Pittsburgh selects hard-throwing LSU pitcher Paul Skenes with top pick of amateur draft

The Pittsburgh Pirates have selected hard-throwing LSU right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes with the top pick in baseball's amateur draft. Skenes went 12-3 as a pitcher, with 209 strikeouts in 122 innings in helping lead the Tigers to the College World Series championship. The pick was announced by Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., the top pick of the 1987 draft by the Seattle Mariners. For the second time in three years, the Pirates held the top overall selection after selecting catcher Henry Davis at the top of the 2021 draft. Davis made his major league debut last month for Pittsburgh. LSU teammate Dylan Crews went No. 2 to Washington with high school outfielder Max Clark being selected third by Detroit.

Yankees fire hitting coach Dillion Lawson in 1st midseason change under GM Brian Cashman

Hitting coach Dillon Lawson was fired by the New York Yankees after a 7-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs, a rare midseason change by a franchise that has prized stability since Hal Steinbrenner took over from his father as controlling owner. New York's .231 batting average is 28th among the 30 major league teams, ahead of only Detroit and Oakland. The Yankees are batting a major league-worst .218 in 31 games since Aaron Judge tore a ligament in his right big toe on June 3, going 14-17 and entering the All-Star break in fourth place of the AL East 49-42.

Machado has 2 homers, 5 RBIs off Scherzer; Musgrove sharp as the Padres beat the Mets 6-2

Manny Machado homered twice off Max Scherzer and drove in five runs for the San Diego Padres, who got six dominant innings from Joe Musgrove to beat the New York Mets 6-2 and take two of three in a series between high-priced, yet underwhelming, teams. The teams came in buried in fourth place in their respective divisions with identical 42-47 records. The Padres head into the All-Star break with five wins in six games, while the Mets have lost two straight following a season-best six-game winning streak.

Choi slugs 2-run homer as Pirates beat Diamondbacks 4-2 to end 4-game losing streak

Ji Man Choi hit a two-run homer, seven Pittsburgh pitchers combined on a four-hitter and the Pirates ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Choi homered off Zach Davies in the second inning and the Pirates bullpen took turns shutting down the Diamondbacks a day after giving up a late lead in a 3-2 loss to Arizona. Osvaldo Bido allowed a hit in 1 1/3 innings and All-Star closer David Bednar worked around a walk in the ninth inning for his 17th save in 18 chances after Jared Triolo hit a run-scoring single in the top half. Alek Thomas homered for the second straight game for the Diamondbacks.

Logan Webb overcomes shaky start for a 10-strikeout, complete-game win as Giants beat Rockies 1-0

Logan Webb overcame a shaky start for a 10-strikeout, complete-game victory and the San Francisco Giants made J.D. Davis' solo homer in the fourth inning stand up in a 1-0 win over Colorado as Rockies starter Kyle Freeland left the game with an apparent right shoulder injury. Webb (8-7) labored through a 19-pitch first inning against the Rockies before settling in. Freeland left the game in the seventh inning with an apparent injury to non-throwing shoulder after diving while trying to field a bunt by Brett Wisely. Davis's 11th homer of the season sent the Giants into the All-Star break with a record of 49-41, good enough for third place in the NL West behind Arizona and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cubs score 6 runs late to rally for 7-4 win over Yankees

Yan Gomes hit a tying pinch-hit two-run single in the seventh inning following a fielding error by second baseman Gleyber Torres and Seiya Suzuki hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees. Mike Tauchman opened the eighth with a single off Ron Marinaccio before Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ walked. Suzuki, who homered in the fifth for Chicago's only hit off Domingo Germán, followed with a sacrifice fly off Clay Holmes and Tauchman easily scored when right fielder Giancarlo Stanton's throw was slightly up the line. Hoerner scored the sixth run when Holmes threw a wild pitch over catcher Kyle Higashioka's glove to the backstop and Tucker Barnhart added an RBI double in the ninth.

Santander hits 2 of Orioles' 6 homers as Baltimore routs Minnesota 15-2

launched a 461-foot two-run blast in the top of the sixth off Twins reliever Cole Sands. Baltimore heads into the break with a 54-35 record, two games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the American League East. The loss dropped the Twins to 45-46, a half game back of Cleveland in the AL Central.

