MLB

The Cubs finally are ready to address Kyle Schwarber’s season-long struggles. The leadoff man is slashing just .181/.299/.356 with 55 strikeouts in 187 plate appearances this season, though he has seven homers and 19 RBI. And with a left-hander on the mound for the Dodgers on Friday night, Schwarber was on the Cubs’ bench for …

Masahiro Tanaka has had a rocky start to the 2017 season, but there is one factor that could play a big role in his turnaround. Heading into last night’s game against the Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees starter/ace Masahiro Tanaka was 5-3 on the year with a 6.56 ERA following two starts in which he …

Given the disaster that third base has been for the Boston Red Sox, they were obviously hoping that Brock Holt would be returning to the lineup soon. Instead, he has been shut down for the foreseeable future. Third base has been an absolute disaster for the Boston Red Sox this season. Thus far in 2017, …

Hitting a knuckleball is considered to be one of the hardest things in baseball, but catching one is just as difficult. On this day in 1960, Baltimore Orioles catcher Clint Courtney debuted a novel way of corralling the elusive pitch. Of all the pitches in baseball, the knuckleball may be the hardest to hit. When …

SEATTLE (AP) Inside the suites of Safeco Field are the typical, palatial amenities that come with a premium experience at a ballpark: private entries, leather seats, a food spread with numerous culinary options and drinks galore. They’ve become standard features across the industry. So how does Safeco Field now stand out? A new feature was …

Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Steven Souza had a little bit of a spatial misjudgment while diving for a fly ball Friday night at Target Field in Minnesota. Earlier in the game, Souza had made a flying leap and impressively caught Kennys Vargas’ line drive in the second inning. Perhaps Souza had an idea the same thing would happen …

MILWAUKEE (AP) Jake Lamb homered in the fourth inning and hit an RBI double in Arizona’s two-run 10th, and the Diamondbacks extended their winning streak to five games with a 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. Chris Owings scored the first run in the 10th on a wild pitch by reliever Wily …

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Chicago Cubs kept it classy on their way to open a road trip at Dodger Stadium, with the World Series champions dressing as characters from the Will Ferrell comedy ”Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” Manager Joe Maddon colored his gray hair a dark brown and dressed in a suit and …

NEW YORK (AP) Masahiro Tanaka struck out a career-high 13 to rebound from the worst stretch of his major league career but wound up a hard-luck loser when reliever Tyler Clippard’s wild pickoff throw sparked a go-ahead, two-run eighth inning in the Oakland Athletics’ 4-1 win over the New York Yankees on Friday night. Sean …

CLEVELAND (AP) Jorge Bonifacio’s two-run double off Andrew Miller broke an eighth-inning tie and lifted the Kansas City Royals past the Cleveland Indians 6-4 on Friday night. The Royals entered the game with the lowest winning percentage in the AL, but rallied from an early 4-0 deficit. Brandon Moss hit a three-run homer in the …