Jeff Locke fueled the latest round of the Bucs’ charge toward the top of the National League Central, pitching three-hit scoreless ball into the seventh Saturday night as the Pirates upended the Brewers, 10-2, at PNC Park.

Time away didn’t slow Jose Fernandez down. If anything, the 23-year-old looked as good as new on Saturday night in the Marlins’ 2-0 win over the Nationals at Marlins Park.

Vito Chiappetta, a 20-year-old from Bethpage, N.Y., reached BTS Club 42 on Saturday behind the bats of Buster Posey and Prince Fielder.

David Ortiz made history on Saturday, becoming the 27th Major League player to hit 500 career home runs. The 39-year-old veteran homered twice in the Red Sox’s 10-4 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field.

For the first time since Sept. 28, 2013, Alex Gordon is again the Royals’ leadoff hitter. And it’s a role Gordon will keep through the rest of the regular season and throughout the playoffs.

If his young, impressionable Astros teammates need any counsel on how to handle these pressure-filled final weeks of a remarkable season, Houston-born Scott Kazmir is a walking travelogue on winning Major League operations.

Jimmy Rollins gets the starting shortstop job back when he returns from a sprained right index finger, whenever that is, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said Saturday.

Cubs rookie Kris Bryant says there’s no truth to one of his teammates’ assertions that he’s a better hitter when he plays third base compared to when he starts in the outfield.

Nationals reliever Drew Storen will likely miss the remainder of the season after breaking his right thumb following Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the Mets at Nationals Park. Storen allowed one earned run in two-thirds of an inning during the outing, and then suffered the injury while slamming his locker shut out of frustration.

At one point this June, Max Scherzer threw a 16-strikeout one-hitter, then came within one hit batter of a perfect game in his next outing. That was the pinnacle of a first half that saw Scherzer introduce himself to the Nationals with a 2.11 ERA through 18 starts heading into the All-Star break. Unfortunately for the Nats, Scherzer’s season has encountered some serious turbulence since then, as he has posted a 5.12 ERA in his last 10 outings.

Angels rookie pitcher Andrew Heaney is set to become the first Major League Baseball player to issue stock in his own brand through the company Fantex, the left-hander confirmed Friday.

When the Red Sox won the 2013 World Series, they knew they’d caught lightning in a bottle, or whatever you choose to call it. They’d had a magical run after hitting on a string of unheralded free-agent signings — Mike Napoli, David Ross, etc. — and didn’t believe the same group could win again.

This is what Cy Young Award winners do. Jake Arrieta, if he can remain locked in over the next three weeks, should become the first Cub to win the Cy since Greg Maddux in 1992. And make no mistake about it: This guy is locked in.

The slow fall of the Tigers from the AL Central race cost Dave Dombrowski his job as team president and general manager, and rumors had begun that there could be a managerial change as well. An unconfirmed report late Thursday night by WDIV-TV’s Bernie Smilovitz, citing an unnamed source, claimed that manager Brad Ausmus will be dismissed at the end of the season.

For a second straight season, a Chicago Cubs player is taking home honors as MLBPipeline.com’s Position Prospect of the Year.

It didn’t take long for people to take notice of Blake Snell, especially after he finished April without allowing a run, a stretch spanning 21 innings. Four starts into May and he still had a 0.00 ERA. That ran the streak to 46 consecutive scoreless innings in 2015, 49 in total when those three to end 214 were added in.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Dellin Betances had just found a seat in his homeroom class at East Side Community High School in lower Manhattan. Less than three miles away, the world changed at 8:46 a.m., and the future Yankees star will never forget what happened next.