Braves: Second baseman Ozzie Albies was activated Friday by the Braves ahead of a weekend series against the Guardians, matching the teams with the two best records in the major leagues. Albies returned from the 10-day injured list on schedule after going down with a fractured right big toe. He was hit on his foot by a curveball from Houston rookie Spencer Arrighetti in a Braves victory April 15. Albies remained in the game, not realizing he was injured until he took off his shoe. Luis Guillorme and David Fletcher shared playing time at second base while Albies was out. The Braves went 7-1 during that time to improve to 17-6, the top mark in baseball. Still, the team was eager for the return of Albies, a 27-year-old, three-time All-Star who was hitting .317 with two home runs and 14 RBIs. Fletcher was outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett.

Royals: Seth Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings and the Royals won their fourth straight game, beating the Tigers 8-0 on Friday. Lugo (4-1) allowed three singles and matched a career high with nine strikeouts in a game played at 1:10 pm due to the NFL draft festivities in downtown Detroit on Friday evening. “Being aggressive is always part of my plan, but I just had really good fastball command,” he said. “They took some early swings that gave me an idea of what their approach was going to be throughout the game.” Tigers starter Reese Olson (0-4) allowed one run on three hits and three walks in seven innings, striking out eight. The Royals led 1-0 before scoring seven runs in the ninth inning. “Lugo is a throwback to the guys who pitched, moved the ball around and changed speeds,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. With one out in the third, Adam Frazier and Kyle Isbel singled before Maikel Garcia walked to load the bases for the Royals. Bobby Witt Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to center. The Tigers thought they had the lead in the bottom of the third, but Frazier reached over the right-field fence to rob Parker Meadows of a home run before doubling Javier Báez off first. “I just tried to get back there with some space to jump,” Frazier said.

Athletics: Mason Miller retired Aaron Judge with a runner on for his first four-out save, and the Athletics beat the Yankees 3-1 Thursday night for a four-game split. Nick Allen and Tyler Nevin homered in the third inning off Nestor Cortes (1-2), and Alex Wood (1-2) escaped bases-loaded trouble in the first and fourth innings. The Yankees were 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position, stranded 11 runners and outhit Oakland 11-6. Miller, a 25-year-old right-hander, relieved T.J. McFarland with a runner on first in the eighth and struck out Jose Trevino on a 101.3 mph fastball. He got Oswaldo Cabrera to take a called third strike starting the ninth, allowed a hard-hit infield single to Anthony Volpe, then struck out Juan Soto on a 101.9 pitch. “To see somebody get on base in the ninth, it got a little loud so the adrenaline started pumping a little bit, but I quickly quieted it down with a strikeout,” Miller said.