The Toronto Blue Jays placed star shortstop Bo Bichette on the 10-day injured list Wednesday, two days after the American League's current batting leader injured his right knee against the Baltimore Orioles.

Bichette underwent tests Tuesday that revealed no structural damage and the 2023 All-Star has been diagnosed with patellar tendinitis. 

Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters Wednesday that the team does not anticipate a lengthy absence for Bichette, who's batting .321 this season and ranks second in the major leagues with 144 hits. Schneider said it's too early to tell, however, whether the 25-year-old can return when first eligible on Aug. 11.

“The quicker we can get Bo back the better, obviously,” Schneider told MLB.com. "But we’ve got to see how he goes with each day, with each treatment, with each activity.”

Bichette exited Monday's 4-2 loss to Baltimore in the third inning after his right knee buckled as he rounded first base after reaching on a single. He was able to walk off the field under his own power but was noticeably limping and grimacing.

The injury prompted the Blue Jays to acquire veteran infielder Paul DeJong from the St. Louis Cardinals at Tuesday's trade deadline. DeJong will make his Toronto debut in Wednesday's series finale against the Orioles.

DeJong has produced 13 home runs and 32 RBIs along with a .233 average in 81 games this season. The seven-year veteran was an All-Star with the Cardinals in 2019 and finished that season with career highs of 30 homers and 78 RBIs.

Houston Astros left-hander Framber Valdez became the third pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter, shutting down the Cleveland Guardians in a 2-0 win on Tuesday.

Valdez gave up just one baserunner on a walk in the fifth inning, but still faced the minimum thanks to a double play. He struck out seven and threw 65 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

It was the 16th no-hitter in Astros’ history and the first in the regular season by one pitcher since Justin Verlander against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 1, 2019.

Valdez’ historic outing – the first no-hitter by an Astros lefty- came hours after Houston re-acquired Verlander from the New York Mets.

Valdez joined Domingo German of the New York Yankees, who threw a perfect game at Oakland on June 28, and three pitchers from the Detroit Tigers, who combined for a no-hitter against Toronto on July 8.

Kyle Tucker provided all the offence with a two-run single in the third inning to help the Astros remain one-half game behind the AL West-leading Texas Rangers.

Cleveland has lost four of five while scoring just 10 runs.

Swanson powers Cubs to rout of Reds

Dansby Swanson homered twice and drove in five runs and the Chicago Cubs went deep seven times in a 20-9 drubbing of the Cincinnati Reds.

Mike Tauchman homered and had four RBIs and Jeimer Candelario had four hits in his first game with Chicago since he was re-acquired in a trade with the Washington Nationals on Monday. He made his major league debut with the Cubs in 2016.

Nico Hoener, Miguel Amaya, Cody Bellinger and Patrick Wisdom all homered for Chicago, which tied a modern franchise record with seven home runs, last accomplished on May 17, 1977, against San Diego. 

Reds starter Ben Lively was tagged for 13 runs and 13 hits over four innings.

Rays’ Eflin first in AL to 12 wins

Zach Eflin pitched three-hit ball over six scoreless innings to become the American League’s first 12-game winner as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees, 5-2.

Eflin struck out five and did not walk a batter to join Philadelphia’s Taijuan Walker as the only 12-game winners in the majors.

Randy Arozarena hit a two-run homer and Yandy Diaz also went deep as the Rays won their third straight to stay 1 ½ games behind East-leading Baltimore.

The last-place Yankees have lost 14 of 21 and were nearly shut out until Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu had RBI singles in the ninth.

Justin Verlander helped the Houston Astros capture a pair of World Series titles, and the club is hoping he can lead them to another championship.

Verlander was traded to the Astros from the New York Mets in a blockbuster deal hours before MLB’s deadline on Tuesday.

The Mets received two minor league outfielders - 22-year-old Drew Gilbert, Houston’s No. 1-ranked prospect, and 20-year-old Ryan Clifford, who was the Astros’ No. 4 prospect.

Verlander signed a two-year, $86.7million contract with the Mets last December, shortly after earning his second World Series title with Houston and third Cy Young Award.

