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.

Gurriel's RBI single in 9th gives Astros 4-3 win over Sox  —  The Astros trailed by 1 when Joakim Soria (0-3) walked pinch-hitter Tony Kemp with no outs in the ninth before advancing to third on a single by pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez.  —  HOUSTON (AP) - Jose Altuve hit a two-run homer …

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.

Cardinals hit 3 HRs to back Weaver in Cardinals' 11-2 win  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) St. Louis pitcher Luke Weaver flirted with perfection, had to overcome a little frustration, and settled for domination.  —  The Cardinals' offense was pretty good, too.  —  Weaver pitched two-hit ball …

Ten teams that must decide if it's time to start a full rebuild  —  Typically, MLB trade activity picks up in earnest after the draft.  This year, the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays got things started a little early, and then the Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals completed another trade …

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.

Tigers' Zimmermann aims to prove worth vs. Rangers  —  Jordan Zimmermann looked like a $110 million pitcher in his last start.  The Detroit Tigers hope the oft-injured Zimmermann can produce like that on a regular basis.  —  Zimmermann, who will start for the Tigers against the Texas Rangers …

MLB.com: Reds pitcher Matt Harvey among trade candidates with stocks rising  —  Matt Harvey trade talk is nothing new, with the Cincinnati Reds expected to reap the benefits of a May trade for the former New York Mets ace.  But MLB.com's Mark Feinsand sees a couple of contenders not mentioned …

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.

A July 4th attendance boom and MLB's next big thing  —  How was your Fourth of July?  What did you do?  I'm curious because, after all, it's the heart of summer and most of you had the day off, and in today's world, there are countless ways to spend leisure time.  —  You know what a heck of a lot of people did Wednesday?

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.

MLB All-Star Game predictions: Who will start on July 17?  —  Now that fan voting is finished, it's a good time to take a hard look at All-Star Game selections.  —  Which players are worthy of participating July 17 in Washington, and who gets left out?  —  Let's touch on this topic first …

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.

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) …

Kris Bryant not in lineup vs. Reds as Cubs aim for 7th consecutive win  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Kris Bryant remains out of the Cubs lineup as they try to extend their winning streak to seven games Friday against the Reds at Wrigley Field.  —  Bryant hasn't played since June 22 …

Reds Select Dilson Herrera  —  The Reds announced Friday that they've selected the contract of infielder Dilson Herrera from Triple-A Louisville.  It'll mark not only the Reds debut for the 24-year-old, but his first MLB action since a 2015 trial run with the Mets.