NOLAN ARENADO

A major shift is coming to Major League Baseball, starting on opening day this Thursday.

Team USA fielded a World Baseball Classic roster brimming with All-Star names from Trea Turner to Mookie Betts to Mike Trout.

Trea Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, and the defending champion United States romped over Cuba 14-2 to reach its second straight World Baseball Classic final.

Mike Trout was asked to be a part of this U.S. team for the World Baseball Classic.

The United States will be defending its World Baseball Classic crown six years after winning a WBC in 2017, and the roster for next month may be its best ever.

Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees has won the American League MVP award, and St. Louis Cardinals slugger Paul Goldschmidt took the NL prize.

Paul Goldschmidt's resurgence in 2022 was capped off by winning the NL MVP on Thursday, the first of his storied career.

Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Yordan Alvarez are the finalists for American League MVP in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

Astros rookie shortstop and AL Championship Series MVP Jeremy Peña won his first Gold Glove Award and Houston right fielder Kyle Tucker joined his teammate on the list announced before Game 3 of the World Series.

All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado will not exercise the opt-out clause in his contract with the Cardinals.

All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado will not exercise the opt-out clause in his contract with the Cardinals, keeping him in St. Louis through the end of the 2027 season, a person familiar with his decision told The Associated Press on Saturday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no official announcement had been made. The Athletic was the first to report on Arenado's decision.

Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina have played their final games with the Cardinals, who were eliminated by the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League wild-card series.

The Philadelphia Phillies are en route to the National League Division Series against their NL East rivals and defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves.

Aaron Nola pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning, Bryce Harper’s homer gave Philadelphia an early lead, and the Phillies held off the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 to sweep their National League wild-card series.

The Phillies scored six times in the ninth inning off the stingy St. Louis bullpen, highlighted by a bases-loaded single by Jean Segura, and Philadelphia beat the NL Central champion Cardinals 6-3 in the opening game of their National League wild-card series.

Albert Pujols hit his 703rd home run, breaking a tie with Babe Ruth for second place in career RBIs, but the St. Louis Cardinals lost to Pittsburgh 3-2 when the Pirates drew four consecutive walks in the ninth inning to force home the winning run.

Blake Snell of the San Diego Padres has pitched six no-hit innings against Albert Pujols and the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Albert Pujols hit his 698th home run, a tying two-run drive in the sixth inning that sparked the St. Louis Cardinals over the Cincinnati Reds 6-5.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina made history with the first pitch of the game, then the record-setting battery helped the St. Louis Cardinals extend their NL Central lead by beating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1.

Albert Pujols hit his 696th home run, tying Alex Rodriguez for fourth place on the career list, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied past the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-5.

Paul Goldschmidt slugged his 32nd and 33rd homers to highlight a five-RBI performance, Corey Dickerson set a franchise record for consecutive hits and the St. Louis Cardinals rolled to an 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Javier Assad pitched four scoreless innings in his major league debut and combined with four relievers on a five-hitter as the Chicago Cubs cooled off the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader.

The St. Louis Cardinals are one of the few teams with too many options. The jumbo digs were eventually assigned to Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina, and who could really argue? Across the room was 34-year-old Paul Goldschmidt, one of the game's best first basemen who is a seven-time All-Star and in the midst of an MVP-caliber campaign.

Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols blasted two more homers, pushing his career total to 692 and helping St. Louis beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 16-7.

Longtime minor leaguer Wynton Bernard singled, stole a base and scored in his major league debut, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3.

Nolan Arenado and Paul DeJong both homered and drove in four runs to help the St. Louis Cardinals outlast the New York Yankees 12-9, completing a three-game sweep.

Jordan Montgomery blanked his old teammates over five innings and Nolan Arenado drove in the lone run as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees 1-0.

Adam Wainwright pitched seven spotless innings with longtime catcher Yadier Molina back behind the plate, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 6-0.

Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso swing away as the Subway Series starts up at Citi Field on Tuesday night with both New York teams in first place.

“It stinks that I can’t play in Toronto and can’t play these next couple games. I hate that part of it, but that’s unfortunately a consequence,” Goldschmidt said.

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt won’t travel to Toronto for a short series with the Blue Jays because they haven’t received the COVID-19 vaccination.

Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout will miss the All-Star Game because of back spasms, joining Bryce Harper on the sidelines and depriving the showcase of two of baseball’s best-known players.

Houston second baseman Jose Altuve, San Francisco Giants pitcher Carlos Rodón, St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado and Miami Marlins second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr won’t be playing in Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

Hanser Alberto hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the ninth inning and the Los Angeles Dodgers climbed out of a huge hole in a 7-6 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Los Angeles Angels sensation Shohei Ohtani repeated as a two-way All-Star when he was picked for the AL pitching staff, two days after he was elected to start at designated hitter.

Ryan Mountcastle, Trey Mancini and the surprising Baltimore Orioles try on Sunday for their eighth straight win, which would match their best streak in 17 years.

Kyle Gibson kept the ball in the park against St. Louis this time, Alec Bohm broke a scoreless tie with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning and the Philadelphia Phillies edged the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0.

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels were elected Friday to start in the July 19 All-Star Game along with outfielders Mookie Betts and Trea Turner of the host Dodgers.

