The power display backed Max Scherzer (8-5), who allowed a run and five hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out seven. It was the Tigers’ season-high fifth-straight win and put them two games over .500 – heading into the All-Star break – for the first time since April 25 (10-8). Phil Coke pitched a perfect eighth and...

McCann hit a grand slam on Friday, a solo shot on Saturday, then hit the go-ahead homer in the seventh inning off Raul Valdes (2-2). McCann has homered in four straight games overall and has helped Atlanta head into the All-Star break on a four-game winning streak. The five-time NL East champion Phillies are staggering heading into the break. They have lost...

The NL East-leading Nationals took a 3-1 lead into the eighth, but a meltdown by their usually reliable bullpen cost them a chance to hit the All-Star break with their best record since the team moved to Washington in 2005. Colorado’s rally was fueled by Eric Young’s first homer of the season and a pair of wild pitches. The Rockies...

Will Rhymes hit a solo homer with one out and Carlos Pena added a RBI triple after Elliot Johnson singled to tie it at 6 off Perez (0-2), who had converted 25 straight saves since giving up a lead April 5. Ben Zobrist then singled home Pena with the go-ahead run before Perez got two strikeouts to end the inning. Fellow All-Star Fernando Rodney worked the...

The long-woeful Pirates have won six of seven and 10 of 12, and no team in the majors has a better record since May 12 than Pittsburgh’s 34-19. The Pirates (48-37) are 11 games over .500 for the first time since 1992 and are in first place at the break for the first time since 1997. A.J. Burnett pitched effectively into the seventh to win his...

“I think you take on the identity of your manager, a fiery guy who never gives up, unbelievable starting pitching and when we needed to lean on the bullpen, we leaned on them, and then number 5,” Murphy said after the Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs 7-0 on Sunday. “I think the break couldn’t come at a better time for the Mets,”...

After winning his seventh Wimbledon title with an emphatic four-set victory over Andy Murray on Sunday, Federer said he been delighted with his form over the past year despite suffering some painful losses. “I played an amazing French Open last year,” the Swiss told a news conference. “I was very close against Rafa (Nadal) in the final....

Two years after blubbing his way through a runners-up speech at the Australian Open, tears of despair were flowing again on Centre Court after Murray’s brave effort to end Britain’s 76-year search for a men’s grand slam champion unravelled under the spell of Federer’s magic. As the beaming Swiss hoisted the gilded Challenge Cup for a...