LOS ANGELES — When Rob Manfred announced Tuesday that a dead man can no longer be banned from baseball, my first thought was this: If Pete Rose is going into the Hall of Fame, then Barry Bonds is too.

My second thought was this: What if neither one is going into the Hall of Fame?

Sounds silly, I know. There is no reason to reinstate Rose ...Read more

Things went according to plan Wednesday night in the Padres’ 5-1 victory over the Angels.

Things were at least back to normal with the bullpen. And the Padres got what might be the new normal from Randy Vásquez.

The Padres scored three runs their first time up and two their final time up. And in between, they let their pitchers do what they...Read more

Mookie Betts flexed his arms and began to shout. Max Muncy simply looked to the sky and strolled slowly out of the batter’s box.

In the eighth inning Wednesday night, both hitters erased some recent frustrations in the Dodgers’ 9-3 win over the Athletics, delivering the key hits in a five-run rally that turned a close game into a laugher.

...Read more

HOUSTON — The Kansas City Royals have a clear winning formula.

Much is predicated on their starting rotation, which remains flawless this season, and their stagnant offense being able to scratch across a few runs. The formula has worked for most of the 2025 campaign.

For a while, it was on full display against the Houston Astros at Daikin ...Read more

What do Hunter Goodman and Clarence Geoghan “Kid” Baldwin have in common?

You’re officially a hardball geek if you answered that they played for two of the most infamous teams in baseball history.

Goodman is a catcher for the Colorado Rockies, who lost 8-3 to the Rangers on Wednesday night at Globe Life Field as Texas completed a three-...Read more

The first five innings Ryan Pepiot threw Wednesday night in Toronto were certainly good enough to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a win.

But the couple of mistakes he made in the sixth ended up being the reason they lost, 3-1, to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Pepiot was protecting a one-run lead when he opened the sixth by getting ahead of Vladimir ...Read more

NEW YORK — After looking unbeatable a month ago, the Mets couldn’t beat the second-worst team in the National League.

To be fair, the series had already been won and the conditions were less than ideal. The Mets battled rain, wind and some questionable umpiring Wednesday night at Citi Field, in a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, only the...Read more

NEW YORK — Mother Nature brought the rain. Matt Gorski brought the thunder.

Gorski hit a two-run homer through a downpour, Jared Triolo added another two-run shot in the fifth, and five Pittsburgh Pirate pitchers combined for a shutout in a 4-0 win Wednesday night at Citi Field. It’s the Pirates’ fourth shutout of the season.

Pittsburgh ...Read more

DETROIT — You don’t expect Tarik Skubal to give back a three-run lead in the seventh inning of any start, let alone one where he had 11 strikeouts coming into the inning.

But here we are.

The Boston Red Sox KO’d Skubal in the seventh but couldn't quite avoid getting swept out of Comerica Park.

Andy Ibanez, summoned to pinch-hit against ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The city of Anaheim is likely to wait until after the baseball season to address the future of Angel Stadium.

With the city expecting to complete a long-awaited assessment of the condition of the stadium this summer, deputy city manager Ted White told the City Council on Tuesday that the prudent course of action would be for his...Read more

SEATTLE — The afternoon started with Julio Rodríguez robbing a home run with a leaping catch at the wall just five pitches into the game.

It ended with Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena standing and watching, and neither really moving as Aaron Judge provided another reminder that ultimately he is inevitable.

Relatively quiet for most of the ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth inning but could not get the decisive hit in an 8-7 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday at Oracle Park.

Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Patrick Bailey all reached base with one out in the ninth against Diamondbacks closer Shelby Miller. LaMonte Wade ...Read more

BALTIMORE — After Kody Clemens connected with a first-pitch change-up from Baltimore Orioles reliever Yennier Cano in the eighth inning, he stood in the batter’s box for a few moments as he watched the ball sail beyond the right-field wall.

With the way the Twins have played during their 10-game winning streak, all the bounces that have ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Don’t kid yourself, it wasn’t MLB commissioner Rob Manfred who reinstated Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and made them eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week. It was President Donald Trump.

Does anybody really think it’s just a coincidence that Rose was reinstated just a couple of weeks after ...Read more

BALTIMORE – Christian Vázquez bought the Spartan-style helmet the Twins give their home run hitters for their dugout celebration, which he found browsing Amazon at the start of the season, and Wednesday he was finally allowed to put it on himself.

And he was the one to break it.

After Vázquez homered for the first time this season, a three...Read more

CHICAGO — Pete Rose owes his eternal gratitude to President Donald Trump, Commissioner Rob Manfred and the Baseball Hall of Fame for getting him into Cooperstown in 2028, assuming he’s rubber stamped by the 16-member Classic Baseball Era Committee when he’s placed on the ballot in two years.

Since he’s no longer living, we’ll have to ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies pulled out a slim 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, but for the first time this season, Kyle Schwarber didn’t touch first base.

Schwarber’s on-base streak came to an end at 47 games, after going 0 for 4 on Wednesday. He fell just short of tying Bobby ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Better late than never, you could say.

Tuesday brought unexpected news that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has removed Pete Rose, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson and other deceased players from the league’s permanently ineligible list. The commissioner ruled that punishment of banned individuals ends upon their deaths.

Around ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Like pretty much every other time the Dodgers have found themselves in a self-made mess, the task of downplaying a major problem once again was made the responsibility of manager Dave Roberts.

So, in the aftermath of a deflating 11-1 defeat by the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night, Roberts trudged into the interview room at ...Read more