The Atlanta Braves have announced they have re-signed All-Star third baseman Austin Riley on a 10-year, $212 million contract.

Riley, who appeared in his first All-Star Game last month, is hitting .301 with 29 home runs and 68 RBIs this season. He is leading the league with 61 extra-base hits.

The 25-year-old's deal runs through the 2032 season, with the option for 2033 for $20 million.

Riley is among the top contenders for this season's National League MVP, along with St Louis Cardinals star Paul Goldschmidt.

The third baseman's 26 extra-base hits in July broke Hank Aaron's previous franchise record from 1961 by one.

The New York Yankees made a move to bolster their already strong bullpen on Monday by acquiring right-hander Scott Effross from the Chicago Cubs for minor league pitcher Hayden Wesneski.

Effross made his major league debut for the Cubs last August and had a 3.68 earned run average (ERA) over 14 2/3 innings in 2021.

He has been solid this season, posting a 2.66 ERA with 50 strikeouts and just 11 walks in 44 innings over 47 appearances.

New York entered Monday's action with the best record in the AL at 69-34, and their 2.92 bullpen ERA ranks second in the majors behind the Houston Astros (2.79).

The Yankees, though, recently lost right-hander Michael King (6-3, 2.29 ERA, 66 strikeouts in 51 innings) to a season-ending elbow injury and were looking to upgrade their relief corps ahead of Tuesday's MLB trade deadline.

Wesneski was a sixth-round selection by the Yankees in the 2019 Amateur Draft. The right-hander has gone 6-7 with a 3.51 ERA in 19 starts this season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Kansas City Royals avoided a series sweep on Sunday with a 8-6 come-from-behind win on the road against the New York Yankees, with a pair of late home runs turning the tide.

Both starting pitchers finished with mediocre figures, but they were both spotless early, holding the game scoreless through the first four innings. The fifth inning was a different story, with the sides combining for seven runs. 

The Royals struck first as Nick Pratto came through with a two-run, bases loaded single, before Maikel Garcia followed him with an RBI double, and they capped off a four-run frame with an RBI groundout from Whit Merrifield.

But the best team in baseball this season answered right back, with Kyle Higashioka batting in a run with his single, before D.J. LeMahieu brought him home with a homer to the short porch at right-field. 

Later in the seventh inning, with Aaron Judge and Aaron Hicks on base, Anthony Rizzo shot the Yankees into a 6-4 lead with the longest hit in the game up to that point, a 418-foot home run over the right-field wall.

Kansas City's Hunter Dozier topped that the next inning with a 420-foot shot to left-field, trimming the margin to 6-5 and setting up an exciting finish.

Needing three outs to secure the win, the Yankees brought in elite relief pitcher Clay Holmes for the save, but it did not go to plan.

Holmes got the first out, but then issued a five-pitch walk to Merrifield, before hitting Bobby Witt Jr with a pitch to put runners on first and second with Salvador Perez at the plate.

Perez had been swinging a hot bat as of late with three home runs in his past seven games, and he added one more with a monstrous 441-foot nuke to center-field, jumping ahead 8-6 in the final frame.

Instead of handing the ball to a new closer, the Royals let Taylor Clarke head back out for his second inning to finish the job.

Yankees superstar Aaron Judge finished hit-less, but he contributed with two walks and a run.

The win is only the Royals' second from their past 12 meetings with the Yankees.

Austin Riley walks it off for the Braves

A quality pitching duel broke out in the Atlanta Braves' 1-0 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Austin Riley batting home the first run of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Braves ace pitcher Max Fried allowed four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in his seven scoreless innings, while Arizona's Merrill Kelly was slightly better, conceding three hits and two walks to go with eight strikeouts over the same stretch of innings.

The Braves had five hits in the game, and two of them were by Riley, who has quickly established himself as a realistic NL MVP candidate. 

Riley is fourth in the league in home runs (29), and second in total bases (239) – trailing only Aaron Judge.

Alvarez plays the hero in Houston

Speaking of players having unbelievable under-the-radar seasons, Houston Astros star Yordan Alvarez continued what is arguably the best hitting season in the majors with the winner in his side's 3-2 victory against the Seattle Mariners.

He went zero-for-four in regulation, but with scores tied in extra innings he came through with a clutch hit to drive in the winning run.

Alvarez leads the league in on-base percentage (.417) and trails only Judge in slugging percentage (.670 compared to Judge's .671).

The Seattle Mariners can breathe a sigh of relief as general manager Jerry Dipoto said X-rays taken on Julio Rodriguez’s right hand were negative after the All-Star rookie was hit by a pitch in a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday. 

