Nearly half of the 212 players who made their MLB debuts during the pandemic-altered 2020 season are still playing or have been in the big leagues this year.

Velocity training is the rage in baseball from the youth levels up through the majors.

Gerrit Cole pitched four-plus innings Wednesday for the New York Yankees and Max Scherzer worked five scoreless frames Sunday for the Texas Rangers.

Tampa Bay Rays All-Star pitcher Shane McClanahan’s season may be over due to an injured left arm.

Baseball’s best team for much of this season has seen a historic start give way to a July swoon that’s loosened its stranglehold on the top record in the American League.

Zach Eflin pitched seven strong innings to become the AL’s third 11-game winner, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-0 in a matchup of the top teams in the American League.

All-Star Spencer Strider struck out 11 and won his seventh straight decision, a 6-1 victory over the slumping Tampa Bay Rays that gave the MLB-best Atlanta Braves their 20th win in 22 games.

Luke Raley doubled and later scored on Isaac Parades’ infield grounder at the start of an eight-run eighth inning for Tampa Bay, and the Rays rallied from a 4-0 deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 15-4.

Francisco Mejía had an eighth-inning sacrifice fly and the major league-leading Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0 on Friday night.

Aaron Judge hit a pair of two-run homers, Anthony Volpe broke Joe DiMaggio’s team record for consecutive stolen bases at the start of a career and New York overcame a six-run deficit for a 9-8 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays ran their season-opening win streak to 11 games, using another homer for Brandon Lowe and a strong performance by Shane McClanahan to beat the Boston Red Sox 7-2.

The streaking Tampa Bay Rays are running out of superlatives to describe baseball’s best start in more than three decades.

José Ramírez connected for a two-run homer, Shane Bieber dominated Tampa Bay for 7 2/3 innings and the young Cleveland Guardians played with poise in their postseason debut, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in their wild-card opener.

Drew Rasmussen pitched seven effective innings and the Tampa Bay Rays clinched a playoff spot for the fourth straight season, beating the Houston Astros 7-3.

Wander Franco had three RBIs, Jonathan Aranda homered and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 10-5 in the opener of a big four-game series between playoff contenders.

Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan was pulled in the fifth inning with neck tightness during a 5-0 loss to the Houston Astros.

The Houston Astros clinched their fifth AL West title in six years, getting a leadoff home run from Jose Altuve in a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bays.

Leadoff man Aaron Judge singled twice during a six-run first inning off Corey Kluber as the New York Yankees started with seven straight hits for the first time since 1990 and routed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-3.

Aaron Judge led off the game with his major league-leading 53rd homer and the New York Yankees stopped the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 to avoid a three-game sweep.

José Siri homered, doubled and drove in two runs as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Miami Marlins 7-2 on Tuesday night after All-Star pitcher Shane McClanahan was scratched due to injury.

Freddie Freeman drove in the go-ahead run with a grounder in the top of the 10th inning, Chris Martin escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Miami Marlins 3-2.

Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder injured himself walking toward the mound to visit ace Shane McClanahan during the seventh inning of a 9-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers.

Brandon Lowe and Yandy Díaz homered as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Cleveland Guardians 6-4.

Houston ace Justin Verlander, who leads the major leagues in wins, takes a 13-3 record and 1.86 ERA into his start Friday against visiting Seattle.

David Ortiz will certainly hear loud chants of “Big Papi!”.

Justin Verlander became the major leagues’ first 13-game winner, striking out nine and topping 99 mph in his final inning to lead the Houston Astros over the Seattle Mariners 3-1.

Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton homered back-to-back in the fourth inning to rally the American League over the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game.

Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will start for the National League on Tuesday night in the first All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium since 1980, and Tampa Bay’s Shane McClanahan will be on the mound for the American League.

Los Angeles Angels sensation Shohei Ohtani repeated as a two-way All-Star when he was picked for the AL pitching staff, two days after he was elected to start at designated hitter.

Mark Kolozsvary scored on a game-ending balk by Matt Wisler in the 10th inning, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The last time Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Kyle Gibson faced the St. Louis Cardinals, they hit four consecutive home runs off him in the first inning.

Cubs rookie Christopher Morel has homered in three straight games and looks to keep up the run when he faces Boston at Wrigley Field on Saturday.

Oscar Gonzalez tied the game with a two-run single and scored on Owen Miller’s go-ahead sacrifice fly as the Cleveland Guardians rallied for four runs in the ninth inning to beat the Minnesota Twins 11-10.

Gerrit Cole took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning, Aaron Hicks hit a tiebreaking triple in the ninth as Manuel Margot slammed into the right-field wall and the New York Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 for their 50th win.

Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole has no-hit the Tampa Bay Rays through seven innings, and New York leads 2-0.

The Tampa Bay Rays came into the season with Wander Franco at shortstop, Brandon Lowe at second base and Mike Zunino behind the plate.

Dansby Swanson and the Braves go for their 14th straight victory Wednesday night when they wrap up a series at Washington.

Shane McClanahan pitched eight superb innings to win his fifth consecutive start and the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 2-1 victory.

Corey Kluber and Gerrit Cole dueled evenly for six impressive innings before the Tampa Bay Rays scored a pair of late runs to beat the Yankees 3-1, ending New York’s four-game winning streak.

A pair of Cy Young Award winners are on the mound when Corbin Burnes and the Milwaukee Brewers visit Blake Snell and the San Diego Padres in a matchup between two of the National League's top teams Tuesday night.

