Three keys to how the Mets handle their upcoming grueling schedule  —  BALTIMORE — All season, the Mets have trailed the rest of the majors in one category: games played.  —  And now they have to catch up.  —  On Friday when they host the Padres, the Mets begin their next big test …

D-backs GM Mike Hazen takes leave of absence as wife battles cancer  —  Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen is taking an immediate leave of absence from the team as his wife, Nicole, battles brain cancer, the team announced Friday.  —  Assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye will take on oversight …

New York Mets' Pete Alonso posits that MLB ‘manipulates the baseball’ based on free-agent class  —  NEW YORK — Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said Wednesday that he disagrees with MLB's crackdown on pitcher-friendly foreign substances, and that the larger issue facing the sport …

Spider Tack, goo cops and an open secret: Answering 20 questions about MLB's foreign-substance mess  —  Gerrit Cole, the New York Yankees' ace and owner of the biggest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, paused for an extremely awkward five seconds Tuesday and didn't answer a yes …

MLB Power Rankings Week 10: Which AL team is our new No. 1?  —  Ten weeks into the MLB season, we have the fourth No. 1 team of the 2021 campaign atop our MLB Power Rankings.  —  Which American League team is playing well enough to bump the San Diego Padres from the top spot?

Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony moved to Sept. 8  —  The class of 2020 — Derek Jeter, Marvin Miller, Ted Simmons and Larry Walker — will have to wait a little bit longer to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame this summer, it was announced Wednesday.

The 5 Toughest Hitters in Baseball  —  Before I jump into my list, let me just start out by addressing something right up here at the top.  That no-hitter I threw a few weeks back?  Where I K'd eight guys and didn't give up a single hit?  How'd I do that?  Well, I mean....  Your guess is as good as mine, man.

Sonny Gray expected to miss at least two starts.  What it means for the Reds rotation.  —  After Sonny Gray felt pain in his groin following a warmup pitch Tuesday, one of the thoughts that ran through his head was making sure it didn't become a long-term injury.

‘Sorry you had to see that’ — How baserunning has become an embarrassing problem in Major League Baseball  —  Editor's note: From rising strikeout totals and unwritten rules debates to connecting with a new generation of fans and a looming labor battle, baseball is at a crossroads.

How things went so wrong for Jarred Kelenic to begin his big-league career  —  Dozens of cheerful moments have bloomed from the Mets' unconventional first-place season, but now it's getting a brief addition of schadenfreude.  —  Mega prospect Jarred Kelenic — the one misguidedly traded …

New Book Shows Astros Kept Cheating After 2018  —  Remember how offended former Astros manager A. J. Hinch pretended to be in 2019, when reporters asked him to respond to accusations that his team was cheating during the American League Championship Series against the Yankees?