Gattis and Cole lead Astros past Rangers 5-2  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) Evan Gattis homered in a happy homecoming, aided by a favorable matchup.  —  The Astros slugger and Dallas native hit a two-run homer and an RBI single, and Gerrit Cole allowed one run over six solid innings as Houston topped …

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 …

Gibson, McCarver, Shannon remember Red as tough, no-nonsense manager  —  St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst (left) and Bob Gibson return to the dugout after pregame festivities before a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday, April 13, 2015, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Athletics' Blackburn sharp; beats Royals in 2018 debut  —  OAKLAND — With an expedited return to a ravaged rotation, the Athletics weren't sure exactly what they'd get out of starting pitcher Paul Blackburn Thursday night.  —  Blackburn surpassed all expectations in his 2018 season debut …

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.

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.

Report: Nationals checked in with the Marlins about J.T. Realmuto recently  —  In his latest notes column, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reports that the Nationals checked in with the Marlins a couple weeks ago about catcher J.T. Realmuto.  The two sides didn't get anywhere …

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 …

Michael Lorenzen provides hardest hit by Cincinnati Reds hitter in StatCast era  —  When reporters approached Michael Lorenzen's locker following the Reds' 7-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Thursday, he had a confused look on his face.  —  His contribution to the win was a pinch-hit single to left field in the fifth inning.

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 …