Yankees' Sonny Gray calls latest rough start ‘embarrassing’  —  NEW YORK — An embarrassed and disappointed Sonny Gray opened up Saturday night about his inconsistent starts in the New York Yankees' pitching rotation, just after scuffling through one of his worst outings yet in pinstripes.

Marquez pitches Rockies to 3-1 win over Dodgers  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) A fist pump and a late fastball on the cusp of 100 mph was all the indication needed to know just how good German Marquez felt Saturday.  —  He pitched two-hit ball over eight innings and Ian Desmond homered as the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1.

Royals face Mariners thankful dismal June is over  —  With apologies to Little Orphan Annie, the sun'll come out today.  —  Considering the month the Kansas City Royals just went through, and that they're currently in often-overcast Seattle, that was no guarantee.

Hamels, Rangers go for sweep of White Sox  —  When surging Texas goes for a three-game sweep of the visiting Chicago White Sox on Sunday at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas, Cole Hamels, the pitcher the Rangers expected to be their bell cow in this season of rebuilding, will be on the mound.

Albert Almora out for Cubs' finale against Twins  —  The Cubs' Albert Almora Jr. hits an RBI single off Twins reliever Zach Duke during the fifth inning against the Twins, Saturday, June 30, 2018, at Wrigley Field.  (Charles Rex Arbogast / AP)  —  Chicago Tribune

Nolan Arenado is tired of losing.  Will he have to leave the Rockies to win?  —  SAN FRANCISCO - While the baseball world laments not seeing the game's greatest player perform on the biggest stage in October, forgotten is that Mike Trout actually once played in the postseason.

Rays hope to ride Snell's pace vs. Astros  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays were a wobbly 34-40 on June 20, but have pitched their way back to .500 mostly without true starting pitchers.  —  On Saturday, five relievers combined to outduel Justin Verlander in a 5-2 victory …

Jacob deGrom now slumping as Mets fall into NL basement  —  MIAMI — This constitutes a slump for the Mets' best pitcher.  —  Jacob deGrom was rolling, providing a typical deGrom-like performance when the sixth inning hit Saturday at Marlins Park.  Suddenly, the ace right-hander “hit a wall” and stopped getting outs.

Reds pitcher Michael Lorenzen hits homer in third straight at-bat  —  Pitcher Michael Lorezen now has three homer runs in his last three at-bats for the Cincinnati Reds.  —  He continued the swat streak during the Reds 12-3 win against the Milwaukee Brewers Saturday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks … The Diamondbacks placed infielder Deven Marrero on the 10-day disabled list due to inflammation in his left oblique and recalled right-hander Jimmie Sherfy prior to Saturday's game against the Giants at Chase Field.

Tigers face Blue Jays, hope to snap nasty skid  —  TORONTO — The Detroit Tigers will be trying to avoid making more history Sunday afternoon when they face the Toronto Blue Jays on Canada Day at the Rogers Centre.  —  After Blue Jays first baseman Justin Smoak smacked a 1- fastball …

Olney: Contenders consider buying low, buying late  —  BRONX, N.Y. — More than a handful of teams benefitted last winter from slow-playing the free-agent market and waiting for the asking prices to fall inevitably.  This is how the Phillies landed Jake Arrieta on a three-year contract …

DRAFT MLB Strategy: Sunday  —  Building a team on DRAFT's DFS platform is an excellent way to make the action even more exciting than just following your favorite team.  If you aren't familiar with DRAFT, it's an innovative DFS game with a live draft feature — instead of building within a salary cap …

Nationals' Jeremy Hellickson comes off DL to start vs. Phillies  —  PHILADELPHIA — The Washington Nationals have activated right-hander Jeremy Hellickson from the 10-day disabled list and will start him against Philadelphia.  —  EDITOR'S PICKS  —  From Nolan Ryan to King Felix to, well …

Giants end stellar June with shutout of first-place Diamondbacks  —  PHOENIX — Fifteen games ended with the Giants shaking hands near the mound, three more in joyous dogpiles on walkoff hits.  Only 10 times did they retreat to their clubhouse in silence, without the strobe lights …