Ford blasts 2 homers to lift Yankees past Mariners

Ford blasts 2 homers to lift Yankees past Mariners

Rookie Mike Ford homered in consecutive at-bats, and the New York Yankees continued their nine-game West Coast trip with a 5-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Monday night.

The Yankees improved to 3-4 on the trip and beat the Mariners for the 16th time in the last 20 meetings thanks to Ford's first career multi-homer game.

A night after homering off Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, Ford capped a four-run second inning with a two-run homer, and he connected again in the fourth against Tommy Milone (3-8). Ford gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead by lining a first-pitch fastball down the right field line and made it 5-3 by blasting a 2-2 fastball.

Trump administration aims to stop professional baseball deal with Cuba

Trump administration aims to stop professional baseball deal with Cuba

WASHINGTON.The Trump administration is expected to take steps to block a historic agreement that would allow Cuban baseball players from joining Major League Baseball in the United States without having to defect, according to an official familiar with the discussions.

Sen. Marco Rubio

The administration wants to reverse an Obama-era ruling that says the Cuban government doesn’t run the island’s professional baseball league. Such a position gave MLB space to negotiate and reach the deal with Cuban baseball and circumvent the U.S. embargo against Cuba.

There's no ducking the numbers: MLB has a bad baseball problem that's only getting worse

There's no ducking the numbers: MLB has a bad baseball problem that's only getting worse

Chris Davis, the Orioles first baseman, is batting .150 with 86 strikeouts.(Photo: Evan Habeeb, USA TODAY Sports)

It’s a shame Eddie Gaedel isn’t with us anymore. This is his time to shine.

You remember Gaedel. He was the 3-foot-7 slugger hired by St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck as a publicity stunt to bat against the Detroit Tigers in the second game of a doubleheader in 1951.

He walked on four pitches in his only major-league plate appearance that afternoon, giving him a lifetime 1.000 on-base percentage.