Familiar Forces: Pham scores twice, Mikolas makes that enough in 2-1 win vs. Padres  —  SAN DIEGO  • As much as the Cardinals have been waiting for some of their stalwarts to halt their struggles and catch fire, they remain in first place as Mother's Day approaches because of a trio of constants they've been able to count on.

Meet the Mets, but can the Phillies beat the Mets?  |  Extra Innings  —  Only five teams in baseball — Boston, the New York Yankees, Houston, Atlanta and Arizona — have a better record than the Phillies after the Phils' four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants.  The Phillies are 22-15.

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Washington Nationals … Things got weird for “The Beard” on Saturday night.  —  Brought in to replace a dominating Zack Greinke with nobody out and a runner at second in the seventh inning, Diamondbacks relief ace Archie Bradley couldn't bail out Arizona's starting ace …

Baseball roundup: Albies hits grand slam as Braves beat Marlins  —  Albies, Freeman key Braves' rout of Marlins  —  Ozzie Albies hit Atlanta's first grand slam of the season to highlight a seven-run sixth inning, Freddie Freeman had a career-high five hits and the NL East-leading Braves beat the Marlins 9-2 in Miami on Thursday night.

Martinez homers, Red Sox rebound to cool off Yankees, 5-4  —  Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts, left, center fielder Mookie Betts, center, and right fielder J.D. Martinez celebrate after the Red Sox defeated the New York Yankees 5-4 in a baseball game in New York, Thursday, May 10, 2018.

Evan Longoria: Rays might be better off leaving Tampa Bay  —  PHILADELPHIA — At a critical juncture when Rays, business and government leaders are trying to secure the long term future of baseball in the Tampa Bay area by building a new stadium, the greatest player in franchise history said they may be wasting their time.

Danny Farquhar thanks doctors, says he 'can't wait' to pitch again after ruptured aneurysm  —  Danny Farquhar thanked his family, Chicago White Sox fans and medical personnel on Instagram on Thursday night, adding that he “can't wait” to return to pitching after a ruptured brain aneurysm ended his 2018 season.

Chacin contains his former team, Brewers beat Rockies 5-2  —  Milwaukee Brewers' Travis Shaw breaks his bat while hitting a double off Colorado Rockies starting pitcher German Marquez during the first inning of a baseball game Thursday, May 10, 2018, in Denver.  (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Jim Kaat says 7-inning games would enhance pitching staffs, bring in new fans  —  Jim Kaat has been around baseball for most of his 79 years, and he doesn't like what he sees in the game today.  —  EDITOR'S PICKS  —  Should the Pirates build a statue for their former MVP?  Not if you ask him.

Twins Release Mason Melotakis  —  The Twins have released 2012 second-round pick Mason Melotakis.  The Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, the affiliate with which Melotakis had been pitching, made the announcement (h/t LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, on Twitter).

CC Sabathia, pride of Vallejo, has plans in case Yankees win the World Series  —  What do you do when you've done it all?  —  If you're CC Sabathia, pride of Vallejo, you do it again.  —  Then you walk away.  —  Sabathia, 37, a left-handed pitcher who has been picked to six All-Star teams …

Iowa Cubs manager Marty Pevey on brain tumor: ‘My little friend living up there between my eyes’  —  Iowa Cubs manager Marty Pevey tries not to think about his tumor.  But it's impossible to accomplish for so many reasons.  —  The saying Pevey likes to tell is this: His tumor is literally always on his mind.

In terms of effective left-handers, the Brewers' bullpen cup runneth over  —  DENVER - During the 2011 season, when the Milwaukee Brewers established a franchise record with 96 victories and came within two games of advancing to the World Series, they had three left-handers appear out of their bullpen.

Gonzalez, Long lead the way for Pensacola  —  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Luis Gonzalez doubled twice and singled, driving in two runs as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos beat the Birmingham Barons 6-2 on Thursday.  The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Blue Wahoos and a three-game winning streak for the Barons.