Ryu leads Dodgers past Giants to avoid series sweep  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Hyun-Jin Ryu stretched his road scoreless streak to 26 innings, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the San Francisco Giants 2-1 Thursday to avoid a sweep.  —  Ryu (3-1) struck out three and walked one on a season-high 112 pitches …

Jeremy Jeffress Elects Free Agency  —  Blue Jays right-hander Jeremy Jeffress has rejected an outright assignment and elected free agency, reports Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).  Additionally, Jeffress is expected to sign with a new club within 24 to 48 hours, according to Passan.

Lester Leads Red Sox Past White Sox 3-1  —  CHICAGO — Jon Lester pitched eight sharp innings and David Ross hit a tiebreaking RBI double in Boston's two-run ninth, leading the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.  —  Lester (2-2) allowed one run and seven hits …

Shields strikes out 12 for first win; Royals sweep Astros  —  HOUSTON - James Shields struck out 12 in eight innings and the Kansas City Royals completed a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros with a 5-1 win on Thursday night.  —  Shields (1-2) gave up one run and four hits, all singles.

Through hitting system, Mets aim to build winner  —  Players are evaluated, rewarded based upon adherence to club's metric  —  NEW YORK — About a week before Mets camp drew to a close in Florida, staffers gathered the team's hitters into a meeting room and laid out the organization's offensive philosophy …

Cole Hamels poised to return to rotation  —  In the last 2 days, the Phillies have watched the two pitchers atop their rotation post two of the team's top pitching performances of the young season.  Cole Hamels looks plenty ready to join the party.  —  In what was very likely …

Franklin Morales Helps Rockies Beat Padres 3-1  —  SAN DIEGO — Franklin Morales allowed four hits in six innings and Wilin Rosario hit a tiebreaking groundout in a three-run seventh, lifting the Colorado Rockies over the San Diego Padres 3-1 Thursday.  —  Morales (1-1) allowed a solo homer …

Will Duke star Jabari Parker go pro?  He reveals his decision exclusively to SI.com … Duke's freshman forward Jabari Parker sits down with Sports Illustrated's Jeff Benedict to make his decision whether to stay in school or declare for the NBA draft.  —  After losing in the NCAA tournament, I needed to clear my mind.

MLB: Puig's journey from Cuba  —  With Puig was Yunior Despaigne, then 24.  A former national-level Cuban boxer and a friend of Puig's from their teens, Despaigne had spent the previous year recruiting Puig to defect, under the direction of a Cuban-born resident of Miami named Raul Pacheco.

Sizemore's scoop caps Yankees' triple play  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Sean Rodriguez of the Tampa Bay Rays has grounded into a triple play for the second time in his career.  —  The Rays had runners on first and second in the second inning Thursday night against the Yankees.

Blue Jays, Twins set for day-night doubleheader  —  The Sports Network  —  The Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins are set for a day-night doubleheader Thursday at Target Field.  —  Wednesday's middle test of this three-game series was postponed due to inclement weather.

Dillon Gee dominates as Mets complete sweep of Diamondbacks with 5-2 win  —  Gee threw seven shutout innings, scattering three hits and striking out three for the Mets, who moved above .500 for the first time this season.  —  PHOENIX — All it took was seven scoreless innings for Dillon Gee to get his first win of 2014.

Aviles, Bourn speak on importance of Robinson  —  DETROIT — Baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday, but the Indians were unable to participate when extremely cold temperatures and snow forced a postponement of Cleveland's game with the Tigers.  The tribute in Detroit carried over to Wednesday's tilt at Comerica Park.