KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ned Yost did something that few thought possible when he took over the Kansas City Royals in 2010: He not only built the organization into a winner but delivered the long-suffering organization its first World Series title in three decades. Now, he’s leaving the next rebuilding job to someone else. Yost

CHICAGO — There was a time when the sight of rain at a Chicago Cubs game would elicit a smile and bring back a happy memory. After all, rain is associated with the team’s 2016 World Series championship, as much as anything that went down in their Game 7 victory over the Cleveland Indians. On

CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs keep making history, just not the kind they want, as their season continues to fade away. On Sunday, they became just the second team in 100 years to get swept at home in a four game series and lose all four by a single run. They also became the first

NEW YORK — CC Sabathia wiped tears away with his hands and the top of his jersey. Honored at Yankee Stadium ahead of his retirement at season’s end, his emotions came out as his wife, mother and children read tributes on a video broadcast on the center-field scoreboard. “It’s been a great 11 years,” Sabathia

CHICAGO — The Cubs are seeing their season slip away in heartbreaking and dramatic fashion as they lost their fourth consecutive one-run game at Wrigley Field on Saturday, after closer Craig Kimbrel gave up ninth-inning home runs on back-to-back pitches. Kimbrel, 31, entered the game against the St. Louis Cardinals holding onto an 8-7 lead

ATLANTA — One year ago, just winning the National League East was enough for the rebuilding Atlanta Braves. Now manager Brian Snitker and general manager Alex Anthopoulos expect more. Even as players celebrated their second consecutive division title with beer and bubbly on Friday night, focus shifted. “Our first goal was to win the East

NEW YORK — Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected by crew chief Joe West in the first inning of the Yankees’ game against Toronto for arguing balls and strikes. Boone yelled from the dugout Saturday at plate umpire Jeremie Rehak after Giancarlo Stanton struck out looking against Blue Jays starter T.J. Zeuch to end the

9:00 AM ET Sam MillerESPN.com Close ESPN baseball columnist/feature writerFormer editor-in-chief of Baseball ProspectusCo-author of “The Only Rule Is It Has To Work” A year ago, the Oakland A’s had one of the best offenses in baseball. But, in a strange quirk, they were easily the league’s worst against high-velocity fastballs: a league-low .191 batting

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves clinched their second consecutive National League East title when Ronald Acuna Jr. hit his 41st homer in a 6-0 victory over San Francisco on Friday night that eliminated the Giants from postseason contention in Bruce Bochy’s final year as San Francisco manager. Acuna scored three runs to back Mike Foltynewicz

There are only 10 days left in MLB’s regular season, but five playoff spots are still up for grabs. As the hunt for October comes down to a few huge late-season series, we’re about to find out who’s in and who’s out. Here’s what we’ll be watching this weekend: There’s still a lot to be

CHICAGO — How many times have this season’s Chicago Cubs gotten a boost only to quickly fall backward? And if the boost the Cubs received Thursday evening — a surprise return to the lineup for injured first baseman Anthony Rizzo — wasn’t enough to lift them for even one night, is there really anything left

Don Mattingly and the rebuilding Miami Marlins have agreed to a contract extension, a source told ESPN, confirming an El Extrabase report. Mattingly will receive a two-year deal from the team, a source told ESPN’s Jeff Passan. An official announcement is expected Friday, when Miami opens a three-game series against the visiting Nationals before finishing

ATLANTA — Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves has become only the third player in baseball history to hit 40 homers while 21 years old or younger. The other two were Eddie Mathews and Mel Ott, who are both in the Hall of Fame. Ronald Acuna Jr. launches his 40th home run of the

BOSTON — The San Francisco Giants helped manager Bruce Bochy reach yet another milestone before his retirement at the end of the season. San Francisco’s 11-3 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night was Bochy’s 2,000th career victory as a manager in the majors. “I’ve been lucky. I’ve been blessed to have been

Houston Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole has become the 18th major league pitcher since 1900 to strike out at least 300 batters in a season. Cole reached the milestone by getting Shin-Soo Choo of the Texas Rangers to whiff on an 89 mph changeup for the third out of the sixth inning Wednesday night in Houston.

1:10 PM ET Jeff PassanESPN Close ESPN MLB insiderAuthor of “The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports” Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez admitted to police that he tried to have sex with a 13-year-old girl and sent her nude photographs and videos of himself committing sexual acts, according to

The San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox tied a major league record in Tuesday night’s game by combining to use 24 pitchers. In a contest that lasted 5 hours, 54 minutes, featured 50 players overall and saw “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” played in the middle of the 14th inning, the Giants won

Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Cavan Biggio hit for the cycle in Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, securing it with a triple that drove in two runs in the top of the ninth. The rookie came to the plate in the ninth against Orioles pitcher Mychal Givens, having hit a single, a double and