Greinke, D-backs beat Giants 3-1 to win 6th straight series  —  PHOENIX — A 10-inning loss on Wednesday night stung the Arizona Diamondbacks.  They let too many opportunities slip away and put their run of series victories in jeopardy.  —  A dominant performance by Zack Greinke and clutch hitting kept the streak going.

Morton, Altuve lead Astros over Mariners 9-2  —  SEATTLE (AP) — Charlie Morton pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, Jose Altuve had a three-run double and the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 9-2 on Thursday after Evan Gattis hit into a bizarre 5-4-3 triple play in the fourth inning.

Jake Arrieta strikes out 10, allows 1 hit in 7 innings to move to 2-0  —  Jake Arrieta flashed the All-Star form that made Philadelphia covet the free-agent ace, striking out 10 and tossing one-hit ball over seven innings to lead the Phillies to a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Column: Wrigley Field renovations continue as a work in (mostly favorable) progress  —  Photos of the ongoing renovations at historic Wrigley Field.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  When team officials gave the first slideshow presentation of the Wrigley Field renovation plans at the 2013 Cubs Convention …

Alex Rodriguez's cousin held captive after Lamborghini deal goes bad  —  Two men were arrested after they allegedly held a cousin of former slugger Alex Rodriguez for ransom Wednesday night, New York police confirmed to USA TODAY Sports.  —  Norberto Susini was held hostage at a New York hotel …

A's deal Trayce Thompson to White Sox, who send Tylder Saladino to Brewers  —  The Chicago White Sox have acquired outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Oakland Athletics for cash considerations, after the A's designated him for assignment on Tuesday.  —  The White Sox also sent Tyler Saladino …

Robertson 'doesn't blink' in jam to lift Yanks over Jays  —  Toronto Blue Jays' Teoscar Hernandez, left, scores on a base hit by Curtis Granderson as New York Yankees pitcher David Robertson (30) look to back up a throw home during the eighth inning of a baseball game Thursday, April 19, 2018, in New York.

Forget the cold, Yankees have bigger concerns to worry about with Giancarlo Stanton, poor starting pitching  —  We are closing in on the last week of April and the Yankees have yet to play an outdoor baseball game in pleasant weather conditions, minus the ski masks.

Celebrated closers for the St. Louis Cardinals  —  Hall of Fame baseball writer Rick Hummel highlights the multi-year standouts and the one-year wonders among the Cardinals' 9th-inning specialists of the past 40 years.  —  BEST OF THE MULTI-YEAR STANDOUTS  —  When newly-signed relief …

Austin has hearing to appeal 5-game suspension  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin had his hearing Thursday to appeal his five-game suspension for his part in a brawl with the Boston Red Sox.  —  John McHale Jr., a special assistant to baseball commissioner Rob Manfred, heard the appeal.

Matt Harvey not helping cause to stick in rotation, flops against Atlanta in 12-4 loss  —  ATLANTA — Five years ago Thursday, Matt Harvey had the Citi Field faithful chanting “Harvey's better” as the young righty outdueled Washington's Stephen Strasburg.  —  Harvey was well on his way to …

Trading places: Brinson, Yelich experiencing Miami-Milwaukee reunions this week  —  MILWAUKEE  —  Christian Yelich and Lewis Brinson felt their bits of nostalgia in different ways this week.  —  For Brinson, it was being back at Miller Park and in Milwaukee — the city where he made his major-league debut.

Plate umpire Jerry Layne struck by foul ball, exits in first inning  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — Plate umpire Jerry Layne has left the Los Angeles Angels' game against Boston after a foul ball from Mike Trout hit him on the right arm.  —  Layne went to the locker room in the bottom of the first inning Thursday night.

Boston whips out the broom against Angels  —  ANAHEIM, Calif.-Here it is Friday, and the Angels' best day at the ballpark so far this week came when it was so cold that the infield frosted over and the game wasn't even played.  —  That was Sunday, back in 18-degree-wind-chilled Kansas City …

The case for 154 games, Fenway's quest and MLB's next big thing  —  Baseball needs to shorten the regular-season schedule.  —  Pausing.  —  Pausing.  —  OK, I guess I can't just leave it at that because that declarative statement is far from self-evident.  Allow me to explain.

Taylor leads Modesto to 13-6 win over San Jose  —  SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Logan Taylor had two hits and three RBI, as the Modesto Nuts exploded for a season-high in runs in a 13-6 win over the San Jose Giants on Thursday.  —  Modesto had a pair of big innings in the blowout victory …