DENVER — With his baseball career on the fritz, the Colorado kid got reinvigorated by some Colorado kids.

Fossil Ridge and MSU Denver product Julian Garcia made his big league debut for the Cincinnati Reds on June 23 in Cincinnati. It was the culmination of a winding, decade-long journey to the bigs that featured stops in the Puerto Rican ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Roki Sasaki’s abysmal performance faded away in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 12-7 win over the San Diego Padres on Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, but only after the National League West leaders rose from a catatonic first inning.

Andy Pages skirted a tying double down the left-field line, and Mookie Betts and Max Muncy each ...Read more

CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox were flirting with disaster all night Thursday.

It struck with one out in the ninth inning when Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run walk-off home run off reliever Grant Taylor to lift the Cleveland Guardians to a 6-5 victory against the Sox in front of 22,556 at Progressive Field.

“I wasn’t landing the ...Read more

SEATTLE — Untouchable for six innings, Bryce Miller suddenly found himself in a touch of trouble for the first time Thursday night.

He responded the way he has virtually all season: with more dominance.

After his no-hit bid was broken up by two soft singles to start the seventh inning, Miller retired the final three batters he faced to put ...Read more

BOSTON — Willson Contreras was suspended seven games for his role in Tuesday’s benches-clearing incident between the Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals at Fenway Park, Major League Baseball announced Thursday evening.

The veteran first baseman is one of four players to be penalized. Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli also received...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Temperatures steadily crept over 100 degrees, and Esmerlyn Valdez’s bat stayed hot.

Valdez went 2 for 4 with three RBIs to lead the Pirates past the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1, on Thursday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. The Pirates collected 14 hits and split the four-game set with the win.

Jared Jones (1-1, 5.28 ERA) ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Just because there hasn’t been a lot of noise lately about a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium doesn’t mean things aren’t happening.

The Senate president, for instance, recently came up with a proposal that included $500 million in state funding along with sports gambling taxes and a possible sports and entertainment taxing ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The tackle box and fishing rods were in the trunk. The bass they didn’t catch still swam in the remote pond. The son, Duncan Davitt, was 9 years old in the passenger seat, and the father, Mark, was steering their gray Chevy Impala away from Illinois Street and back toward their hometown of Indianola, Iowa, when a question ...Read more

PHOENIX — They may have needed nine tries and they may have teetered on the verge of collapse, but at long last, the Giants have beaten the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Despite nearly giving the game away in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-4, on Wednesday evening at Chase Field, avoiding being swept by ...Read more

The Twins are a team with some obvious weaknesses, particularly their bullpen and infield defense, but their offense is keeping them on the fringes of the playoff race as they enter the season’s fourth month.

Josh Bell, who homered twice against Houston Astros starter Tatsuya Imai in May, crushed a two-run, 452-foot homer over the batter’s ...Read more

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — They can afford it.

The Dodgers were playing with house money after winning seven of the first eight games on this road trip — but not playing with Mookie Betts, who was scratched from the starting lineup with a sore wrist. They busted, losing to the A’s, 7-1, on Wednesday night at Sutter Health Park.

They were ...Read more

ATLANTA — For two teams that have lost ground in the standings because they have been unable to gain much of anything on the scoreboard, it seemed like it would not take many runs at all to win Wednesday night’s game.

Ozzie Albies produced two early and the Atlanta Braves held that lead for most of the game.

A series of unfortunate events...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Most fans of baseball, delayed gratification and compounding interest know about Bobby Bonilla Day, an annual acknowledgment of the dawn of deferred contracts.

BBD is also a cautionary reminder to major league general managers not to overpay players whose best years are behind them. And Bonilla evokes memories among Dodgers fans...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Junior Caminero didn’t take long Wednesday night to extend his remarkable power show and lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a season-best-matching seventh straight win, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-0.

Caminero crushed the first pitch he saw from Royals starter Seth Lugo over the left-field fence, extending his streak of ...Read more

CHICAGO — It’s too early to say this Alex Bregman thing isn’t going to work out.

Bregman is only halfway through the first year of a five-year, $175 million deal with the Chicago Cubs, so there’s plenty of time for him to start living up to his reputation as one of baseball’s top hitters. He homered Tuesday for the first time since ...Read more