MLB

7:00 AM ET Drew Smyly was working into the seventh inning of a scoreless duel against the St. Louis Cardinals and knew one mistake could change the game — especially to a hitter like Albert Pujols, up for his third at-bat in Monday’s game. To his delight, the Chicago Cubs left-hander threw the pitch exactly

4:45 PM ET ESPN News Services PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies will welcome back Bryce Harper on Friday, but when he gets there, they’ll be minus ace Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday due to right forearm tendinitis, with the team announcing the move a couple of hours after interim

2:02 PM ET The New York Yankees will place left-handed pitcher Nestor Cortes on the injured list due to a groin injury, sources confirmed to ESPN on Thursday. To replace Cortes on the active roster, the Yankees will promote minor league right-hander Greg Weissert, sources said. Cortes has been one of the best pitchers in

7:00 AM ET The dominance of the Dodgers has continued as we enter the last week of August, with Los Angeles on pace for 112-plus wins on the season. In the battle of New York, the Yankees showed signs of life by sweeping the Mets in a two-game series, though the Astros still have a

11:47 PM ET ESPN News Services Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper hit a walk-off double Wednesday to lead Triple-A Lehigh to a 6-5 win over Gwinnett in a rehabilitation start. Harper’s double with two outs in the bottom of the 9th scored two runs. He went 3-for-5 with two doubles, 2 RBIs and a strikeout

9:45 PM ET ESPN News Services Mariners right-hander George Kirby pulled off a rare feat by throwing 24 straight strikes to start the game Wednesday night in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Kirby gave up five hits and one run before throwing his first ball to Joey Meneses in the third. Kirby is

1:05 PM ET All 30 teams will play one another in a season for the first time in the interleague era, Major League Baseball announced Wednesday as it released the schedule for the 2023 season. As a result, division opponents will play each other just 13 times — down from 19. The new balanced schedule

7:48 PM ET ESPN News Services ALLENTOWN, Pa. — With two big swings, Bryce Harper looked primed to join the Phillies in a pennant race. Harper homered to right-center field in his first at-bat, then went opposite field for a three-run shot in the eighth inning for Philadelphia’s Triple-A team Tuesday night to begin his

6:40 PM ET SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. sat atop the dugout bench on the first-base side at Petco Park on Tuesday afternoon and spoke unprompted for 250 seconds. He was measured yet unscripted, composed yet noticeably despondent. He lamented all the people he “failed” by testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, and he

7:00 AM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” THE MOST BEAUTIFUL play in Major League Baseball exists because its practitioner embraced a long-held axiom: Form follows function. Once upon a time, Trea Turner was a habitual head-first slider, his fingers

7:05 PM ET NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are 6-14 in August, drawing the ire of their entire fan base, while manager Aaron Boone is publicly showing his frustration by slamming tables in news conferences. But Yankees general manager Brian Cashman did not hesitate to stand behind the slumping club on Monday. “The

5:01 PM ET ESPN News Services Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper, who is recovering from a fractured left thumb, is scheduled to begin a minor league rehabilitation assignment Tuesday, it was announced. Harper is expected to play with Triple-A Lehigh Valley through Saturday while they host Gwinnett for a six-game series, Lehigh said in a

9:29 PM ET ESPN News Services PHILADELPHIA — A year ago, Nate Fisher was employed by the First National Bank of Omaha determining whether to approve commercial loans. On Sunday, at Citizens Bank Park in his major league debut, he issued a denial to Philadelphia Phillies hitters. Fisher sparkled in pitching three scoreless innings, Mark

11:53 PM ET ESPN News Services WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Jorge Mateo lined a bases-loaded double to left field in the eighth inning, driving in three runs and sparking the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night in front of hundreds of cheering Little League World Series players from

8:09 PM ET Marly RiveraESPN Writer Close Marly Rivera is a writer for ESPNdeportes.com and ESPN.com. NEW YORK — As the race for the postseason continues to heat up, so have the tempers in the toughest division in baseball. The Yankees clawed out a 4-2 win over the AL East rival Blue Jays on Sunday

10:56 AM ET The Chicago White Sox placed starting catcher Yasmani Grandal on the 10-day injured list Sunday with a left knee strain. Grandal suffered the injury when he was thrown out at the plate in the seventh inning of Saturday night’s 2-0 victory over the host Cleveland Guardians. He was unable to put any

9:59 PM ET ESPN News Services PHOENIX — St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols hit two more home runs Saturday night, boosting his total to 692 and moving him past Stan Musial into second place on the career list for total bases. The 42-year-old Pujols connected for solo homers in the second and fourth innings

5:30 PM ET ESPN News Services NEW YORK — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole twice banged on the dugout roof, shouting in frustration and getting booed as scuffling New York lost for the 15th time in 19 games, beaten by the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Saturday. The AL East-leading Yankees fell to 9-20 since entering