Cubs' Soto, Rays' Longoria Named Top Rookies

Rays at the head of the class—Rockies, Marlins at the back

(NEWSER) - Report card time! Here’s how the rambunctious kids of MLB are doing so far, in Yahoo Sports’ Steven Henson’s estimation. A students—Rays, Red Sox, Cubs, Angels, White Sox Particular kudos go to the Rays, the poor kid who went to the head of the class. B students—Cardinals, Brewers, Twins, Phillies, Yankees, Athletics, Marlins, Orioles The Cardinals have a slight edge in the wildcard race. The Yankees, meanwhile, barely scrape together a B. More»

Longoria's two-run homer in ninth breaks scoreless tie

(NEWSER) - James Shields pitched a one-hitter and Evan Longoria's two-run, ninth-inning homer snapped a scoreless tie and gave the Tampa Bay Rays a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels last night. Shields (4-2) rebounded from the second-shortest outing of his career to post his second shutout in his past three starts. The 26-year-old right-hander limited the Angels to Brandon Wood's one-out single in the third. More»

White Sox collect just three singles and get no runners past second

(NEWSER) - Andy Sonnanstine threw a three-hitter for his first career complete game and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 5-0 last night. The White Sox had just three singles, including a bunt hit, and didn't get a runner past second base. After two of the hits, Sonnanstine later got inning-ending double play grounders. Sonnanstine (2-1) struck out four and walked one. More»

Oakland ace tosses majors' 19th perfecto

(AP) - Dallas Braden pitched the Athletics' first perfect game in 42 years and just the 19th in major league history today, dazzling the majors' hottest team in recording a 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in Oakland. Braden threw his arms in the air after Gabe Kapler grounded out to shortstop for the final out. The closest the Rays got to a hit was Jason Bartlett's liner to third leading off the game. Evan Longoria tried to bunt against Braden leading off the fifth, drawing boos from the small crowd. More»

(NEWSER) - White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle retired 27 consecutive Tampa Bay Rays today for a perfect game and a 5-0 win, the Chicago Tribune reports. There were a couple of dicey moments, particularly in the ninth inning, when center fielder DeWayne Wise barely caught a drive by Gabe Kapler destined for the stands, the AP adds. It’s the first perfect game since Randy Johnson’s in 2004, and the 16th since 1900. More»