Pederson hits 2 HRs, Bellinger goes deep again for Dodgers  —  PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joc Pederson went deep twice, Cody Bellinger hit his third home run in as many games and the Los Angeles Dodgers used nine pitchers to hold off the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 on Thursday.

Phillies' difficult road trip proves offense could use a boost  —  CHICAGO — Asked why he decided to elevate Scott Kingery to the No. 3 spot in the batting order for the last three games, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler explained that the rookie infielder has swung the bat better lately …

Cardinals' Voit can handle the role of pinch hitter  —  Photo by Chris Lee, clee@post-dispatch.com  —  St. Louis Cardinals' Luke Voit is greeted by teammates, including Marcell Ozuna (23) and Yairo Muñoz, after he hit a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning during a game between …

Past and present collide as Oakland A's host Kansas City Royals  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Two pitchers representing the good and bad of recent Oakland Athletics trades go head-to-head Thursday night when the A's open a four-game home series against the Kansas City Royals.

Rockies' first-round pick regrets 2012 tweet calling for Obama assassination  —  Was it a character flaw or just high school immaturity?  —  Either way, University of Mississippi pitcher Ryan Rolison addressed the issue of his controversial tweet from 2012 when he was introduced to the media …

Top prospect Adbert Alzolay out with injury but promotion to Cubs is ‘close’  —  Cubs' senior vice president of player development/scouting Jason McLeod on the Cubs' draft.  (Mark Gonzales/Chicago Tribune)  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The Cubs hope Adbert Alzolay will be wiser once he returns …

Jake Bauers' promotion to majors continues Rays' youth movement  —  ST. PETERSBURG — The promotion of Jake Bauers is just one more part of the Rays' youth movement this season.  The 22-year-old made his major-league debut Thursday night, starting at first base and batting sixth in the order against the Mariners.

Rangers, Jon Daniels agree to multiyear contract extension  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have given general manager Jon Daniels a multiyear contract extension at a time when the team is focused on developing young players at the big league level.

Orioles ‘slugger’ Chris Davis is having a mind-bogglingly bad season  —  It was a relatively slow day of baseball on Thursday, so indulge me as I go down the rabbit hole with Chris Davis.  Hopefully we'll all come out alive.  —  Davis is having a terrible season.

Gibbons' job becoming a hot topic around Blue Jays  —  Prior to Thursday's game against the visiting Baltimore Orioles, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons read part of a text he received from his friend, former O's pitching great Jim Palmer, now a noted broadcaster.

Thor, deGrom to Bronx?  Yankees' hunt for arms just got real  —  NEW YORK — The New York Yankees' hunt for starting pitching just got more intense.  —  When the organization learned this week that left-hander Jordan Montgomery would undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his 2018 season …

Cubs-Pirates a baseball rivalry worth watching: 'I don't care what they think'  —  It's hardly Yankees-Red Sox, or Dodgers-Giants, or even Cardinals-Cubs.  —  But suddenly, we have a blossoming rivalry in baseball, and it's starting to attract a whole lot of attention.

Arizona Diamondbacks at San Francisco Giants … SAN FRANCISCO - Paul Goldschmidt stood near his locker deep in the visitors' clubhouse at AT&T Park, a strong series against the San Francisco Giants still large in the rearview mirror.  Asked to reflect on whether the past three games constituted a breakout …