Vidal Bruján got an RBI double leading off the 10th inning for his first hit of the season, and the Tampa Bay Rays rebounded from their no-hit loss with a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Cole Irvin pitched into the seventh inning,and the Oakland Athletics beat Tampa Bay 6-3 to take three of four from the Rays, Irvin allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings as the rebuilding A’s under new manager Mark Kotsay improved to 4-3.

In a postseason already marked by curious pitching strategy, Julio Urías returns to his regular role in the rotation when the Los Angeles Dodgers play Atlanta in Game 4 of the NL Championship Series.

The AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays saw their record-setting season come to a sudden end Monday night when they lost to the Boston Red Sox 6-5 in Game 4 of their Division Series and were eliminated in the best-of-five playoff.

Kiké Hernandez delivered Boston’s second straight walk-off win, scoring pinch-runner Danny Santana with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to send the Red Sox to the AL Championship Series with a 6-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

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Randy Arozarena became the first player to hit a home run and steal home in a postseason game, and rookie Shane McClanahan pitched the Tampa Bay Rays past the Boston Red Sox 5-0 in their AL Division Series opener.

Two septuagenarians will be on the bench when 77-year-old Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa and the Chicago White Sox face the Houston Astros and 72-year-old skipper Dusty Baker in their playoff opener Thursday.

The Tampa Bay Rays have won more games than any other team in the American League over the past two seasons, going about their business with a quiet confidence that has the full attention of the Boston Red Sox.

The 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers put their season on the line in the NL wild-card game against the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals.

Carlos Correa hit his career-high 25th homer with a three-run shot and the Houston Astros clinched the AL West with a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Tampa Bay Rays clinched their second straight AL East title, with Mike Zunino hitting a go-ahead homer and Brandon Lowe later adding a pair of RBI doubles to beat the Miami Marlins 7-3.

Nelson Cruz homered twice and, at 41 years old, became the oldest player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season, powering the Tampa Bay Rays past the Boston Red Sox 12-7.

Buster Posey and the surprising Giants continue their pivotal four-game series against the rival Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Ryan Yarbrough ended a 24-start winless skid with Tampa Bay’s first complete game in more than five years, Austin Meadows homered off shaky Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and drove in five and the Rays beat New York 9-2.

Clint Frazier hit a game-ending, two-run homer with two outs in the 11th inning after making a game-saving catch in the eighth, and the slumping New York Yankees beat the rival Tampa Bay Rays 5-3.

Willy Adames and Manuel Margot homered, Mike Brosseau had a two-run single and the Tampa Bay Rays opened a seven-game California road trip with a 7-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

Phillies star Bryce Harper says he’s feeling fine after being hit in the face by a 96.9 mph fastball Wednesday.

The Dodgers and Brewers begin a four-game set between NL division leaders in Milwaukee.

George Springer and José Altuve delivered big hits, Framber Valdéz pitched six brilliant innings and the Astros beat the Tampa Bay Rays for the third straight time, 7-4 Friday to force a deciding Game 7 of the AL Championship Series. Despite blowing a 3-0 series lead, they remain one win from the second World Series in franchise history — and one loss from joining the 2004 Yankees in ignominy. Game 7 on Saturday night will feature the pitchers who started and finished Houston’s Game 7 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series. He has yet to win a World Series as a manager. As a player, he helped the Los Angeles Dodgers win four straight World Series games in 1981 after falling behind the New York Yankees 0-2.

(AP Photo/Gregory Bull)SAN DIEGO – The Tampa Bay Rays are unanimous in their praise of Randy Arozarena, who is living up to his nickname, “The Cuban Rocket." Arozarena hit a shot deep to left leading off the fifth Wednesday night to chase Masahiro Tanaka and give Tampa Bay a 5-1 lead. The Rays took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five Division Series. On Tuesday night, Rays starter Tyler Glasnow called Arozarena “the best baseball player on earth right now. He lasted two-thirds of an inning against the Rays on Sept. 2, allowing two-run homers to Arozarena and Mike Brosseau.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)It's normal for a baseball player to dream of making his big league debut or pitching in the postseason. He became the fifth player in the modern era to make his big league debut in a postseason game — and three of those newcomers did it this year. The Padres lost 5-1, but it was scoreless when Weathers came in — a reasonably high-pressure situation, compared to other players who made their debuts in the postseason. In 2015, Adalberto Mondesi made his debut for Kansas City in Game 3 of the World Series. "He’s here to play, and that’s why we carried him on this roster.”McClanahan's debut came in Game 1 of the AL Division Series on Monday night.

Stanton hit a grand slam in the ninth inning for New York's fourth home run of the game, and the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-3 on Monday in the opener of their AL Division Series at Petco Park. Beginning with this round, all postseason series were moved to neutral sites because of the coronavirus. The Yankees set a franchise record by hitting at least three home runs in three consecutive postseason games. Tampa Bay dominated the contentious regular-season series, going 8-2 against the rival Yankees and winning the AL East by seven games over second-place New York. Cole beat Tampa Bay twice in last year’s ALDS with Houston.

That’s probably the worst thing we can do as a team,” Blue Jays third baseman Cavan Biggio said. Diego Castillo, Nick Anderson and Pete Fairbanks followed the starter, limiting the Blue Jays to two singles, two doubles and Bo Bichette's eighth-inning sacrifice fly the rest of the way. The wild-card Blue Jays broke through in the eighth against Anderson, didn't allow a run in 18 of 19 regular season appearances. He’s pretty good,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo, who served on Cash's staff with the Rays from 2015-18. UP NEXTLefty Hyun Jin Ryu starts for the Blue Jays against right-hander Tyler Glasnow, who’s been Tampa Bay’s best pitcher.