With Lance McCullers saying he’ll miss the start of the year with elbow soreness, Houston’s starting pitcher depth should be examined.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo became a free agent again when he declined his $16 million option with the New York Yankees for 2023.

Minnesota Twins shortstop Carlos Correa has formally opted out of his contract to become a free agent.

Justin Verlander was pulled after pitching six no-hit innings in his major league-leading 16th win and the Astros beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 in Carlos Correa’s return to Houston.

All-Star Game festivities start in earnest with the Futures Game, where some of the best prospects in Major League Baseball will play a seven-inning matchup at Dodger Stadium on Saturday.

Josh Naylor hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning, completing a four-run rally that gave the Cleveland Guardians a 7-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

The Minnesota Twins dodged a sweep by cooling off the Cleveland Guardians in a 1-0 win.

Minnesota’s Luis Arraez, Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa became the seventh trio of teammates to open a game with three straight home runs, starting a barrage of five long balls in 2 1/3 innings against New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole.

Healthy for much of this season, the AL-leading Yankees are suddenly dealing with injuries to several key players.

Justin Verlander missed out on his fourth no-hitter by five outs but still faced the minimum through eight innings, and the Houston Astros beat the Minnesota Twins 5-0 for their eighth straight win.

Jorge Polanco delivered another key hit and the Minnesota bullpen combined for 6 2/3 innings of shutout work as the Twins beat the Oakland Athletics 4-3.

The Minnesota Twins have avoided a scare with star shortstop Carlos Correa.

Milwaukee’s Willy Adames is powering a Brewers surge with seven homers in his past 10 games, including two during a 10-5 trouncing of Cincinnati on Thursday.

Jorge Polanco and Kyle Garlick hit early two-run homers over the Green Monster to back Dylan Bundy, carrying the Minnesota Twins past the Red Sox 8-3 in Boston’s annual Patriots’ Day game.

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

Michael Wacha pitched five shutout innings in his Fenway Park debut with Boston and Trevor Story drove in his first two runs in his new home, leading the Red Sox to a 8-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Cleveland rookie Steven Kwan hit.

Gary Sánchez hit a grand slam into the third deck and Carlos Correa launched his first homer for the Minnesota Twins in a 10-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

The Minnesota Twins took their first significant step toward restocking their starting pitching by acquiring right-hander Sonny Gray in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds.

Shohei Ohtani scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and the Los Angeles Angels snapped a six-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

The Baltimore Orioles have snapped their 19-game losing streak, rallying to beat Los Angeles 10-6 after a shaky start by Shohei Ohtani left the Angels’ bullpen with too much to do.

The Baltimore Orioles staggered to their 19th consecutive loss, allowing 19 hits and falling behind the Los Angeles Angels by 11 runs early in a 14-8 rout.

One day after firing pitching coach Larry Rothschild, the slumping San Diego Padres begin a three-game series Tuesday night against the NL West rival Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jorge Soler homered, Touki Toussaint pitched effectively into the sixth inning, and the surging Atlanta Braves beat Baltimore 3-1, extending the Orioles’ losing streak to 18 games.

The Yankees host the Red Sox in a day-night doubleheader as the longtime rivals jostle for playoff position.

Gerrit Cole pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning and struck out nine in his return from the COVID-19 injured list, and Joey Gallo hit a two-run homer as the New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1.

Shohei Ohtani hit his major league-leading 38th home run this season, but the Toronto Blue Jays hit it out of the park four times, including two from George Springer and a grand slam by Teoscar Hernandez, to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 10-2.

Shohei Ohtani pitched six solid innings, Juan Lagares raced home from second base on a wild pitch for the lead with the two-way standout at the plate, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1.

Shohei Ohtani continued his power display Wednesday, crushing a three-run home run, and Phil Gosselin had a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning for the Los Angeles Angels, who rallied for an 8-7 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

As five dozen players sat outside Coors Field ahead of the All-Star Game, they looked forward to the Greatest Sho on Earth.

Shohei Ohtani’s debut on the Yankee Stadium mound sure didn’t last long.

Shohei Ohtani pounded his hardest-hit home run of the season, José Suarez pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run relief after Dylan Bundy threw up on the mound because of heat exhaustion and the Los Angeles Angels beat the troubled New York Yankees 5-3.

Shohei Ohtani hit his sixth homer in six games for the Angels, but Daz Cameron hit a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Detroit Tigers avoided a four-game series sweep with a 5-3 victory over Los Angeles.

Nationals reliever Austin Voth was sent to a Philadelphia hospital to get his nose reset after it was broken when he was hit by a pitch while squaring around to bunt.

Mookie Betts drove in a season-high four runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers blew most of a 13-run lead before holding on for a 14-11 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Shohei Ohtani’s tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth inning helped the Los Angeles Angels to a 4-2 win over the Houston Astros to snap a four-game skid.

Kent Emanuel worked 8 2/3 innings in relief in his major league debut, saving Houston’s bullpen after Jake Odorizzi left early with an injury, and the Astros pounded the Los Angeles Angels 16-2.

Carlos Correa hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth inning and the Houston Astros split a short series against the AL West rival Los Angeles Angels with a 4-2 victory.

