Chris Sale certain he'll be back to help Boston Red Sox before end of season  —  Nearly 15 months after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Chris Sale says he is confident he will be ready to contribute to the Boston Red Sox before the end of the season.  —  “One hundred percent,” …

Ke'Bryan Hayes had a home run called back for missing first base  —  Ke'Bryan Hayes homered off Walker Buehler in the first inning of Tuesday's Los Angeles Dodgers-Pittsburgh Pirates game, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead against one of the toughest opponents in the league.  —  Only he didn't.

Gerrit Cole dodges ‘sticky’ allegations in painfully awkward moment  —  Gerrit Cole is sticking to his story that he has greater worries than opponents' accusations of wrongdoing.  —  The Yankees' ace held by far the least comfortable news conference of his pinstriped term on Tuesday afternoon …

Texas Rangers lacking ‘fight’ at the plate as losses mount |  Fort Worth Star-Telegram  —  Texas Rangers offense lacks ‘fight’ as losses mount and top NL opponents await  —  A rough patch for the Texas Rangers could be getting rougher.  —  The Rangers lost for the 11th time in their past 12 games …

Mets win second straight over Padres behind another strong Marcus Stroman start  —  SAN DIEGO — After losing their first two games, it was in doubt whether the Mets would depart from San Diego feeling good about a competitive four-game series.  But the Mets roared back …

Seattle Mariners send slumping prospect Jarred Kelenic to minors  —  The Seattle Mariners optioned struggling rookie outfielder Jarred Kelenic, who is in an 0-for-39 slump, to Triple-A Tacoma on Monday.  —  Kelenic, who is ranked as the No. 3 prospect in baseball according to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel …

The Cubs are actually good!  So what should they do at the trade deadline?  —  The Chicago Cubs have exceeded preseason expectations so far in 2021.  Entering Monday's series opener against the San Diego Padres (10 p.m. ET on ESPN), the Cubs are now seven games over .500 at 33-26 …

MLB's enhanced plans for enforcement of foreign-substance rules being finalized, with June rollout pending, sources say  —  All Major League Baseball pitchers will be checked repeatedly and randomly for foreign substances by umpires under the plan being swiftly advanced — and perhaps implemented within the next 10 days to two weeks.

Baltimore Orioles pitcher John Means exits in first inning with injury  —  BALTIMORE — Orioles starting pitcher John Means left with two outs in the first inning of a 10-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians because of left shoulder fatigue on Saturday.  —  The left-hander allowed solo home runs …