Elias Díaz may be the most unlikely All-Star MVP.

No U.S.-born Black players are projected to be on World Series rosters when the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros meet this week.

Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies are set to play the Houston Astros in the World Series.

Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies are set to play the Houston Astros in the World Series.

Christian Walker had three hits and three RBIs, Jake McCarthy homered and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Phillies 13-1 to end Philadelphia’s nine-game winning streak and give interim manager Rob Thomson his first loss.

Zack Wheeler struck out eight over six sharp innings, Bryson Stott hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies won their ninth straight game with a 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson tries to extend his unbeaten run when Arizona visits Citizens Bank Park on Friday night.

Three mass shootings in the U.S. over the Easter holiday weekend capped a month of rampant gun violence that's touched both big cities and small, rural communities across the nation.

Police say 10 people were shot at a spring break party in Dallas and several others were injured as they tried to escape the gunfire.

When Freddie Freeman and the Atlanta Braves meet Jose Altuve and the Houston Astros, it will be a World Series that's been six decades in the making.

Tyler Naquin hit another leadoff home run and the high-scoring Cincinnati Reds kept rolling, backing Luis Castillo to rout the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-4 for their fifth straight win.

Both winless teams in the majors are defending division champions.

Now that Fernando Tatis Jr. has been placed on the injured list, the San Diego Padres hope their electrifying shortstop won’t be sidelined too long.

Joe Carter met his childhood idol when he won the first Hank Aaron Award in 1986 after leading the majors in RBIs. Hank Aaron. Aaron broke Ruth's record with his 715th home run for the Atlanta Braves in 1974 in former President Jimmy Carter's native Georgia. “He grew up poor and faced racism as he worked to become one of the greatest baseball players of all time. It’s going to be at the Hall of Fame, it was Hank Aaron, Joe Morgan, and Frank Robinson.

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. (AP Photo, File) (AP Photo, File)LOS ANGELES – Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Tuesday. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, said Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. Shortly before the start of the following season, Sutton broke his left leg. Sutton pitched for Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who died on Jan. 7.

Don Sutton #20 of the Houston Astros sets up to throw a pitch during a Major League Baseball game circa 1981. LOS ANGELES – Don Sutton, a Hall of Fame pitcher who was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela, died Tuesday. Sutton was 4-1 with a 2.02 ERA in seven National League Championship Series games and was 2-3 in eight World Series games. Shortly before the start of the following season, Sutton broke his left leg. Sutton pitched for Dodgers Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, who died on Jan. 7.

Not long after came a seismic jolt, the helicopter crash of Kobe Bryant in the fog-shrouded California hills that reverberated across sports and across continents. Deep into the year, a bookend to Bryant, Diego Maradona died from a heart attack in Argentina weeks after brain surgery, the waves of grief rippling across soccer. The losses, of course, came against a backdrop of a pandemic, its number of fatalities rolled out daily on TV screens. Niekro won 318 games and pitched until he was 48, his knuckleball dancing and mystifying batters across the decades. Kurt Thomas in 1978 became the first U.S. male gymnast to win a world title but lost an Olympic shot in 1980 because of the boycott.

The world also said goodbye to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, a lion of the civil rights movement who died in July. Other former political figures who died this year include Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, New York Mayor David Dinkins, Arizona Gov. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2020 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___David Stern, 77. The guitarist who supplied the scratching, seething sound that fueled the highly influential British punk band Gang of Four. He fused African rhythms with funk to become one of the most influential musicians in world dance music.

Sean Connery and Eddie Van Halen were among some of the more well-known, universally loved celebrities the world lost in October. (CNP/Getty Images)Actress Conchata Ferrell arrives at the CBS celebration of a Monday-night season premiere on Sept. 19, 2007 in Los Angeles. (Getty Images)Pitcher Charlie Haeger of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a knuckleball against the Colorado Rockies on May 8, 2010. (WireImage for Tractenberg & Co. via Getty Images)American composer Philip Glass and his ensemble photographed in New York City in 1993. (Sygma via Getty Images)American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash during his first visit to London for various public appearances in September 1968.

Atlanta Braves' Austin Riley celebrates a run home against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning in Game 1 of a baseball National League Championship Series Monday, Oct. 12, 2020, in Arlington, Texas. Freddie Freeman went deep for Atlanta in the first and Kiké Hernández led off the Dodgers fifth with a homer. Game 2 is Tuesday night, with Braves rookie Ian Anderson set to face three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw. That was about 28% of the 40,518 capacity at the new Texas Rangers ballpark where the retractable roof was open for the first NLCS game played at a neutral site. SHORT HOPSIt was the fourth time overall that both teams entered Game 1 of the NLCS without a postseason loss.

Asked which was bigger in the 4-2 victory against the Houston Astros, Margot said through a translator: “Definitely the home run. He played one game in right field in 2016 and the rest of his time in San Diego was spent in center. “To have the ability to know where you’re at, and kind of be able to say, ‘Forget it, I know I’m going to hit something but I’m going in,’ and still hang on to the ball, was really, really impressive,” manager Kevin Cash said. It was an unbelievable play that he made on the right field line, putting himself in a dangerous place. “Everybody is really, really supportive of him and just so happy for what he's accomplished.”Morton improved to 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in the last two postseasons.

It followed a throwing error by second baseman José Altuve from shallow right field on a grounder by Ji-Man Choi. Game 3 in the best-of-7 series is Tuesday night, when the Rays will send Tyler Glasow against Houston’s José Urquidy. Nice playWhile the Astros struggled on defense, the Rays made some nice plays. Astros: Urquidy started Houston’s Game 3 loss to Oakland in the ALDS, giving up four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings. That should line up Zack Greinke to start Game 4, although Baker wasn’t ready to commit to that on Monday.

Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan has died. And to his star-powered teammates, Joe Morgan was a driving force, too. “Joe Morgan was quite simply the best baseball player I played against or saw,” Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench texted to The Associated Press. “Small in stature like his idol Nellie Fox, Joe played every game at the highest level. ″Bench probably had the most raw baseball ability of any of us,” Morgan said before his Hall of Fame induction.

(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)Major League Baseball had its fullest schedule in nearly a half-century Friday with 20 games set to be played, including five doubleheaders caused by postponements for weather, the coronavirus and protests of racial injustice. The last time 20 games were on the schedule was Aug. 4, 1974, when there were nine doubleheaders, the Elias Sports Bureau said. There were 12 complete games thrown that day, including nine-inning efforts by Catfish Hunter, Luis Tiant and Dave McNally. Only three of those 20 games back then took over 2 hours, 40 minutes. On Friday, the Blue Jays needed 2:42 for Torontos 8-7 win in seven innings at Fenway Park.

He took over in Boston, his fifth, in 1985 and guided the Red Sox to the AL pennant the next year. The Mets won Game 7, leaving Boston without a championship until they finally won it all in 2004. The Boston Globe first reported McNamara's death on Wednesday a day the Red Sox were also in New York to play the Mets. Boston won the game 6-5 the same score by which the Red Sox lost that fateful Game 6. Current Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who was the Red Sox skipper when they ended their title drought, said he first met McNamara in Oakland in 1969-70.