Ricky Nolasco threw six strong innings, while Oswaldo Arcia, Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe homered to power the Twins to a 6-1 win over the Yankees on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

Under Bud Selig, baseball has embraced and celebrated its role as an agent of change in the American civil rights movement, which was showcased in Friday’s Civil Rights Game.

After being damaged by Giancarlo Stanton’s tremendous power during Friday night’s first inning at Marlins Park, Teheran aided his own cause by tallying a pair of hits, including a double to begin a two-run seventh that proved decisive for the Braves in their 3-2 win over the Marlins.

Jackie Robinson’s legacy is celebrated every day throughout the season, by baseball players and fans, but Friday’s events served as a good reminder that his legacy extends far beyond one sport, or any sport for that matter. Just ask Berry Gordy, the founder of the Motown record label and the man who uncovered the talents of, well, just about everybody who emerged from an explosive musical era more than a half-century ago.

Friday’s Beacon Awards luncheon, one of the highlights of the Civil Rights Game activities, honored three legends — Maya Angelou, Jim Brown and Berry Gordy.

Major League Baseball honored three towering figures in American society Friday, when it held its annual Beacon Awards luncheon as part of the festivities surrounding the Civil Rights Game.

While Dodgers fans won’t get to see Chris Sale during this week’s three-game Interleague series vs. the Dodgers beginning Monday, it looks as if Jose Abreu will be back in action.

Balloting continues for Major League Baseball’s 85th All-Star Game on July 15 at Target Field in Minnesota, and fans can cast their votes using the 2014 All-Star Game Ballot Sponsored by Experian. Deciding who should get voted into the starting lineup can be challenging. Today, Anthony Castrovince and Doug Miller discuss American League shortstops.

Erick Aybar belted a three-run homer, joining three other teammates with multi-hit games on a night when Albert Pujols sat, and the Angels got another solid start by Matt Shoemaker to beat the Mariners, 7-5, at Safeco Field on Thursday night.

The Pirates bats got behind Gerrit Cole on Thursday night to end their nine-game losing streak at Dodger Stadium. Cole went 6 1/3 innings, while the Bucs got two RBIs from Josh Harrison and home runs from Pedro Alvarez and Russel Martin.

Josh Collmenter faced the minimum 27 batters in recording his first career shutout in the D-backs’ series-opening 4-0 win against the Reds on Thursday night at Chase Field.

In the Giants’ World Series championship seasons of 2010 and 2012, the winning formula was pitching, pitching, pitching, defense, and then more pitching. This year, the Giants have added a component that they did not have much of in the previous three seasons — the home run.

The Giants displayed basically the same style Thursday night that has earned them the Major Leagues’ best record. They showed off their revived power, generated two-out runs and sealed their 6-5 triumph over the Cardinals with gritty pitching.

George Springer, coming off a road trip in which he hit .400 with six homers and 12 RBIs in eight games, gave the home crowd a glimpse of the magic when he hit a two-run, tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning to send the streaking Astros to their sixth win in a row, 3-1, over the Orioles.

Edwin Encarnacion broke the Blue Jays record for homers in any month and moved into a tie with Mickey Mantle for the most hit in May in American League history after a pair of blasts on Thursday against the Royals gave him 16. Encarnacion is one short of the Major League record for May, which was set by Barry Bonds in 2001.

James Shields was tagged for three home runs, but an error helped the Royals tie it in the ninth before Omar Infante’s two-run single in the 10th gave them an 8-6 win over the Blue Jays on Thursday.

The Red Sox were all too happy to capitalize on some shoddy defense by the Braves, winning Thursday night’s game on, of all things, a walk-off error. Xander Bogaerts stung a grounder to Chris Johnson, and the third baseman fired to second trying to get the force. However, the throw to second was low, and went into the outfield, as Jackie Bradley Jr. roared home on the misfire to give the Red Sox a 4-3 win.