10:51 PM ET ESPN News Services New York Yankees guest hitting instructor Lee Mazzilli was released Friday after spending two nights in the hospital after being struck in the head by a ball during batting practice. Mazzilli was hurt Wednesday during a workout at New York’s spring training complex at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida,

7:25 PM ET Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Alex Bregman‘s decision to sign a long-term contract with the Houston Astros was not impacted by the second slow free-agent market. “I wanted to play here,” the third baseman said Friday after the team announced a $100 million, five-year contract covering 2020-24. “I didn’t want

1:26 PM ET Left-hander Chris Sale and the Boston Red Sox are working toward a long-term contract extension, league sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. A deal is not done but is trending that way, and the expectation is that it will get finished. A deal, if completed, is likely to be in the five-year,

8:54 PM ET Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Angels manager Brad Ausmus likes to have his regulars play nine innings at least once in a spring training game and on Thursday, it was Mike Trout‘s turn against the Arizona Diamondbacks. “He’s making all that money, he needs to play nine,” Ausmus said. Mike

8:41 PM ET Associated Press SURPRISE, Ariz. — Veteran outfielder Hunter Pence is set to start the season with his hometown Texas Rangers. Manager Chris Woodward told Pence on Thursday that he will be on the 25-man roster as the team’s fourth outfielder when the Rangers open the regular season at home next Thursday against

12:01 PM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki has left the game. The 45-year-old Seattle Mariners star announced his retirement Thursday night, shortly after waving goodbye at the Tokyo Dome during a 5-4 win over Oakland in 12 innings. Ichiro went 0-for-4 and was pulled from right field in the eighth, saluting his adoring

4:01 AM ET Associated Press TOKYO — Ichiro Suzuki is in the starting lineup for the Seattle Mariners against the Oakland Athletics in what might be his last game in the majors. Seattle manager Scott Servais had earlier hinted that, after Ichiro started in a season-opening victory against the A’s on Wednesday, he might not

7:24 PM ET ESPN News Services TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees guest instructor Lee Mazzilli was struck in the head by a ball in batting practice Wednesday and taken to a local hospital. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo said in an email that Mazzilli “will spend the night at the hospital for observation.” Yankees players

10:45 AM ET Detroit Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer, after receiving a third opinion, has opted to have Tommy John surgery on his pitching elbow and will almost certainly miss the 2019 season. Fulmer got a second opinion Tuesday from renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews after an MRI. He told reporters Wednesday that a third opinion

1:46 AM ET Utility man Brandon Lowe and the Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a six-year, $24 million contract, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Tuesday. The deal also includes a pair of club options, according to the source, and could keep Lowe, 24, in Tampa through his 32nd birthday. The Athletic