MLB

4 more MLB players positive for COVID, raising total to 84NEW YORK (AP) Four baseball players and two staff tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week.There have been 99 new positive tests since intake screening began June 27, Major League Baseball and the players' association said Friday....

AP Sports WriterBraves missing catchers Flowers, dÁrnaud with virus symptomsBy CHARLES ODUMThe Atlanta Braves will be without their top two catchers, Tyler Flowers and Travis d'Arnaud, for Friday's opening game at the New York Mets after both players showed symptoms of the coronavirus.Manager Brian Snitker said Friday that Flowers...

MLB opener was most-viewed regular-season game in 9 yearsBRISTOL, Conn. (AP) The pandemic-delayed Major League Baseball opener was the sport's most-watched regular-season game on any network in nine years.The New York Yankees' rain-shortened 4-1 win at the Washington Nationals on Thursday night averaged 4 million viewers on ESPN,...

AP Baseball WriterAP source: MLB, players agree to expand playoffs to 16 teamsBy RONALD BLUMNEW YORK (AP) Major League Baseball and the players' union agreed Thursday to expand the playoffs from 10 teams to 16 for the pandemic-delayed season, a person familiar with the deal said, a decision...

AP Baseball WriterGiants' Alyssa Nakken proved herself ready to coach on fieldBy JANIE McCAULEYSAN FRANCISCO (AP) Alyssa Nakken and Antoan Richardson took a walk to have a candid heart-to-heart chat, making their way around a back field at Scottsdale Stadium for close to 45 minutes one March day...

AP Sports WriterBig league debuts to be made without family, friends on handBy DAVE SKRETTAKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The moment that young right-hander Brady Singer steps onto the mound for the Kansas City Royals on Saturday in Cleveland will no doubt be surreal, the culmination of a lifelong...

Associated PressOrioles, Maryland in talks about Blue Jays in BaltimoreBy ROB GILLIES and BRIAN WITTETORONTO (AP) The Baltimore Orioles and the state of Maryland have had talks about the team sharing Oriole Park at Camden Yards with the displaced Toronto Blue Jays amid the coronavirus pandemic.The Blue Jays...

AP Baseball WriterBatter Up! Baseball, soundtrack of summer, is back - sort ofBy BEN WALKERHerb Vincent closes his eyes and drifts back a half-century, to his boyhood bedroom in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He's 9, trying to stay awake deep into the night, the transistor radio tuned to distant...

AP Sports WriterBig league debuts to be made without family, friends on handBy DAVE SKRETTAKANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The moment that young right-hander Brady Singer steps onto the mound for the Kansas City Royals on Saturday in Cleveland will no doubt be surreal, the culmination of a lifelong...

Associated PressOrioles, Maryland in talks about Blue Jays in BaltimoreBy ROB GILLIES and BRIAN WITTETORONTO (AP) The Baltimore Orioles and the state of Maryland have had talk about the team sharing Oriole Park at Camden Yards with the displaced Toronto Blue Jays amid the coronavirus pandemic.The Blue Jays...

Associated PressTrump, Mariano Rivera mark Opening Day at White HouseBy KEVIN FREKINGWASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump recruited Baseball Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera to help mark baseball's Opening Day with a group of Little League players at the White House on Thursday.Trump said the return of sports was...

Associated PressBaltimore talks about hosting Blue Jays; how about Hartford?By ROB GILLIES and BRIAN WITTETORONTO (AP) The Baltimore Orioles and the state of Maryland have had talks about the team sharing Oriole Park at Camden Yards with the displaced Toronto Blue Jays amid the coronavirus pandemic.The Blue Jays...