Dipoto told SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio on Sunday that the team would continue to assess Rodriguez’s hand, saying “Julio appears to be okay.” 

Rodriguez was hit on the back of the hand in top of the eighth inning as he struck out while swinging. He completed the inning in the field before being pinch-hit for in the ninth. 

The front-runner for AL Rookie of the Year honours, Rodriguez is batting .271 and lead the Mariners with 18 home runs and 57 RBIs in 96 games this season. 

He is a big reason why Seattle (55-47), in the midst of a 21-year playoff drought, entered Sunday’s MLB action in the second wild-card position in the AL. 

Julio Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners' win over the Houston Astros in the ninth inning, prompting fears he may have suffered a broken hand.

All-Star Rodriguez is the AL Rookie of the Year favourite after an outstanding first year in the major leagues.

The 21-year-old outfielder has helped boost the Mariners into a wild card spot as they bid to end their 21-year playoff drought.

Seattle improved to 55-47 on Saturday with a 5-4 victory at the AL West-leading Astros, who had won the teams' previous five meetings.

But Rodriguez was out of the game by that point, with Abraham Toro – in as a pinch-hitter as his replacement – delivering the decisive two-run single.

Rodriguez had been hit on the back of the hand batting at the top of the eighth; he struck out and completed the inning in the field before being lifted.

"He did not feel comfortable with a bat in his hand," Mariners manager Scott Servais explained. "So, we'll pray that it is not broke."

This was the Mariners' ninth win this year after trailing in the ninth inning or later.

In the modern era, no MLB team have more such victories before August, with the Mariners' nine tied with the 1921 St. Louis Browns, the 1970 Kansas City Royals, the 1991 Chicago White Sox and the 2003 Cincinnati Reds.

Although Rodriguez's absence was a blow, it was perhaps no surprise Toro was the hero this time.

The former Astro has 52 RBIs as a Mariner, with 20 of those coming against the team he left partway through last season.

"He has been a thorn in our side since we traded him over there," said Astros manager Dusty Baker. "It was a big hit that he got tonight."

Aaron Judge became the second-fastest player to ever hit 200 career home runs as he connected on his 42nd of the season in the New York Yankees' 8-2 home victory against the Kansas City Royals.

Judge's moment came in the second inning, but it was not his side's first home run of the night after D.J. LeMahieu blasted a 410-footer to center-field as the Yankees' first batter of the game.

After All-Star catcher Jose Trevino got on base, Judge took one opposite-field to put the Yankees 4-0 up. He reached his 200th home run in his 671st career game – 13 games slower than former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard.

That was not all Judge would do in this contest, getting on base four times as he finished with a pair of hits and a pair of walks. He now has 10 more home runs than second-placed Kyle Schwarber (32).

On the mound, Nestor Cortes put in a strong showing to be credited with the win, giving up two runs in five innings, striking out five. 

After a clean Aroldis Chapman inning in relief, Clarke Schmidt then came in for a three-inning save, striking out five batters and throwing 52 pitches.

Twins stars go deep against Padres

Both Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa hit home runs in the Minnesota Twins' 7-4 win on the road against the San Diego Padres.

Stars on both sides were swinging a heavy bat, with Padres MVP candidate Manny Machado opening the scoring with his own solo shot in the third inning.

But the Twins had all the answers, as Buxton destroyed a baseball 434 feet over the left-field wall an inning later, before Correa kick-started his side's five-run eighth frame with his own two-run homer.

Shohei puts on a show

The Los Angeles Angels rallied back late to defeat the Texas Rangers 9-7, headlined by reigning AL MVP Shohei Ohtani's 22nd home run of the season.

The superstar designated hitter – who has also pitched the sixth most strikeouts in all of baseball this season (146 in 17 starts) – connected on a 424-foot, three-run home run to center-field in the third inning to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Only 15 players have hit more home runs this campaign.

Texas fought back in the middle innings through home runs to Marcus Semien and Meibrys Viloria, but the Angels scored five in the eighth inning to steal the result.

The Seattle Mariners are apparently going all-in on ending the longest postseason drought of the four major North American professional sports, finalising a deal to acquire starting pitcher Luis Castillo from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for four players. 

Castillo is widely regarded as the best starting pitcher available before Tuesday’s trading deadline, and Seattle have paid a high price to land the two-time All-Star.  

Heading to Cincinnati reportedly are minor leaguers Noelvi Marte and Edwin Arroyo – two of the Mariners' top-three prospects – along with pitcher Levi Stoudt, the team’s fifth-ranked prospect, and pitcher Andrew Moore.  

