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A first-half brace from Miguel Almiron saw Atlanta claim a 3-1 victory against NYCFC at Bobby Dodd Stadium on Sunday. Chivas title could be first of many The win was Atlanta’s second in a row and stretched the side’s unbeaten run to three, lifting it into seventh in the Eastern Conference. Almiron fired in the opener in the 16th minute after Julian Gressel found him with a cutback. Hector Villalba doubled the lead just three minutes later with a neat placed finish, before Almiron and Gressel combined again midway through the half....

The Eastern Conference has all six playoff spots secured, but the fight on Sunday will be for the premium positions in the playoffs. Four different teams are alive for the precious second seed, with New York City FC hoping to hold on to it with a win against the red-hot, but potentially distracted, Columbus Crew. Atlanta United is poised to set another single-game attendance record, and new MLS season attendance record, but Tata Martino’s men will be much more focused on trying to beat Toronto FC and ensure a playoff game at Mercedes Benz Stadium....

MLB is making strides to put baseball in front of as many viewers as possible — kind of. This season, with a new partnership between the league and Apple, select games will be available strictly on Apple TV+ in its “Friday Night Baseball” package. MORE: MLB blackout restrictions, explained Here’s what you need to know about the schedule for the upcoming games you can find exclusively on Apple+ TV:...

The pitching matchup of the night is a battle between All-Star lefties at AT&T Park in San Francisco with Madison Bumgarner a slim -117 favorite over Boston’s David Price. Both pitchers have been at their best lately with the Giants riding an eight game win streak behind Bumgarner (7-2, 2.02 ERA) while Price (7-2, 4.88) has a 2.62 ERA over his last five starts after being at 6.75 during his first seven....

Baseball’s all-time hits leader deserves “a fair, full hearing,” commissioner Rob Manfred said this week. Manfred made his comments during an interview with NBC News’ Chuck Todd for Sunday’s “Meet The Press.” MORE: Classic Pete Rose photos | Pedro Martinez says Rose should be in Hall | Investigator opposes reinstatement Manfred indicated Rose’s potential eligibility for the Baseball Hall of Fame might be tied to how he decides on Rose’s reinstatement....

“It takes time to gather information; we want to make sure we have all the information before a decision is made,” Torre said here Tuesday at baseball’s Winter Meetings. “As awful as this situation is, there are still rights that have to be protected. So we are very careful in making sure that we respect that and get all the information and proceed accordingly.” MORE: Every MLB team’s most infamous moment...

The report, which cited multiple unidentified international sources, said MLB is investigating whether the Red Sox signed Venezuelan players in so-called “package deals” in which multiple players from the same international program are signed at rates — some above market value, some below — that get around the bonus-pool rules. MORE: Best Cuban players in MLB history | Best Red Sox ever According to Baseball America, MLB officials have questioned players as young as 16 individually at the Red Sox’s academy in the Dominican Republic and threatened to suspend them if they weren’t truthful....

A three-game series between these teams begins tonight in San Francisco, and the situation is reversed, with the Giants trailing by two games instead of leading by two. The Dodgers come out with the same three horses that won the three games during the July sweep – Hyun-jin Ryu, Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw – Don Mattingly made sure he had his rotation set up for this series. The Giants counter with Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson and Yusmeiro Petit....

It was an offseason to remember. Things got pretty nasty — there was this whole lockout thing. The ghost runner is back. People got mad at Max Scherzer for driving a Porsche. Rob Manfred practiced his golf swing. The Rays wanted to share their team with Montreal. Really, it was just a whole big thing. MORE: Why extra-inning “ghost runners” are sticking around for now But, thankfully, mercifully, Major League Baseball is just about back, with Opening Day scheduled for April 7....

