Greg Bird moves closer to Yankee return as Aaron Judge continues to struggle in No. 3 spot  —  DETROIT — Greg Bird should get his chance to prove himself soon enough.  —  Maybe they're only minor-league rehab hits with Triple-A Scranton, but the fact that the 24-year-old first baseman …

Dodgers' Chase Utley understands Justin Verlander's dilemma with Tigers  —  If there is anybody who knows what has gone through Justin Verlander's mind for the past month - and will certainly be on his mind until the waiver trade deadline passes on Aug. 31 - it was one of the nine men …

Detroit Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler fined $10K for comments on umpire Angel Hernandez  —  Detroit Tigers second baseman Ian Kinsler was fined $10,000 for his rant about umpire Angel Hernandez that sparked a one-day league-wide protest by the umps, ESPN's Buster Olney reported Monday.

Minnesota Twins place Miguel Sano on disabled list  —  The Minnesota Twins placed infielder Miguel Sano on the 10-day disabled list Monday with a left shin stress reaction.  —  Sano fouled a ball off his shin Friday night in the same game that he hit two home runs in a 10-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

BAR: So much for an August trade...  The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Cincinnati Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan.  You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook …

Greg Holland, who Royals tried to re-sign, returns to KC this week as Rockies' closer  —  The last time reliever Greg Holland was at Kauffman Stadium, he wore a dark suit.  It was April 5, 2016, the first week of the baseball season.  Holland emerged from the first-base dugout and collected …

Semien, Cotton send Athletics past sloppy Astros 3-2  —  Houston's struggles this month continue as team is 7-12  —  HOUSTON - Marcus Semien wound up with a Little League home run when Houston kept throwing the ball away to help the Oakland Athletics avoid a sweep with a win over the Houston Astros on Sunday.

Koch recalled, Shipley sent down  —  The Diamondbacks recalled right-hander Matt Koch from Triple-A Reno Sunday.  To make room the rooster, Braden Shipley was optioned to Reno after throwing 5.2 innings in relief agains the Twins.  —  This is not Koch's first rodeo.

Who will the Cubs promote when rosters are expanded Sept. 1?  —  Rob Zastryzny, Taylor Davis and Jacob Hannemann at Cubs spring training.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  With a mercurial bullpen and the return of star catcher Willson Contreras uncertain, the Cubs will load up in those areas when 25-man roster can be expanded on Sept. 1.

Chicago Cubs' Javier Baez makes smooth slide in walk-off victory … Javier Baez made the smoothest slide of the year in the Chicago Cubs' 6-5 win against the Toronto Blue Jays at Wrigley Field.  —  The Cubs trailed the Blue Jays 5-3 heading into the bottom of the 10th inning.

Rumor Central: J.P. Crawford taking reps at third base  —  Prized Philadelphia Phillies shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford could be nearing his major-league debut, but at a different position than expected.  —  The Phillies are temporarily moving Crawford to third base at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, as Matt Gelb of Philly.com notes.

Bartolo Colon becomes third active pitcher to beat all 30 teams  —  Minnesota Twins starter Bartolo Colon became the third active MLB pitcher to beat all 30 teams with a 12-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.  —  “It means a lot to my career,” Colon said through a translator …

Padres mailbag: What's to be gained from Hunter Renfroe's demotion?  —  Renfroe, 25, was batting .230 with a .285 on-base percentage.  He has 20 home runs, but he collected just two extra-base hits in August while going 11-for-50 (.220) with four walks and 19 strikeouts.

Surging Brewers continue Western trek in San Francisco (Aug 21, 2017)  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The Milwaukee Brewers seek to move up in the division standings while the San Francisco Giants endure the first day after being formally eliminated in their division race when the clubs open a three-game series Monday night.

Rumor Central: Dodgers heavily scouting Shohei Otani?  —  The Los Angeles Dodgers sent a full contingent to scout Japanese superstar Shohei Otani over the weekend, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times notes.  —  The group, led by president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman …

Rosario adds another learning experience in loss to Marlins  —  Amed Rosario knew Dee Gordon can seriously run, but he learned firsthand just how fast the star lead-off man is at Citi Field on Sunday afternoon.  —  With the Mets down 2-1 in the seventh inning with Miguel Rojas on second base …

Gonzalez pitches 6 scoreless, White Sox hold off Rangers 3-2  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Miguel Gonzalez and Juan Minaya pitched out of trouble just well enough on Sunday.  —  Gonzalez escaped early trouble to finish six scoreless innings and Minaya recorded the final out after giving up a two-run homer …

Acclaimed Toronto Blue Jays prospect Rowdy Tellez has ‘learned a lot’ from disappointing season  —  Tellez's year started with him being touted as the Jays' first baseman of the future.  It is ending with considerably less fanfare  —  BUFFALO — It was another strikeout in a mostly maddening season …

MLB's 2018 free agent class: Stars hit some bumps on road to riches  —  Make no mistake: The free agent class of 2018 should be the greatest in baseball history.  —  From MVP winners to future Hall of Famers to multiple franchise players, this star-studded cast will likely produce …

This time, the ‘stuff’ doesn't translate for Castillo  —  ATLANTA - From what we'd seen in his first 11 starts in the big leagues, it's easy to forget that Luis Castillo is a rookie.  Sunday against the Braves, the rookie looked like a rookie.  —  The stuff was still there - oh was it …