The 40-year-old has been pitching well lately, going 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in six July starts, but the Mets have been a major disappointment and are tearing down the most expensive roster in major league history.

Fellow three-time Cy Young Award-winner Max Scherzer, who signed a three-year, $130million deal after the 2021 season, was traded to the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Hours after that deal was officially announced, Verlander became the 49th pitcher in MLB history to 250 victories.

Of those wins, 61 came while pitching for the Astros – tied with Jim Deshaies for the 15th most in club history.

Verlander was first acquired by Houston during the 2017 season from the Detroit Tigers and helped the Astros to the franchise’s first World Series title later that fall.

During his time with Houston, Verlander made 102 starts and posted a 2.26 ERA – the lowest in franchise history among the 46 players with a minimum of 500 innings pitched for the club.

The Astros have won five of the last six AL West crowns and have reached the AL championship series in each of the last four seasons, but enter August one-half game behind the first-place Texas Rangers.

Blue Jays acquire DeJong after Bichette injures knee

The Toronto Blue Jays moved quickly in finding a replacement for Bo Bichette in the event the All-Star shortstop would’ve been sidelined for a while, trading for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Paul DeJong.

Bichette, the AL leader in batting average (.321) and hits (144), exited Monday’s 4-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles with a right knee injury.

The extent of Bichette’s injury was uncertain early Tuesday, but after trading for DeJong, it was reported that an MRI on the knee revealed no significant structural damage, and he’s considered day to day.

DeJong was considered the top shortstop on the trade market.

An All-Star in 2019, the 29-year-old is batting .233 with 13 home runs, 11 doubles and 32 RBIs in 81 games.

He is also one of the better fielders at his position, registering a .990 fielding percentage – second only to the Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa for the best among all qualifying shortstops.

To complete the trade, the Cardinals are getting 24-year-old pitching prospect Matt Svanson from the Blue Jays.

Phillies get All-Star Lorenzen from Tigers

The Philadelphia Phillies have bolstered their rotation, acquiring right-hander Michael Lorenzen from the Detroit Tigers for 20-year-old infielder Hao-Yu Lee.

Lorenzen, who will become a free agent after this season, was named to his first All-Star team this year, going 5-7 with a 3.58 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 18 starts. He has struck out 83 and walked 27 over 105 2/3 innings.

The 31-year-old began his career as a starter for the Cincinnati Reds in 2015 before spending the next six seasons working out of their bullpen.

He signed with the Los Angeles Angels prior to last season and moved back into the starting rotation, going 8-6 with a 4.24 ERA in 18 outings.

He now joins a Phillies team that reached last year’s World Series and is in possession of the NL’s second wild card.

Marlins bolster lineup with sluggers Burger, Bell

The Miami Marlins added two key bats to their lineup at the deadline, acquiring infielder Jake Burger from the Chicago White Sox and first baseman Josh Bell from the Cleveland Guardians.

The Marlins (57-51) find themselves in rare playoff contention but are hoping to improve their 27th-ranked offence that scores 4.09 runs per game.

Burger, 27, is tied for eighth in MLB with 25 home runs this season but is batting just .214 in 88 games. Of Burger’s 63 hits this season, 41 have gone for extra bases.

Bell, who will turn 31 later this month, was a 2019 All-Star but will be playing on his fifth team since 2020.

In the deals, the Marlins sent pitching prospect Jake Eder to Chicago, while Cleveland added infield prospect Khalil Watson. The Guardians also acquired Jean Segura in the deal but are expected to release the veteran infielder.

AL East-leading Orioles add RHP Flaherty

Enjoying their best season in a decade, the Baltimore Orioles fortified their rotation by acquiring right-hander Jack Flaherty from the St. Louis Cardinals for three prospects.

Leading the AL East with a 65-41 record and with a stacked farm system, the Orioles had the chance to be among the most aggressive teams at the deadline but held on to all eight of their prospects ranked by MLB Pipeline in baseball’s top 100.

Flaherty struggled earlier this season but was 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA in five July starts.

Flaherty put together his best season in 2019, when he was 11-8 with a 2.75 ERA and threw nearly 200 innings.

