Porcello pitches Red Sox past Yankees 6-3  —  BOSTON (AP) Rick Porcello looks a lot more like the pitcher who won the 2016 AL Cy Young Award than the one who lost 17 games last year.  —  That is one welcome development for the Boston Red Sox.  —  Porcello pitched seven scoreless innings …

Polanco homers twice to back third strong start by Williams  —  Gregory Polanco homered twice at Wrigley Field to help back a third straight solid start by Trevor Williams, and the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled away from the Chicago Cubs 6-1 on Thursday.  —  Francisco Cervelli lined a three-run shot …

Struggling clubs meet when Yankees visit Tigers  —  Ron Gardenhire knew there would be some rough weeks when he accepted the managerial job with the rebuilding Detroit Tigers.  This is turning out to be one of those weeks.  —  The Tigers come home to Comerica Park after getting swept in a four-game series by Cleveland.

Rebuilding Padres say brawl can bring them closer together  —  SAN DIEGO — Showing some fight seems to be a good thing for the rebuilding San Diego Padres.  —  While awaiting word on punishment from Major League Baseball for their brawl Wednesday with the Colorado Rockies, the Padres vowed not to get pushed around by anyone.

Indians heating up, go for sixth straight vs. Blue Jays  —  CLEVELAND — It took the arrival of some warmer weather, but the Cleveland Indians have finally started to hit.  That might be bad news for the Toronto Blue Jays, who will visit Progressive Field on Friday night for the opener of a three-game series.

Mets catcher Kevin Plawecki diagnosed with broken hand  —  NEW YORK — Kevin Plawecki of the New York Mets has a broken left hand and is following fellow catcher Travis d'Arnaud to the disabled list.  —  Plawecki was hit by a pitch from Miami Marlins reliever Tayron Guerrero in the eighth inning Wednesday night.

Cardinals notebook: Mayers gets in game vs. Reds after call-up  —  CINCINNATI  • Cardinals prospect Mike Mayers spent 24 hours with Class AAA Memphis after his demotion earlier this week and had just enough time to put on a Redbirds jersey twice, attend two games, and not throw a single pitch.

Joe Maddon: Clint Hurdle's tough talk reveals more about Hurdle than Javier Baez  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Joe Maddon was taken aback by Pirates manager Clint Hurdle's criticism of Javier Baez, saying, “I don't understand why he did what he did.”  —  But Maddon was more than prepared to respond Friday.

Phillies' Scott Kingery should already be considered top rookie candidate |  Bob Brookover  —  Two weeks into the Phillies season, one thing has become clear: Scott Kingery is a serious candidate for National League rookie of the year.  In fact, it's not a stretch to consider him the leading candidate …

The joy of Ohtani, a sleeping giant and MLB's next big thing  —  Imagine a world in which Roy Hobbs exists.  —  This is about inimitable rookie sensation Shohei Ohtani, but let me make my point using the fictional Hobbs, the protagonist of the great baseball movie “The Natural” (Yes, it was a book first.

Good health, dominant bullpen key factors behind Amazin' start by Mets  —  The Mets are off to the best start in their history, their 10-1 record the best in all of baseball, and somewhere, assuming he's been watching, Terry Collins is saying: “Who are these guys?”

Marty Pevey sets Iowa Cubs managerial wins record  —  Thursday night was a big night for Iowa Cubs manager Marty Pevey.  —  Pevey secured the 1,000th win of his managerial career, 356th with Iowa and became the franchise's all-time wins leader when the Cubs beat the Nashville Sounds 6-3 in 11 innings at First Tennessee Park.

Rockies hot in victory … WASHINGTON — DJ LeMahieu carried the Colorado Rockies' offense on Thursday.  —  The second baseman homered twice, added two doubles and drove in a career-high four runs and Colorado earned a 5-1 victory over the Washington Nationals.

One of MLB's most valuable pitchers, Diamondbacks' Archie Bradley not worried about paycheck  —  SAN FRANCISCO - In his heart of hearts, Archie Bradley still envisions himself as a starter.  That's how he became a top-10 overall draft pick, and how he reached the major leagues.