Giancarlo Stanton continues power surge as Yankees blast Blue Jays 11-6  —  Greg Bird is congratulated by teammates after his homer in the eighth helped the Yankees create a little breathing room in Saturday's win.  —  Giancarlo Stanton hit one of New York's four homers …

Jacob deGrom throws complete game, strikes out nine in Mets' victory over Phillies as ace's bid for Cy Young gets a major boost  —  On his 107th pitch of the game, Jacob deGrom touched 99 miles per hour, the fastest pitch he'd thrown all day.  Except he topped it immediately …

Little Leaguer Aukai Kea does Bryce Harper bat flip after walk-off home run in LLWS game  —  The 2017 World Series teams are struggling with injuries and depth.  Can they make it back to the postseason?  USA TODAY Sports  —  CONNECT  —  A Little League star paid homage …

Jason Adam's emotions spiral as frustrating season continues with Royals' loss to White Sox  —  CHICAGO  —  In a span of 13 minutes at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday night, the Royals went from clinging to a one-run lead over the White Sox in the seventh inning to trailing by six in what became a 9-3 loss.

Column: Position players pitching is all the rage — but how about some new ideas to save the bullpens?  —  Chicago Tribune  —  The Mets were trouncing the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday, so Phillies manager Gabe Kapler wanted to save his bullpen for the nightcap.

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.

New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays announce lineups for second game of series  —  After winning a shortened game Friday night due to rain, the Yankees look to make it two wins in a row against the Blue Jays on Saturday.  —  Luis Severino gets the ball for the Yankees.

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 …

Marc Topkin's takeaways from Saturday's Rays-Red Sox game  —  OF Carlos Gomez's overall numbers don't look like much (.215, 8 HRs), but he continues to do so many little things to help on and off the field.  Saturday, he made a heads-up play by moving up from second to an uncovered third base on an infield pop-up.

No one is wondering why the Cincinnati Reds traded for Curt Casali now  —  When the Reds traded for Curt Casali on May 31, the reaction in a lot of circles was the same: Why?  —  Tony Cruz was backing up Tucker Barnhart after the trade of Devin Mesoraco.  —  “I didn't know anything about Casali,” Reds manager Jim Riggleman said.

Last Slide  —  SAN DIEGO - Left fielder David Peralta was out of the lineup for a second consecutive day on Saturday due to a stomach issue, but unlike on Friday he was at Petco Park, hit in the cage pregame and seemed more likely to be available off the bench than the day before.

Harvey beats Bumgarner, Giants drop series to last-place Reds  —  CINCINNATI-The Reds sent the “Dark Knight” to the mound.  —  Then Matt Harvey sent the Giants to the darkest night of their season.  —  The right-handed starter and former Mets phenom once billed as the “The Dark Knight of Gotham” …

Cleveland Indians recall Adam Plutko to replace injured Trevor Bauer in rotation  —  Bauer is out four to six weeks with a stress fracture in his right leg.  —  In a move that was widely expected, the Indians recalled pitcher Adam Plutko from Triple-A Columbus Saturday to take injured …

Odubel Herrera's gaffe should force Phillies' hand to play Roman Quinn more  —  Odubel Herrera stood at first base Saturday afternoon with his hands on his hips knowing all too well what his fate would be when the umpires removed their headsets.  —  He was out after a baserunning gaffe …

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 …

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.”

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.

10 years later, Cincinnati Reds still trying to make a big splash in the international market  —  On Aug. 17, 2008, the Reds signed Yorman Rodriguez, out of Venezuela for $2.5 million.  It was a big deal at the time, a sign the Reds were going to get back into the international market in a big way.