Injuries have derailed Flaherty’s previous three seasons, but he has made 20 starts this year with a 4.43 ERA and 7-6 record.  

Padres are buyers; adding Hill, Choi in trade with Pirates

The San Diego Padres are five games out of a playoff spot but are making moves to get back to the postseason.

The Padres acquired veteran left-hander Rich Hill and first baseman Ji Man Choi from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

This will be the 13th major league team for the 43-year-old Hill, who is 7-10 with a 4.76 ERA in 22 starts in his 19th MLB season.

Choi, 32, is batting .268 with four home runs and nine RBIs in 14 games since coming off the injured list after missing more than two months due to a left Achilles strain.

San Diego, which reached last season’s NL championship series but must pass five teams in the NL wild-card race, sent Pittsburgh three prospects - headlined by lefty Jackson Wolf.

Shohei Ohtani just missed another home run, but his Los Angeles Angels teammates still provided plenty of power.

The surging Angels hit three solo homers to back a solid start from Chase Silseth en route to a 4-1 win over the major league-leading Atlanta Braves in Monday's opener of a three-game series. 

Luis Rengifo homered to lead off the game, while newly acquired Randal Grichuk and Chad Wallach went deep later to help the Angels to their 10th win in 13 games. That hot stretch has moved the Angels within three games of the American League's final wild card spot.

Grichuk was obtained Sunday from the Colorado Rockies along with first baseman C.J. Cron, who had an RBI single in his first game following the trade.

Ohtani finished 2 for 3 and nearly had his 40th home run of the season in the ninth inning, when his drive to deep center field was snared by a leaping Michael Harris II to rob the 2021 AL MVP.

Silseth yielded just three hits, including a solo homer from Matt Olson, over five innings to win his second straight start. Olson's blast was his National League-leading 36th of the season and 200th of the campaign for Atlanta, which tops the majors in that category.

The Braves entered the series having scored 29 runs in a three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers over the weekend. Olson had two of Atlanta's four hits on the night.

Orioles hold off Blue Jays to maintain lead atop AL East

Ryan Mountcastle drove in three runs and Austin Hays made a game-saving catch in the ninth inning as the Baltimore Orioles held on for a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hays' diving grab of Whit Merrifield's line drive into the left-center field gap with two on and one out in the ninth helped the Orioles take the opener of this four-game series and maintain their 1 1/2-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the AL East. The Rays recorded a 5-1 win over the New York Yankees on Monday.

Mountcastle gave Baltimore an early lead with a two-run double off Toronto starter Chris Bassitt in the first inning, then later extended the margin to 4-0 with a sacrifice fly in the third.

Kyle Gibson made the lead stand by holding the Blue Jays to one run on four hits over six innings to earn his 10th win of the season. 

Gunnar Henderson had a solo homer earlier in the third to help the Orioles to their sixth win in nine games. The Orioles are now 6-1 against the Blue Jays this season and 4-0 in Toronto. 

Bo Bichette, the AL's leading hitter at .321, went 2 for 2 for Toronto before exiting the game in the third inning with right knee soreness.

Bassitt had a streak of eight consecutive starts without a loss end after he was charged with four runs over six innings. 

Phillies' Walker beats Marlins for MLB-best 12th win

Taijuan Walker threw 6 2/3 effective innings to become the first 12-game winner in the major leagues this season in the Philadelphia Phillies' 4-2 victory over the Miami Marlins.

Walker allowed two runs on six hits and struck out four to help the Phillies win the opener of this key four-game series between NL playoff contenders. Philadelphia moved a half-game ahead of the Marlins, Milwaukee and Arizona for the league's second of three wild-card spots.

The Phillies also closed within a half-game of San Francisco for the NL's top wild card after the Giants lost to the Diamondbacks, 4-3, in 11 innings.

Miami had taken a quick 2-0 lead on Jorge Soler's two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, but the Phillies tied it in the fourth on Johan Rojas' two-run double before moving ahead in the seventh.

Kyle Schwarber drew a leadoff walk against reliever Tanner Scott in the seventh, took third on Alec Bohm's double and scored on a sacrifice fly from Bryson Stott. 

Bohm extended the lead in the eighth with a single that plated Rojas.

