The Giants strolled into PNC Park on Monday afternoon as the National League’s hottest team. They left Pittsburgh’s North Shore on Thursday afternoon with a 5-3 win over the Pirates, a four-game series victory and a trail of smoke still flowing behind them.

The Mets’ flirtation with Cuban free agent Yulieski Gurriel will last at least a bit longer. The team’s private workout with Gurriel is scheduled for next week, according to assistant general manager John Ricco, though it is not yet settled if Gurriel will come to Citi Field or the Mets will go to him.

A towering three-run homer in the eighth inning gave Freddy Galvis a career-high five RBIs, as the shortstop powered the Phillies to a 7-3 win over the Twins behind a solid Jerad Eickhoff in Thursday’s series finale at Target Field, snapping a season-long nine-game losing streak.

The Tigers had used every available position player. The Mariners had used every available reliever, though they had starter Nathan Karns available in a pinch. With the chance at a series sweep and Mariners closer Steve Cishek headed toward 40 pitches Thursday, the Tigers went for it in the 10th — pinch-hitting with Victor Martinez, pinch-running with Cameron Maybin and Mike Aviles. In the end, it came down to a walk-off wild pitch, the second in the Majors this season.

Team Brave defeated Team United 6-2 to open Day 2 of USA Baseball’s Tournament of Stars, but it was United infielder Brady McConnell (Merritt Island HS, Fla.) whom scouts took notice of for his play on both sides of the ball.

Steve Cishek’s 10th-inning wild pitch brought home Cameron Maybin with the winning run, earning the Tigers a four-game series sweep of the Mariners with a 5-4 win Thursday at Comerica Park.

That ball really, really wanted to befriend Eck.

The Astros’ bullpen doesn’t feature huge names like Aroldis Chapman or Craig Kimbrel, but what they do have is a unit that performs from top to bottom. With the lowest walk rate of any bullpen in decades, Houston’s relievers are a big part of the team’s success.

The 2016 Esurance MLB All-Star Game Ballot is down to its final week, and here are 10 important things to know as you continue deciding starters for the 87th All-Star Game presented by MasterCard on July 12 at Petco Park in San Diego.

May we all experience triumph like this at least once in our lives.

Ian Desmond is not into history. He sees no reason to talk about it. His focus is on today and tomorrow.

Look out, Xander!

Theo Epstein said he wanted to build a “player-development machine” when the Cubs hired him as their president of baseball operations in 2011, and he’s done exactly that. So many impactful position players have arrived in the past two years that you might feel you can’t keep track of them.

Chase Utley scored the 1,000th run of his long career in the first inning of Wednesday’s series finale against the Nationals.

From the Angels to the Yankees to the Cardinals, the Sports on Earth best MLB hat bracket is wide open as first-round voting begins.

The plan is that not everything will go to plan. The Major League Baseball season is too long and grueling for teams to survive it with Plan A intact, which is why seemingly every playoff team comes equipped with some storyline about unexpected contributions.

Yasiel Puig delivered a walk-off, 4-3 win over the Nationals Wednesday night as a single in the ninth turned into a de facto inside-the-park home run after a misplay from center fielder Michael Taylor allowed Puig and Howie Kendrick to score.