DeJong, Contreras lead Cards past White Sox 4-3 in 10 innings

Paul DeJong had an RBI double in the 10th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Chicago White Sox 4-3. DeJong lined a pitch from Keynan Middleton (2-1) down the left field line to score Nolan Gorman, who started the inning on second base. St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras drilled a two-run homer and reached base four times with two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch. He's 11 for 17 with two homers and five RBIs in his last five games. JoJo Romero (1-0), the fourth Cardinals reliever, pitched two innings for his first career win.

Orioles promoting top prospect Jackson Holliday to Double-A Bowie, AP source says

A person with knowledge of the move says the Baltimore Orioles have decided to promote top prospect Jackson Holliday to Double-A Bowie. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because there had been no announcement about the move. Holliday was the top pick in last year's draft. He is now the No. 1-ranked prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. The 19-year-old shortstop has hit .331 with seven home runs, 51 RBIs and 20 stolen bases this season with Class A Delmarva and Aberdeen. He is a son of former All-Star Matt Holliday.

Red Sox rally and extend winning streak to five games with 4-3 victory over A's

Masataka Yoshida scored the tying run with good baserunning and then homered to give Boston the lead in the eighth inning to help the Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3. Boston heads into the All-Star break on a five-game winning streak. J.P. Sears took a no-hitter into the fifth for Oakland despite allowing an unearned run in the first thanks to one of three A's errors. Boston trailed 3-1 in the middle of the sixth before Adam Duvall hit a solo homer to lead off the bottom half. The Red Sox have won eight of their last nine games since falling a season-high 15 games back in the AL East. Brent Rooker had three hits for Oakland, including a 443-foot home run high off of the Green Monster light stanchion.

Kelenic's double, Gilbert's strong start help Mariners over Astros 3-1

Jarred Kelenic hit a two-run double to back up a strong start by Logan Gilbert and give the Seattle Mariners a 3-1 win over Houston Astros. Gilbert allowed just three hits in seven innings, with his only mistake coming when Martín Maldonado connected on a solo homer off him in the sixth. Matt Brash threw a scoreless eighth and Paul Seawald struck out two in the ninth for his 17th save. The Mariners won three of four games in this series to head into the All-Star break having won seven of their past nine games.

Jansen, Lukes lead Blue Jays to dramatic win over Tigers

Nathan Lukes' RBI double in the 10th inning helped the Toronto Blue Jays finish off a 4-3 comeback victory over the Detroit Tigers. The Blue Jays trailed 3-1 with two out in the ninth, but Matt Chapman walked and Danny Jansen hit his 11th homer over the Toronto bullpen in left-centerfield. The home run came off Tigers closer Alex Lange, who finished Detroit's combined no-hitter with a perfect ninth inning on Saturday. Daulton Varsho started the 10th with a grounder to second and Zack Short threw out extra runner Alejandro Kirk at third, but Lukes followed with an RBI double off José Cisnero (2-2).

Paredes and Díaz homer as Rays stop seven-game skid with 10-4 win over Braves

Isaac Paredes and Yandy Díaz homered as the Tampa Bay Rays snapped a season-high seven-game skid with a 10-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday in a matchup of teams with the best records in baseball. Zach Eflin (10-4) gave up two runs and four hits over five innings in a 77-pitch outing as Tampa Bay avoided the three-game series sweep. The 29-year-old righty is 9-1 in 10 starts at home. Travis d'Arnaud homered for the MLB-best Braves, who are 20-3 since June 14. Atlanta All-Star Bryce Elder (7-2) allowed seven runs, six hits and four walks in his shortest outing this season of 3 1/3 innings.

Miley pitches six strong innings, combines with three relievers to shut out Reds 1-0

Wade Miley pitched six strong innings and the Milwaukee Brewers made a first-inning run stand up in a 1-0 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. The victory pulled the Brewers to within a game of the NL Central-leading Reds heading into the All-Star break. Milwaukee took two of three games in the series. A trio of Brewers relievers - Elvis Peguero, Joel Payamps and Devin Williams combined to complete the shutout. Williams earned his 20th save in 22 tries. Christian Yelich extended his hitting streak to nine games.

De La Cruz's four hits lead Marlins to series-win over Phillies

Bryan De La Cruz homered among his four hits as the Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-3. Jesús Sánchez and rookie Dane Myers also went deep for the Marlins, who reached the All-Star break with their best record in franchise history at 53-39. Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo (8-5) struck out nine and allowed four hits over 6 1/3 innings. The left-hander gave up two runs and was lifted after he plunked Bryson Stott, who had two of the hits against Luzardo. He took steps toward Stott during his walk to first and they briefly exchanged words. Every Marlins batter, except Luis Arraez, had a hit against Phillies starter Aaron Nola and two relievers. Arraez went 0-for-4 and his major league-leading batting average dropped to .383.