Sixto Sánchez made his third start, yielding a run on three hits and a walk in 3 1/3 innings. Austin Gomber gave up five runs on eight hits, four of them home runs, 5 1/3 innings. Arizona starter Luke Weaver struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings. Right-hander Adbert Alzolay continued to struggle for Chicago, allowing two runs in 3 1/3 innings. BREWERS 2, GIANTS 2Brett Anderson pitched two-run ball over 5 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and striking out three for Milwaukee.

Harris has a blood clot in his right arm and is leaving spring training camp to be examined by a specialist, manager Dave Martinez said Friday, March 19, 2021. (Mary DeCicco/MLB Photos via AP)Washington Nationals reliever Will Harris has a blood clot in his right arm and the team doesn't expect him to be in the bullpen on opening day. Carlos Martínez struggled in his fourth start for St. Louis. DODGERS 7, RANGERS 2Julio Urías made his fourth start for Los Angeles, allowing two hits in four shutout innings, striking out three. Adrian Houser made his fourth start.

“I don’t even think I’ve had a 13 pitch at-bat in my career.”Hicks was scheduled to pitch one inning. Carlos Martínez worked four innings in the start for St. Louis, allowing two runs and five hits. Pittsburgh starter Steven Brault allowed three runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. YANKEES 5, BLUE JAYS 1New York starter Deivi García gave up one hit and an unearned run in three innings. Dean Kremer allowed a run on three hits, walked two and struck out four in the start for Baltimore.

I look forward to getting back to work in the next several days.”LESTER SURGERYWashington Nationals left-hander Jon Lester is leaving spring training camp to have surgery for the removal of his thyroid gland. He underwent chemotherapy treatments and returned to the Red Sox at spring training before the following season. Soto’s spring training start was delayed because he fouled a ball off his right foot in live batting practice Sunday. Martinez had two hits for a second straight game, driving in his first two runs of spring training. Jarred Kelenic, Seattle’s top prospect, hit a two-run homer and Taylor Trammell hit a solo homer.

FILE - In this Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020 file photo, Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Alex Cobb throws a pitch to the Boston Red Sox during the first inning of a baseball game in Baltimore. The Los Angeles Angels have acquired veteran right-hander Alex Cobb from the Baltimore Orioles in a trade for prospect Jahmai Jones, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Los Angeles Angels acquired veteran right-hander Alex Cobb from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for prospect Jahmai Jones. Los Angeles also has Shohei Ohtani, Jaime Barria and Patrick Sandoval as possible rotation members. The trade is the third in 14 months between Baltimore and Los Angeles, with the Angels thrice getting proven major leaguers in exchange for prospects.

Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Mike Clevinger delivers in the first inning in a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020, in Cleveland. Mike Clevinger, Starling Marte, Archie Bradley and Todd Frazier were on the move. Baseball's pandemic-delayed trade deadline was quite a day. The contending Padres got Clevinger in a multiplayer trade with Cleveland, bolstering their rotation Monday in a rare deadline deal between contenders. The trade deadline is normally July 31, but it was pushed back when the start of the season was delayed because of the coronavirus.

Players, coaches and other organization members were retested for the coronavirus Saturday and Sunday after one player was sidelined because of a positive result. The Reds made travel plans for Kansas City and expected to start Luis Castillo (0-2) in the series opener, assuming its played. TIGER TRYOUTSDetroit is unleashing a few of its top prospects this week, including left-hander Tarik Skubal. The Braves hope that formula works again with Tomlin, used mostly as a reliever during his two seasons in Atlanta. But, for now, the team has decided not to turn to a pair of top prospects, Ian Anderson and Tucker Davidson.

Trout's solo drive off Yusmeiro Petit (1-1) in the eighth helped the Angels stop a three-game skid. It was the 20th multi-homer game of Trout's career, which tied Tim Salmon and Vladimir Guerrero for the franchise record. Los Angeles trailed 9-4 in the fourth when Trout began the rally with a two-run drive into the Angels' bullpen in left field. Chapman gave Oakland a 5-3 lead an inning later with a two-run drive to center for the fifth multi-homer game of his career. He will be opposed by right-hander Dylan Bundy (2-1, 2.08), who threw the Angels' first complete game since 2018 last Wednesday at Seattle.

Los Angeles Angels' Shohei Ohtani (17) watches his solo home run as Seattle Mariners catcher Joe Hudson, right, looks on during the second inning of a baseball game Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)SEATTLE Shohei Ohtani homered in his first plate appearance since being shut down as a pitcher, Dylan Bundy struck out 10 in the third complete game of his career and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 6-1 on Thursday. His only mistake was an elevated changeup that Daniel Vogelbach lined into the right field seats for a solo home run in the fourth inning. ROSTER MOVESBoth the Angels and Mariners trimmed two players from their roster ahead of Thursdays finale. Mariners: LHP Yusei Kikuchi (0-0, 4.66) gets the start Friday as Seattle begins a three-game interleague series with Colorado.

Oakland Athletics players celebrate after Matt Olson, center left, hit a grand slam home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the tenth inning a baseball game in Oakland, Calif., Friday, July 24, 2020. According to STATS, Olson became the third player to hit a walkoff grand slam on opening day. The game went to the 10th tied at 3 after Jason Castros tying homer in the ninth against As closer Liam Hendriks. The Angels didn't deliver a win for Maddon in his Angels managerial debut. UP NEXTLHP Sean Manaea, who went 4-0 last season in September after returning from shoulder surgery before losing the wild card game, pitches Saturday opposite Angels RHP Dylan Bundy.