An African Player Reaches the Majors  —  PITTSBURGH — Gift Ngoepe was aware of the significance of the moment when he put on his Pittsburgh Pirates uniform for the first time in the regular season.  —  The Pirates recalled Ngoepe, an infielder, from Class AAA Indianapolis on Wednesday …

Mets routed in fifth straight loss  —  NEW YORK - A bad brand of baseball has been displayed at Citi Field this April, placing the Mets closer to the NL East basement than its penthouse.  —  Instead of playing like a team eyeing its third straight playoff appearance, the Mets …

Seattle's Haniger leaves game with strained oblique  —  DETROIT (AP) — Seattle Mariners outfielder Mitch Haniger has left Tuesday night's game at Detroit with a strained oblique.  —  Haniger was removed after hitting a single in the third inning, his second hit of the game.

Tigers luncheon: GM Al Avila says season has gone as expected, so far  —  Chris Nelsen, Special to the Detroit Free Press  —  Brody Lutz didn't fold under pressure.  —  Standing a few feet from Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera at Wednesday's 12th annual Detroit Economic Club Tigers luncheon …

Jim Thome lands MLB Network gig on top of White Sox front-office position  —  White Sox special assistant Jim Thome on his new MLB Network analyst role.  (Colleen Kane/Chicago Tribune)  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Former White Sox slugger Jim Thome is joining MLB Network as a part-time studio analyst …

NL West Notes: Dunn, Qualls, Giants, Bradley  —  The Rockies announced on Wednesday that they've placed lefty reliever Mike Dunn on the 10-day disabled list due to back spasms.  Filling Dunn's place on the 25-man roster will be fellow veteran Chad Qualls, who will return to the 'pen after missing …

Michael Morse is a Giant again, Denard Span heads to DL  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Michael Morse is a Giant again.  —  The hulking, 2014 postseason hero didn't let a strained hamstring send him home, and he showed enough at Triple-A Sacramento to win a place on the roster.

Cashman: Here's what kind of owner Derek Jeter will be … BOSTON — Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said he doesn't know what type of front-office executive Derek Jeter will be if a group he is associated with closes a deal to buy the Marlins.  —  However, Cashman …

How bad game made Mets think Jose Reyes is turning corner … As we've seen with Curtis Granderson and now Michael Conforto, other players can hit leadoff for the Mets, but none of them can do it like Jose Reyes.  None of them can bring the speed, steal the bases and create havoc like him.