The Los Angeles Dodgers seem like they have nearly unlimited amounts of money, three former MVPs in their starting lineup and a pitching staff that never runs out of overpowering arms.

What would the dominant baseball narratives be if this season were 17 games long.

Michael King struck out 11 in five innings and Jackson Merrill homered for the San Diego Padres, who started 6-0 for the first time in their 57-season history by beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-0.

Juan Soto, Blake Snell and Clay Holmes debut for new teams.

Pittsburgh right-hander Paul Skenes will be the youngest pitcher in 11 years to start a season opener when he takes the mound for the Pirates.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided a salary arbitration hearing when the first baseman agreed to a $28.5 million, one-year contract on the day players and teams exchanged proposed figures.

Fernando Tatis Jr.‘s towering two-run home run highlighted a six-run second inning, and the San Diego Padres held on to beat Shohei Ohtani and the rival Los Angeles Dodgers 6-5 to take a 2-1 lead in a tense NL Division Series.

Fernando Tatis Jr. hit a towering two-run homer on his first playoff swing in four years and Michael King struck out 12 in his first postseason start as the San Diego Padres beat rookie AJ Smith-Shawver and the Atlanta Braves 4-0 in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series.

Fernando Tatis Jr. and his swagger returned to the playoffs with a blast.

Guardians rookie Angel Martinez blooped a single to center in the seventh inning to break up a no-hit bid by San Diego's Michael King.

Shohei Ohtani hit his 175th home run in the majors, tying Hideki Matsui for the most by a Japanese-born player.

A person with knowledge of the deal says free-agent reliever Wandy Peralta and the San Diego Padres have agreed to a $16.5 million, four-year contract.

In his first public comments since the Yankees acquired him from San Diego, three-time All-Star Juan Soto deflected questions about a possible long-term deal with the Yankees.

Juan Soto’s arrival is a sign the New York Yankees want stars to help them rebound from their worst season in three decades.

Shohei Ohtani tied the score in the seventh inning with his major league-leading 35th home run and pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic hit a game-ending single in the 10th to give the Los Angeles Angels a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees, Los Angeles trailed 3-1 when Ohtani hit a two-run drive off Michael King, then made a demonstrative flip of his bat.

The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3.

Michael King makes his living by dotting the corners with 94-95 mph sinkers.

The decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees has been postponed by rain after a 2 1/2-hour delay and rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. Both teams took batting practice ahead of the scheduled 7:07 p.m. start.

The decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees did not start on time because of a threat of rain.

Aaron Judge didn’t come close to hitting his 62nd home run, going 1 for 2 with a pair of walks as the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 2-1.

Starling Marte singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, and the New York Mets beat the crosstown Yankees 3-2 for a two-game sweep of their Subway Series.

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 37th home run, fellow All-Star Nestor Cortes pitched six sharp innings and the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-0.

New York Yankees reliever Michael King is out for the season after he fractured his right elbow in a game against Baltimore this weekend.

Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman both homered and the pair combined for five RBIs as the Houston Astros completed a doubleheader sweep of the New York Yankees Thursday with a 7-5 win in Game 2.

DJ LeMahieu capped his 34th birthday by sliding across the plate on Alexis Díaz’s second straight wild pitch in the 10th inning, and the New York Yankees rallied from a four-run deficit to beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-6 and stop a three-game losing streak.

Aaron Judge drove a three-run homer in the 10th inning for his second walk-off hit against Houston in four days, and the New York Yankees recovered after nearly being no-hit for the second consecutive game, beating Houston 6-3 to split a four-game series between the AL’s best teams.

Cristian Javier, Héctor Neris and Ryan Pressly combined on the first no-hitter against the New York Yankees in 19 years, shutting down the best team in baseball and pitching the Houston Astros to a 3-0 victory.

Anthony Rizzo hit a solo home run with one out in the ninth inning and the streaking New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 for their 14th straight home win.

Josh Donaldson hit a 10th-inning sacrifice fly, and the New York Yankees came from behind twice to beat the Detroit Tigers 5-4 to reach the one-third mark of the season at 39-15, the best in the major leagues in 21 years.

Luis Severino combined with two relievers on a one-hitter to continue New York’s run of outstanding starting pitching performances as the Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 3-0.

Jose Trevino hit a game-ending single in the 11th inning, fulfilling a dream of his father who died nine years ago, and the ailing New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-6.

Chicago White Sox star Tim Anderson accused Yankees slugger Josh Donaldson of making a racist remark by calling him Jackie Robinson during their game Saturday.

Gleyber Torres drove in all New York’s runs with a go-ahead, three-run homer off José Berríos in the fourth inning and a two-run single, leading the surging Yankees over the Toronto Blue Jays 5-3 for their 15th win in 17 games.

Josh Donaldson capped his Yankees debut with an RBI single in the 11th inning, lifting New York over the Boston Red Sox 6-5 for its first walk-off win on opening day since Yogi Berra crossed the plate in 1957.

Brandon Lowe hit three home runs and the Tampa Bay Rays rolled to a 12-2 blowout of the Yankees that prevented New York from clinching a playoff spot.

Bo Bichette thumped a leadoff homer in the first inning and singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 42nd homer, and the Toronto Blue Jays held off the skidding New York Yankees 6-4 for their eighth straight win.

