SHANE BIEBER

The young Cleveland Guardians finished what they started.

Yu Chang and Yandy Diaz drew bases-loaded walks in a seven-run ninth inning to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 7-0.

Houston ace Justin Verlander, who leads the major leagues in wins, takes a 13-3 record and 1.86 ERA into his start Friday against visiting Seattle.

David Ortiz will certainly hear loud chants of “Big Papi!”.

Andrés Giménez hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 for their second straight walk-off win against their AL Central rivals.

The New York Yankees and Houston Astros will meet Thursday in a one-game series between AL division leaders at Minute Maid Park.

The nation’s newest federal holiday of Juneteenth is being celebrated in many ways this weekend at Major League Baseball parks.

A day after six major league games were rained out, the weather could still cause scheduling problems in some places this weekend.

All-Star aces Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber and Gerrit Cole all got early showers.

The Minnesota Twins avoided a daunting injury when it was determined star shortstop Carlos Correa’s right middle finger is not broken as was initially feared after he was hit by a pitch this week.

Mets ace Max Scherzer is pitching back in his hometown, starting a three-game series at St. Louis.

Gerrit Cole bounced back from the shortest start of his career, Anthony Rizzo powered an early offensive barrage and the New York Yankees pounded the Cleveland Guardians 10-2 to complete a three-game sweep in a series marred by fan misbehavior.

José Ramírez hit his second grand slam of the season, connecting during a nine-run second inning as the Cleveland Guardians roughed up Dallas Keuchel and routed the sloppy Chicago White Sox 11-1 in the opener of a doubleheader.

Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to pitch Wednesday night for the Los Angeles Angels in Houston, and the two-way superstar is off to a much better start at the plate than on the mound this season.

Freddie Freeman faces the Braves in Los Angeles for the first time since leaving the World Series champions for a $162 million, six-year deal with the Dodgers last month.

Thairo Estrada drove in four runs, Alex Wood continued San Francisco’s superb starting pitching and the Giants completed a three-game sweep with an 8-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians in football-like weather.

José Ramírez hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, remarkable rookie Steven Kwan reached base three more times and the Cleveland Guardians spoiled Cincinnati’s home opener by beating the Reds 10-5.

Guardians newcomer Steven Kwan has quickly become the biggest story in baseball after a sensational start in a season-opening series at Kansas City.

Steven Kwan kept up an historic start to his big league career with a bases-loaded triple, Oscar Mercado added a two-run homer and the Cleveland Guardians beat Kansas City 10-7 to split their season-opening series.

Hunter Greene won his major league debut, Kyle Farmer hit a two-run single in a five-run third inning and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Atlanta Braves 6-3.

It's opening day in Major League Baseball and a new season has brought a new look.

Bobby Witt Jr. capped his highly anticipated big league debut with his first hit, a go-ahead double with two outs in the eighth inning, sending the Kansas City Royals to a 3-1 victory over the rechristened Cleveland Guardians.

Bobby Witt Jr. searched the crowd for his family before his highly anticipated big league debut Thursday, finally spotting them in the sea of Kansas City Royals fans that had bundled up for a blustery opening day. “I don't know if they were even paying attention to me,” Witt admitted later. After going hitless in his first three at-bats, Witt roped a double down the left-field line with two outs in the eighth inning, spurring the Royals to a 3-1 victory over the rechristened Cleveland Guardians.

There's a lot to catch up on from a bizarre baseball offseason before the 2022 season officially begins with first pitch at Wrigley Field.

Cubs veteran Kyle Hendricks is set to deliver the first pitch of the season against Corbin Burnes and Milwaukee at Wrigley Field just past 2:20 p.m. EDT, the first of seven games still on the calendar amid rainy forecasts across the country.

A person familiar with the deal tells AP that All-Star third baseman José Ramírez and the Cleveland Guardians have reached agreement on a five-year, $124 million contract.

The scripted name atop the giant scoreboard at Progressive Field is new. No longer known as the Indians for the first time in 107 years, the Guardians enter this season with expectations nearly as low as their payroll. Cleveland didn't throw money at free agents — the club rarely does — like the big-market clubs or make any substantial trades, so the Guardians will again count on a strong starting rotation led by Shane Bieber, third baseman José Ramírez's perennially productive bat and hope some young players develop quickly to be competitive in the AL Central.

Rookie of the Year winners Randy Arozarena and Yordan Álvarez and All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette were among 16 players whose contracts were renewed by their teams rather than reach negotiated agreements.

There are no more bargaining sessions on the calendar.

The Chicago Cubs have hired Carter Hawkins as general manager, dipping into Cleveland’s front office in an effort to bolster their own player development system.

The Cleveland Indians won their last home game before they become the Guardians, beating the Kansas City Royals 8-3 to close a run that started in 1915 and will continue in 2022 with a new identity.

The Chicago White Sox clinched their first AL Central title since 2008 with a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians behind two home runs by Tim Anderson in the opener of a doubleheader spit.

Salvador Perez hit his 46th home run, breaking Johnny Bench’s record for most by a catcher in a season to highlight the opener, then the Kansas City Royals completed a doubleheader sweep by beating the Cleveland Indians 4-2.

Houston Astros right-hander Zack Greinke makes his first start Tuesday night since testing positive for COVID-19 last month.

Mitch Moreland homered twice, Chris Bassitt posted his AL-leading 12th win and the Oakland Athletics routed the Cleveland Indians 17-0 for their seventh straight victory.

Franmil Reyes homered twice, including a second-inning blast that bounced out of Progressive Field and almost dinged a bicyclist pedaling past on the street, and the Cleveland Indians beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2.

The second half of the major league baseball season begins with one game Thursday night when Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers and the AL East-leading Red Sox visit Yankee Stadium.

Fashion forward.

Philadelphia’s J.

Shohei Ohtani achieved a first in the near century history of baseball’s All-Star Game: selection as both a hitter and a pitcher.

Mets ace Jacob deGrom, Milwaukee’s Brandon Woodruff, Texas’ Kyle Gibson and the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole are among those likely to picked as All-Stars when pitchers and reserves are announced Sunday.

The Braves are monitoring star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. after he was scratched from Atlanta’s lineup Wednesday due to lower back tightness.

Indians pitcher Aaron Civale will miss more than one month with a sprained right finger, the latest blow to Cleveland’s injury-ravaged rotation.

Two-way star Shohei Ohtani is back on the mound, taking on Kevin Gausman and the Giants at Angel Stadium.

Cleveland Indians right-hander Aaron Civale appears headed to the injured list because of soreness in the middle finger on his pitching hand, another major hit for a banged-up staff.

Three of baseball’s best pitchers are hurting.

José Ramírez picked up a pair of RBIs made possible by Baltimore blunders in the field and the Cleveland Indians extended the Orioles’ road losing streak to 16 straight games with a 4-3 win.

Reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber won’t throw for at least two weeks because of a right shoulder strain, an injury that will further test Cleveland’s pitching depth.

Indians ace Shane Bieber, the reigning AL Cy Young winner, has a strained right shoulder and will not pitch for at least two weeks.

On the surface, not much has changed in Philadelphia.

Slumping DJ LeMahieu and the skidding Yankees hope to get back on target when they start a set at Target Field against the Twins on Tuesday night.

Indians manager Terry Francona was drained and looking forward to some sleep after a long weekend in Rhode Island for a family wedding. The Indians were just as tired. José Ramírez's two-run homer and a solid start by reliever Cal Quantrill led Cleveland to a 3-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday, giving the Indians their second straight split of a seven-inning doubleheader in two days.

Cleveland’s Shane Bieber has a no-hitter through six innings against the Detroit Tigers.