Castillo is 4-4 with a 2.86 ERA in 14 starts this season, striking out 90 with 28 walks in 85 innings. He has spent his entire six-year career with the Reds, going 44-53 with a 3.62 ERA In 137 starts.  

The Mariners, who have not made a playoff appearance since 2001, are 54-47 this season, well behind AL West-leading Houston, but they own one of the three wild-card spots.  

Castillo will anchor a rotation that already includes reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray and 10-game winner Logan Gilbert.  

Aaron Judge's magical season continued on Friday night as he blasted another two home runs to help the New York Yankees defeat the Kansas City Royals 11-5 at Yankee Stadium.

New York got off to a perfect start in the first inning thanks to a 422-foot Anthony Rizzo solo homer, before Judge connected on his own monstrous 449-foot nuke in the third inning to make it 3-0.

It was smooth sailing for Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on the mound through four innings, but he struggled mightily in the fifth, giving up five runs after a three-run homer to Salvador Perez. Cole finished with five earned runs and nine strikeouts from his six innings of work.

The Royals' 5-3 lead would hold until the eighth inning, when newly acquired Andrew Benintendi trimmed the margin by one with his RBI infield single, before Aaron Hicks was gifted a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 5-5.

Their damage in the eighth inning was far from done, with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Jose Trevino driving in a run each, bringing Judge to the plate with bases loaded.

The American League MVP co-favourite took full advantage, crushing a grand slam to bring his RBI tally for the day up to six, putting a bow on the win.

His home runs were his 40th and 41st of the season – nine clear of second-placed Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber (32).

Mets get to Alcantara

Arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball this year, Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, had his worst start of the season as his side went down 6-4 at home against the New York Mets.

The NL Cy Young award favourite was clearly off from the beginning, needing 53 pitches to get through the first two innings, allowing four hits, three walks and three runs in the process. 

With the game tied at 4-4 in the eighth inning, it was Mets lead-off hitter Brandon Nimmo who was the hero with a two-run home run, which proved to be the difference.

Alvarez stays hot for Houston

Yordan Alvarez may not have the home run total of Aaron Judge, but the Houston Astros All-Star has been statistically the best hitter in all of baseball this season, showing his talent in an 11-1 drubbing of the Seattle Mariners.

He got on-base from all five of his at-bats, finishing three-for-three at the plate with two walks, including his 30th home run of the season – third-most in the majors.

Incredibly, he leads the league in both on-base percentage (.423) and slugging percentage (.687).

Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani has begun fielding questions about his future as his club appears to be destined for another lost season.  

Speaking through translator Ippei Mizuhara after the Angels' 2-0 loss to the Texas Rangers on Thursday, Ohtani was asked if he wanted to stay in Los Angeles through next week's trade deadline.  

"Regardless of where I'm playing, I'm going to give it my all and try to win that ballgame in front of me," Ohtani said. "I'm with the Angels right now, and I'm very thankful for what they've done. I love my team and my team-mates.  

"Right now I'm an Angel, and that's all I can focus on."

Ohtani (9-6) took the loss on Thursday, scattering eight hits and punching out 11 hitters over six innings but allowing both Texas runs.  

Los Angeles fell to 42-57, 22.5 games back of the Houston Astros in the AL West and 11 games out of a Wild Card spot.  

The reigning AL MVP has spent each of his five MLB seasons with the Angels, never finishing above .500. 

The Angels last appeared in the postseason in 2014 and haven't won a playoff game since 2009.  

While Ohtani is not thought to be a serious candidate to be traded ahead of the August 2 deadline, the 28-year-old star is scheduled to become a free agent after next season.  

The Philadelphia Phillies rode a strong starting pitching performance from Zack Wheeler to an 8-4 road victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.

All nine Phillies batters finished with at least one hit – racking up 15 total hits as a team – and it got started in the first inning as Darick Hall made it a 2-0 game with his two-run triple. Nick Castellanos then drove in Hall with a base hit to make it 3-0 in the opening frame.

Wheeler never gave the Pirates a chance to fight back into the contest, holding the home side scoreless until late in the seventh inning. He finished with two earned runs from three hits and three walks, striking out eight.

After Alec Bohm's base hit to make it 4-0 in the second inning, there was a lull in the action until Kyle Schwarber made his presence known in the sixth frame.

With two runners on base, Schwarber connected on his 32nd home run of the season, trailing only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees.

The Pirates rallied hard in the last inning, scoring five runs from four hits off Jeurys Familia, but there was not much to cheer about up until that point, except for an exciting showing from rookie Cal Mitchell.

