Unusual MLB season creates ‘really unique’ trade deadlineVideo
MILWAUKEE — The unusual circumstances surrounding the abbreviated baseball season are creating plenty of questions for teams looking to upgrade their rosters before Monday’s trade deadline. The expanded playoff format reduces the number of teams eager to write off the season and make moves aimed at the future. The lack...
Cal Ripken says he’s cancer free after March surgery
Cal Ripken Jr. revealed Thursday he is cancer free after surgery in March to remove a tumor from his prostate. Known as “The Iron Man” for his record streak of playing in 2,632 consecutive games, the Hall of Famer for the Baltimore Orioles was diagnosed with cancer in February. He...
Thom Brennaman leaves Reds broadcast after on-air gay slur
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman used an anti-gay slur on air during Cincinnati’s game Wednesday night and later left the broadcast after apologizing. Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning...
Knee injury ends year for Astros’ Yordan Alvarez, 2019’s top rookie
DENVER — Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, last season’s AL Rookie of the Year, will miss the rest of the season because of a partially torn right patellar tendon that requires surgery, manager Dusty Baker said Wednesday. Alvarez hit 27 homers in 313 at-bats last season but appeared in...
Mark Madden: Baseball’s old-school, unwritten rules handcuff game
Taylor Twellman made 30 appearances for the U.S. men’s national soccer team and now analyzes that sport for ESPN. But he might understand baseball better than soccer. “(Baseball) is exhausting and so self-righteous, it drives young fans away,” he said. That’s right on the money, and it’s what Twellman tweeted...
Rays’ 2-way player McKay to have season-ending surgeryVideo
NEW YORK — Tampa Bay Rays two-way rookie Brendan McKay will have season-ending surgery on his left throwing shoulder Wednesday. The 24-year-old McKay, a Blackhawk graduate, tested positive for the coronavirus in early July and missed most of the club’s preseason camp. He was cleared to resume activities July 31...
Reds-Royals postponed due to covid-19; doubleheader on deck
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The game between Cincinnati and Kansas City scheduled for Tuesday will be played as part of a doubleheader Wednesday so that the Reds can do additional testing after a player tested positive for covid-19 over the weekend. Players, coaches and other members of the Reds organization...
Nats 2B Luis Garcia 1st player born in 2000s to hit homer
ATLANTA — Luis Garcia of the Washington Nationals became the first player born in the 2000s to hit a homer in the big leagues. The 20-year-old second baseman made history with a two-run shot into the right-field seats off Atlanta’s Touki Toussaint in the second inning. The youngest player in...
Cardinals RHP Ramirez becomes 1st pitcher to allow 4 straight HRs in major league debutVideo
CHICAGO — St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez became the first pitcher to allow four straight home runs in his major league debut when the Chicago White Sox hit him around in the fifth inning Sunday. Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez connected during a six-run inning,...
Cardinals beat White Sox in 1st game since team’s coronavirus outbreakVideo
CHICAGO (AP) — Adam Wainwright said it was just another start. Well, that was what he told himself anyway. Wainwright pitched five effective innings and Dexter Fowler had a key two-run single, helping St. Louis beat the Chicago White Sox 5-1 on Saturday in the Cardinals’ return from a coronavirus...
Former Pirate, WPIAL star Neil Walker dusts off skills in emergency MLB pitching debut
Neil Walker completed his WPIAL career at Pine-Richland High School as one of the best athletes in Western Pennsylvania history. He was a three-sport star with the Rams (football, baseball, basketball), playing multiple positions along the way. Walker emerged as one of the best baseball prospects in the country as...
Indians keeping pitchers Mike Clevinger, Zach Plesac away after violationsVideo
CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians went a step further than just putting Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac into quarantine. They’ve been sent away from the team, and it’s not known when they’ll be back. Cleveland placed the two starting pitchers on the restricted list after the right-handers broke team rules...
MLB gives Astros coach 20-game suspension, Laureano 6 for roles in brawlVideo
OAKLAND, Calif. — Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron received a 20-game suspension and a fine for his role in a benches-clearing brawl at Oakland, MLB announced Tuesday. Cintron’s suspension is the longest for an on-field transgression in 15 years, since Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers received 20 games for his...