Yankees starter Jameson Taillon was added to the 10-day injured list with a partial tear of a tendon in his right ankle, and manager Aaron Boone also said reliever Zack Britton had season-ending Tommy John surgery Wednesday.

Gleyber Torres and Rougned Odor homered to back another strong start from Jameson Taillon as the depleted New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 9-1.

Gio Urshela hit a three-run homer and the New York Yankees saved a little face by beating the Mets 4-2 to avoid a Subway Series sweep.

Taijuan Walker took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Brandon Nimmo provided a spark in his return from the injured list and the New York Mets beat the crosstown Yankees 8-3 to open a three-game Subway Series.

Shohei Ohtani pounded his hardest-hit home run of the season, José Suarez pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief after Dylan Bundy threw up on the mound because of heat exhaustion and the Los Angeles Angels beat the troubled New York Yankees 5-3.

Kiké Hernández and Rafael Devers homered in the first inning as the Boston Red Sox hammered Gerrit Cole, routing the New York Yankees 9-2 to complete a second straight sweep of their longtime rivals.

Gerrit Cole’s strikeouts and spin rate dropped as he pitched for the first time since Major League Baseball’s crackdown on sticky substances, and the Kansas City Royals rallied off Jonathan Loiasiga for four runs in the eighth inning to beat the New York Yankees 6-5.

Gerrit Cole got back on track with six sharp innings, and Giancarlo Stanton hit two of the New York Yankees’ four home runs to fuel a 9-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

For a third straight year, the Washington Nationals have dug themselves an early hole.

Rafael Devers hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Michael King, Marwin González added a two-run double and the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 5-2 in the first of the rivals’ 19 meetings this season.

Dansby Swanson looks to continue his tear at the plate when the Braves host the Dodgers, their first meeting since Los Angeles rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to beat Atlanta in last year’s NLCS.

The finale of an entertaining four-game series between longtime rivals features an excellent pitching matchup Sunday at Dodger Stadium between Giants right-hander Kevin Gausman and Los Angeles lefty Clayton Kershaw.

Gerrit Cole struck out 13 and walked none over seven scoreless innings in his most dominant start since joining the New York Yankees, overwhelming the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 for his first win this season.

Domingo Germán was cheered by Yankees fans in his return from a domestic violence suspension but struggled against the Toronto Blue Jays, allowing three runs in three innings.

He returned to the Yankees last week for the start of spring training. Germán was 18-4 with a 4.03 ERA in 2019 when he was put on leave. Manager Aaron Boone said Germán is competing with Deivi García, Michael King, Asher Wojciechowski, Jhoulys Chacín and Nick Nelson. It is clear that I must improve on that.”Germán would not discuss the events that led to his suspension. Germán said he learned “the biggest thing is about how do you react to certain things?

NEW YORK The new head of New York City's sex crimes unit is not only a veteran investigator, but also a forensic nurse who has conducted the physical exams and evidence collection that are vital to solving such cases. Deputy Inspector Michael King started Monday as commander of the Special Victims Division. King, who has been with the New York Police Department for nearly 20 years, takes over a sex crimes unit that has gotten mixed reviews from victims, advocates and watchdogs in recent years. King was born in raised in Jamaica, moved to New York when he was 16 and in college earned the nickname Doogie Howser." John Miller, the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism, recommended King for the sex crimes post.

The San Diego Padres acquired the reliever from Kansas City on Saturday for outfielder Edward Olivares and a player to be named. The 30-year-old Rosenthal has a 3.29 ERA and seven saves after struggling with injuries and poor performance in recent years. The Mets plan to start righty Rick Porcello (1-4, 6.43 ERA) and converted closer Seth Lugo (1-2, 2.03). That year, he became the only player to hit for the cycle in a postseason game. They made the move with infielder Starlin Castro expected to miss the rest of the season with a broken wrist.

Red Sox catcher Kevin Plawecki, top, looks on. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)NEW YORK Ted Williams was piloting fighter jets in Korea the last time the New York Yankees dominated the Boston Red Sox like this. Luke Voit homered twice, Aroldis Chapman returned from the COVID-19 injured list to pitch the ninth inning and the Yankees beat the Red Sox 6-3 Monday night for their 10th straight victory in the famed rivalry. The tarp was rolled out with the Red Sox rallying in the fourth inning. Yankees: RHP Masahiro Tanaka (0-0, 2.31) opposes Rays LHP Blake Snell (1-0, 2.08) at Yankee Stadium.

Washington Nationals' Howie Kendrick (47) is greeted with "air high fives" by Juan Soto (22) after Kendrick scored them both on a two-run home run off Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Alex Cobb during an exhibition baseball game, Monday, July 20, 2020, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)WASHINGTON Washington Nationals slugger Juan Soto tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on the injured list Thursday, forcing him to miss the start of the pandemic-delayed season. Soto had missed the first two weeks of the teams summer camp this month after he was exposed to someone with COVID-19. Also Thursday, Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu was reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list as New York set its opening day 30-man roster before playing Game 1. "If you told me my dream, making the opening day roster for the yankees, as a young kid in New Jersey would come true, I wouldnt have believed you.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports