Yankees' Luis Severino powers his way to 12th win, tops in majors  —  PHILADELPHIA — New York Yankees starter Luis Severino employed an electrifying array of triple-digit pitches Tuesday night to overpower the Phillies on his way to sole possession of the league lead in pitchers' wins.

Cubs' Hendricks looks to pull plug on Dodgers' power  —  LOS ANGELES — At 48 home runs this month and counting, the Los Angeles Dodgers are closing in fast on a franchise record that, while impressive, has not been around all that long.  —  In June of last season, buoyed by the arrival …

Arizona Diamondbacks at Miami Marlins … MIAMI - It seems that opponents facing Diamondbacks pitcher Zack Godley must have seen the 2012 Clint Eastwood movie, “Trouble with the Curve,” because he continued to tantalize NL batters with his trademark spiked-curveball in a 5-3 victory over Miami Tuesday night.

The best pitching performance ever for all 30 teams  —  On May 4, Gerrit Cole pitched one of the best games you will ever see.  He fired a 16-strikeout shutout against the Diamondbacks, allowing just one hit and one walk.  As a remarkable side note, Cole didn't strike any batters …

Every general manager's No. 1 priority for the second half  —  No MLB team can afford to take a year off.  Whether they are contenders, a year or two away, or heading downhill in need of a rebuild, all teams must work to further their goals.  With inaction not being a reasonable option …

Rockies' Freeland tries to continue mastery of Giants  —  SAN FRANCISCO — One hot pitcher and one who hopes he's heating up go head-to-head Wednesday night when the Colorado Rockies and San Francisco Giants continue their three-game series.  —  The Giants outlasted the Rockies in a pitchers' duel …

Carpenter homers twice, Cards chase Kluber to thump Indians  —  Matt Carpenter homered twice, matched a career best with five hits and helped chase  —  Corey Kluber in the shortest start of the right-hander's career in the  —  St. Louis Cardinals' 11-2 victory over the  —  Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

Manny Machado sweepstakes are underway - and Dodgers are favorites to acquire him  —  The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing it coy, acting as if they can't take on money, won't give up prized prospects, and aren't hellbent on returning to the World Series again.  —  Don't be fooled.

Braves' organist trolls Reds' Matt Harvey with ‘New York, New York’ and ‘Party All the Time’  —  The Atlanta Braves' organist strikes again.  —  Matthew Kaminski, the fan favorite who once played “Lady Madonna” for Alex Rodriguez (when he was dating Madonna) and “Puff the Magic Dragon” …

What happens as baseball players age?  —  23.  —  There are two outs, the bases are empty and the batter is 23.  —  He is, as he steps into the batter's box, the most exciting player in baseball.  As a rookie, he has hit a ball 513 feet in batting practice, thrown a pitch 102.5 mph …

Wait ... Matt Kemp is a star again?  —  In his book, “Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame?” in 1995, Bill James gave us the Keltner List — 15 questions meant to aid the thought process while evaluating the Hall of Fame worthiness of a player.  The first question, and perhaps the most well known …

Astros Balls & Strikes: Jake Marisnick rakes and takes away  —  Takeaways from the Astros' 7-0 win Tuesday over the Blue Jays:  —  The Catch: Judging by the pitchfork-wielding mob of Astros Twitter, Jake Marisnick is the most infuriating player for fans to watch this season.

A look back at Sandy Alderson's best moves as NY Mets GM, and the moves that flopped  —  Mets GM Sandy Alderson and COO Jeff Wilpon on Alderson's leave of absence Matt Ehalt, Staff Writer, @MattEhalt  —  Mets GM Sandy Alderson made some great trades, and whiffed on some free agents.  —  CONNECT

Exiled by the Cubs, Sammy Sosa Is Enjoying the Life He Wants You to See  — Twenty years ago he and Mark McGwire juiced baseball with their home run chase—and while we view that era differently now, time has largely healed baseball's PED wounds.  Sosa, though, has been mostly absent …

Enyel De Los Santos: A bulldog of a pitcher at triple-A  —  ALLENTOWN — Lehigh Valley righthander Enyel De Los Santos has made a favorable impression on the Phillies organization since being traded from San Diego for shortstop Freddy Galvis in December.  —  The Phillies brass like his command …

Five things to know about Hooks infielder Randy Cesar and his hitting streak  —  Randy Cesar's hitting streak began in early May and now has reached a point where it is being followed outside Corpus Christi and the Texas League, and is reaching a national scale.

Cincinnati Reds have used Lorenzen as a pitcher and a hitter.  Outfielder could be next.  —  Joey Votto talks about the Reds' seven-game winning streak following their 8-6 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.  The Reds completed a 6-0 homestand.  Bobby Nightengale/The Enquirer  —  CONNECT

Phillies' best trade policy is still restrained opportunism |  David Murphy  —  There is a compelling argument for the Phillies to be aggressive at the trade deadline, but it isn't the one that most people are putting forward.  Despite how competitive the Phillies have been this season …

Angels' Hermosillo falls over outfield wall trying to catch Betts homer  —  Los Angeles Angels outfielder Michael Hermosillo made a great effort, but ended up falling over the fence instead of catching a home run by Boston Red Sox slugger Mookie Betts Tuesday.