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 …

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.

Detroit Tigers prospects Matt Manning, Dawel Lugo to play in Futures Game  —  The Detroit Tigers are sending two players to the All-Star Futures Game this season.  —  Right-hander Matt Manning will pitch for the United States team and second baseman Dawel Lugo will play for the World team …

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.

MLB.com's Duquette: Reds' Gennett, Iglesias among 10 top trade targets  —  A pair of Cincinnati Reds - second baseman Scooter Gennett and closer Raisel Iglesias - are among 10 of “the likeliest to receive considerable attention given where contending clubs' needs stand today,” …

Granderson has kept up his end of the bargain, now the Blue Jays can do him a favour  —  After a brilliant big-league career, there is still one milestone that Curtis Granderson would love to experience.  And that would be to win a World Series.  —  “I've been there three times, haven't won it …

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 …

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.

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 …

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?

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 …

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 …

Daily notes: Pitcher and hitter rankings for Saturday  —  Saturday is “Ace Day,” with seven hurlers with at least a 60 Game Score, signifying “elite” status: Max Scherzer, Corey Kluber, Luis Severino, James Paxton, Blake Snell, Charlie Morton and Robbie Ray.

Arizona Diamondbacks draft history: First round picks … The Diamondbacks will not sign their top pick, infielder Matt McLain, sources confirmed Friday, and instead will receive a compensatory pick in next year's draft.  —  Details remain sketchy, but it appears the club did not meet McLain's demands …

Column: A modest proposal for baseball: Contraction, elimination of interleague play and expanded playoffs  —  Chicago Tribune  —  A crowd of 6,259 turned out at Marlins Park on Tuesday for the Marlins-Rays interleague matchup, and a few hundred stuck around for the end of the Rays' 16-inning victory.

Reds' Lorenzen would ‘absolutely’ participate in Home Run Derby at MLB All-Star Game  —  Would Reds relief pitcher Michael Lorenzen, who hit three home runs in a week in late June and has homered five times in 60 career at-bats for Cincinnati, participate in the Home Run Derby on July 16 if invited?

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 …