When a pitcher is lights out, it’s a good thing. Not so much when it happens to a stadium. After the lights at Nationals Park went out for a third time Friday night, the umpires decided enough was enough and suspended the game between the Dodgers and Nationals until Saturday. Speaking of lights out, that is exactly what Angels outfielder Mike Trout is. After being awarded the MVP for his second straight All-Star Game on Tuesday, Trout continued his incredible play with a walkoff solo home run off Red Sox reliever Koji Uehara....

Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder joined the 300 home run club Friday, smacking a solo shot in the first inning against the Blue Jays. However, Fielder’s homer wasn’t enough. The Jays dominated the rest of the game, propelled by Edwin Encarnación’s grand slam at the bottom of the first, the second of his career. On top of the grand slam, Encarnación finished the night with a solo home run in the seventh....

For a team that has been playing meaningful baseball games the past five Septembers, including two World Series appearances, the Rangers’ 2014 plight has to be a major culture shock for the entire organization. However, after going through a stretch of losing 11 of 12, the Rangers have won three straight as they swept the Braves over the weekend. Next up for Texas is the Oakland A’s, who are shooting for their first three-game win streak since Aug....

Check The Linemakers on Sporting News’ odds page for current baseball lines from Las Vegas. Texas Rangers +104 (@ Minnesota Twins)Mike Pelfrey vs Nick Martinez The Twins, a great home team, host the Rangers, a good road team. The visitors have struggled lately in their road endeavors, though, dropping four out of five, including a hard-fought battle last night in Minnesota, which the Rangers lost 3-2. The Twins have a tendency to flip an on/off switch from one game to another, and it’s hard to predict which team will show up....

Check The Linemakers on Sporting News’ odds page for current baseball lines from Las Vegas. San Francisco Giants -104 (vs Chicago Cubs)Jake Peavy (3-6, 4.35 ERA) vs Kyle Hendricks (6-5, 4.03 ERA) The Giants are in a tough spot, 2.5 games back of the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. San Francisco has dropped five out of its last six games and is in dire need of a bounce-back victory to stay within striking distance....

In three playoff appearances over the past five seasons, the Nats have faltered and disappointed, and come out on the losing end each time. To change that trend and make the NLCS for the first time since 1981, when the franchise was in Montreal, Washington must defeat the red-hot defending champion Chicago Cubs in the NLDS, starting Friday. It’s not the easiest task, but Nationals players believe the team is well-equipped to finally make a deep postseason run, starting with their chemistry and clubhouse camaraderie....

In the American League, the New York Yankees stayed alive against the Tampa Bay Rays and forced the series to a decider, while the Houston Astros continued their unlikely quest for redemption after defeating the Oakland Athletics in four games. In the National League, meanwhile, the top two seeds will meet in the Championship Series after the Los Angeles Dodgers swept the San Diego Padres and the Atlanta Braves dispatched the Miami Marlins in three games....

The Mets lost shortstop Ruben Tejada, who suffered a broken leg on a takeout slide from the Dodgers’ Chase Utley during the seventh-inning rally. MORE: Best photos from NL Division Series games | Playoff strike zone controversies The Dodgers’ surge started in the seventh when Howie Kendrick hit a ground ball to Mets second baseman Daniel Murphy, who flipped to second for shortstop Tejada. But Tejada failed to touch the bag and, as he tried to throw to first base, Utley intentionally collided with him....

Given the postseason history between Boston and Cleveland — especially the come-from-behind victories in the 1999 ALDS and 2007 ALCS — we’re contractually obligated to write that. MORE: Top 50 players in the playoffs Yet by the time Lonnie Chisenhall’s three-run homer in the second inning smacked the Plexiglas above the Discount Drug Mart sign in right field at Progressive Field, it became clear what we can say with confidence: Boston doesn’t have it right now....

The Tigers have become famous over the past decade for making a litany of moves either via trade or splashing in free agency. And even though Detroit fired its dealer, Dave Dombrowski, new general manager Al Avila has picked up where he left off. MORE: Eight AL stars primed for off-season moves | NL stars who could be on the move The Tigers have already traded for closer Francisco Rodriguez and outfielder Cameron Maybin, but there are still holes on a team trying to win a World Series now....

