Surging Ben Zobrist bats leadoff against the Pirates  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Ben Zobrist will become the Cubs' fourth leadoff hitter in their last five games when they face the Pirates on Saturday night at PNC Park.  —  Zobrist will play right field as Tyler Chatwood makes …

Yankees' Severino tries to get back into groove vs. Jays  —  NEW YORK — One of the many questions surrounding the New York Yankees as they slog through mid-August is the state of Luis Severino and his recent performances.  —  Severino will be five days removed from his shortest start …

Matt Olson homers in 10th, A's pull within game of Astros  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) With September approaching, the Oakland Athletics are showing the baseball world what they believed from the start: This group and its young sluggers are ready to make a playoff push.

Avisail Garcia returns to White Sox lineup against Royals  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Avisail Garcia returns to the White Sox lineup Saturday night against the Royals.  —  Garcia, who is fighting pain in his right knee, was pulled from Friday night's game by manager Rick Renteria for not running hard …

Dodgers had the depth to survive key injuries in the past; Kenley Jansen is a different story  —  When the New York Mets spent the first pick of the 1961 expansion draft on a catcher, manager Casey Stengel explained why.  —  “You gotta have a catcher,” he said, “or you're gonna have a lot of passed balls.”

Wong's ‘next to impossible’ play saves the day for Cardinals  —  From his ringside spot at first base, Matt Carpenter, who knows a thing or two about playing second base, saw what Kolten Wong did in the eighth inning and was amazed.  —  “It's next to impossible,” Carpenter said.  “An amazing play.

What Aaron Judge's absence means for the rest of his season  —  NEW YORK — Aaron Judge has willingly embraced his current role as the New York Yankees' big-bodied hype man and cheerleader on the bench.  —  But he's long past ready to retire from it.  —  When the right fielder was taken …

How far have the Phillies come?  Ask pair who started at the bottom  —  The Philadelphia Phillies have been through darker periods before.  After all, they had a record-setting steak of 16 consecutive losing seasons on their way to becoming the first team in professional sports to lose 10,000 games.

Scherzer picks up 16th win, Nationals beat Marlins 8-2  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Max Scherzer is using all his tools to help keep the Nationals' playoff hopes alive.  —  Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings, doubled and scored twice as the Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 on Friday night for his major league-leading 16th win.

Column: Hitting refresh button may be Chris Sale's key to winning 1st Cy Young Award  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Red Sox ace Chris Sale has a career ERA of 2.82 or lower for April, May, June and July.  But the number rises to 3.16 in August and 3.78 in September, suggesting he tires as the season wears on.

Bottom 5th Balls: Strikes: Outs: … Bottom of 5:  —  Yankees fifth.  Gregorius grounded out, second baseman Travis to first baseman Smoak.  Andújar homered to left on a 0-1 count.  Torres singled to left.  Petricka pitching.  Bird grounded out, pitcher Petricka to first baseman Smoak, Torres to second.

Twenty years ago, the '98 Yankees ruled baseball like no one had ever done before ... or since  —  Brian Cashman remembers the two cross-country flights from California back to New York very differently, but he recalls them vividly two decades later.  —  The second plane trip was the far …

Jose Ramirez homers, leads Cleveland Indians to victory over Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field  —  On the strength of a two-run home run from Jose Ramirez in the first inning of play, the Cleveland Indians topped the Baltimore Orioles, 2-1, in their series opener at Progressive Field Friday night.

Remember all that Rays hate?  —  BOSTON —Nope, this is not going to be the worst Rays team of all time, as a certain writer for a certain website that you may happen to be reading right now suggested in April was a real possibility.  Not going to be second worst, third, even bottom 10.