Soler had two hits and Luis Arraez went 3 for 4 with a run scored for slumping Miami, which fell to 4-14 since the All-Star break. Arraez is now batting an MLB-leading .381 on the season. 

The Chicago Cubs landed one of the most coveted bats in the trade market Monday, re-acquiring third baseman Jeimer Candelario from the Washington Nationals for a pair of prospects.

Candelario made his MLB debut for the Cubs in 2016.

At 29 years old, Candelario is putting together the most consistent season of his career, batting .258 with 16 home runs and 53 RBIs in 99 games.

Candelario batted just .217 in 2022 and was non-tendered by the Detroit Tigers last offseason before the Nationals signed him to a one-year, $5million deal.

The Cubs also added right-handed reliever Jose Cuas from the Kansas City Royals.

An aggressive trade deadline approach by the Cubs seemed unlikely even two weeks ago, but Chicago used a 10-1 stretch in late July to get back over .500 and within striking distance of the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

The switch-hitting Candelario has primarily been a career third baseman but could see time at first or designated hitter for the Cubs.

Diamondbacks trade three players for Mariners closer Paul Sewald

Targeting their first playoff berth since 2017, the Arizona Diamondbacks are buyers at the trade deadline.

Arizona acquired relief pitcher Paul Sewald from the Seattle Mariners for infielder Josh Rojas, outfielder Dominic Canzone and minor leaguer Ryan Bliss, multiple media sources reported Monday.

Arizona’s front office faced a fork in the road after a 7-16 record in July has jeopardized a promising 49-34 start to this season.

The Diamondbacks (56-50) entered play Monday in third place in the NL West but trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by just four games. Arizona began Monday one game off pace for a wild card spot.

Sewald has a career-high 21 saves in 24 opportunities this season and has been among MLB’s most effective relievers over the past three seasons, boasting a 2.88 ERA in 172 appearances since the start of the 2021 campaign.

Arizona’s bullpen has proven to be in dire need of an upgrade, posting a 6.37 ERA during the team’s July slump.

Brewers acquire outfielder Mark Canha from Mets

The Milwaukee Brewers added a right-handed bat to their lineup Monday, while the disappointing New York Mets shed another veteran player.

The Brewers acquired outfielder Mark Canha from the Mets for pitching prospect Justin Jarvis, multiple media outlets reported.

Canha, 34, is batting .245 this season with six home runs and 29 RBIs.

Canha joins a Brewers team that is battling for a third NL Central title over the last six seasons and added veteran first baseman Carlos Santana last week.

The Mets, meanwhile, continue their fire sale after dealing Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers on Saturday and closer David Robertson to the Miami Marlins on Friday.

Giants hope to revive outfielder AJ Pollock

The San Francisco Giants acquired outfielder AJ Pollock and utilityman Mark Mathias from the Seattle Mariners Monday, according to multiple reports.

Pollock, 35, is hitting just .173 this season, but the Giants hope he can help a banged-up outfield group that just lost Mike Yastrzemski to the injured list.

“Obviously [Pollock] hasn’t had a great season in Seattle,” President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi said. “But we kind of look at sort of some of the underlying measures - plate discipline, of how he’s moving around the field, his sprint speeds are good. We just view him as a really good change-of-scenery candidate.”

The Tampa Bay Rays have bolstered their starting rotation, acquiring right-hander Aaron Civale from the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, a day before the MLB trade deadline.

The Rays are sending the Guardians their No. 4-ranked prospect, first baseman Kyle Manzardo.

Civale, who is under contract through the 2025 season, is enjoying a career year, going 5-2 with a 2.34 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP in 13 starts, yielding two runs or fewer in 11 of those outings.

The 28-year-old missed nearly two months earlier this season with a strained left oblique and has never made more than 21 starts in his five-year MLB career.

Although he doesn’t have a lengthy track record, he has been one of hottest pitchers in baseball this month.

His 1.45 ERA in six July starts trails only San Diego Padres left-hander Blake Snell’s 0.56 ERA for the lowest in the majors among the 69 pitchers with at least 25 innings.

