9:01 PM ET Associated Press TROY, N.Y. — Former Vanderbilt star right-hander Kumar Rocker returned to the mound Saturday night with the Class A Tri-City ValleyCats of the independent Frontier League, and his first experience as a pro ended after fourth innings. With several major league scouts and a near-sellout crowd of 4,088 at Joseph
MLB
11:15 AM ET ESPN News Services New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has been activated off the injured list and is in the starting lineup for Saturday’s game vs. the Detroit Tigers. Stanton landed on the injured list for the fourth straight season on May 25 after suffering right ankle inflammation. He is hitting .285
12:46 PM ET CHICAGO — The Cubs have called up their top pitching prospect, righty Caleb Kilian, to start Game 2 of their doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday evening. Kilian, 25, will make his major league debut after being acquired by the team from the San Francisco Giants last July in exchange
3:29 PM ET Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers called up infielder Ezequiel Duran for his major league debut Saturday even though he had never played above the Double-A level. Duran batted seventh and played third base for the Rangers against Seattle in place of Josh Smith, another rookie who made his big
7:00 AM ET CHICAGO — Stepping into a major league clubhouse for the first time can be an intimidating experience for any rookie. For Juan Yepez, who joined the St. Louis Cardinals on May 3 after spending the first month of the season in Triple-A Memphis, he was about to join a locker room full
6:36 PM ET Jim Kaat has apologized to Nestor Cortes, with the New York Yankees left-hander tweeting Friday that he doesn’t believe the comment made a day earlier by the longtime Minnesota Twins announcer was done with ill intentions. Kaat had referred to Cortes as “Nestor the Molestor” during a broadcast of the Twins-Detroit Tigers
9:46 PM ET Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Francisco Lindor returned to the New York Mets‘ lineup Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers after missing the first game of the series when he slammed a finger while closing a hotel door. Lindor said he was told by trainers after getting an X-ray Thursday that
7:15 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season with an all-time-high $310.6 million payroll for purposes of the luxury tax and are on track to pay a record tax of nearly $47 million, according to figures compiled by Major League Baseball and obtained by The Associated Press on
5:19 PM ET The injury bug has hit the Chicago White Sox once again as Friday night’s scheduled starter, right-hander Vince Velasquez, was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left groin strain, the team announced on Friday afternoon. Rookie righty Davis Martin was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte to take Velasquez’s place on the
4:48 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Rayber Romero, Colorado Rockies pitcher Stalyn Sanchez and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Geremias Valencia were suspended for 60 games each Friday following positive tests under baseball’s minor league drug program. Romero, on a Florida Complex League roster, and Sanchez, in the Dominican Summer League,