(AP) -- The results are uneven so far for the New York Yankees, but not for Giancarlo Stanton.
With two homers in as many games, Stanton hopes to continue his hot start Sunday afternoon when the Yankees visit the Washington Nationals for the rubber game of a three-game series.
With the season reduced to 60 games, every contest is critical, and the San Diego Padres will try to push their start to 3-0 against visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
"This is a sprint," Padres rookie manager Jayce Tingler said recently. "You need to play well early." (MORE)
Emotions could run high once again as the Chicago Cubs and visiting Milwaukee Brewers square off in the rubber match of a season-opening, three-game series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs and Brewers have intensified their rivalry during the past few seasons, with both teams competing at or near the top of the National League Central. Neither team appears willing to back down, not even during a pandemic, as cameras showed players shouting at each other from opposite dugouts during Saturday's contest. (MORE)
The Cardinals won the first two games of the three-game series at Busch Stadium, 5-4 and 9-1, lifting their record against the Pirates to 16-5 since the start of the 2019 season, including 12-1 in the last 13 meetings. (MORE)
All eyes figure to be on the pregame pitching announcement when the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers meet for the finale of a four-game season-opening series Sunday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Giants did not reveal their starter for either the second or third game of the season until hours before each contest. When those pitchers were announced, it was not Jeff Samardzija, the team's projected No. 2 starter who still has not appeared in a game. 天行破解版无限免费
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker spoke on the need for different aspects of his club to perform well as to cover the uncertainty of a bullpen compromised by injury and reliant upon unproven arms.
Two games into this abbreviated regular season, Houston has flexed strong defense and lineup depth and breezed to a pair of victories over the visiting Seattle Mariners. In winning 7-2 on Saturday, the defense backed Lance McCullers early, while the offense mounted disciplined plate appearances in cobbling together a string of timely, run-scoring hits. 永久免费加速器推荐
Edwin Diaz had the New York Mets one pitch away from a familiar start Saturday afternoon. But a familiar result to that pitch put Diaz into a position he and the Mets have endured before.
The Mets will look to bounce back from Saturday's discouraging loss on Sunday night, when they host the Atlanta Braves in the finale of a season-opening three-game series between the National League East rivals. 极光永久免费
The Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies wrap up their three-game series on Sunday, and the focus will be on the comeback stories of both starters.
When right-hander Corey Kluber makes his debut with the Rangers, it will be after a disappointing 2019 with the Cleveland Indians. Kluber, who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2014 and 2017 with Cleveland, made only seven starts last season. A line drive last May 1 fractured his pitching arm, and a late-season comeback was aborted when he sustained an oblique injury. (MORE)
Right-hander Kenta Maeda will make his debut for the visiting Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of their season-opening series with the Chicago White Sox.
The 32-year-old Maeda compiled a 47-35 record and 3.87 ERA in four seasons and 137 career appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers, including a 10-8 mark and 4.04 ERA last season. The defending American League Central champion Twins, in a quest to bolster their starting rotation, obtained Maeda from the Dodgers in a February trade for hard-throwing pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol and outfielder Luke Raley. (MORE)
