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.

MLB: Hunter Renfroe ‘completely wrong’ in saying that Boston Red Sox were told to stop testing amid COVID-19 outbreak  —  Major League Baseball on Thursday denied Boston Red Sox outfielder Hunter Renfroe's allegation that the league told the team to stop testing for COVID-19 amid the outbreak spreading through its clubhouse.

Win at Honduras eases pressure on Berhalter, U.S. men - for now  —  SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — Some American players rushed from Estadio Olímpico Metropolitano and its pulsating Latin music for a charter flight through the night to London and onto Berlin, where weekend games awaited with European clubs.

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.

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.

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 …

Arizona Diamondbacks promote slugger Seth Beer to majors  —  The Diamondbacks are promoting prospect Seth Beer, who will join the team Friday ahead of this weekend's series against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park, a source confirmed.  —  Beer, 24, was hitting .287/.398/.511 in 362 …

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?

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 …

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 …