Baseball

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona's ascension into baseball's elite during an unexpected run to the World Series was one of baseball's biggest stories last year, when a young Diamondbacks team nearly won the title. The sequel has been slow to develop.

Pittsburgh Pirates (19-25, third in the NL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (25-19, second in the NL Central) Chicago; Thursday, 7:40 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Jared Jones (2-4, 2.68 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 56 strikeouts); Cubs: Justin Steele (0-0, 4.

Oakland Athletics (19-26, third in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (18-25, fourth in the AL West) Houston; Thursday, 8:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Joey Estes (1-0, 1.80 ERA, 0.40 WHIP, five strikeouts); Astros: Cristian Javier (2-1, 4.

New York Mets (19-23, fourth in the NL East) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (31-13, first in the NL East) Philadelphia; Thursday, 6:40 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Jose Quintana (1-4, 5.44 ERA, 1.

Tampa Bay Rays (22-22, fourth in the AL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (22-21, third in the AL East) Boston; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Rays: Zack Littell (2-2, 3.02 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 45 strikeouts); Red Sox: Cooper Criswell (2-1, 2.

New York Yankees (29-15, first in the AL East) vs. Minnesota Twins (24-18, third in the AL Central) Minneapolis; Thursday, 1:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Yankees: Clarke Schmidt (4-1, 2.95 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 47 strikeouts); Twins: Joe Ryan (2-2, 3.

Cincinnati Reds (18-25, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (29-16, first in the NL West) Los Angeles; Thursday, 10:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Brent Suter (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 1.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Logan Webb pitched six scoreless innings and Mike Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer as the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 on Wednesday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

BALTIMORE (AP) — Adley Rutschman’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Baltimore a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, enabling the Orioles — yet again — to avoid a sweep.

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Griffin Canning pitched six innings of one-run ball, Nolan Schanuel hit his first career leadoff homer and the Los Angeles Angels snapped their three-game skid with a 7-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.