8:19 PM ET ESPN Stats & Information National League Rookie of the Year front-runners Ronald Acuña Jr. of the Atlanta Braves and Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals are living up to the hype in the first two games of the head-to-head series between their teams. • In Game 1, Acuña recorded his first career

6:36 AM ET Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly reunited 30 years later with a former Make-A-Wish recipient who overcame his cancer diagnosis and named his daughter after the longtime New York Yankees first baseman. Jay Handy, now 40, and Mattingly met at Citizens Bank Park on Friday. The decades-old catch-up was set up by Handy’s

3:52 AM ET ESPN News Services Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez had pointed words after plate umpire Laz Diaz and star slugger Bryce Harper jawed during a game against the Atlanta Braves on Friday. Harper and Diaz were arguing with each other much of the night. It started when Harper disagreed with a call in

8:36 PM ET ESPN News Services PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates say right fielder Gregory Polanco could be out until June after having surgery on his left shoulder. Polanco dislocated his throwing shoulder on an awkward slide into second base on a double last Friday against Miami. He had surgery Wednesday to repair the labrum

2:28 AM ET The Colorado Rockies pretty much buried the Arizona Diamondbacks with a 10-3 victory at Coors Field on Thursday to take three out of four in the series. Back on Aug. 22, the Diamondbacks led the NL West by 1½ games and FanGraphs gave them a 43 percent chance of winning the division

11:07 PM ET WASHINGTON — The Chicago Cubs won the game, but may have lost Pedro Strop. Hitting for himself with one out and the bases loaded in the top of the 10th inning and the Cubs holding a 4-3 lead over the Washington Nationals, Strop hit a sharp grounder to third baseman Anthony Rendon.

7:44 PM ET Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora expressed frustration Thursday when asked about President Donald Trump downplaying the number of people who died in the aftermath of a hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico one year ago, calling the president’s tweets “disrespectful.” As Hurricane Florence approached the Carolinas on Thursday morning, Trump disputed the

8:36 AM ET Here’s the hypothesis: The American League MVP race is arguably the greatest MVP race ever. Here’s the evidence: We already have six position players with a WAR of 7.0 or higher, plus a seventh candidate who is merely chasing a Triple Crown. To have so many players performing at such a high

2:38 AM ET CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon often says a team has to go out and take what it desires because nothing is going to be given in baseball — not over 162 games. The Milwaukee Brewers are heeding Maddon’s advice, as two September series wins over their rivals have brought them

8:21 PM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — The New York Yankees are set to achieve their goal of coming under baseball’s luxury tax threshold for the first time since the penalty started in 2003. A Dodgers-Astros rematch? Sorry, but we can do better. From classics revisited to powerhouse showdowns, we look at the best