However, while he’s done a masterful job of keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, he hasn’t been fooling many hitters.

In 37 1/3 innings this month, he’s struck out 25 batters for a strikeout rate of 6.03 per nine innings – the seventh lowest among those 69 qualifying pitchers.

On the season, opposing batters miss on 21.1 per cent of swings against Civale, which ranks 89th among the 108 pitchers with a minimum of 75 innings.

Civale threw six scoreless innings against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday in his final start for Cleveland, which entered Monday just one-half game behind the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins.

He now joins a Tampa Bay team that trails the first-place Baltimore Orioles by 1 ½ games in the AL East.

Manzardo, 23, is batting .238 with 11 homers and 19 doubles in 73 games this season for Triple-A Durham.

Justin Verlander pitched the Mets to a 5-2 win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday for his 250th career victory in what could be his final start for New York.

Verlander permitted one run and five hits while striking out five over 5 1/3 innings to become the 49th pitcher in MLB history to reach 250 wins.

Signed through next season, the three-time Cy Young Award winner improved to 4-1 with a 1.69 ERA in six starts this month but could become expendable with the underachieving Mets sitting 6 1/2 games out of playoff spot.

New York traded fellow three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to the AL West-leading Texas Rangers in deal officially completed earlier Sunday, but Mets general manager Billy Eppler insists the team is not holding a "fire sale."

The Mets have won eight of 13 but still must pass five teams in the NL wild-card race.

New York took three of four from last-place Washington, as Francisco Lindor hit his 21st homer and reached base four times, while Pete Alonso drove in two runs to give him 75 RBIs on the season.

Seven-run first inning propels Orioles in win over Yankees

The Orioles got off to a sizzling start against the New York Yankees, plating seven runs in the first inning en route to a 9-3 win in the final meeting of the season between these AL East rivals.

Adam Frazier's three-run homer gave Baltimore a 6-0 lead before New York starter Luis Severino had even recorded an out, and Adley Rutschman had a pair of singles in the first inning - his second driving in Jordan Westburg to put the Orioles up by seven.

With the win, the Orioles remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays atop the AL East.

The Yankees, who went 6-7 against the Orioles to lose the season series for the first time since 2016, are 3 1/2 games out of a playoff spot.

New York had its chances in the series finale, rapping out nine hits, but the team went just 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and struck out 18 times - its most in game since also whiffing 18 times in a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers on April 3, 2019.

Anthony Rizzo struck out in all five of his plate appearances.

Reds rout Dodgers to take over NL Central lead

Elly De La Cruz and Joey Votto each homered in the Cincinnati Reds' 9-0 rout of the Los Angeles Dodgers to take over sole possession of first place in the NL Central.

The 21-year-old De La Cruz went 4 for 5 for his first multihit game since July 8, the 39-year-old Votto had a pair of hits and drove in three runs and Graham Ashcraft kept the Dodgers off balance, allowing five hits over six innings to improve to 3-1 with a 1.75 ERA over his last six outings.

The Reds outhit the Dodgers 14-6 to take two of three in the series and move one-half game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers, who were swept by the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves over the weekend.

The Los Angeles Angels acquired first baseman C.J. Cron and outfielder Randal Grichuk from the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.

The Rockies are receiving minor league pitchers Jake Madden and Mason Albright, along with $2million from Los Angeles for the two former Angels first-round draft picks.

With the MLB trade deadline just days away, Los Angeles sits four games out of a playoff berth and has its sights set on reaching the postseason for the first time since 2014.

Last week, the Angels, whose streak of eight consecutive seasons without a playoff berth is tied with the Detroit Tigers for the longest active stretch in MLB, announced Shohei Ohtani would not be traded. The team also acquired right-hander Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox.

The 33-year-old Cron, who was selected 17th overall in the 2011 draft, made his MLB debut in 2014 for the Angels and spent his first four seasons with Los Angeles before being traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018.

Cron has been with the Rockies since the start of the 2021 season, and is batting .259 with 11 home runs, 12 doubles with 32 RBIs in 56 games this season. He's hit 186 career home runs, with 59 coming in an Angels uniform.

