ADAM OTTAVINO

Just hours after confetti fell on the NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs in Glendale, Arizona, the sports spotlight shifted to baseball as pitchers and catchers who will play in the World Baseball Classic began reporting to spring training complexes throughout the Phoenix area and in Florida.

Baseball’s biggest spenders looked spent.

Pete Alonso launched a tiebreaking homer and Jacob deGrom pitched well enough to help save the New York Mets’ season with a 7-3 victory over the San Diego Padres that evened their wild-card playoff series at one game apiece.

Mets ace Max Scherzer exited with left side fatigue after five sharp innings and 67 pitches and NL East-leading New York lost to the Washington Nationals 7-1.

Edwin Díaz struck out Gavin Lux on a 102.8 mph fastball to escape a jam in the eighth inning, and the New York Mets beat the major league-best Los Angeles Dodgers 5-3.

Timmy Trumpet was all set to horn in on this most notable season for the New York Mets.

Aaron Judge hit a 453-foot drive halfway up the bleachers for his 48th home run and added an RBI single during a seventh-inning rally, boosting the Yankees past the Mets 4-2 for a two-game sweep in a Subway Series both teams hope was a World Series prelude.

Starling Marte got three hits and the New York Mets kept up their season-long dominance of Philadelphia, topping Zack Wheeler and the Phillies 8-2 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Brett Baty homered his first time up in the big leagues, Starling Marte went deep twice and the New York Mets held off the Braves 9-7 to snap Atlanta’s eight-game winning streak.

Christian Vázquez tripled home the tiebreaking run in the ninth inning and the Boston Red Sox moved to the brink of a postseason berth with a 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

Aaron Judge doubled in the go-ahead runs to lead the New York Yankees to a 6-3 victory and a wild-card flipping three-game sweep.

Austin Meadows hit a tying, inside-the-park homer in the ninth inning, Nelson Cruz had a go-ahead single in the 10th and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied from a six-run deficit to beat the Boston Red Sox 11-10.

Rougned Odor’s two-run double highlighted a four-run rally in the eighth inning after his two errors helped Boston build an early lead, and the New York Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-3.

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Nathan Eovaldi pitched neatly into the eighth inning, Adam Ottavino escaped a pair of late jams and the Boston Red Sox held off the New York Yankees 4-2.

Christian Arroyo hit a two-run single in Boston’s three-run fourth inning, and the Red Sox took advantage of Miami’s shoddy play to hold off the Marlins 5-3 for their fifth straight victory.

Martín Pérez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 5-1 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday.

Playing their first game in a rejuvenated Fenway Park since the state dropped limits on crowds during the coronavirus pandemic, Nathan Eovaldi went 5 1/3 scoreless innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Miami Marlins 3-1.

Wearing their new blue-and-yellow uniforms, the Boston Red Sox beat the Chicago White Sox 7-4 when Marwin Gonzalez homered to key a four-run rally in the eighth inning.

Max Kepler’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Minnesota a 4-3 victory over Boston, stopping a five-game losing streak for the Twins and breaking a nine-game winning string for the Red Sox.

Rafael Devers homered for the fourth straight game and the streaking Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 on a snowy afternoon in a series opener moved back following the fatal police shooting of a Black man in the Twin Cities area.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)BOSTON – The pandemic-delayed 2020 season is being followed up by a rain-delayed start to 2021 for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox postponed their opener against the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park on Thursday because of rain that was forecast to last all day. "One day, two days, three days — I really don't care, to be honest with you," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. The Red Sox made the announcement at 9 a.m., about five hours before the scheduled first pitch. “The decision to postpone our first game of the season was not made lightly,” Red Sox President Sam Kennedy said.

FILE - In this Aug. 31, 2019, file photo, New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German throws to first in a pickoff-attempt during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics in New York. German has started the process of talking to teammates about his domestic violence suspension that has kept him off the mound since September 2019. “Exciting to be back on the field, be back with my teammates,” Germán said. Germán missed the final nine games of the regular season and all nine of New York’s playoff games. AdBack with the Yankees for the start of spring training, Germán spoke with his New York teammates last week and issued a public apology the next day.

