MLB

9:31 PM ET As Albert Pujols continues to climb the all-time home run list amid his farewell season, he’s also setting major league records in the process. On Thursday night in Cincinnati, the St. Louis Cardinals slugger hit career home run No. 694, and it came against a 450th different pitcher, a big league record.

4:30 PM ET ESPN News Services WASHINGTON — Major league losses leader Patrick Corbin ended Washington’s record 43-game drought without a starting pitcher earning a victory as the Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 Sunday. Corbin (5-17) allowed one earned run and four hits in six innings while striking out five. A Washington starting pitcher

12:34 AM ET The Major League Baseball Players Association took an initial step toward unionizing the minor leagues Sunday night, sending out authorization cards that will allow minor league players to vote for an election that could make them MLBPA members, union executive director Tony Clark told ESPN on Sunday night. The potential unionization of

3:35 PM ET ESPN News Services HOUSTON — Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander left his start on Sunday after three innings and 60 pitches, with the team later announcing he has right calf discomfort. Verlander struck out six — including all three in the first inning — and allowed three hits and one walk to

11:14 AM ET Associated Press SEATTLE — Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame on Saturday night, giving his entire 16-minute speech in English while reflecting on his career. Suzuki became the 10th member of Seattle’s Hall of Fame, joining former teammates Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jamie Moyer, Jay Buhner

1:54 AM ET Dan HajduckyESPN Close Hajducky is a reporter/researcher for ESPN. He has an MFA in creative writing from Fairfield University and played on the men’s soccer teams at Fordham and Southern Connecticut State universities. The wait is over. After more than a month of fanfare, the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card with a

8:51 PM ET ESPN News Services SEATTLE — Julio Rodríguez was a few minutes late for his own party, the result of dealing with Seattle traffic that will be part of his daily routine at home for likely the next decade — and potentially much longer. When Rodríguez arrived Saturday to discuss his massive contract

1:51 AM ET Associated Press ST. LOUIS — Atlanta Braves reliever Jackson Stephens was hit in the side of the head by a line drive Friday night and was headed to a hospital for tests. Stephens walked off the field in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals and appeared to be unhurt. “He’s

9:54 PM ET Adidas has ended its relationship with San Diego Padres shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. in the wake of him testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. In a statement sent in response to an inquiry from ESPN on Friday, an Adidas spokesperson wrote: “We believe that sport should be fair. We have a clear

9:59 AM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball will send players to South Korea for a postseason tour in the league’s first trip to the country since 1922. The games between an MLB team and players from the South Korean league will be at Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium on Nov. 11-12 and

7:00 AM ET Drew Smyly was working into the seventh inning of a scoreless duel against the St. Louis Cardinals and knew one mistake could change the game — especially to a hitter like Albert Pujols, up for his third at-bat in Monday’s game. To his delight, the Chicago Cubs left-hander threw the pitch exactly

4:45 PM ET ESPN News Services PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies will welcome back Bryce Harper on Friday, but when he gets there, they’ll be minus ace Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday due to right forearm tendinitis, with the team announcing the move a couple of hours after interim

7:00 AM ET The dominance of the Dodgers has continued as we enter the last week of August, with Los Angeles on pace for 112-plus wins on the season. In the battle of New York, the Yankees showed signs of life by sweeping the Mets in a two-game series, though the Astros still have a

11:47 PM ET ESPN News Services Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper hit a walk-off double Wednesday to lead Triple-A Lehigh to a 6-5 win over Gwinnett in a rehabilitation start. Harper’s double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth scored two runs. He went 3-for-5 with two doubles, 2 RBIs and a strikeout

9:45 PM ET ESPN News Services Mariners right-hander George Kirby pulled off a rare feat by throwing 24 straight strikes to start the game Wednesday night in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Nationals. Kirby gave up five hits and one run before throwing his first ball to Joey Meneses in the third. Kirby is

11:48 AM ET NEW YORK — It might be time for the Yankees to start inching away from the panic button. In two competitive games in the Subway Series, the Yankees held their own against a Mets team that came to the Bronx with baseball’s second-best record — a series that, as both teams acknowledged,

7:48 PM ET ESPN News Services ALLENTOWN, Pa. — With two big swings, Bryce Harper looked primed to join the Phillies in a pennant race. Harper homered to right-center field in his first at-bat, then went opposite field for a three-run shot in the eighth inning for Philadelphia’s Triple-A team Tuesday night to begin his

6:40 PM ET SAN DIEGO — Fernando Tatis Jr. sat atop the dugout bench on the first-base side at Petco Park on Tuesday afternoon and spoke unprompted for 250 seconds. He was measured yet unscripted, composed yet noticeably despondent. He lamented all the people he “failed” by testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance, and he