ROBBIE RAY

Yordan Alvarez and his mighty bat did it yet again, launching a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning off Seattle ace Luis Castillo that lifted the Houston Astros over the Mariners 4-2 for a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series.

The Houston Astros were five outs away from facing a 1-0 deficit in the ALDS, but Yordan Alvarez blasted a walk-off, three-run homer to turn the tables.

Yordan Alvarez smashed a game-ending, three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning off Robbie Ray, wrecking Seattle’s strategy of using a Cy Young Award winner in a rare relief role and vaulting the Houston Astros over the Mariners 8-7 in their playoff opener.

There’s a whole lot riding on Alek Manoah’s first career playoff start, but the Toronto Blue Jays All-Star right-hander isn’t the least bit fazed about facing the Seattle Mariners in Friday’s wild-card opener.

The entire Major League Baseball playoff picture is now set.

The Philadelphia Phillies grabbed baseball’s last playoff ticket, and Bryce Harper and company partied into the night.

Seattle Mariners left-hander Robbie Ray has not allowed a hit to the Washington Nationals through six innings.

Carlos Santana snapped an 0-for-17 slump with a go-ahead two-run homer during Seattle’s three-run seventh inning, and the Mariners rallied to beat the slumping New York Yankees 4-3.

Pinch-hitter Luis Torrens singled with one out in the 13th inning to score Eugenio Suárez, and the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 1-0 in a game dominated by the starting pitching of Gerrit Cole and Luis Castillo.

Justin Verlander pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning and won his MLB-leading 14th game, Aledmys Díaz hit two homers and Yordan Alvarez slugged his 30th home run of the season as the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 11-1.

Houston ace Justin Verlander, who leads the major leagues in wins, takes a 13-3 record and 1.86 ERA into his start Friday against visiting Seattle.

Robbie Ray struck out 12 without a walk over 6 2/3 innings, rookie All-Star center fielder Julio Rodríguez hit a grand slam and the Seattle Mariners have their longest winning streak in more than two decades, beating the Texas Rangers 8-3 for their 12th win in a row.

There were 15 MLB players who signed new contracts worth $100 million or more before this season.

Los Angeles will be well represented in the July 19 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium.

Mariners left-hander Robbie Ray has pitched six hitless innings against the Los Angeles Angels.

Mariners manager Scott Servais was ejected for his role in a benches-clearing scuffle in the ninth inning of Seattle’s 7-4 win over the Houston Astros, a game in which Cal Raleigh had a career-high four RBIs and Julio Rodriguez hit a late two-run shot.

Mike Trout is mired in the worst slump of his brilliant career and the Angels are one loss from matching their longest skid in 34 years.

A look at what’s happening around the majors on Monday:.

Trevor Story hit a grand slam over the Green Monster and into the hands of a former Red Sox player a night after hitting three over Fenway Park’s fabled left field wall to leading Boston to a 7-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Trevor Story had three homers, four hits and seven RBIs to help the Boston Red Sox rally from a four-run deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 12-6.

Mariners left-hander Robbie Ray isn’t joining Seattle for a series in Toronto this week, missing a chance to celebrate the Cy Young Award he won with the Blue Jays last season amid border restrictions related to the COVID-19 vaccine.

Phillies star Bryce Harper is scheduled to get a platelet-rich plasma injection to help with a small tear in his right elbow, causing him to miss the series finale at Dodger Stadium.

Carlos Correa and the Minnesota Twins dodged a major problem this past week.

Detroit Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodríguez gets a look at his former teammates when he pitches against Boston at Comerica Park.

Detroit Tigers lefty Eduardo Rodríguez gets a look at his former teammates when he pitches against Boston at Comerica Park.

Rachel Balkovec is set to become the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a major league team Friday when her Class-A Tampa Tarpons in the New York Yankees’ organization face the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League.

