The Yankees got a much-needed glimpse of brilliance on the mound Friday.

With the postseason less than a month away, manager Aaron Boone will have to sort out his playoff rotation sooner rather than later. Luis Gil made a strong case to be a big part of October in the Bombers’ 3-0 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Gil returned from the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Celebrating the past at Wrigley Field while worrying about the Cubs’ future is very much a Chicago thing.

Anthony Rizzo’s long-awaited homecoming three years after the trade to the New York Yankees began the teary tributes Friday, and the inductions of Kerry Wood and Aramis Ramírez into the Cubs Hall of Fame on Sunday will cap ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Martín Pérez pitched well Thursday night.

Robert Suarez did not.

A grand slam by Parker Meadows, the Tigers’ No. 9 hitter, with two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning, denied the Padres a series sweep and kept them from winning for the seventh time in Pérez’s seven starts.

Pérez had been a when, not an if, for the ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — On the heels of the Pirates’ most challenging offensive performance of the season, it didn’t take long to get off the schneid.

With two away in the first inning of Thursday night’s game at PNC Park, Oneil Cruz smacked a double for the Pirates’ first hit since Tuesday evening’s victory against the Cubs. While Cruz wouldn...Read more

Austin Gomber aced the Braves Thursday night at Truist Park.

The left-hander pitched one of the best games of his career, dominating the Braves for eight innings in the Rockies’ 3-1 victory.

Gomber allowed a single run on five hits — just one hit after the second inning — struck out five and didn’t walk any. He threw 92 pitches, 67 for...Read more

MIAMI — Lop off another number from the countdown to the Phillies’ first division title since 2011. But two digits were even more significant Thursday night:

— Five, as in the innings pitched by Ranger Suárez.

— Zero, as in the runs allowed by the lefty.

Because the Phillies’ chances of winning the World Series — the only goal ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Despite their team’s sinking playoff hopes, just one win to show for the first five games of their homestand and the season’s two lowest attendance figures the past two days, almost 28,000 Giants fans showed up Thursday to watch the reigning August pitcher of the month take the ball in his first start of September.

They’...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As disappointing as things appeared for the Twins with injuries piling up and the club playing one of its worst stretches of the season during a playoff race, they still have Pablo López available to pitch every five or six days.

López gave up a run for the first time in his last four starts, halting a 23 1/3-inning ...Read more

Ever since they returned from midseason treks to triple-A Oklahoma City, Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler have been in a similar boat.

The Dodgers continued to believe in their potential, even after porous and injury-plagued first halves of the season.

But to be counted on in October, they’d have to back it up with their late-season ...Read more

OAKLAND — In the 12 th game of his Major League managerial career, Dan Wilson seems to have uncovered the perfect game plan to avoid the frustrating and crushing feeling of losing by one run or on a walkoff hit.

What is this groundbreaking strategy?

Score a whole bunch of runs early in the game off the starting pitcher, score even more in ...Read more

Yu Darvish returned on Wednesday night.

Maybe it is best to view his outing as the first step in a buildup to when the Padres really need him.

The veteran right-hander’s first start in 98 days was as laborious as it was brief, as the Tigers scored in each of the three innings he began.

But he has time. And he will be needed to help the ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Beelining toward their third straight .500 or worse season, the Giants notched four hits in a loss to the postseason-contending Diamondbacks.

Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen no-hit the Giants for the duration of his six-inning start, consistently getting into two-strike counts and generating whiffs on offspeed pitches out of ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Nicky Lopez entered Wednesday with six career home runs in six major-league seasons — most recently on Aug.12 of last year while with the Atlanta Braves.

The Chicago White Sox infielder added to that total in the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles, leading off the game with a home run to right field.

“Kind of crazy, ...Read more

ARLINGTON, Texas — When the Yankees announced that they were pushing Marcus Stroman’s next start back on Aug. 7, the right-hander used the extra time to work on his mechanics.

That effort seemed to help Stroman, as he had a 6.32 ERA over 10 starts prior to the delay but a 2.35 ERA in four starts after it. On Wednesday, however, the veteran ...Read more

CHICAGO — Shota Imanaga hopped off the mound to end the seventh inning as he watched the latest Pittsburgh Pirate flail and fail to get a hit.

Imanaga’s stellar night ended with that strikeout of Pirates third baseman Jared Triolo, exiting after seven no-hit innings Wednesday night at Wrigley Field. With his pitch count up to 95, not helped...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Royals’ biggest rally in a week began with a ball hit all of 3 feet and ended with one blasted 423 feet.

On the former hit, all Cleveland third baseman José Ramirez could do was glove Paul DeJong’s dribbler to open the fourth inning.

But that seemingly innocuous infield single started a four-run frame Wednesday ...Read more

NEW YORK — It took a grand slam and some shrewd managing by Carlos Mendoza, but the Mets matched their season-high win streak with their seventh straight on Wednesday night at Citi Field.

The Mets completed a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with an 8-3 win, their second sweep in a row. It marked the third time this season the Mets have...Read more

Colorado Rockies fans didn’t need to watch past the first inning on Wednesday to find out how the second game of the series in Atlanta panned out.

Colorado went down 4-0 in that opening frame en route to a 5-2 loss. The Rockies struck out 16 times, and everyone in the lineup had at least one K as the Braves clinched the series to drop ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — At this point, the St. Louis Cardinals have faced so many close games, so many claustrophobic outcomes decided in the late innings and held tight by the bullpen that nothing fazes them when plunged once again into extra innings.

Even a newcomer picks up the pulse by osmosis.

As if dared by the Brewers to pinch-hit for one of ...Read more