MLB News Blog

Torii Hunter rocked Angel Stadium with a three-run home run off Jon Lester in the fifth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 3-0 lead over the Boston Red Sox in their playoff opener on Thursday night. Hunter drove an 0-1 pitch off the front of the giant rock fountain beyond the center field [...]

Boston's Jon Lester struck out Vladimir Guerrero on three pitches with the bases loaded to end the third inning of a scoreless duel with Los Angeles' John Lackey in their playoff opener on Thursday night. The same two pitchers started Game 1 in last year's division series, also at Anaheim, with the left-handed Lester beating [...]

All that Matt Holliday needed to do was make the catch, and the Cardinals would have tied the series. Instead, his error gave Los Angeles a second chance, and St. Louis wound up on the brink of elimination. Holliday dropped a sinking line drive with two outs in the ninth inning, leading to a two-run [...]

Two Cy Young Award candidates, two losses for the St. Louis Cardinals. Adam Wainwright pitched eight sharp innings against the Dodgers on Thursday, only to watch the Cardinals lose 3-2 after an error by left fielder Matt Holliday led to Los Angeles' two-run rally with two outs. A night earlier, Chris Carpenter, who was 17-4 [...]

Matt Holliday dropped a sinking line drive for an error with two outs in the ninth inning, leading to a two-run rally by the Los Angeles Dodgers that gave them a 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. Ronnie Belliard and pinch-hitter Mark Loretta hit RBI singles off closer Ryan Franklin, giving the [...]

It's been 10 years since the New York Yankees won the first two games of a division series. They're looking to go up 2-0 this year with a postseason neophyte on the mound. A.J. Burnett will make his playoff debut Friday night as the Yankees try to take a commanding lead over the Minnesota Twins [...]

Brian Moehler and the Houston Astros on Thursday exercised a mutual $3 million contract option for next season. The right-hander was 8-12 with a 5.47 ERA in 29 starts this year. His deal originally included a $2.3 million club option for 2010 with a $250,000 buyout, but it became a mutual option at a higher [...]

When Jeff Weaver came out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' bullpen into a sticky bases-loaded situation Wednesday night, his little brother down in Orange County was probably even more jittery. "When I see him warming up in the bullpen, I get nervous just like I'm going out there to start," said Jered Weaver, the Angels' [...]

Pedro Martinez wants the ball in another big game. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel will consider giving the three-time Cy Young Award winner the start in Game 3. Martinez was the only pitcher out of the three possible starting candidates that did not pitch Thursday in a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies that evened the [...]

By the time Cole Hamels rushed off to be with his pregnant wife, his streak of postseason dominance was long over. Yorvit Torrealba hit a two-run homer, Aaron Cook pitched effectively into the sixth inning and the Colorado Rockies beat Hamels and the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 Thursday to even their NL playoff series at a [...]