Cubs veteran Kyle Hendricks is set to deliver the first pitch of the season against Corbin Burnes and Milwaukee at Wrigley Field just past 2:20 p.m. EDT, the first of seven games still on the calendar amid rainy forecasts across the country.

There's a lot to catch up on from a bizarre baseball offseason before the 2022 season officially begins with first pitch at Wrigley Field.

Many familiar faces with impressive resumes are in new places following one of major league baseball’s wildest free agent frenzies.

Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and the rest of baseball’s biggest stars are due at spring training Sunday for the first official day of preseason training following the end of Major League Baseball’s 99-day labor lockout.

In each of the past two offseasons, pitcher Kevin Gausman spurned free agent advances from the Toronto Blue Jays and general manager Ross Atkins.

AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray and the Seattle Mariners have finalized their $115 million, five-year contract.

Right-hander Max Scherzer agreed to a record-setting $130 million, three-year contract with the New York Mets and shortstop Corey Seager struck a $325 million, 10-year deal with the Texas Rangers as players and teams rushed to reach agreements before an expected lockout.

With a possible lockout on the horizon, it’s been mostly business as usual on the free agent market — so far.

Toronto left-hander Robbie Ray bounced back from a dismal season to win the AL Cy Young Award and Milwaukee righty Corbin Burnes returned from a bout of COVID-19 to win the NL’s top pitching prize.

Justin Verlander reached a $25 million deal to remain with the Houston Astros as he comes back from Tommy John surgery, and Brandon Belt accepted an $18.4 million qualifying offer from the San Francisco Giants.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have extended qualifying offers to free agent All-Stars Corey Seager and Chris Taylor, but not Clayton Kershaw.

Los Angeles Angels two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani was voted player of the year and the American League outstanding player by fellow major leaguers in the annual Players Choice Awards from the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Trea Turner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston’s Yuli Gurriel won their first batting titles in a season of boom and bust that saw four teams lose 100 games for only the third time, and four 90-game winners in the AL East alone.

The surging Cardinals will try for a franchise-record 15th consecutive win in a game at Wrigley Field.

The surging Cardinals will try for a franchise-record 15th consecutive win in a game at Wrigley Field.

Toronto left-hander Robbie Ray leads the majors with 233 strikeouts, tops the AL with a 2.64 ERA and is 12-5 going into this start at Tampa Bay.

Bo Bichette thumped a leadoff homer in the first inning and singled in the tiebreaking run in the seventh, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 42nd homer, and the Toronto Blue Jays held off the skidding New York Yankees 6-4 for their eighth straight win.

Big league home run leader Shohei Ohtani is unbeaten in his last 13 starts going into this outing for the Los Angeles Angels against the AL West-leading Astros in Houston.

The Toronto Blue Jays have won four in a row entering their big series this week in New York against the Yankees.

Max Stassi hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning and the Los Angeles Angels overcome an eight-run deficit to beat the Detroit Tigers 13-10 on Thursday.

Shohei Ohtani pitched six innings of three-hit ball to win his third consecutive start, and he also doubled and scored an early run in the Los Angeles Angels’ 6-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

J.

The Toronto Blue Jays were given approval from the Canadian government on Friday for an exemption on border restrictions that would allow them to play in Canada later this month.

The Toronto Blue Jays were given approval from the Canadian government on Friday for an exemption on border restrictions that would allow them to play in Canada later this month. The Blue Jays had asked the federal government to allow them to play at Rogers Centre starting July 30 and wanted a response by Friday. The Blue Jays played home games during the shortened 2020 season in Buffalo, New York, and started this season in Dunedin, Florida, before moving to Buffalo.

Tony La Russa moved into sole possession of second on baseball’s career manager wins list, snapping a tie with John McGraw by directing the Chicago White Sox to a 3-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. keyed a career-best four-hit outing with his major league-leading 17th home run and the Toronto Blue Jays celebrated the return to their temporary Buffalo home with a 5-1 win over the Miami Marlins.