Nationals embarrassment: GM Mike Rizzo officially waves the white flag  —  The shameful, national embarrassment in Washington, mercifully is over.  —  At least.  —  Folks, we're talking about the baseball team, here.  —  The team was once again projected to be a World Series contender, and the runaway favorites to win the NL East.

Making sense of the weird three-team race in the NL West  —  It has been several years since we've had a good division race in the National League West.  The Los Angeles Dodgers have won five straight division titles and weren't really threatened in any of those seasons.

Yankees win in Stanton's return to Miami  —  Stanton falls short of 300th career home run, but Yankees win 2-1 in 12 innings … MIAMI - The Yankees won Giancarlo Stanton's homecoming game but may have lost their closer.  —  Aroldis Chapman left the game with pain in his troublesome left knee …

Cubs starter Yu Darvish out for season with stress reaction in elbow  —  Photos of Cubs starting pitcher Yu Darvish.  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Yu Darvish's frustrating season became complete Tuesday when tests revealed that the Cubs' prized free-agent signing was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his right pitching elbow.

Allen's 2 catches help Bieber, Indians beat Red Sox 6-3  —  BOSTON (AP) Cleveland pitcher Shane Bieber was sure to thank fellow rookie Greg Allen for making his debut at Fenway Park a successful one.  —  The rare times Bieber made a mistake, Allen was there to cover - no matter the distance …

Promising MLB debut from White Sox's Michael Kopech cut short by lengthy rain delay  —  CHICAGO — One thing you can say about Michael Kopech's big league debut: The White Sox phenom left them wanting more.  —  Kopech pitched two scoreless innings in Chicago's 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins …

Mets top Giants as Jeff McNeil goes 4-for-4 with go-ahead RBI  —  Jeff McNeil on his 4-for-4 game in Mets' 6-3 win Matt Ehalt, Staff Writer, @MattEhalt  —  NEW YORK — In describing Jeff McNeil's approach, Mets manager Mickey Callaway compared the rookie second baseman to Hall-of-Famer Wade Boggs.

Rays journal: C.J. Cron gets caught in numbers game  —  ST. PETERSBURG — 1B/DH C.J. Cron is in a difficult spot with the Rays, trying to build on career-high numbers without the opportunity for regular playing time.  —  Now the question is whether he ends the season playing somewhere else.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Preston Tucker trying to make the most of his new opportunity  —  Bobby Nightengale, Cincinnati Enquirer  —  MILWAUKEE - After a few of the Reds games, outfielder Preston Tucker finds a TV and tries to catch as much as he can of Houston Astros games.

Cleveland Has Taken The Fly-Ball Revolution To The Next Level  —  CLEVELAND — Few players have changed their profiles as dramatically as Francisco Lindor.  —  As a minor league prospect, Lindor was not the masher who currently sits atop the Cleveland Indians' lineup.

Gennett homers as Reds beat Brewers 9-7  —  MILWAUKEE — Scooter Gennett burned his former team in a big way Tuesday night.  —  Gennett hit a tiebreaking solo homer with two out in the ninth, helping the Cincinnati Reds beat Milwaukee 9-7 and prevent the Brewers from gaining ground in the National League playoff race.

Blue Jays hit 3 home runs off Bundy, rout slumping O's 8-2  —  TORONTO (AP) — An awful August for Baltimore's  —  Dylan Bundy keeps getting worse.  —  Kendrys Morales hit back-to-back home runs off the right-hander,  —  Aledmys Diaz and Billy McKinney also connected, and the

Swanson, Gausman carry Braves over Pirates 6-1  —  Dansby Swanson had two homers and four RBIs,  —  Kevin Gausman breezed through eight innings and the  —  Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Tuesday night.  —  Swanson's first homer gave the Braves a 2- lead in the fifth before he sent another …

Where will Detroit Tigers' Nicholas Castellanos play on defense?  —  Jamie Samuelsen, co-host of the “Jamie and Stoney” show at 6 a.m. weekdays on WXYT-FM (97.1), blogs for freep.com.  His opinions do not necessarily reflect those of the Detroit Free Press nor its writers.

Reddick's HR helps Astros beat Mariners 3-2  —  Josh Reddick homered to give Houston the lead and the  —  Seattle Mariners 3-2 Tuesday night.  —  Reddick's tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning put the Astros ahead 2-1, and  —  Yuli Gurriel added an RBI single in the sixth for a two-run lead.

Last Slide  —  Michael Fulmer was back in the Detroit Tigers clubhouse on Tuesday afternoon, providing an answer to one question, no answer to another, letting reporters read between the lines instead.  —  After two strong minor league injury rehabilitation starts with Class A Lakeland …