White Sox pitcher Carlos Rodon slowly returning to his old self  —  Photos from the White Sox's 4-3 loss against the Astros on Thursday, July 5, 2018 at Minute Maid Park in Houston.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Carlos Rodon figures to be the most experienced starter in the White Sox rotation …

Chris Herrmann's HR helps lift Mariners over Angels  —  SEATTLE (AP) - Chris Herrmann hit his first home run for Seattle and Marco Gonzales pitched six solid innings to lead the Mariners to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.  —  Gonzales (9-5) gave up five hits while striking out seven in a 102-pitch outing.

Turner homers twice, Nationals rally past Marlins  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Trea Turner hit two homers, including his first career grand slam, and drove in eight runs to help the Washington Nationals rally from a nine-run deficit and defeat the Miami Marlins 14-12 in a wild slugfest Thursday night to end a five-game losing streak.

Lauer, Hedges help Padres beat slumping Diamondbacks 6-3  —  PHOENIX (AP) — Eric Lauer limited Arizona to a run over five innings, Austin Hedges homered for the first time since April 10 and the San Diego Padres opened a four-game series in the desert with a 6-3 victory over the slumping Diamondbacks on Thursday night.

Chris Sale gets nod as first-place Boston Red Sox visit Kansas City Royals  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Boston Red Sox and the Kansas City Royals, two diametrically opposite clubs, meet in a three-game series beginning Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.  —  To say they are polar extremes would not be an exaggeration.

Michael Lorenzen outhomered fellow Gatorade ad actor Bryce Harper in June  —  We don't know for sure whether Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper homers off of Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen in a Gatorade ad featuring the pair.  (It looks like he might.)

Launch angle, Goodrum's bat cost Dixon Machado spot on Detroit Tigers  —  Niko Goodrum forced the issue.  —  The Detroit Tigers' designating-for-assignment of infielder Dixon Machado had as much to do with Goodrum's production as it had to do with Machado's offensive struggles.

MLB: LeBlanc agrees to extension  —  Pitcher Wade LeBlanc is guaranteed $2.75 million under a new contract with the Seattle Mariners covering 2019.  The deal contains three options that would be worth $31.3 million over four years if he pitches 180 innings or more each season.

Phillies should follow their motto, ‘Be Bold,’ and trade for Manny Machado  —  Each Phillies player found a red shirt draped over their clubhouse chair five months ago when the team reported to Clearwater for the first day of spring training.  A motto was born in white letters across the chest.

It's no surprise AL East will be front and center at trade deadline  —  It's getting to be that time.  GMs are circling the wagons, gearing up for baseball's annual midsummer swapfest, and while we don't know where or if Manny Machado, Josh Donaldson, Cole Hamels, J.T.Realmuto or Wilson Ramos …

Here are the Mets the team should look to move as trade deadline fast approaches  —  TORONTO — There are no questions now about where the Mets stand.  They return to New York after an off day on Thursday after a 2-3 road trip as a team that is woefully out of contention in 2018 and in need of a dramatic rebuild.

From unknown to indispensable, Max Muncy is putting up All-Star numbers for the Dodgers  —  LOS ANGELES  —  Eyes locked on the right field bleachers, searching for his latest homer cresting through the ink-black sky, Max Muncy exhaled and let his bat roll through his fingers.

Surging Philadelphia Phillies open long road trip vs. skidding Pittsburgh Pirates  —  Teams from opposite ends of Pennsylvania and heading in opposite directions face off this weekend when the Philadelphia Phillies visit the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.  —  Philadelphia (47-37) …