Ryan Howard will likely have a cortisone shot on Monday in his ailing left ankle, meaning that he could be out until Thursday.

Ian Kennedy looks to trim the D-backs' magic number of five with his 20th victory in Monday's series opener against the Pirates at Chase Field.

Not only did Adrian Beltre's two-run, 419-foot homer help Texas defeat Seattle, 3-0, on Sunday, but it also enabled the former Mariner to go one up on his good friend Felix Hernandez.

Joe Saunders' gem and Paul Goldschmidt's three RBIs helped the D-backs draw closer to clinching the National League West title on Sunday in San Diego.

The Brewers and the Cubs streak into each other, with different objectives, obviously. While Milwaukee closes in on its first division title in 29 years, Chicago eyes making its first move up the standings in 115 days. Chris Narveson faces Cubs righty Casey Coleman on Monday.

The Indians used a six-run outburst in the seventh inning and a solid effort by starter Justin Masterson to pick up a 6-5 victory over the Twins on Sunday afternoon at Target Field. The win completed a three-game sweep for Cleveland.

For a second consecutive weekend, Tampa Bay got the job done against Boston, taking an 8-5 win Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park to claim three out of four in the series and move within two games of the American League Wild Card leaders.

The Mets scored twice with two outs in the eighth inning — Ruben Tejada drove in the decisive run — and beat the Braves, 7-5, on Sunday to take the weekend series at Turner Field.

Dontrelle Willis' ailing back caused him to be scratched for a second straight game, so Travis Wood will start on Monday in the Reds' opener vs. the Astros and J.A. Happ.

Erick Aybar homered twice and Vernon Wells added a two-run shot as the Angels trounced the O's. Jered Weaver, pitching on three days' rest, went six innings.

If the Angels are to continue with their push to catch the Rangers in the American League West, they'll need to maintain their recent success against the Blue Jays, beginning with the series opener on Monday.

After missing a chance to grab the bull by the horns in their latest home series, the Braves are hoping to make their last trip to Sun Life Stadium a memorable one by working their way closer to a playoff berth.

The White Sox snapped a seven-game losing streak by beating the Royals in the series finale behind a pair of homers from A.J. Pierzynski and a solid outing from John Danks.

At the very least, one left-hander's losing streak will come to an end Monday. The Mariners and Indians will meet at Progressive Field for one game to make up for their postponed contest on May 15, and Seattle lefty Charlie Furbush will take a five-game losing streak to the mound against Cleveland southpaw David Huff, who has dropped three straight starts.

Chris Marrero drove in two runs to back Chien-Ming Wang, who surrendered three runs in 6 2/3 innings, as the Nationals topped the Marlins, 4-3, and set a new record for home victories since moving to Washington.

The Red Sox hope to avoid having both a daymare and a nightmare on Monday, when they host the Orioles in a day-night Fenway Park doubleheader. Kyle Weiland and John Lackey start for Boston, with Jeremy Guthrie and Brian Matusz going for Baltimore.

Jonny Venters surrendered two runs in the eighth and the Braves lost to the Mets, 7-5, on Sunday. Their magic number remains at seven with nine games to play, though the NL Wild Card lead fell to four games over the Cardinals.