Verlander, Correa, Astros romp; Chisox pitcher passes out  —  Justin Verlander pitched six sparkling innings,  —  Chicago White Sox 10-0 on Friday night.  —  George Springer also drove in four runs with a pair of doubles in Houston's fourth straight victory.

Chicago embarrasses Colorado Rockies at Coors  —  DENVER — Javier Baez and Kyle Schwarber each had a homer and four RBIs, and the Chicago Cubs rode a seven-run sixth inning to a 16-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday night.  —  Baez had four hits, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.

Fowler sits as Pham bats leadoff  —  Dexter Fowler wasn't in Friday night's Cardinals lineup, which meant he wasn't leading off, which meant that Tommy Pham was.  —  The switch-hitting Fowler, just one for 17 (.059) against lefthanded pitching, didn't start against Cincinnati lefthander Brandon Finnegan last Saturday, either.

Mets have used strong throwers like Tomas Nido with Noah Syndergaard  —  Mets Asst. GM John Ricco discusses Kevin Plawecki's injury  —  ATLANTA — For the second straight start, Tomas Nido caught Noah Syndergaard.  —  “I like the combination a little bit,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said before Friday's game.

Baseball roundup: Error helps Royals snap 9-game skid  —  Detroit rookie first baseman Niko Goodrum dropped Jon Jay's grounder and then made a wild throw, allowing the tiebreaking run to score in the ninth inning as the Kansas City Royals snapped a nine-game losing streak …

Cubs top prospect Adbert Alzolay dominates in Triple-A debut  —  Chicago Cubs top prospect Adbert Alzolay joins Iowa Cubs  —  It's easy to see why there are so many high hopes for Adbert Alzolay.  —  The 23-year-old was dominant in his Triple-A debut for the Iowa Cubs …

Sonny Gray, still yet to meet Yankees' expectations, may force Bombers to eventually trade for another pitcher  —  Chazz Palminteri, another famous Sonny from the Bronx, was shown on the scoreboard at the Stadium soon after the Yankees' starting pitcher was booed off the mound.

Last Slide  —  The season is barely three weeks old, but the Diamondbacks' bullpen already is exhibiting many of the same attributes as last year: assembled on the cheap, effective in a sort of non-traditional way and, most important, as good as anyone's.  —  The Diamondbacks entered Friday …

Machado, Orioles beat Indians to snap 6-game skid  —  Manny Machado homered for the third time in two games and Trey Mancini added a tiebreaking two-run double in the fifth inning as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Cleveland Indians 3-1 on Friday night in Baltimore.

Blue Jays prospect Gurriel makes MLB debut  —  NEW YORK — Somebody threw a horse racing analogy at Blue Jays manager John Gibbons prior to Friday night's game at cold and breezy Yankee Stadium.  —  It was suggested to Gibbons that infielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr., who was called up to the Jays …

Phillies, Rhys Hoskins don't panic with two strikes  —  Rhys Hoskins kickstarted the Phillies' five-run second inning Thursday night by crushing a pitch through a stiff wind and over the left-field fence at Citizens Bank Park.  —  But it didn't happen until Hoskins was in a two-strike count.

Max Scherzer, Nationals get the best of Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers  —  The New York Yankees went to bat for a 10-year-old girl who was being bullied at school.  All class in this video.  USA TODAY Sports  —  CONNECT  —  Gone are the days of heavyweight pitching duels …

Angels drop fourth straight game with loss to Giants 8-1  —  At one point Friday night, the fifth inning was delayed because a beach ball fell onto the field.  —  And that was pretty much the highlight for the home team at Angel Stadium, where a lot of negative things unfolded.  —  Yeah, again.

Yoenis Cespedes may begin golfing again to try and heat up his bat  —  ATLANTA — Someone please get Yoenis Cespedes a nine-iron.  —  The Mets slugger who gave up golf to concentrate on the season is considering going back to the links, his old, reliable slumpbuster.

Gary Sanchez allows passed ball in third straight game for Yankees  —  For the third straight game Friday night in a loss to the Blue Jays, Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez allowed a passed ball.  —  This time, there were Toronto runners on first and second with the game tied at 5 in the fifth inning.

Giancarlo Stanton's slump may be coming to end after second-straight strong game  —  With a player of Giancarlo Stanton's caliber and stature, it was only a matter of time before he connected on a ball and watched it fly over the fence.  —  That moment came Friday night.

Baseball notebook: Napoli suffers ACL injury in minors  —  Napoli to have knee surgery after getting hurt in minors  —  Former Cleveland Indians slugger Mike Napoli will have season-ending knee surgery after getting hurt in the minors while playing for the Tribes' Triple-A club in Columbus, Ohio.

Bullpen collapses late as Rangers fall to Mariners, 6-2  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Jean Segura hit a two-run double in a four-run ninth inning after Mitch Haniger's tying homer in the eighth, lifting the Seattle Mariners over the Texas Rangers 6-2 on Friday night.