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Maybe the Seattle Mariners’ big three are finally getting over their World Baseball Classic hangovers. Over their just-completed six-game homestand, Cal Raleigh, Julio Rodriguez and Josh Naylor’s bats started to heat up. The Mariners went 3-3 against a pair of American League West rivals, the Texas Rangers and the Athletics, and start a six-game trip Friday in St. Louis with an interleague encounter against the Cardinals. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday and the score tied at 4-4 against the A’s, Raleigh grounded a single to center field. Rodriguez followed by grounding a single to left, sending Raleigh to second, and he scored on Naylor’s line-drive single to left. “These guys have really found a good

While the Los Angeles Angels have ended their first true skid on the young season, the Kansas City Royals continue to struggle. Looking to build on a needed victory, the visiting Angels try to hand the Royals a 10th loss in 11 games on Friday night. Los Angeles ended a four-game losing streak, during which it totaled six runs, with its 7-3 home win over Toronto on Wednesday. The triumph somewhat salvaged a 2-4 homestand for the Angels, who continue to hover around the .500 mark to open the campaign. “When you try to make this game harder than it is, then it’s going to get really hard,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Stay with the course.” Los Angeles is

The Toronto Blue Jays will try to gain some traction during a six-game homestand that starts Friday night against the Cleveland Guardians. The Blue Jays completed a 4-5 road trip with a 7-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday as they continue to seek the magic of last season. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak that came after the Blue Jays had dropped four straight. “I thought we played way better as the trip went on, obviously, and taking some positives out of the first two games here, even (Wednesday),” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. The Guardians also lost on Wednesday, 2-0, in the rubber match of a three-game series with the Houston Astros that completed

Welcome to the playoffs. After the Boston Celtics dropped Game 2 against the Philadelphia 76ers, those four succinct words from Jaylen Brown summarized the situation at hand for the division rivals. The Celtics look to recover from a surprising defeat to the Sixers when the teams reconvene Friday in Philadelphia for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series. “It’s the playoffs. Welcome to the playoffs,” Brown said following a 111-97 home setback in Game 2. “They out-competed us. I’ve played in series that have gone similar. You can’t take anything for granted. You just got to be ready to go. I trust our group.” Boston, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, captured Game 1 by a 123-91 margin.