Phillies have seemed to shift Maikel Franco to a reserve role  —  The Phillies faced a righthanded pitcher on Friday night and Maikel Franco sat on the bench, seeming to offer a view into how the team sees Franco's role going forward.  —  Matt Klentak offered a scenario of playing Franco …

Angels' Shohei Ohtani placed on DL with sprained UCL; to be re-evaluated in 3 weeks  —  Shohei Ohtani will be placed on the Los Angeles Angels' disabled list with a sprained elbow ligament and miss at least three weeks before the club re-evaluates him.  —  The Angels announced …

Sale, Red Sox square off with White Sox  —  BOSTON — Chris Sale, in his second year with the Red Sox, carries a 22-11 record with Boston into Friday night's start against his old team, the Chicago White Sox.  —  But while Sale has a .667 winning percentage with his new team …

Cardinals want to make some hay vs. Reds  —  The St. Louis Cardinals can't seem to find any traction in the National League Central race, unable to pull past the Milwaukee Brewers or Chicago Cubs or develop any consistency.  —  Maybe they can generate some this weekend in Cincinnati …

Astros' Verlander goes for eighth win vs. Rangers  —  The Texas Rangers, mired in last place in the American League West while acknowledging they are in a rebuilding mode, announced Thursday that they've reached an agreement with general manager Jon Daniels on a multi-year contract extension.

Nationals play host to Giants, who begin road stretch  —  WASHINGTON — The San Francisco Giants will look to build on a solid homestand when they begin a 10-game road trip Friday night against the Washington Nationals.  —  The Giants (31-31) won five of six games to move within 1 1/2 games …

Chapman, A's break through in 6th to beat Royals 4-1  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) Athletics pitcher Paul Blackburn couldn't wait for the postgame meal following his first start of the season.  Jittery nerves kept the right-hander from eating beforehand, and he was anxious to dig in.

To shift or not, the bullpen shuttle and MLB's next big thing  —  My working assumption about shifts in baseball has been that they work so often that when they don't, it sticks in our minds.  I also kind of figured pitchers who get burned by a shift now and again tend to see it the same way.

Cincinnati Reds manager Jim Riggleman trying out Scott Schebler in leadoff spot  —  For the second straight game Friday, Scott Schebler's name was written at the top of the Reds' lineup.  —  Entering this week, he'd only hit leadoff in seven games throughout his career but the early results look promising.

Marlins hope to contain Padres' turnaround  —  MIAMI — The San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins are rebuilding.  —  The Padres' effort is starting to pay off.  —  They have won three straight series for the first time in 11 months.  Their bullpen's 3.29 ERA ranks seventh in the majors.

Mets Place Jeurys Familia On 10-Day DL  —  The Mets have placed closer Jeurys Familia on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement.  He'll be replaced on the roster by right-hander Jacob Rhame.  —  Familia is said to be dealing with right shoulder soreness.  There's no further information available …

Cincinnati Reds Beat Podcast: Catching up on the MLB Draft, Homer Bailey news  —  How to listen:  —  Get the latest Reds news.  Download our app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play for Android users.

Rockies place reliever Mike Dunn on disabled list, recall Jeff Hoffman from Albuquerque  —  In his last four outings, the southpaw has recorded only four outs while giving up six runs and walking four … The Rockies placed reliever Mike Dunn on the disabled list on Friday with a left rhomboid strain …

Infield coach explains why Phillies are confident in run-prevention strategy |  Scott Lauber  —  Last Sunday, after giving up four singles in a row as part of a five-run sixth inning in a 6-1 loss at San Francisco, veteran pitcher Jake Arrieta leveled a scathing critique of the way the Phillies position their infielders.

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.