The 31-year-old Grichuk was selected 24th overall in the 2009 draft - one pick ahead of Mike Trout - but was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals before reaching the majors.

Like Cron, Grichuk also made his MLB debut in 2014, and spent his first four seasons with the Cardinals before playing his next four with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Grichuk, in his second season for Colorado, can play all three outfield positions and has been swinging a hot bat lately, slashing .375/.417/.750 with six home runs, nine RBIs and 13 runs in his last 15 games.

Both Grichuk, who is making just over $10.3million this season, and Cron, who signed a two-year, $14.5million deal with the Rockies prior to the 2022 season, will be free agents at the end of the season.

The Texas Rangers aren't staying quiet as the MLB trade deadline approaches, acquiring left-hander Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton from the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

The AL-West leaders made the move one day after trading for three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer from the New York Mets.

Montgomery, who can become a free agent after this season, is 6-9 with a 3.42 ERA in 21 starts, with 108 strikeouts against 35 walks in 121 innings.

The 30-year-old has been solid lately, yielding three earned runs or fewer in 10 of his last 11 outings, posting a 2.47 ERA in those games.

The 32-year-old Stratton has a 4.36 ERA in 42 relief appearances, striking out 59 while walking 17 over 53 2/3 innings.

To complete the trade, the first-place Rangers sent left-hander John King and a pair of minor leagues - infielder Tommy Saggese and right-hander T.K. Roby - to the Cardinals.

St. Louis is in last place in the NL Central and shifted into full rebuild-mode Sunday, while also trading hard-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Hicks has eight saves in 11 chances and joins a Toronto team that just put closer Jordan Romano on the 15-day injured list Saturday because of a sore back.

The five-year veteran is 1-6 with a 3.67 ERA, with 59 strikeouts and 24 walks over 41 2/3 innings in 40 relief appearances.

To acquire the 26-year-old, the Blue Jays, who are tied with the Houston Astros for the AL's second wild-card spot, traded minor league right-handers Adam Kloffenstein and Sem Robberse to St. Louis.

Ian Happ and Yan Gomes each hit two-run homers and the Chicago Cubs defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 for their eighth straight win on Saturday night.

Jameson Taillon won his third consecutive decision, allowing one run and two hits over six innings with four walks and four strikeouts.

Mike Tauchman, who had a game-saving catch in Friday’s win, had three hits with a seventh-inning RBI double, a night after scaling the center field fence to rob Alec Burleson of a potential winning home run.

Happ drove in Tauchman with his 10th homer of the season in the third inning to put the Cubs ahead 2-1.

Gomes’ two-run homer in the fourth inning off Adam Wainwright extended the lead to 4-1.

Wainwright was reached for four runs on seven hits with three walks in six innings. He remained stuck on 198 career victories.

The last-place Cardinals have lost three straight and seven of nine.

Acuna stars in Braves’ win

Ronald Acuna homered and stole his 50th base of the season to propel the Atlanta Braves to an 11-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in a matchup of division leaders.

Acuna went 3 for 4 with two runs, two RBIs and walk to become the first player in history with 20 or more home runs and 50 steals before August. He is one homer away from the 12th 25-50 campaign in MLB history.

Atlanta opened the game with four straight singles against Julio Teheran. After a sacrifice fly by Travis d’Arnaud, Marcell Ozuna had an RBI double and Eddie Rosario followed with a home run for a 6-0 lead.

Astros belt 5 home runs in rout

Jeremy Pena drove in a career-high four runs and the Houston Astros hit five homers in a 17-4 drubbing of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Yainer Diaz homered off starter Taj Bradley and Jose Abreu went deep off reliever Calvin Faucher before Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Yordan Alvarez all homered off catcher Rene Pinto in his first career pitching appearance.

Houston got eight hits and five RBIs from the bottom three batters in its lineup.

Hunter Brown limited the Rays to two runs and four hits over six-plus innings for his first win since June 13.

The Texas Rangers made a major move in their push for the playoffs Saturday, agreeing to a trade with the New York Mets for ace Max Scherzer.

The deal is still pending Scherzer’s approval and there are still financial issues that need to be worked out for the deal to be completed.

