MLB Previews

Willson Contreras kept his approach simple in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game when Yu Darvish fed him a split-finger fastball. “I was shooting for something middle-up,” Contreras said. “Good thing was I didn’t try to pull it and got results.” Those results: A two-run homer over the center-field wall that put the visiting St. Louis Cardinals ahead for good and led to a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres. Contreras’ homer has

Staff ace Zach Eflin gave Tampa Bay the start it needed Tuesday night. Now the Rays will turn to right-hander Aaron Civale for a possible series win over the reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers. A winner his first time out, Civale will take the mound against the Rangers on Wednesday to conclude the teams’ three-game set in St. Petersburg, Fla. But Tuesday belonged to Eflin, who was lined up to be the club’s No.

The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to right-hander Joe Ross in an effort to continue their perfect start when they host the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday in the finale of a short two-game series. In their home opener on Tuesday, the Brewers improved to 4-0 with a 3-2 victory over the Twins. It’s the first time since 2006 that Milwaukee has opened with four consecutive victories and just the fourth time in franchise history, including the

Four straight losses to begin the season, including three by one run, hardly hampered the Chicago White Sox’s spirit. After notching their first win of the season on Tuesday, the White Sox will try to make it two in a row on Wednesday in the finale of a three-game series against the visiting Atlanta Braves. The stuff of a 3-2 victory that evened the series — timely hitting and good pitching — wasn’t always in

Slumps never seem to bother Bryce Harper. After an 0-for-11 start at the plate, Harper hit three home runs, including a grand slam, and drove in a career-best six runs to lift the host Philadelphia Phillies past the Cincinnati Reds 9-4 on Tuesday. It was the second career three-home run game for Harper and his first since 2015. “Just trying to go up there and get runs on the board early,” Harper told NBC Sports

Two left-handers with soaring ERAs are set to face each other in Wednesday afternoon’s series finale between the Los Angeles Angels and the host Miami Marlins. A.J. Puk (0-1, 18.00 ERA) starts for Miami. Patrick Sandoval (0-1, 16.20) gets the ball for the Angels, who will be looking for their fourth straight win. Miami, meanwhile, is 0-6 — the worst start in franchise history. “It’s a process,” Marlins shortstop Tim Anderson said of the losing

The Pittsburgh Pirates and the host Washington Nationals had the day off Tuesday before continuing their three-game series Wednesday in the nation’s capital. The red-hot Pirates may be wishing that there was no interruption, as the club has won its first five games of the season for the first time since 1983 following Monday’s 8-4 win at Nationals Park. Pittsburgh collected 15 hits in the eight-run outburst, marking the first time since at least 1900

In a battle between two of the biggest spenders of the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers got the best of the visiting San Francisco Giants on Monday. The Dodgers will try to do it again in the middle contest of a three-game series Tuesday night. While the Giants will return to Opening Day starter Logan Webb (0-0, 3.00 ERA), the Dodgers gave some clarity to their plan to give a break to their starters whenever

Stephen Vogt’s first season as a major-league manager could be made much easier with a healthy Shane Bieber. Bieber, who is scheduled to start for the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday night in Seattle, proved that on Opening Day last week against Oakland. Bieber, the American League’s 2020 Cy Young Award winner who missed two months last season with right elbow inflammation, pitched six scoreless innings in an 8-0 victory Thursday against the host Athletics. Bieber