Yankees-Red Sox in London, Albert Pujols's Return to St. Louis Highlight 2019 Schedule  —  The Yankees and Red Sox will face off in London and Albert Pujols will return to St. Louis next season.  —  Occasional Friday off days were just one of the many notable tidbits from the 2019 schedule, which was released Wednesday.

Yankees slugger Stanton touched by Miami reception in return  —  MIAMI (AP) The Yankees slugger choked up.  —  Giancarlo Stanton acknowledged being touched by the warm reception he received the first time he stepped to the plate Tuesday at Marlins Park.  —  He saluted the crowd, waved and patted his chest as he looked to the stands.

Cardinals homer in 14th straight game, beat Dodgers 5-2  —  LOS ANGELES — Even when the Cardinals run into each other, they can't lose.  —  Yadier Molina and Marcell Ozuna slugged two-run homers and St. Louis overcame a lack of communication in the outfield to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 on Tuesday night.

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.

How Matt Carpenter went from hitting .140 in mid-May to potential MVP  —  Through good times and slumps, Matt Carpenter finds structure in the familiarity of his routine.  When he was hitting .140 in mid-May, Carpenter faithfully arrived at the park at 1 p.m. before home night games and 3 p.m. on the road.

Phillies have proof that the Nationals shouldn't be written off |  Extra Innings  —  Uh-oh.  If it wasn't already bad enough that the Phillies turned a 4-1 lead into a 10-4 loss last night in Washington and slipped to two games off the pace in the National League East, check out the opposing pitchers for the next two games.

Reddick's HR, rookie's poise help Astros beat Seattle, 3-2  —  SEATTLE (AP) — Houston manager A.J. Hinch knows his pitching staff can throw good fastballs.  However, it is the change-of-direction pitches that bring a smile to his face.  —  Rookie left-hander Framber Valdez won in his big-league debut, and

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.

Daniel Murphy bats leadoff in his Cubs' debut  —  Chicago Tribune  —  Daniel Murphy will bat leadoff in his Cubs' debut Wednesday night against the Tigers at Comerica Park.  —  Murphy, acquired Tuesday from the Nationals after being claimed on waivers, will start at second base.