Rangers belt 5 home runs in 16-1 rout of Royals  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Rougned Odor and the rest of the Texas Rangers had been using the Kansas City Royals' beleaguered pitching staff for batting practice most of the sun-splashed afternoon.  —  Then the Rangers used their backup second baseman for it, too.

Cards trampled by Braves 10-2, lose fourth consecutive series  —  ATLANTA — Manager Mike Shildt almost always looks for a positive spin he can put on a Cardinals defeat, if there is one.  And there have been plenty lately, 11 losses in 14 games, which would test even college graduate Shildt's ample vocabulary.

How the Nationals won a series for the first time in a month  —  WASHINGTON — Nothing has come easy for the 2019 Washington Nationals.  —  That includes simple tasks like ... winning a series.  On Thursday, the Nationals eked out a 7-6 victory over the visiting New York Mets, giving them their first series win in a month.

Detroit Tigers designate Rule 5 pick Reed Garrett for assignment  —  There was one roster casualty after the Detroit Tigers' blowout loss to the Athletics on Thursday afternoon, one that was a long time coming: Right-hander reliever Reed Garrett, the Tigers' Rule 5 Draft pick in December , was designated for assignment.

Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suárez ignites the middle of the lineup  —  Eugenio Suárez saw an elevated fastball in the middle of the strike zone and launched the pitch onto the concourse behind the left-field seats in San Francisco last weekend.

Inconsistent White Sox welcome Jays for 4-game set  —  Cleveland Indians to two runs and two hits in a Chicago victory on Monday night.  —  The following afternoon, the Indians torched White Sox hurlers for nine runs behind a five-homer barrage.  —  Pitching has remained inconsistent as Chicago keeps pushing to reach the .500 mark.

Mariners recall outfielder Mallex Smith from Class AAA Tacoma, send down Shed Long  —  With the hope that his timing issues at the plate and mistakes in the field that seemed to follow are fixed, outfielder Mallex Smith will return to his center field spot for a Mariners team that desperately needs …

Kipnis helps Indians pull away from O's late  —  Jason Kipnis belted two homers, drove in a career-high six runs and scored three times as the host Cleveland Indians posted a 14-7 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday.  —  Carlos Santana had three RBIs, and Francisco Lindor …

‘This year is going to be the year’: Adbert Alzolay ready to make big-league debut  —  Adbert Alzolay on coming back to Iowa Cubs and his spring training injury  —  Cubs pitching prospect Adbert Alzolay can't help but think about what could have been in 2018 had injures not slowed him down and even cost him the end of his season.

What we think we know about the Arizona Diamondbacks with a quarter of the season gone  —  Given all the changes to the Diamondbacks roster over the winter, the first part of this season figured to be an exploration for answers to significant questions.  —  The quarter mark of the season just passed …

Ten things to know about new Rays catcher Travis d'Arnaud  —  For one, the name may sound familiar.  For another, he happened to be at the Trop for a pretty big moment in Rays history.  —  NEW YORK — There's an apartment in Manhattan with a rented couch waiting to be picked up, and a couple weeks of mail in the box to be collected.