Rangers Reaction: Cashner, Odor fuel needed 8-2 victory  —  ARLINGTON  —  Those baseball gods sure do have a sense of humor, don't they?  —  The Texas Rangers were three hours away from their first off day since June 15 and their first night since June 14 where they could tear …

Rangers snap skid with early runs against Red Sox  —  ARLINGTON  —  The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the Red Sox Wednesday night at Globe Lofe Park.  The game started at 8:30 p.m., delayed an hour and 26 minutes because of rain.

Rangers reach finish line of grueling stretch  —  ARLINGTON  —  Wednesday's scheduled game at Globe Life Park wasn't just an ordinary game for the Texas Rangers, and Thursday's off day isn't just an ordinary off day.  —  Not after 20 games in 20 days, with a mesmerizing 16 of the first 19 lasting at least three hours.

Alex Wood remains spellbinding in Dodgers' 1-0 victory over Diamondbacks  —  LOS ANGELES  —  The Los Angeles Dodgers have scripted their Sunday afternoon.  —  The clock will strike 1, and a few minutes later, the team will take the field at Dodger Stadium.  At 1:10 p.m., Clayton Kershaw will throw the game's first pitch.

Are juiced baseballs to blame for Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill's blistering problem?  —  Could a covert push to generate more buzz in baseball have devalued the Dodgers' $48-million investment in Rich Hill?  —  The Dodgers made Hill the highest-paid starting pitcher in free agency during the offseason …

Wood improves to 10-0 in Dodgers' 1-0 win over D-backs  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — If Alex Wood's performance was an audition for a spot in the All-Star Game, and he insists it wasn't, go ahead and give him the call.  —  Wood pitched three-hit ball over seven innings to start the season 10-0 …

Cards notebook: No guarantees about Diaz's return  —  Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com  —  When the Cardinals sent All-Star shortstop Aledmys Diaz abruptly to Class AAA Memphis, they did so with suggestions for his defense, instructions for his offense and no promises whatsoever.

Down 7-0, Cardinals battle back but lose 9-6  —  Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com  —  After falling into a 7-0 hole thanks to 822 feet of Giancarlo Stanton home runs and two Cardinals errors, the Cardinals almost dug their way out of it.  —  The Cardinals cut the gap to two runs …

Daniel Norris digs hole too deep; Detroit Tigers fall, 5-4, to Giants  —  Daniel Norris waited for a minute, then two, growing about as annoyed as you'll see him.  Reporters had taken up the space in front of his locker, spilling four-deep around Justin Verlander's neighboring locker …

Detroit Tigers future hinges on Al Avila's Justin Verlander quandary  —  Kirkland Crawford, Detroit Free Press Wochit … Put your projection hat on: Are the Detroit Tigers closer to being a last-place team or a playoff team in 2018?  —  That's the whole issue, isn't it?  —  The Tigers are stuck in neutral.

Royals' manager Ned Yost: ‘Why would we even think about selling?’  —  SEATTLE  —  On most days, Royals manager Ned Yost opts for tunnel vision.  He abhors the nature of speculation.  He cares little, he says, about anything but the next game.  He dismisses the opinions of outsiders and the baseball punditocracy as mere “fodder.”