But the big-money deals that go south aren’t the only types of contract situations that create big problems. Sometimes, lack of years is as big of an issue as number of years on a deal, and we’re going to look at all of those things with this series. These are the contract situations that keep general managers and team presidents — or whatever the official title happens to be for the decision makers — up at night....

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it), there isn’t much to cover thanks to the All-Star break. Every team will be off from Monday-Thursday, with only the HR Derby (Monday at 8 p.m. ET) and All-Star Game (Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET) to keep us baseball fans entertained. Every team is back in action on Friday, with the Royals and White Sox playing a doubleheader that day....

Every Thursday Sporting News Fantasy will provide a snapshot of the upcoming week’s major league baseball schedule. Weekly leaguers should note how many games each team plays, as well as which players will gain/lose at-bats because of interleague play. Daily leaguers should note first-pitch times and Monday/Thursday off-days. RELATED: Week 8 Two-Start SPs SCHEDULE INFO FOR 5/25-5/31 Teams with seven games (12): A’s, Angels, Braves, Giants, Indians, Mariners, Pirates, Rangers, Red Sox, Tigers, Yankees...

The Brewers and Reds were the first to act; they voted not to the play their game in Milwaukee on Wednesday evening. They were followed by the Mariners and Padres, who boycotted their game in San Diego, and the Dodgers and Giants, who did the same in San Francisco. The players made their decisions after all six NBA teams scheduled to play Wednesday, led by the Bucks, chose not to compete in playoff games to make a statement about the Blake shooting....

Allen Coulter, who directed several episodes of HBO’s “The Sopranos,” has been tabbed as the director and executive producer, according to The Hollywood Reporter. MORE: The 15 best baseball movies of all time, ranked | Best sports movies of all time Ruth has been the subject of films before, the last being the 1992 film “The Babe,” with John Goodman in the title role. MLB has been busy recently consulting on films such as “42,” “Moneyball,” “Million Dollar Arm” and “Trouble With the Curve....

The trade deadline is always good for big, World Series-impacting moves each season, so here’s everything to know about one of the biggest days in baseball. MORE: The greatest pitching performance you’ve never heard of When is the 2018 MLB trade deadline? As usual, the trade deadline is set for July 31 at 4 p.m. ET. After that, teams hoping to move a player would have to put him on waivers first....

REPORTED BY: CBS Chicago’s Bruce Levine. MORE: Seven best destinations for Jonathan Papelbon | Reds need to expand sell-off THE DETAILS: Price, 30, is set to become a free agent this fall and the Tigers need to rebuild their farm system, which has been depleted by the deals that helped take the Tigers to the top of the AL Central over the past five seasons. Levine reports that at least eight clubs will try to complete a deal with Detroit for Price, but a strong Cubs farm system may create the best match....

“Both” is not the correct answer. It’s the Cubs, at least for now, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale reported the teams discussed a swap of the high-salary, low-production players before the July non-waiver deadline. Atlanta would have pay a lot of Upton’s money to make up for the $24 million difference in contracts. The teams are expected to re-engage in the offseason, Nightengale reports.

Time is a flat circle, and it may be time for the ritual to take place once again, this time with Chris Archer at the center of the baseball pentagram. The Rays are reportedly open to moving their marquee players in the name of lowering payroll. While Archer isn’t the most expensive player on the roster, he is almost certainly the most valuable. Given that the pitching market this winter gets rather sparse apart from Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish, Archer represents a rather attractive alternative....

The news also surprised Dodgers chairman and controlling owner Mark Walter. He told MLB.com Friday he’s heard nothing about a deal involving Puig, and indicated he doesn’t like the idea. MORE: Best hitters on the market | Time for Yankees, Phillies to sell “I haven’t heard anything about moving Yasiel,” Walter said. “I don’t think we want to do that. He has a lot of potential.” Perhaps Walter is just maintaining a good poker face, because virtually everyone in the baseball world thinks a deal involving Puig is in the works....