Teixeira expected in lineup on Sunday  —  ST. PETERSBURG — First baseman Mark Teixeira played three innings in a Minor League game on Thursday at the team's complex in Tampa, Fla., and is expected to return to the big league lineup on Sunday against the Rays.  —  “He had a really good day,” manager Joe Girardi said.

Braves-Phillies rainout makeup date announced  —  NEW YORK — The Braves-Phillies game that was rained out Tuesday in Philadelphia will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on June 28, with start times of 2:05 p.m. and 7:35 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park.  —  The makeup game will turn …

Seattle Mariners statement on Ji-Man Choi  —  SEATTLE, Wash. - The Seattle Mariners issued the following statement on today's announcement by Major League Baseball that minor league infielder Ji-Man Choi had been suspended for 50 games for a violation of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program:

Bryce Harper travels back in time in new “For the Love of Baseball” TV spot  —  Celebrating his “throwback” style of play, the latest spot from Major League Baseball's “For the Love of Baseball” campaign sees Washington Nationals All-Star outfielder Bryce Harper traveling through time …

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.

Ranking the 10 best pitching rotations in MLB this season  —  Fresh off his first Cy Young, Max Scherzer leads a strong Detroit rotation into the 2014 season.  —  DETROIT — Max Scherzer had a good offseason.  He collected his Cy Young Award; married his college sweetheart, Erica May …

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 …

Nathan records save; dead arm feels ‘livelier’  —  DETROIT — When Joe Nathan talked about dead arm last week, he also talked about how quickly it can come back to life.  That resuscitation seems to have started.  —  “Today was more how I felt, being able to finish,” Nathan said Thursday …

Jeremy Jeffress Elects Free Agency  —  FRIDAY: The White Sox, Brewers and Cardinals are three of the teams interested in Jeffress, TSN's Scott MacArthur reports.  Conversely, MLBDailyDish.com's Chris Cotillo (Twitter links) hears from a source that that the Cards aren't in the hunt but Jeffress' …

Rational behavior: Why system is rigged against young pitchers  —  Usually when it seems like there's a rash of something, it just seems like it.  —  All these elbow injuries lately, though?  It's an actual rash.  In recent seasons, top high school pitching prospects have essentially …

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.

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 …

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.