Yarbrough returns from facial fractures, pitches Royals past Guardians 4-1 to snap 6-game skid

Ryan Yarbrough won his return to the mound for Kansas City after being hit in the face by a line drive two months ago and the Royals beat Shane Bieber for the first time, snapping a six-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians. Yarbrough suffered several facial fractures when he was hit on May 7 by a line drive clocked at 106.2 mph. The left-hander held the Guardians to one run and six hits over six innings. Michael Massey hit a two-run triple in Kansas City's three-run sixth off Bieber, who came in 6-0 in 14 career starts against the Royals.

Joey Meneses homers for third consecutive day, leads Nationals past AL West-leading Rangers, 7-2

Joey Meneses homered for the third consecutive day, Patrick Corbin earned his first home victory since May 20, and the Washington Nationals defeated the Texas Rangers 7-2. Stone Garrett and Dominic Smith also homered for last-place Washington, which won the final two games of the series after dropping 15 of its previous 16 at home. Texas enters the All-Star break atop the AL West despite losing eight of its past 11. The Rangers have not won a series since taking two of three June 19-21 from the Chicago White Sox, but still are tied for the fifth-best record through 91 games in franchise history at 52-39.

Braves ace Max Fried makes rehab start at Triple-A Gwinnett, first appearance since May 5

Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried has thrown 35 pitches over 1 1/3 scoreless innings for Triple-A Gwinnett in his first appearance since May 5. Fried was runner-up for the NL Cy Young Award in 2022. He has been on the 60-day injured list recuperating from a strained left forearm. His expected return after the All-Star break would further bolster a team that already has baseball's best record. All-Stars Spencer Strider and Bryce Elder have helped to fill the void in the rotation. Fried was 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA in five starts before going on the injured list.

Orioles activate infielder Ryan Mountcastle from 10-day IL after stint with vertigo

The Baltimore Orioles on Sunday activated infielder Ryan Mountcastle from the 10-day injured list. Mountcastle last played on June 8 but has since been sidelined with vertigo. The 26-year-old Mountcastle was batting .227 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI before landing on the IL. To make room for Mountcastle on the roster, Baltimore optioned left-hander Bruce Zimmermann to Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle batted .244 through April but struggled at the plate leading up to his time on the IL. He hit just .158 (9 for 57) in his 15 games before his IL stint.

Blue Jays' Romano replaces Astros' Valdez on American League All-Star roster

Toronto closer Jordan Romano is replacing Houston starter Framber Valdez on the American League roster for Tuesday's All-Star Game in Seattle. AL manager Dusty Baker of the Houston Astros says the New York Yankees' Gerrit Cole won't pitch in the All-Star Game because he would be on two days' rest following a start Saturday. Valdez pitched six innings for Houston on Saturday after skipping a turn because of a sprained right ankle.

Phillies place reliever Alvarado on the injured list with left elbow inflammation

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed left-handed reliever José Alvarado on the 15-day injured list because of left elbow inflammation. The 28-year-old Alvarado has appeared in 26 games and last pitched Thursday in a one-inning scoreless outing against the Tampa Bay Rays. Alvarado dealt with similar inflammation in early May and was sidelined for four weeks. Philadelphia recalled right-handed reliever Andrew Bellatti from Triple-A Lehigh Valley in corresponding move.

Royals pitcher Yarbrough starting for KC for 1st time since being struck by line drive in face

Kansas City Royals pitcher Ryan Yarbrough is returning to the mound to start against Cleveland in his first major league game since the left-hander was hit in the face by a line drive two months ago. Yarbrough was activated from the 60-day injured list before the team's final game before the All-Star break. The 31-year-old suffered multiple fractures around his eye when he was hit with a 106.2 mph smash by Oakland's Ryan Noda on May 7. The ball ricocheted off Yarbrough to Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez, who threw Noda out at first. Yarbrough was hospitalized following the scary incident.

Strikeout numbers are still stubbornly high in MLB despite rules changes

Major League Baseball has made the games faster, the bases bigger and defense a little bit harder. Now, if it could only do something about those stubborn strikeouts. There's little doubt that MLB's expansive new rules package this season has been a success, particularly when it comes to speeding up the action. But the sport is also hunting for a little more offense these days and the league-wide output of 2023 looks similar to 2022 in several areas. One of the biggest reasons is that strikeouts are still near an all-time high, with each team averaging about 8.6 per game.