AL wild-card game: Orioles at Blue JaysNL wild-card game: Giants at Mets ALDS: Orioles-Blue Jays winner vs. RangersALDS: Red Sox vs. Indians NLDS: Giants-Mets winner vs. CubsNLDS: Dodgers vs. Nationals 6:33 p.m.: And, we’re all done here. The Blue Jays had clinched a wild-card spot when the Tigers lost in Atlanta, and then they clinched home-field in that game against the Orioles by finishing off the Red Sox, 2-1, at Fenway Park on David Ortiz day....

Here is the schedule (all times ET): When is the ALCS? What channel is showing the ALCS? Best of seven. All times TBA. MORE: 14 fun MLB postseason facts Friday, Oct. 14 ALCS Game 1: Blue Jays at Indians, 8:08 p.m. | TV: TBS Saturday, Oct. 15 ALCS Game 2: Blue Jays at Indians, 4:08 p.m. | TV: TBS Monday, Oct. 17 ALCS Game 3: Indians at Blue Jays, 8:08 p....

Sometimes, though, the people we’re interviewing will bring up players out of the blue or because the question is just tangentially related. That’s how you know they’re really impressed. NLDS: Braves confident, not concerned with 18-year postseason drought And that’s exactly what happened a couple of times before and after the penultimate game of the regular season in St. Louis. Before the contest, soon-to-be-ex-Cubs manager Joe Maddon was asked how he, back in April, knew the NL Central race would come down to the Cardinals, Cubs and Brewers....

The team is nearing an agreement with free-agent second baseman Alberto Callaspo, according to ESPN’s Jim Bowden. Callaspo, 31, would likely replace free-agent Emilio Bonifacio, who was the Braves second baseman the second half of the season. Callaspo is likely just a replacement at second base until the Braves’ highly-touted 20-year-old infield prospect Jose Peraza is ready for the Majors. Callaspo struggled last season with the Athletics, batting just ....

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the agreement was subject to a successful physical. The 32-year-old was 3-3 with a 3.74 ERA last year in his second season with the Seattle Mariners after spending 2011 in the minor leagues. He has a 62-75 record in 195 starts and 105 relief appearances over 11 big league seasons. Perez would join a veteran-laden bullpen that includes Addison Reed, J....

Last week I wrote a jovial, lighthearted column that poked some fun at Major League Baseball’s pace-of-play and length-of-game issues, offering 30 silly, overtly exaggerated and obviously sarcastic solutions to those problems. It didn’t go over too well. FOSTER: MLB’s pace of play is just fine, thanks “I opened this link thinking that the Sporting News had some real answers, my mistake.” Lovely. “Ignorant crap.” Solid. My favorite: “What a waste of a click....

Right now, all of that is being overshadowed after the discovery of some inflammatory old tweets from current players, social media posts that threaten to undermine some of the work MLB has invested in. “I think the main challenge is that a lot of times good deeds are not as interesting as misdeeds,” said Billy Bean, MLB’s vice president for social responsibility and inclusion. “We’ve worked so hard to not only introduce the sport in underserved areas and grow our Play Ball initiative, our Breakthrough Series — our RBI program is in its third decade....

But the big-money deals that go south aren’t the only types of contract situations that create big problems. Sometimes, lack of years is as big of an issue as number of years on a deal, and we’re going to look at all of those things with this series. These are the contract situations that keep general managers and team presidents — or whatever the official title happens to be for the decision makers — up at night....

It started innocently enough Friday morning when the Reds tweeted a photo of a baseball on a sunny day with the text “Soon.” The Red Sox quote-tweeted that and added “Not soon enough!” The Twins kept the momentum by quote-tweeting the Red Sox and adding “Counting down the days!” Then it got silly. The Tigers quoted the Red Sox with the classic “Big, if true.” The Padres then quoted the Red Sox with “Is this real life?...

The anticipation around the game is rather well-deserved, as this year’s installment of The Show series seems to be making a substantial amount of improvements. Among them, pitching adjustments and the addition of a stadium creator mode are some of the most exciting, and there are a handful of other quality of life tweaks that should refine the gameplay experience. In addition to these new features, MLB The Show 21 will have a few special versions to choose from....