‘This Should Be the Biggest Scandal in Sports’  —  The inside story of how rampant pitch-doctoring in MLB is pumping pitchers up and deflating offenses.  —  To understand the fiasco of baseball's 2021 season, which people around the game describe as sullied by rampant cheating to a degree …

Giants designate Scott Kazmir for assignment; veteran lefty mourning best friend's death  —  Scott Kazmir's second career comeback was one of the nicer stories in the first two months of the 2021 season, but the left-hander's time with the Giants might be over, and right during a tough time for Kazmir, who just lost his best friend.

Former Cub Aramis Ramírez says Bob Brenly's commentary was discriminatory; Brenly to take week off of Diamondbacks broadcasts  —  Former Cubs star Aramis Ramírez says he felt Bob Brenly made a point of attacking and deriding him on the air when Brenly was broadcasting Cubs games …

Kiley McDaniel's 2021 MLB draft rankings 3.0: Two shortstops lead race to be next month's top pick  —  We're five weeks out from the 2021 MLB draft with college regionals starting Friday and high school seasons winding down or already wrapped up, so some consensus is building.

Mets get shut out by Blake Snell, Padres in rough start to San Diego series  —  SAN DIEGO — The Mets, getting just one hit off Blake Snell, could not summon any offense or even pose as a viable threat in their 2-0 loss to the Padres at Petco Park.  —  Snell was dealing on Friday night …

Injuries & Roster Moves: Blandino to IL  —  ROSTER MOVES INJURY UPDATES  —  10-day IL  —  IF Alex Blandino (broken right hand)  —  Blandino was hit on the hand by a pitch from the Cardinals' Jake Woodford during Friday's 6-4 Reds win.  Manager David Bell said it was a clean break and that the injury would not require surgery.

Pete Alonso helps power Mets over Diamondbacks in 9th  —  PHOENIX — The Mets have received help from an eclectic, and largely unknown, group of heroes over their first two months of the 2021 season.  Wednesday's late-game clutch base hit, however, came off the bat of a familiar name.

Athletics call food served to minor leaguers ‘totally unacceptable,’ say they cut ties with vendor weeks ago  —  A photo depicting food provided to some Oakland Athletics minor leaguers went viral on Tuesday, sparking references to the infamous Fyre Festival that allegedly once offered sandwich bread with sliced cheese for dinner.