AP study: MLB average salary under $1.3M; Max Scherzer tops list
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball’s eye-popping salaries took an astonishing dive during the coronavirus pandemic to their lowest level in nearly a quarter-century, according to a study by The Associated Press. Washington pitcher Max Scherzer topped the shortened season’s list at $17.8 million, his income partially protected by a...
First Call: Steelers facing 2021 cap trauma. Will Flyers win the Stanley Cup? MLB brawl.
Monday’s “First Call” profiles an ugly situation for the Steelers salary cap. We also get some fantasy football insight on JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Conner. Plus, we’ll show you a baseball brawl. The Flyers are in prime position to end a 45-year Stanley Cup drought. And questions remain about Marc-Andre...
Entire Cubs-Cardinals series postponed after more positive tests
ST. LOUIS — The entire three-game series between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis at Busch Stadium was postponed Friday night after two more Cardinals players and a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus. Major League Baseball announced that the whole weekend set was off. Hours earlier, MLB said...
First Call: Pitt, Notre Dame ACC odds, Big Ten coaches exchange barbs, Gerrit Cole vs. Tyler Glasnow
Friday’s “First Call” gives us gambling odds for Pitt football in the ACC. And for Notre Dame, too. We also try to scout the Pittsburgh Pirates’ next opponent. A pair of former Pirates pitchers square off this weekend. And an epic Big Ten rivalry just got more salty. Irish odds...
Fantasy Sports: Which Pirates player may heat up? Early NHL, NBA trends. Warnings about Rob Gronkowski?
Fantasy sports aren’t all about regular-season baseball and football. Jeff Erickson and I start this week’s fantasy sports podcast talking about results in the two “bubble sports,” as the NBA and NHL are underway in Orlando, Toronto, and Edmonton. In the hockey playoffs, Evgeni Malkin is off to a slow...
MLB tightening virus protocols, including masks in dugouts
NEW YORK — Major League Baseball is cracking down on coronavirus safety protocols, mandating that players and staff wear face coverings at all times, including in the dugouts and bullpens, except for players on the field of play. The league sent a memo to teams Wednesday outlining changes to its...
First Call: Judge scorns Antonio Brown; former Steeler opts out of season; Austin Meadows returns
Wednesday’s “First Call” recaps a tough day on the legal front for former Steeler Antonio Brown. Another former Steeler is opting out of 2020’s season because of coronavirus concerns. And Austin Meadows makes an impact in his return for the Tampa Bay Rays. Gavel comes down on Antonio Brown The...
Mike Trout rejoins Angels, calls for daily coronavirus testingVideo
Mike Trout remains skeptical about the wisdom of completing the full baseball season amid the coronavirus outbreak, and the Los Angeles Angels’ three-time AL MVP would like to see the addition of daily testing to the sport’s safety measures. Trout spoke Tuesday after rejoining the Angels in Seattle following the...
Virus-stricken Marlins resume season with 18 new playersVideo
MIAMI — Scrambling for replacements following a coronavirus outbreak, the Miami Marlins added a Moran, a Morin, two pitchers named Josh Smith and a former Olympic medalist in speedskating. Also among the 18 players joining the Marlins’ 30-man roster as they resumed their virus-disrupted season in Baltimore on Tuesday night...
Cardinals’ Yadier Molina says he tested positive for covid-19
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina says he’s one of the players on the team who tested positive for covid-19. The nine-time All-Star revealed his results Tuesday in a Spanish-language Instagram post. Soon afterward, the Cardinals issued a release naming six of the players who have tested...
Angels’ Shohei Ohtani won’t throw for 4-6 weeksVideo
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Shohei Ohtani has a right forearm strain that will prevent the Los Angeles Angels’ two-way star from throwing for at least four to six weeks, possibly ending his season as a pitcher after just two starts. Angels general manager Billy Eppler announced Monday that Ohtani “has a...
MLB’s ‘Field of Dreams’ game postponed to 2021Video
NEW YORK — MLB’s “Field of Dreams game“ in Iowa was postponed until 2021 because of the novel coronavirus. The game at a newly constructed ballpark on the cornfield adjacent to the site of the 1989 movie had been scheduled for Aug. 13 in Dyersville. The Chicago White Sox originally...