Mitchell delivered the only runs for his side in the first eight innings with his towering 414-foot, two-run homer to center-field off Wheeler. He finished three-for-four at the plate, also adding a pair of singles.

Judge does it again for the Yankees

Aaron Judge won the New York Yankees another game off his bat as he blasted the game-winning, walk-off home run to defeat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 at home.

Both sides pitched beautifully, with Royals starter Brady Singer giving up just one hit while striking out 10 in seven innings, while Yankees starter Jameson Taillon struck out eight batters in six scoreless frames.

The home run was Judge's league-leading 39th of the season – seven more than any other player.

Angels blow another Ohtani gem

The Los Angeles Angels wasted another terrific starting pitching performance from two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani, going down 2-0 at home to the Texas Rangers.

Ohtani struck out 11 batters in six innings, giving up two runs from eight hits in his 10th quality start (meaning at least six innings pitched and three or fewer earned runs) of the season. He now has 145 strikeouts for the season – the sixth most in the majors, and the five players ahead of him have all started at least two more contests.

Only Atlanta Braves rookie Spencer Strider (13.4) has a higher strikeouts-per-nine-innings stat than Ohtani's 13.1.

The New York Yankees have acquired outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for three minor leaguers.

New York has been looking for an outfield bat with Giancarlo Stanton going on the injured list recently and Joey Gallo continuing his season-long struggles.

Benintendi, a first-time All-Star this season, was among the better rental bats available and is a free agent after this season. He is batting .321 with three home runs and 39 RBIs in 92 games for the Royals.

The left-handed hitting Benintendi spent his first five seasons with the Boston Red Sox before he was traded to Kansas City in February 2021.

He was one of 10 players that were unable to play in Kansas City’s recent series in Toronto because he is unvaccinated. The Yankees have three games remaining in Toronto this season.

The Yankees own the best record in the majors at 66-33 but have lost 12 of their past 20 games.

Despite missing a pair of National League MVP candidates, the St Louis Cardinals rode a big performance from future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols to a 6-1 away win against the Toronto Blue Jays.

With both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado unavailable for their side's trip to Toronto due to their vaccination status, it was a combination of new blood and a blast from the past as they made it look easy.

40-year-old starting pitcher Adam Wainwright was at the peak of his powers, giving up just five hits and no walks for one earned run in seven innings, striking out eight batters. 

While Wainwright controlled the contest with the ball, 42-year-old Pujols made noise with the bat, knocking a single in his first at-bat, a double in his second try, and then a massive 439-foot, three-run homer with his third trip to the plate. It was longer than any home run Pujols hit in this year's Home Run Derby.

Rookie Nolan Gorman – 20 years younger than Pujols – also went deep with a solo home run, while he and 24-year-old Lars Nootbaar were two of five Cardinals to collect multiple hits.

Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr finished two-for-four at the plate, while ace pitcher Kevin Gausman struggled in one of his worst performances of the season. 

Gausman gave up five runs in less than five innings, allowing eight hits and a walk with his six strikeouts.

Mets walk-off against Yankees

The New York Mets threatened to waste a spectacular start from pitcher Max Scherzer, but ultimately got the job done in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the New York Yankees 3-2 in walk-off fashion.

Pete Alonso's solo home run in the second inning and Francisco Lindor's RBI single in the third frame were the only runs before Max Scherzer was withdrawn, having pitched seven shut-out innings.

As soon as Scherzer was removed, the Yankees came back with a two-run homer from Gleyber Torres, but Eduardo Escobar led off the ninth inning with a double, setting up Starling Marte to be the hero and drive him in with a base hit.

J-Rod does it again for the Mariners

Rookie All-Star Julio Rodriguez showed once again why he is one of the most exciting young talents in all of baseball, blasting a three-run home run to give his Seattle Mariners a 4-2 home win against the Texas Rangers.

Rodriguez, 21, stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning with two runners on base, trailing 2-1, and he connected on a 419-foot no-doubter over the left-field wall to snatch back the lead.

This season, Rodriguez leads all rookies in hits (96), runs (54), home runs (17), RBIs (53), and stolen bases (21).

Mike Trout has been sidelined with rib cage inflammation for the last two weeks and could be out several more after Los Angeles Angels trainer Mike Frostad revealed on Wednesday that the three-time league MVP has been diagnosed with a costovertebral dysfunction at his T5 vertebrae. 

