ANAHEIM, Calif. — Zach Neto delivered in the end for the Angels.

Neto’s roller through the right side drove in the winning run in the Angels’ 3-2, 10-inning victory over the Seattle Mariners on Friday night.

It was the first career walk-off hit for Neto, who also celebrated his first bobblehead giveaway at Angel Stadium on Friday.

Logan...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ starting rotation, in manager Bob Melvin’s words, is “in flux.” Hayden Birdsong was demoted. Landen Roupp is injured. With two vacant rotation spots, the straits are so dire that the team may use a rare bullpen game on Sunday. They’ll likely need to get creative on Monday, too.

Logan Webb took the mound ...Read more

PITTSBURGH — Mike Burrows had the best start of his young major league career. The Pirates’ sleepy offense meant it wasn’t enough for a win.

Burrows completed six scoreless innings, his longest career start, but the Pirates managed just one hit in a 1-0, 11-inning loss to the Diamondbacks on Friday night at PNC Park. A flyout moved ...Read more

BOSTON — It remains unclear exactly how much, if at all, the Dodgers will bolster their offense ahead of next week’s trade deadline.

But after a pitiful start to the month of July, their current lineup is finally showing renewed signs of life.

The Dodgers might not have bludgeoned the Boston Red Sox in a 5-2 win Friday — when they were ...Read more

CINCINNATI — Zack Littell had a rough start and his Rays mates a quiet night at the plate Friday in another potentially costly loss leading up to the trade deadline.

The 7-2 defeat to the Reds was the Rays’ fourth loss in seven games since resuming play after the All-Star break. It dropped them to 53-51, nine games out of first place in the...Read more

NEW YORK — As the Phillies took batting practice Friday, the two highest-ranking members of the front office huddled a safe distance behind the cage on the grass alongside the interlocking “NY.”

They could’ve been talking about … well, anything.

But six days before the trade deadline, Dave Dombrowski and Preston Mattingly have ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — No matter which direction the Twins front office takes before next Thursday’s MLB trade deadline, they’re hoping Zebby Matthews will be an important part of their rotation for the next several seasons.

Matthews pitched six scoreless innings, permitting only two baserunners and striking out seven, as he led the Twins to a 1-0...Read more

SEATTLE — On the front page of The Seattle Times Sunday, you can get a 1,500-word helping of immersive Ichiro insight from Larry Stone, who watched the soon-to-be Hall of Famer from the front row in Seattle for 11 years.

I, meanwhile, never saw Ichiro take one swing live during his prime Mariners years — never heard the T-Mobile Park crowd ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — With the Cardinals looking to make up ground in the NL wild-card standings as the calendar nears the end of the month and creeps closer to the July 31 trade deadline, a shutout effort started by Miles Mikolas and RBIs from Yohel Pozo and Masyn Winn helped them inch upward in the standings on Friday night.

Playing host to Padres, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — If the Orioles lose a baseball game and no one is in the seating bowl to see it, does it still count toward the standings?

Thunder and lightning in the area created a bizarre scene at Camden Yards in the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Colorado Rockies as the team played through the weather despite emptying the ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals will wait another day before renewing their American League Central rivalry against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium.

The club announced that Friday’s series opener was postponed due to inclement weather. Heavy rains arrived around 5:10 p.m. Central, and both teams were notified that the ...Read more

CHICAGO — White Sox pitcher Adrian Houser might or might not be on the Cubs’ radar.

But the idea of Houser facing a Cubs team that possibly could acquire him at the trade deadline added a little spice to Friday’s opener of the City Series at Rate Field.

Has the Cubs brain trust talked about Houser?

“Well, he was a Cub last year, so we...Read more

BOSTON — Strrrrrrrrrrrrrike three!

Fenway Park concession workers are officially on strike, as the Red Sox face the Dodgers in a hot weekend series this weekend.

The union warned that they would go on strike at 12 p.m. Friday if a contract deal was not reached with Aramark and Fenway Park.

MGM concession workers are also part of the strike....Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets have made a move.

With less than a week until the July 31 trade deadline, the club made a move to bolster their bullpen by acquiring left-hander Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles on Friday in exchange for two minor league right-handers: Wellington Aracena (Low-A Brooklyn) and Cameron Foster (Double-A Binghamton)...Read more

Ryan McMahon is headed to the Bronx.

The Rockies traded the third baseman to the Yankees on Friday in exchange for New York pitching prospects Griffin Hering and Josh Grosz, according to a major league source. The deal is pending a physical.

It marks the end of McMahon’s nine-year tenure in Colorado that saw the 2013 second-round pick emerge...Read more

NEW YORK — The MLB trade deadline is not what it used to be.

Since MLB expanded its playoff field to 12 in 2022, more teams have remained in contention deeper into the season.

Entering Tuesday, 22 of the 30 teams either held a playoff spot or were within 5.5 games of one. Sixteen teams had odds of 21.6% or better of making the postseason, ...Read more

SEATTLE — When Steven Kwan was growing up in the Bay Area, he’d spend summers with his Japanese grandmother. And every day, the NHK network would be on the television. And every day, there would be a segment about a Japanese icon.

This guy on the screen being talked about was the epitome of cool — professionally, culturally. He wore ...Read more

DENVER — One is known for swinging a wooden bat in the clutch. The other for chomping a live bat in his mouth.

They were born in different countries 18 years apart.

Yet, Larry Walker and Ozzy Osbourne remain forever linked in Colorado Rockies history.

When Osbourne passed away on Tuesday, the first person who came to mind was Walker. ...Read more

ANAHEIM, Calif — A couple of hours after the Mariners struck with baseball’s first big move ahead of the trade deadline and acquired a middle-of-the-order bat, their current middle-of-the-order bats responded.

Now if only Julio Rodríguez and Randy Arozarena can keep this up after Josh Naylor arrives.

Rodríguez, Arozarena and Jorge ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Four months ago, the Dodgers were cast as baseball's new evil empire, lapping rival contenders with lavish free-agent spending during an offseason that raised alarms about competitive balance within MLB.

"Coming into the season," general manager Brandon Gomes recalled this week, "we were talking about how we've ruined baseball ...Read more