The last time Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Kyle Gibson faced the St. Louis Cardinals, they hit four consecutive home runs off him in the first inning.

Nolan Arenado sparked a record barrage of four straight home runs by St. Louis in the first inning, then hit a tiebreaking drive in the ninth that sent the Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6.

The St. Louis Cardinals became the first major league team to ever hit four straight home runs in the first inning when Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carson connected against Philadelphia.

The St. Louis Cardinals became the first major league team to hit four straight home runs in the first inning when Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carson connected against Philadelphia on Saturday. The Cardinals tied the MLB record for any inning with four in a row.

Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were elected Thursday to start in the July 20 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.

American League powerhouses square off when Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees host Yordan Álvarez and the Houston Astros in the opener of a highly anticipated four-game series Thursday night.

Corbin Burnes pitched seven dominant innings, Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run homer and the Milwaukee Brewers regained sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a 2-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Shane McClanahan pitched eight superb innings to win his fifth consecutive start and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 victory.

Matt Swarmer earned his first big league win and Frank Schwindel homered in a three-hit showing to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader.

Paul Goldschmidt homered to extend his hitting streak to 25 games, Corey Dickerson went deep twice, and the St. Louis Cardinals pounded the Chicago Cubs 14-5.

Josh Hader escaped a ninth-inning jam in his 37th straight scoreless appearance and the Milwaukee Brewers held off the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 for their third straight win.

Albert Pujols hit two home runs, then caught the warmup tosses when star catcher Yadier Molina made his first pitching appearance to close out the St. Louis Cardinals' 18-4 romp over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Max Scherzer pulled himself from a start with discomfort in his left side before the New York Mets finished off an 11-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina set a major league record for wins by a starting battery as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the San Francisco Giants 15-6 in a game that ended with longtime slugger Albert Pujols on the mound.

Dakota Hudson and a quartet of relievers combined to help the St. Louis Cardinals stop San Francisco’s six-game winning streak, blanking the Giants 4-0.

Rylan Bannon became just the third Baltimore player since 2000 to get a hit on the first pitch of his big league career, Jorge Mateo and Anthony Bemboom homered and the Orioles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2.

Adam Wainwright pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, Nolan Arenado hit a three-run shot and finished with five RBIs, and the Cardinals beat the Royals 10-0 to take their four-game season series.

New York Mets manager Buck Showalter was suspended for his team's 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves after Major League Baseball determined reliever Yoan López intentionally threw at Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber the previous night.

Merrill Kelly threw seven shutout innings and Ketel Marte and Nick Ahmed each homered in the eighth inning, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0 over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Albert Pujols called his shot. The veteran slugger told Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol he was going to hit the first pitch he saw Tuesday night for a home run — and then did just that. Pujols homered for the first time since returning to St. Louis and Andrew Knizner launched a three-run shot as the Cardinals defeated the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Tuesday night.

Cardinals bench coach Skip Schumaker learned less than an hour before game time that he'd be filling in for ill manager Oliver Marmol. Nolan Arenado helped make his job a lot easier. Arenado hit three doubles and a single, Paul DeJong homered and St. Louis, minus its rookie skipper, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Saturday.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer, third baseman Nolan Arenado, outfielder Charlie Blackmon and infielder-outfielder Jurickson Profar declined to opt out of their contracts to become free agents. Bauer agreed to a $102 million, three-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in February and began 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts. Elsewhere, the New York Mets announced Saturday they have extended $18.4 million qualifying offers to outfielder Michael Conforto and pitcher Noah Syndergaard — a day ahead of Sunday's deadline.

Umpire Bill Miller provided an explanation Monday for a wild sequence during St. Louis' 4-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs that added another layer of drama to the Cardinals' 16th straight win. A request was made for an explanation after Sunday's game, but a spokesman for the Cubs said it was declined. The play occurred after St. Louis reliever Giovanny Gallegos walked pinch-hitter Austin Romine and Rafael Ortega with one out in the ninth.

Harrison Bader and the St. Louis Cardinals clearly recognize their record is impressive. The Cardinals set a franchise mark with their 15th straight win, boosted when catcher Yadier Molina and center fielder Bader helped pull off a wild double play Saturday in an 8-5 win over the Chicago Cubs. “It’s hard to do something in this organization that’s never been done,” manager Mike Shildt said.

Paul Goldschmidt homered twice, and the St. Louis Cardinals overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 8-5 Thursday and extend their longest winning streak in 39 years to 12 games. On a day Adam Wainwright faltered early, St. Louis trailed 5-0 before rallying with one run in the fifth, four in the seventh, two in the eighth and one in the ninth. “They picked me up big time today,” Wainwright said of his teammates.

Jon Lester notched his 200th career win, Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers 5-2 Monday night for their ninth consecutive win. The Cardinals have won nine straight for the first time since 2004 to solidify their grip on the second NL wild card. Milwaukee's magic number over the Cardinals to clinch the division title remained at three.

Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina appreciated the magnitude of the career milestone they reached Friday night. The longtime teammates formed St. Louis' starting battery for a 300th time and played key roles in the Cardinals' 15-4 blowout of the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. “Just a great moment, just a great day for me and Waino,” Molina said.