The 39-year-old Scherzer is 9-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 19 starts this season for the disappointing Mets. He has 121 strikeouts in 107 2/3 innings and has allowed an NL-high 23 home runs.

The Rangers, who lead the AL West, have been hit hard by the season-ending injury to former Met Jacob deGrom, their marquee offseason addition. Scherzer would join a rotation led by All-Star Nathan Eovaldi, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, Martin Perez and Dane Dunning.

Scherzer said Friday that he expected to have discussions with Mets owner Steve Cohen and the team’s front office before Tuesday’s deadline.

Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young Award winner in the second year of a three-year, $130 million contract he signed with the Mets in November 2021. The contract includes an opt-out after the current season. If he declines to opt out, then he’ll be under contract for 2024 at a salary of $43.3 million.

Anthony Santander drilled a home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Baltimore Orioles to a 1-0 win over the New York Yankees on Friday night, spoiling Aaron Judge’s return.

After Gerrit Cole and rookie Grayson Rodriguez hooked up in a classic pitcher’s duel, the scoreless game was turned over to the bullpens.

Orioles closer Felix Bautista struck out two in a perfect top of the ninth before Santander sent a 2-0 offering from Tommy Kahnle into the seats in right field with one out in the bottom half for his 18th home run.

The American League-leading Orioles avoided a third straight loss and maintained a 1 ½-game lead over second-place Tampa Bay in the East.

Judge was 0 for 1 with three walks in his first game back from a toe injury. The Yankees slugger had been sidelined since June 3.

Cole limited Baltimore to three hits over seven innings without a walk and five strikeouts.

Rodriguez was just as good, allowing three singles over 6 1/3 innings with two walks and four strikeouts in the best performance of his young career.

DJ LeMahieu had two hits for last-place New York, which lost its fifth consecutive road game.

Tauchman’s catch allows Cubs’ streak to continue

Mike Tauchman robbed pinch-hitter Alec Burleson of a potential winning home run to end the game and the Chicago Cubs topped the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2 for their seventh straight win.

With a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Burleson sent a deep drive to centre but Tauchman reached over the fence to take away a sure home run and prevent the Cardinals from winning.

Patrick Wisdom hit his team-leading 18th home run and Trey Mancini had a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth inning for Chicago, which has its longest winning streak since also taking seven in a row last Sept. 25-Oct. 2.

Lars Nootbaar accounted for all of St. Louis’ offence with solo home runs in the first and third innings.

Casas provides spark for surging Red Sox

Triston Casas homered and had and RBI double to back Kutter Crawford as the Boston Red Sox won their fifth straight game, 3-2 over the San Francisco Giants.

Moved up to sixth in the order, Casas doubled home a run in the second inning and took Logan Webb deep in the fifth to give Boston a 2-0 lead.

Crawford allowed one run and three hits over 5 2/3 innings while walking one and striking out seven.

The Red Sox improved to 15-5 in July and are a season-best nine games over .500 (56-47).

The New York Yankees activated slugger and reigning American League MVP Aaron Judge from the injured list Friday ahead of the team’s series opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

Judge, who set the AL record for home runs last season, has been sidelined since tearing a ligament in his right toe on June 3 while crashing into the outfield wall at Dodger Stadium.

Judge faced live pitching for the first time in his rehab on Sunday and progressed to a simulated game Wednesday before rejoining his teammates in New York.

The Yankees, who enter Friday in last place in the AL East at 54-48, went 19-23 during Judge’s stint on the IL. During that span New York scored 3.88 runs per game, ranking 27th in baseball.

The Yankees are 30-19 this season with Judge in the starting lineup and 14-1 when he hits one or more home runs.

Judge is batting .291 with a 1.078 OPS in 49 games this season with 19 home runs and 40 RBI.

After hitting an AL-record 62 home runs last season, Judge signed a nine-year, $360million contract to stay with the Yankees in the offseason.

Since his first full season in the majors in 2017, no one has hit more home runs than Judge’s 235.

New York is eight games back of the Orioles in a competitive AL East and sits 2 ½ games back of a wild card spot.

Shohei Ohtani came through with the best performance of his career on the day the Los Angeles Angels committed to not trading the two-way star in the last year of his contract.  

