SAN DIEGO — Jurickson Profar, a Padres fan favorite whose career-best season last year at age 31 paid off in a huge contract with the Atlanta Braves, said Monday he did not knowingly use a banned performance-enhancing substance for which Major League Baseball this week suspended him 80 games.

Profar tested positive for a hormone that helps in...Read more

NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton embraced the torpedo bats long before they became the talk of MLB.

The Yankees slugger used the bowling-pin-shaped bats last season, including during a torrid playoff run in which he struck seven home runs in 14 games.

“It’s something that makes a lot of sense, but why hasn’t anyone thought of it in 100-...Read more

NEW YORK — Carbon monoxide poisoning may have led to the death of the 14-year-old son of former Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ) said in an update.

Investigators detected high emissions of carbon monoxide contamination in the hotel room where Miller Gardner and his family were staying, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As Evan Phillips stood in front of his locker before the Dodgers' home opener Thursday, answering questions about the team's upcoming World Series celebration that night and the gold jersey they would wear to mark the occasion, his new neighbor in the Dodgers clubhouse interjected from one stall over.

"What'd you say to Tanner ...Read more

Kyle Hart returned to the major leagues on a misty evening at Petco Park and helped the Padres to a bit of history.

Five games into the season, the Padres have not lost.

Monday’s 7-2 victory over the Guardians made them the first team in the franchise’s 57-year history to begin a season with five victories.

Hart allowed two runs – on ...Read more

Consider the seal broken.

The Tigers made Dodgers’ Roki Sasaki throw 41 pitches in the first inning Saturday but let him off the hook after just two runs. Seattle’s Emerson Hancock wasn’t nearly as fortunate.

The Tigers batted around against the Mariners’ right-hander Monday, scoring six first-inning runs on their way to their first ...Read more

On Thursday and Friday night at Dodger Stadium, a common refrain echoed from the home plate escalators as the crowd was filing out.

“One-hundred-sixty-two and 0!” one fan shouted Thursday, while administering two-handed high-fives to passers-by.

“One-hundred-sixty-two and 0!” another yelled Friday, soliciting a chorus of cheers back in...Read more

HOUSTON — Jordan Hicks sat isolated in the third-base dugout hours prior to first pitch, taking a brief beat to bask in the moment. He’s known Houston for nearly three decades; it still had that same fragrance.

Entering Monday, Hicks had pitched in 29 major-league stadiums, a list that doesn’t include Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. He�...Read more

MIAMI — Maybe the New York Mets don’t need torpedo bats after all.

After an offensive-starved weekend in Houston, the Mets’ bats came alive in Miami on Monday night in a 10-4 win over the Marlins. With the LoanDepot Park roof closed and the two teams shielded from the hot, sticky weather, the ball was flying, with the Mets belting four ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A baseball card autographed by Shohei Ohtani and featuring a piece of the pants the Dodgers' superstar wore while becoming the first MLB player to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season has sold for more than $1 million.

The one-of-a-kind Topps Dynasty Black card that features an on-card signature in gold ink by Ohtani ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar, the team’s biggest offseason signing, tested positive for the performance-enhancing drug Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG), which is a substance in violation of MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Profar is suspended for 80 games without pay, MLB said.

Profar’s suspension is ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A few minutes past 3 o’clock Monday, “Fly, Eagles Fly” boomed through the speakers in Citizens Bank Park, and Brandon Graham and Saquon Barkley walked on the field, the Lombardi Trophy in tow.

How on earth were the Phillies supposed to top that?

If we’re being honest, that’s the loudest it was ever going to get all ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The last time the Orioles played a game at Camden Yards, fans arrived anxious and departed apoplectic.

With hopes of a World Series run, the Orioles were again swept out of the postseason. Baltimore lost both wild-card series games to the Kansas City Royals, extending its playoff losing streak to 10 games. Another season with ...Read more

MILWAUKEE — Kansas City Royals superstar Salvador Perez stamped the club’s 11-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers with his first home run.

And it was a no-doubter.

It came in the seventh inning of Monday afternoon’s fourth game of the 2025 MLB season. Perez launched a hanging slider 418 feet into the left-field seats at American ...Read more

CHICAGO — I was sitting in the parking lot of the Jewel-Osco on Friday morning when my iPhone started pinging madly.

Somehow I inadvertently had been added to an unknown group text string labeled CHI BASE OPS, along with two individuals with the initials JH and CG.

It seemed like a frank discussion of the upcoming Chicago baseball seasons ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When their moment came to show the world what they were about, they were served a fastball over the middle of the plate.

And the Dodgers whiffed.

Stupid me, thinking they'd overcome their penchant for choking when they won the World Series last season.

The Dodgers have accepted an invitation from President Trump to visit the ...Read more