'Big Hurt' bids baseball farewell

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz is planning to retire after the 2016 season.

The New York Yankees and New York Mets are expected to be active in the two weeks before MLB's trade deadline, and they could be going after the same player, Ben Zobrist.

CHICAGO (AP) — Hall of Fame slugger Ernie Banks, the two-time MVP who never lost his boundless enthusiasm for baseball despite years of playing on losing Chicago Cubs teams, died Friday night. He was 83.

Today, former White Sox first baseman and designated hitter Frank Thomas, along with former pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and former managers Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre, were inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Rich Schultz/Getty ImagesJosé Fernández, the 24-year-old Miami Marlins pitcher who died this weekend in a boating accident off the coast of Florida, was imprisoned in Cuba as a teenager for trying to escape the island. He finally managed to defect at age 15, but only after saving his mother Maritza from drowning.

NEW YORK (AP) — Here's how stacked the NL Cy Young race is: Max Scherzer struck out 276 batters with a 2.79 ERA and became the first major leaguer in 42 years to throw two no-hitters in one season.

CHICAGO (AP) — Chris Sale matched a career high with 15 strikeouts while pitching seven scoreless innings, and the Chicago White Sox snapped the crosstown Cubs' nine-game win streak with a 3-1 win on Sunday.