Blue Jays in April, and maybe it’s bringing out the worst in the Blue Jays.

Ryan Jeffers and Byron Buxton both homered, and Bailey Ober pitched well over six innings, but the Twins also benefitted from a comedy of errors in the eighth inning during their 7-1 ...Read more