Ohtani threw his first career shutout in the opening game of a doubleheader Thursday, then followed by hitting two home runs in the nightcap.

Ohtani allowed one hit and struck out eight in the Angels’ 6-0 win over the Detroit Tigers, then extended his MLB lead by hitting his 37th and 38th home runs of the season as Los Angeles won the second game 11-4.

Only muscle cramps could stop Ohtani from doing further damage, and he was pulled from the night game after his second homer.

Ohtani’s latest jaw-dropping performance comes after the Angels doubled down on their attempts to keep baseball’s most exciting player long-term.

On Wednesday, the Angels traded touted prospects Ky Bush and Edgar Quero to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to help make a push towards the playoffs.

Before Thursday’s doubleheader, general manager Perry Minasian said that the Angels will not deal Ohtani at the trade deadline, despite the risk of losing him for nothing this winter in free agency.

The Angels have won nine of their last 11 games as they seek their first playoff berth since 2014. Ohtani, who joined MLB and the Angels in 2018, has never played in the postseason.

Cubs beat Cardinals after dustup, extend run to 6

Justin Steele tied the major league lead with his 11th win, Cody Bellinger stayed hot with three more hits and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 as tempers flared between the division rivals.

The victory extended the Cubs’ winning streak to a season-high six games and got them back to .500 for the first time since May 12.

In the first inning, the Cubs’ Ian Happ hit Cardinals catcher and former teammate Willson Contreras with the follow-through of his swing. St. Louis pitcher Miles Mikolas then hit Happ with a pitch and was ejected, along with Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol.

Steele (11-3) pitched six innings, allowing one run and five hits while striking out four.

Bellinger had three singles to improve his batting average in July to .425 and Yan Gomes drove in three runs.

Andrew Knizner hit two home runs for the Cardinals, who have lost four straight against the Cubs.

Josh Naylor leads Guardians past White Sox

Josh Naylor drove in three runs to back Tanner Bibee’s fifth straight win as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the reeling Chicago White Sox, 6-3.

Naylor had a two-run double and scored in a three-run third against Dylan Cease that gave Cleveland a 4-0 lead. He had a strange RBI double in the seventh when reliever Aaron Bummer deflected his soft comebacker into center field, and Andres Gimenez scored on the play.

Bibee allowed three runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA in his last seven starts.

Jake Burger hit two homers, but the White Sox dropped their sixth in a row.

Shohei Ohtani will wear a Los Angeles Angels uniform through the remainder of the 2023 MLB season.

Angels general manager Perry Minasian told reporters before a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on Thursday that Ohtani won't be traded as the team tries to make a playoff run.

"We're going to roll the dice and see what happens," Minasian said.

The Angels entered Thursday four games out of a wild-card spot after winning six of their last seven games to improve their record to 52-49.

Set to be a free agent at season's end, Ohtani has been the subject of rampant trade rumours as the Angels risk losing the two-way superstar to the open market without any compensation.

"I love Shohei Ohtani," Minasian said. "He comes in, prepares, works, goes out and performs on a nightly basis. Obviously, does both (hitting and pitching). He's a great teammate. He takes this really seriously. He eats it. He sleeps it.

"He's somebody that we would love to have going forward."

Minasian made his comments a day after the Angels acquired right-hander Lucas Giolito from the Chicago White Sox to bolster their starting rotation behind Ohtani.

Giolito was 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA and 131 strikeouts over 121 innings in 21 starts for the White Sox.

Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP and the runner-up in MVP voting to the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge last season, is the odds-on favourite to take home the MVP Award this year.

As a hitter, he leads the majors in home runs (36) and OPS (1.066), and as a pitcher, he leads MLB in opponent batting average (.195) while his 148 strikeouts are tied with Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins for fourth.

With Ohtani in the fold, the addition of Giolito and the possibility of Mike Trout returning in another few weeks from a broken bone in his hand that has sidelined the 11-time All-Star since early July, Los Angeles has its sights set on reaching the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

The Angels' streak of eight consecutive seasons without a playoff berth is tied with the Tigers for the longest active stretch in MLB.