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Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Bill Plaschke: Stop trying to keep Roki Sasaki in the starting rotation. He belongs in the bullpen.

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Fans chanted his name. Teammates toasted his name. His manager deified his name, claiming he had just unleashed one of the greatest bullpen performances in baseball history.

Everybody loved him. Nobody doubted him. And in the middle of the Dodgers' postseason run last October, nobody was more valuable than him.

Remember Roki ...Read more

Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Orioles' Jackson Holliday dealing with 'tricky injury,' father Matt says

Sports / Baseball /

CLEVELAND — The Orioles’ decision to shut down Jackson Holliday after he struggled at the plate during his minor league rehabilitation assignment raised concerns about the health of his wrist.

The Orioles didn’t provide much clarity about Holliday’s injury, only describing the cause of the shutdown as “mild right wrist soreness.” ...Read more

Michael Reaves/Getty Images North America/TNS

Kodai Senga struggles again as Mets' skid hits nine games with 12-4 loss to Cubs

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — The Kodai Senga renaissance isn’t going as planned. But then again, nothing for the Mets is going as planned so far this year.

Coming off the worst start of his career, Senga lasted only 3 1/3 innings Friday, in a 12-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Mets’ losing streak has now reached nine, the most consecutive ...Read more

Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Padres nearing deal to sell for record-breaking price

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — The Padres are on the verge of historic new ownership.

San Diego’s biggest sports franchise is about to be sold for a record price to a group headed by Jose E. Feliciano and his wife, Kwanza Jones, a source confirmed Friday morning. The sale is subject to the approval of 22 of MLB’s other 29 owners, which is expected to happen...Read more

Chase Dollander pitches brilliantly as Rockies beat Astros, snap six-game losing streak

Sports / Baseball /

Talented right-hander Chase Dollander pitched like the ace he’s expected to become in the Rockies’ white-knuckle, 3-2 win over the host Astros at Daikin Park Thursday night.

The victory, buffered by Colorado’s shutdown bullpen, snapped Colorado’s six-game losing streak.

Dollander didn’t get the start — Colorado used Juan Mejia as ...Read more

Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Padres win eighth consecutive game, complete sweep of Mariners

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — No comeback. No walk-off extra-base hit.

Just a little midgame drama and just another victory.

A night after they scored five runs in the ninth inning, another burst of runs put the Padres up early Thursday, and the back end of their bullpen held on late in a 5-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

The Padres’ eighth ...Read more

Jason Miller/Getty Images North America/TNS

Orioles nearly no-hit, then nearly come back in 4-2 loss to Guardians

Sports / Baseball /

CLEVELAND — The Orioles are good at almost being no-hit.

They’re even better at avoiding history in the last inning.

The Orioles on Thursday night failed to record a hit entering the ninth inning — the third straight season in which Baltimore’s bats have nearly been on the receiving end of a no-hitter. This time, it was Guardians left-...Read more

Michael Reaves/Getty Images North America/TNS

Rays rally in 9th to sweep White Sox, boost AL-best record to 11-7

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — The Rays just had to be patient on Thursday afternoon.

Twice the White Sox scored a run, and twice the Rays rallied but could only get even. The ninth started the same way, when Junior Caminero led off with a homer to once again tie the score.

But this time, they found ways to keep the rally going and, thanks to a pair of bases-...Read more

Worth the wait: Tigers sweep Royals with three runs in ninth inning

Sports / Baseball /

DETROIT — That was a long day at the ballpark.

And, for the Tigers, it was worth the wait.

Riley Greene hit a two-run double to tie the game with two outs in the ninth inning, and Colt Keith followed with the winning single as the Tigers rallied past the Kansas City Royals, 10-9, on Thursday afternoon at Comerica Park.

"A crazy game to say ...Read more

Dylan Buell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Giants snap four-game losing streak as tempers flare against Reds

Sports / Baseball /

CINCINNATI — The Giants desperately needed a stopper. Landen Roupp played that role to perfection.

Roupp turned in his finest start of the season as the Giants beat the Reds, 3-0, to snap a four-game losing streak on Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park, pitching six shutout innings and no-hitting the Reds for the first five frames....Read more

Elsa/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mike Trout blasts another homer as Angels rout Yankees

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — The Angels have demonstrated this week that, if nothing else, they are resilient.

