Check out these ‘epic’ images from that surprise lightning storm  —  A surprise lightning and thunderstorm raced into Orange County late Thursday, as spectators and photographers marveled at the show in the sky.  —  It also brought a shot of much-needed rain to parts of the region.

Chris Sale tests positive for COVID-19, will not start for Boston Red Sox on Sunday  —  CHICAGO — Red Sox ace Chris Sale has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not make his scheduled start Sunday against the White Sox, MassLive has learned.  —  Sale is the 10th Red Sox player to test positive for the virus since Aug. 27.

The Rays' Unique Ability To Mitigate Risk  —  I'll be the first to admit that I don't understand the Tampa Bay Rays.  I don't understand how they win as many games as they do.  They're definitely good, but it never feels like they should be as good as they are, or recently have been.

Larry Walker's love of SpongeBob immortalized at the Baseball Hall of Fame  —  Larry Walker, the former Colorado Rockies and Montreal Expos star, is going into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Wednesday.  He was one of baseball's best hitters in that era, and the 54-year-old set the internet ablaze …

Mets waste standout performance from Javy Baez to drop Miami series  —  Home run.  Ground-rule double.  Walk.  Stolen base.  Aggressive running.  Stolen base again.  —  Javy Baez tried to do it all in the Mets' 3-2 loss to the Marlins on Thursday night, backed up by Marcus Stroman's six strong innings of one-run ball.

California exodus?  Rents jump inland, flat by the coast  —  If rent hikes are a popularity measure, well, Eastward Ho!  —  The “Looking Glass” ponders economic and real estate trends through two distinct lenses: the optimist's “glass half-full” and the pessimist's “glass half-empty.”

BREAKING: Braves' Ozuna agrees to diversion program in domestic violence case  —  Braves outfielder Marcell Ozuna on Thursday entered into a negotiated resolution that could result in his domestic violence charges being dismissed.The 30-year-old was arrested in May after Sandy Springs officers reported seeing …

New York Yankees' Jameson Taillon placed on injured list; Zack Britton undergoes Tommy John surgery  —  The New York Yankees have placed right-hander Jameson Taillon on the 10-day injured list because of a partial tendon tear in his right ankle, while reliever Zack Britton is unlikely …

MLB Power Rankings Week 22: Where all 30 teams stand as the wild-card races heat up  —  We're a week into September and there's plenty of question marks in MLB's playoff races.  —  Which teams battling it out for the two American League wild-card slots will hang tough?

Slumping sluggers, a struggling closer and red-hot opponents: How the Yankees got into big September trouble  —  When the New York Yankees awoke in the Bay Area on Aug. 28, life couldn't have been much better.  They'd just won their 13th consecutive game, a rampage that began …

Biden faces hard truths of the pandemic ahead of major speech  —  (CNN)The thing Americans want most from Joe Biden is beyond his power to deliver: an end to the pandemic.  —  But the President will make a new attempt on Thursday to chart a path out of a national nightmare that is beginning …

Derek Jeter had ‘it:’ The Hall of Famer won championships for the New York Yankees  —  He was an 18-year-old who was homesick and, perhaps to the untrained eye, was looking like a flop.  —  It was the summer of 1992.  The Florida sun was scorching the baseball fields of Tampa, even more than the glares of owner George Steinbrenner.