7:00 AM ET A Google search for “Houston Astros” and “evil empire” generates over 1 million results, with headlines such as: “Are the Houston Astros the new evil empire of baseball?” and “Jose Abreu signing helps Astros approach evil empire status” and “The new evil empire: Houston Astros look to erase stain of cheating scandal.”
MLB
11:29 PM ET ESPN News Services ST. LOUIS — Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol questioned outfielder Tyler O’Neill‘s effort after he was thrown out at home during a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. With St. Louis trailing 4-1 with two out in the seventh inning, O’Neill attempted to score on Brendan Donovan‘s
11:45 PM ET ESPN News Services The Baltimore Orioles are calling up right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and he will make his big league debut Wednesday against the Texas Rangers and Jacob deGrom, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Tuesday. Rodriguez is ranked as the No. 12 prospect in baseball by ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel. Rodriguez, 23, was
5:15 PM ET ESPN News Services SAN DIEGO — Padres slugger Manny Machado was ejected by plate umpire Ron Kulpa after being called out on strikes on a pitch clock violation to end the first inning of Tuesday’s game against Arizona. Machado was adjusting his batting gloves and appeared to be calling time as the
5:48 PM ET Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas — Rangers outfielder Josh Smith has six stitches on the lower right side of his face, a cut inside his mouth and some slight swelling — but no fractures — after getting hit in the face with a pitch. “I feel pretty good actually. I slept good,” Smith
5:34 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — A year removed from a labor lockout that postponed Opening Day, major league players are enjoying their biggest salary spike in more than two decades. The average Major League Baseball salary was up 11.1% to a record $4.9 million to start this season, the largest jump for
12:41 PM ET The Atlanta Braves placed ace left-hander Max Fried on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Saturday, with a strained left hamstring. In a corresponding move, the Braves recalled right-hander Bryce Elder from Triple-A Gwinnett. Fried, 29, suffered the injury covering first base in the fourth inning of Thursday’s season-opening 7-2 victory
4:06 PM ET The Miami Marlins placed right-hander Johnny Cueto on the 15-day injured list and infielder Joey Wendle on the 10-day IL on Tuesday. Cueto has right biceps tightness and Wendle, whose designation is retroactive to Monday, is dealing with a right intercostal strain. Cueto, 37, took the loss in his Miami debut Monday
3:05 PM ET The Minnesota Twins will play their home opener Friday, delaying the game by a day because of a forecast of snow and cold in Minneapolis on Wednesday night into Thursday. The game against the Houston Astros initially was set for Thursday afternoon, but the high is expected to only reach the mid-30s.
5:19 PM ET The New York Mets placed right-hander Tommy Hunter on the 15-day injured list Tuesday because of back spasms. The 36-year-old reliever has an 11.25 ERA in two games this season, allowing five runs on six hits in four innings. Hunter is 56-46 with a 4.03 ERA in 496 games (76 starts) with