Baseball

Expectations at the big league level were minimal as last April brought the start of the Major League Baseball season.

However, by the time the final out of their 25th game was made, the Houston Astros had transformed into a contender. The only question was, were they more the small-sample variety, or were they the kind of club built to sustain success through the grind of 162 regular-season games?

The day before Troy Tulowitzki got hurt on the very real grass at Yankee Stadium, he said he hadn't noticed any problem yet with the fake stuff at Toronto's Rogers Centre.

"Obviously, the turf is slow," he said. "But playing on it doesn't seem bad."

As the Cleveland Indians cling to the fringes of the American League playoff scramble, their young shortstop, Francisco Lindor, has moved to the forefront of another race—the one for AL Rookie of the Year.

A strong starting rotation is normally a necessity for any team with hopes of winning the World Series. Just ask the San Francisco Giants, who rode Madison Bumgarner to the 2014 World Series championship.

The Detroit Tigers certainly have had a season to forget.

What offseason moves do the Tigers need to make to have a strong 2016?  What free agents should Detroit look to jump on?

With the New York Yankees attempting to make their way into the postseason, everyone is wondering who would be the best and worst matchups for the team. 

Where do the Yankees stand against the New York Mets? Who do the Yankees stand a solid chance against?

NEW YORK — Believe it or not, Yoenis Cespedes can play the guitar, too.

In fact, the way they tell it in the New York Mets clubhouse, he saw a guitar when he was with the Boston Red Sox last year, decided he wanted to play it and learned right away.

The way they tell it in the Mets clubhouse, there's nothing Cespedes can't do.

There was a time when Yasiel Puig was the hot topic du jour on a seemingly, um, jourly basis. That went double during October, a month when Puig's every action was best observed through a microscope. And the more subatomic, the better.

But this year? Not as much. And the way things are looking now, it's time to wonder if we'll even be discussing Puig at all come the postseason.

If the second game of the Chicago Cubs-Pittsburgh Pirates doubleheader Tuesday was a preview of the National League Wild Card Game, the Cubs will take it and smile.

New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez has been diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee after undergoing an MRI on Tuesday.

Continue for updates.