Baseball

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — Paul Skenes is going to start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on opening day. Pretty easy call for manager Derek Shelton. Skenes is coming off a dominant performance in his first season in the majors.

PEORIA, Ariz. (AP) — San Diego Padres right-hander Matt Waldron suffered a mild oblique strain while warming up before entering a spring training game Friday. Waldron was scheduled to come in and throw against the Texas Rangers before the injury.

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson remains optimistic he will be ready for the season opener on March 27 as he recovers from a mild right intercoastal strain. "That’s my plan,” Henderson said Saturday on MLB.com .

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — Texas Rangers pitcher Jon Gray fractured his right wrist when he was hit by a line drive in a spring training game against Colorado, manager Bruce Bochy told reporters.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese star Shohei Ohtani showed off some prodigious power in his return to the Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.

TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Series — a.k.a. the celebration of Shohei Ohtani — begins this week in a festive atmosphere.

TOKYO (AP) — Shortstop Mookie Betts will miss the Los Angeles Dodgers' two exhibition games in Japan because of an illness, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday.

TOKYO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers can party like it's 2022 on the baseball field for a few days in Japan , and even like it's 1982 in the clubhouse. There are a lot of similarities between baseball in the U.S.

WEST PALM BEACH — Tyler Whitaker hit the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Houston Astros defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 on Friday in spring training action.

NORTH PORT, Fla. (AP) — Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley left a Grapefruit League game Friday after a pitch hit him in the hand that he broke last season.