Sinking NY Mets waste quality start from Carlos Carrasco, get swept by Giants  —  NEW YORK — When you look back at the 2021 Mets' season, regardless of when or how it ends, you will likely remember this stretch of 13 games against two West Coast teams as the pivotal point in the schedule.

Little League World Series: Torrance falls in no-hitter by South Dakota's Gavin Weir  —  The left-handed ace earns a 1-0 win and fans 14 against Torrance, which plays Ohio in an elimination game Thursday  —  SOUTH WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Facing a team that has surrendered just one hit in two games …

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale joins Sandy Koufax as only pitchers on record with 3 immaculate innings  —  BOSTON — Red Sox ace Chris Sale joined Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers on record with three immaculate innings when he struck out the side on nine pitches in the third inning …

Philadelphia Phillies 1B Rhys Hoskins (abdomen tear) to have season-ending surgery  —  MLB, Philadelphia Phillies  —  The Philadelphia Phillies placed slugger Rhys Hoskins back on the injured list Thursday with an abdomen tear that will cause him to miss the rest of the season.

Pollock's homer sends Dodgers to 5-3 win over Padres in 16  —  SAN DIEGO (AP) — After 16 innings that took 5 hours, 49 minutes to play, featuring 489 pitches by 19 pitchers who stranded a combined 35 baserunners, the streaking Los Angeles Dodgers finally got to celebrate.

Chicago pitcher Adbert Alzolay struggles in first rehab outing with Iowa Cubs  —  Adbert Alzolay returned to the mound Wednesday night for his first start of a rehabilitation assignment with the Iowa Cubs.  —  The way things went, it may not be his last.  —  Alzolay struggled through …

Miguel Cabrera talks retirement on ESPN: ‘Two more years and I am done’  —  St. Louis, Mo. — Miguel Cabrera has said it before, that he planned to honor his contract with the Tigers and retire.  But perhaps not as definitively as he expressed it in an interview with ESPN's Sage Steele Wednesday morning.

Here's where all 30 farm systems rank  —  You know how 900 prospects line up.  Now, how about their 30 farm systems?  —  MLB Pipeline has re-ranked all 30 organizations by their prospect talent in this last edition of the farm system rankings.  The in-season rankings provide a good snapshot …

Yadier Molina returning to St. Louis Cardinals for what will be catcher's ‘final season’ in 2022  —  Yadier Molina has agreed to a one-year extension with the St. Louis Cardinals, with president of baseball operations John Mozeliak indicating it will be the All-Star catcher's final year with his longtime team.

The incredible story of Ray Caldwell, the MLB pitcher who survived a lightning strike to finish a game  —  ON AUG. 24, 1919, Ray Caldwell puts on a Cleveland uniform for the first time.  The weather is brutally hot but clear — for now — and none of the 20,000 or so fans at League Park …