"This is a pretty rare condition that he has right now in his back," Frostad said before the Angels concluded a six-game road trip against the Kansas City Royals. "The doctor [Robert Watkins III], who is one of the most well-known spine surgeons in the country - if not the world, doesn't see a lot of these.” 

Trout has not played since July 12 with what was first was being called back spasms before going on the injured list with rib cage inflammation. After an examination by Watkins, the co-director of the Marina Spine Clinic in Los Angeles, it was discovered that the rib issue was in fact the rare spinal dysfunction that Frostad said is something Trout will likely need to cope with for the rest of his playing career. 

''We just have to take into consideration what he puts himself through with hitting, swinging on a daily basis just to get prepared, and then also playing in the outfield, diving for balls, jumping into the wall - things like that,'' Frostad said. ''And there's so many things that can aggravate it. But this doctor hasn't seen a lot of it.'' 

Over the All-Star break, Trout received a cortisone shot, which did alleviate some of the pain, according to Frostad. However, Frostad also said Trout will go at least another week before he partakes in any baseball activity. 

"I think he's starting to feel like he's getting the benefits," Frostad said. "But long-term we do have to look at this as something that - he has to manage it, not just through the rest of this season, but also through the rest of his career probably." 

Although the Angels entered play Wednesday 22.5 games behind the first-place Houston Astros in the AL West and 11 games out of the league's third wild-card spot, the team has not yet considered shutting Trout down for the rest of the season for the second year in a row. 

Limited to just 36 games in 2021 due to a strained right calf, Trout was enjoying another stellar season upon his return this year, compiling 24 home runs, 17 doubles, 51 RBIs and 55 runs with a .270 batting average, .368 on-base percentage, and .599 slugging percentage in 79 games while being elected to his 10th All-Star Game. 

The 30-year-old Trout will have another appointment with Watkins next week before the Angels map out a timetable for a potential return. 

''He's going to have a follow-up here once we get back," Frostad said, "and we'll just kind of see what the doctor thinks at that point.'' 

Eduardo Escobar and Edwin Diaz came up big as the New York Mets beat their cross-town rival Yankees in what could be a potential World Series rehearsal on Tuesday, emerging with a 6-3 win.

Kicking off a highly anticipated Subway Series, with 2015 being the last time the two teams lead their respective divisions, the Mets made the big plays amid a charged atmosphere in Queens.

Back-to-back home runs from Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge put the Yankees up 2-0 in a thrilling first inning, with the Mets rallying back with four runs in their opening frame, including Escobar's huge two-run, two-out shot off Jordan Montgomery.

Before extending their lead to 6-3 in the eighth inning, Diaz came in to close for the Mets, striking out four and giving up a solitary hit for his 22nd save out of 25.

Running away with the American League at one point, the Yankees now only lead the Houston Astros by two games on 66-32, while the Mets moved to 60-37 and within five of the National League-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

Springer slam propels Blue Jays

Though his team trail the Yankees by 11.5 games in the AL East, George Springer hit the seventh grand slam of his career, as the Toronto Blue Jays claimed a 10-3 win over the St Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals were without Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, whose unvaccinated status prohibits them from entering Canadian soil, with Alejandro Kirk hitting his 12th homer of the year.

It was not enough against the Blue Jays, who notched up a tie-breaking five-run sixth inning via Springer's slam and Matt Chapman's RBI single, to extend their winning streak to seven games.

Pinder punches second slam of the night in A's win

The Houston Astros were not able to capitalise on the Yankees' defeat and edge closer in the AL standings, with the Oakland Athletics earning a 5-3 win.

The best and worst records in the AL West faced off and the latter reeled off a four-run third inning to get the eventual win, with Chad Pinder slugging a grand slam of his own off Luis Garcia.

The A's are now one game away from a shock three-game series sweep against the Astros, who remain stuck on 64-34.

All-Star Giancarlo Stanton has been placed on the New York Yankees' 10-day injured list due to left Achilles tendonitis.

Yankees outfielder Stanton has been in strong form in the majors this season, batting .228 with 24 home runs and 61 RBIs. He also won last week's All-Star Game MVP.

Stanton had been out of the Yankees' starting line-up in their past two games and the franchise announced the roster move ahead of Tuesday's game against the New York Mets.

The 32-year-old had undergone an MRI on Monday after experiencing a sore Achilles, with Yankees manager Aaron Boone hoping it was a "minor thing".

Boone revealed that Stanton will take a complete break from baseball for 10 days and indicated that Stanton's timeframe to return to play was roughly two to three weeks.

"Could be shorter. We'll see," he said. "We'll just kind of make those evaluations, or the trainers [will], and see how he does this week."