The Mets have to lose occasionally  —  The Mets used six relievers after Jacob deGrom's abbreviated five-inning start in hopes of holding the Nationals at bay.  Besides a two-run seventh inning, the Met bullpen gave its best effort.  It wasn't until the ninth inning when a recurring nightmare …

Field of Dreams game, matchups with NL West teams highlight White Sox 2020 schedule  —  Kansas City Royals is becoming an Opening Day tradition.  —  The South Siders announced their schedule for the 2020 season Monday, revealing a third consecutive Opening Day game against the division-rival Royals …

Rays' Yarbrough “little angry” over hook after 8 2/3 innings  —  Ryan Yarbrough had mixed emotions following the most impressive start of his young career.  —  The former  —  Mariners minor leaguer came within an out of his first career shutout, and did it against his former team.

Braves' late lead extinguished, bullpen collapses and frustrations flare  —  After the Braves' cringe-inducing loss Saturday in Miami, the basement level of Marlins Park was shrouded in dust.  A Braves player, in his frustration, kicked a trash can that slammed into a fire extinguisher …

Giants score 3 in eighth inning, rally past Phillies 9-6  —  Will Smith's resume as a pitcher has grown substantially this season, with 28 saves and an All-Star appearance.  —  It turns out the  —  Giants' closer is pretty good with a bat, too.  —  Kevin Pillar hit a tiebreaking triple that scored

MLB 2020 schedule: All 30 MLB teams set to play on opening day again  —  Passionate baseball fans might want to call in sick next March 26.  The 2020 Major League Baseball season will kick off that day, and every single team is scheduled to play.  —  MLB attempted something similar this season …

Yankees earn series split as Tanaka outduels Jays' Thornton  —  The two teams that had been swinging the most powerful bats in baseball over the past month or so finally cooled down on a warm Sunday afternoon at the ballpark.  —  Masahiro Tanaka was masterful, outduelling Trent Thornton …

Maddon confident he'll be back with Cubs in '20  —  CINCINNATI — Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon's confidence level in returning to the team next year is “very high,” he said on Sunday.  —  Maddon, 65, is in the final year of a five-year deal with the team, and his contract situation won't be decided until after the 2019 season.

Rockies beat Padres 8-3 to end skid behind Márquez, Alonso  —  Yonder Alonso hit his 100th career homer during Colorado's four-run sixth inning and  —  German Marquez pitched eight strong innings for the struggling  —  San Diego Padres 8-3 Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.

Dozier, Soler each homer twice as Royals beat Tigers 10-2  —  Jorge Soler each homered twice, and the  —  Detroit Tigers 10-2 on Sunday for a split of the four-game series between the worst teams in the AL Central.  —  It was Dozier's third career multihomer game, all of which have come on the current road trip.