They suffered two gut-wrenching ninth-inning losses this week, and rebounded both times to win the next day.

It helps to do that when you’ve got Mike Trout doing his best impression of three-time MVP Mike Trout.

Trout homered for the fourth ...Read more

Chris Graythen/Getty Images North America/TNS

Yankees' Gerrit Cole to begin rehab assignment Friday

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — Gerrit Cole is ready for real games.

The Yankees’ right-hander will begin a rehab assignment with the Double-A Somerset Patriots on Friday. It will be his most significant step yet in his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

On Thursday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said the plan is for Cole’s pitch count to be in the mid-40s. The...Read more

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America/TNS

Pirates drop extra-inning matchup with Nationals, split series

Sports / Baseball /

PITTSBURGH — The first half of the Pirates’ game Thursday afternoon against the Washington Nationals was a clean, scoreless pitchers' duel. The second half was anything but.

The Nationals beat the Pirates, 8-7, in 10 innings at PNC Park. Each team scored four runs in the fifth, combining for 15 total runs in the final six innings. The ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA's Blue Era: How popular are the Dodgers? Even the Lakers look up at them. Way up.

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers are too good, and too rich. If the owners of other major league teams ultimately deem that combination so objectionable that they shut down the sport this winter because of it, they will risk a rupture in one of the greatest fan bases in American sports history.

The four million tickets the Dodgers sold ...Read more

Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jackson Merrill plays hero in Padres' walk-off win over Mariners

Sports / Baseball /

Randy Vásquez stumbled Wednesday night. The Padres picked him up anyway.

Jackson Merrill robbed his second homer of the season in the third inning and capped a five-run rally in the ninth inning with a walk-off double in a 7-6 win over the Mariners, extending the team’s win streak to seven games.

The game-winning rally saw pinch-hitter ...Read more

Luke Hales/Getty Images North America/TNS

Dodgers don't need Shohei Ohtani's bat, just his arm, in rout of Mets

Sports / Baseball /

Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani’s spotless ERA finally got its first mark Wednesday. But in the Dodgers’ 8-2 victory on Wednesday, he held the Mets to just one run in six innings.

Ohtani’s streak of innings without giving up an earned run ended at 32 2/3, the longest of his career. He had 10 strikeouts Wednesday, the most he’s had in...Read more

Tim Warner/Getty Images North America/TNS

Rockies lose sixth straight as offense comes up empty vs. Astros

Sports / Baseball /

Running on empty. As in far too many empty at-bats.

It hurt the Colorado Rockies again on Wednesday night in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Astros at Dalkin Park. It was the Rockies’ sixth consecutive loss as they slid 6-12 overall and 2-10 on the road.

Colorado struck out 15 times — Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti fanned 10 in his six ...Read more

Rays hit 3 homers in win over White Sox, improve to AL-best 10-7

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — As the Rays have been bunting freely and running wild in posting the American League’s best record, manager Kevin Cash has reminded that they can, and will, flex their muscles and put on a power show as well.

There was a glimpse of that Wednesday, as they extended their winning streak to five in an 8-3 victory over the White Sox ...Read more

Nic Antaya/Getty Images North America/TNS

Tigers win fifth in a row on Wenceel Perez's homer in eighth inning

Sports / Baseball /

DETROIT — Wenceel Perez, inserted into the game in the top of the inning, led off the bottom of the inning with a home run to right field, sending the Tigers to their fifth straight win, 2-1 over the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park Wednesday night.

He had been 0 for 10 in the young season, but he launched a 1-1 change-up from reliever Eli...Read more

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America/TNS

Carmen Mlodzinski leads Pirates to shutout win against Nationals

Sports / Baseball /

PITTSBURGH — In Tuesday’s loss, a gamble from Don Kelly backfired. In a win Wednesday at PNC Park, a different Kelly strategy worked to perfection.

Kelly used Mason Montgomery as an opener for Carmen Mlodzinsk, then Montgomery, Mlodzinski, Gregory Soto and Dennis Santana combined for nine shutout innings in the Pirates’ 2-0 win against ...Read more