FILE - In this July 9, 2020, file photo, Texas Rangers pitcher Corey Kluber throws during an intrasquad game in Arlington, Texas. The New York Yankees reached a deal with Kluber worth $11 million for one year, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. Happ to become free agents, signed Kluber to an $11 million, one-year contract and acquired Taillon from Pittsburgh for four prospects. To drop payroll below the $210 million luxury tax threshold, Cashman traded right-hander Adam Ottavino to rival Boston, saving $7.15 million. New York enters spring training with a projected rotation of Gerrit Cole, Deivi García, left-hander Jordan Montgomery, Kluber and Taillon.

Toronto Blue Jays players, coaches and staff celebrate a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees in a baseball game in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)BUFFALO, N.Y. – Barred from playing in their own ballpark this year because of COVID-19, the vagabond Toronto Blue Jays have found a home in the playoffs. The Blue Jays extended their lead when Biggio and Bo Bichette hit back-to-back, two-out doubles in the third. SEVEN UPRyu became the first Blue Jays starting pitcher since Aug. 22, 2019, to pitch into the seventh. Blue Jays: RHP Taijuan Walker (4-3, 2.86) starts Friday in the opener of a three-game series against Baltimore.

New York Yankees pitcher Adam Ottavino walks to the dugout after being pulled during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 7, 2020. Green, Ottavino and Luis Cessa needed 67 pitches and 43 minutes to get three outs. Green's ERA jumped to 4.26, and Ottavino allowed six runs without getting any outs as his ERA rose to 7.82. Ottavino (2-3) relieved, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run, opposite-field single that bounced past Voit and down the right-field line. Sean Reid-Foley (1-0) won despite a bases-loaded walk to Aaron Hicks in the sixth that extended the Yankees lead to four runs.

(AP Photo/John Minchillo)NEW YORK The last time the New York Yankees lost eight in a row, it was a different millennium. Frazier drew a leadoff walk in the ninth from Betances (0-1), a four-time All-Star with the Yankees before signing with the Mets last offseason. Happ held the Mets to three hits in 7 1/3 shutout innings, becoming the first Yankees starter to reach the eighth this season. The Mets will be the home" team at Yankee Stadium in the second game. Prized pitching prospect Deivi Garcia will start one game for the Yankees, making his major league debut.

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge follows through on an eighth-inning, two-run home run against the Boston Red Sox in a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 2, 2020, at Yankee Stadium in New York. Red Sox catcher Kevin Plawecki is at right. Tell that to his teammates or the Boston Red Sox. Rafael Devers put the Red Sox ahead 7-6 with a titanic drive of his own to right-center in the seventh. Anytime you lose a game like this is tough," Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said.

(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK His chambers left empty, Aaron Judge still rules right field at Yankee Stadium. Red Sox-Yankees in the Bronx, we knew this place would have been packed, Judge said. Gio Urshela and Brett Gardner hit their first home runs of the season, and New York improved to 5-1. "A breaking ball up and in and somehow he stays inside it and it goes out the other way, Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke said. The left-hander limited the Red Sox to a run, five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

Rain falls during a rain delay prior to a baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Thursday, July 30, 2020. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)

(AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)NEW YORK Shortened season, shorter games. Big league doubleheaders will now become a pair of seven-inning games, baseballs latest radical rule change during a season reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic. MLB had already added designated hitters to National League games this year and added an automatic runner at second base to start all half-innings in extras. The free runner will take his spot in doubleheader games that are tied after the seventh. The shortened games will be a way for clubs to conserve their pitching resources that was the thinking behind the decision for extra-inning rule.

The players association is surveying members and may propose either two seven-inning games for a twinbill or nine innings for the opener and seven for the nightcap. Phillies general Matt Klentak said seven-inning games are possible for the twinbill. Given modern usage of pitchers, Maddon said the shortened game would be the equivalent of starting the games in the third inning. The sixth inning, the fifth inning play differently, he said. The sixth inning, the fifth inning play differently based on the game supposed to conclude, he said.

The Boston Red Sox are scheduled resume training camp Friday at Fenway. (AP Photo/Jimmy Golen)Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward was going to address his entire team before the start of MLB's unprecedented summer training camp, just like he did when spring training opened about 4 1/2 months ago. Things certainly are different for baseball's resumption amid the coronavirus pandemic, three weeks before the start of a 60-game regular season. Charlie Baker signed an order Thursday allowing the Red Sox to open Fenway Park without fans. The Chicago Cubs will open camp without left-handed pitcher Jos Quintana, who underwent surgery Thursday on his lacerated left thumb.