Yankees' Aaron Judge continues to show off both his power and his penchant for strikeouts  —  Aaron Judge narrowly missed robbing Yoenis Cespedes of a home run on Monday night.  —  The Yankees' 25-year-old rookie slugger more than made up for it later in the game — blasting a homer of his own.

Rangers' Griffin gets another shot at Tigers (Aug 15, 2017)  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — In a previous matchup this season pitting Texas Rangers right-hander A.J. Griffin and Detroit right-hander Justin Verlander, the Tigers delivered a fourth-round knockout.  —  Griffin lasted only 3 1/3 innings …

Rockies RHP Chad Bettis throws seven shutout innings in first start since overcoming testicular cancer  —  Chad Bettis just shut out cancer, so shutting out the Atlanta Braves?  Piece of cake.  —  Bettis, making his first start after battling testicular cancer, threw seven scoreless innings …

Rockies' Freeland, back from groin ailment, faces Braves (Aug 15, 2017)  —  DENVER — The best-case scenario will unfold Tuesday for rookie Kyle Freeland when he returns to the Colorado Rockies' rotation and starts against the Atlanta Braves.  —  The left-hander will be reinstated after missing …

Orioles open series vs. Mariners with a slam in 11-3 win  —  The Baltimore Orioles didn't waste much time putting a disappointing series split in Oakland behind them, jumping on former teammate Yovani Gallardo early in a resounding 11-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night at Safeco Field.

Big Blue Machine: Inside the brain trust that created the unstoppable Los Angeles Dodgers  —  LOS ANGELES - You walk the halls of the Los Angeles Dodgers' baseball operations department at your own risk, never quite knowing what's around the corner.  —  You may stumble into a vicious whiffle ball game …

Phillies' Leiter returns from 'pen to start against Padres (Aug 15, 2017)  —  SAN DIEGO — The Philadelphia Phillies are turning to Mark Leiter Jr. to oppose the San Diego Padres in the middle outing of a three-game series on Tuesday night.  —  “You got a problem with that?”

Walker trade increased Mets' savings to over $11M  —  NEW YORK (AP) The New York Mets saved $3 million by trading infielder Neil Walker the Milwaukee Brewers and have cut payroll by more than $11.6 million in recent weeks.  —  As part of Saturday's trade, the Mets agreed to pay …

Cubs' bullpen can't stop dancing: ‘What should we do?  Just sit there?’  —  If the idea is to dance like nobody's watching, the Cubs' relief corps has it down.  —  Throughout the 2017 season, in their cavernous room underneath the left field bleachers of Wrigley Field, they've jerked and twerked …

Gallagher hits slam for 1st MLB homer, Royals beat A's 6-2 … OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Cam Gallagher hit a grand slam for his first career home run and second big league hit, leading the  —  Oakland Athletics 6-2 on Monday night.  —  Gallagher's shot into the left-field seats …

Back Where I Belong  —  It was like one o'clock in the morning on August 5 when the phone rang.  I was sleeping in a hotel room in Omaha, Nebraska, where I was with Triple A Sacramento for a road series.  The phone woke me up.  It was my manager.  He told me that I had to get on a flight the next morning.

Twins look to gain ground on Indians (Aug 15, 2017)  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Since trading away their closer and a starting pitcher, the Minnesota Twins caught fire and re-emerged in the playoff picture.  —  Heading into the Tuesday series opener against the first-place Cleveland Indians …

Astros, Diamondbacks seek consistency (Aug 14, 2017)  —  PHOENIX — The Houston Astros and Arizona Diamondbacks remain in playoff position.  —  It's just that things have not gone well lately for either contender.  —  Houston, the runaway leader in the American League West …