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Jason Mackey: Home Run Derby was fun. Now it's on Oneil Cruz and the Pirates to truly take the next step.

Sports / Baseball /

PITTSBURGH — In addition to hot dogs, rain delays or keeping score, an essential part of baseball has always been appreciating nuance, a swift baserunning decision or keeping the double play in order, a smart sequence of pitches or a solid two-strike approach.

We've lost our appreciative and understanding minds when it comes to Oneil Cruz.

...Read more

PAUL KITAGAKI JR./The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Serafini convicted of murdering father-in-law

Sports / Baseball /

Former MLB pitcher Dan Serafini was convicted Monday of murdering his father-in-law and attempting to murder his mother-in-law in 2021.

Serafini, 51, fatally shot Gary Spohr and seriously wounded Wendy Wood after breaking into their home in North Lake Tahoe, Calif., on June 5, 2021. Spohr, 70, and Wood, 68, were the parents of Serafini’s wife...Read more

Luis Santana/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Commissioner Rob Manfred weighs in on possible playoff site for Rays

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — If the Rays make the playoffs, they now know where they will play home games: at Steinbrenner Field.

Major League Baseball has decided the Rays will get to remain in their interim home despite the small capacity, which has been 10,046 during the regular season.

“Our rule has always been that people play in their home stadiums ...Read more

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Rob Manfred: MLB won't cancel the 2028 All-Star Game for the Olympics

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — Major League Baseball will not cancel its 2028 All-Star Game in order to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics, Commissioner Rob Manfred said Tuesday.

Manfred said representatives of the league and LA28 met Monday, with both sides hoping to work toward an agreement in which major leaguers would play in the Olympics. MLB has ...Read more

Monica Herndon/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Marcus Hayes: Draft picks Gage Wood and Cade Obermueller should be in the Phillies bullpen by September

Sports / Baseball /

PHILADELPHIA — Eighteen days before the trade deadline, the Phillies might have resolved their bullpen crisis.

They took right-handed fireballer Gage Wood, the kid who threw a no-hitter for Arkansas in the College World Series, in the first round of the MLB draft.

They then took left-handed sling-shooter Cade Obermueller, Wes Obermueller’s...Read more

Jamie Squire/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bill Shaikin: Why it makes sense the Angels picked Tyler Bremner at No. 2 in MLB draft

Sports / Baseball /

LOS ANGELES — The name was a surprise, but the pick should not have been.

The bromide about teams picking the best available player rather than drafting for need does not apply to the Angels, at least not in the Perry Minasian era. The Angels' front office must try to win now, with an ownership that does not believe in rebuilding, and without...Read more

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images North America/TNS

Cal Raleigh's magical season continues with Home Run Derby win

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, whose home run total has been the talk of Major League Baseball, had a power surge when it mattered most in the opening round of the Home Run Derby, propelling him to the championship.

After surviving a real chance of getting knocked out in the opening round, Raleigh cruised through the ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Agent: Julio Urías has 'every intention to continue his career'

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — The suspension of former Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías ends Wednesday. The next day, Major League Baseball will remove him from its restricted list, and any team that wishes to sign him can do so.

Scott Boras, the agent for Urías, said the pitcher — the only player suspended twice for violating baseball's policy on ...Read more

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Bryan Woo, Mariners' 'guy this year' hopes to throw to Cal Raleigh in All-Star Game

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — What a difference a year has made for Seattle Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo, an All-Star for the first time in Tuesday's game at Truist Park after having one of the best first halves of any pitcher in baseball.

Woo is among the American League leaders in several pitching categories, ranking tied for first (with Houston's Framber Valdez...Read more

Patrick McDermott/Getty Images North America/TNS

Jacob Misiorowski is the talk of the All-Star Game. Why Dodgers are partially to thank.

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — Seven days ago, Jacob Misiorowski was really only known by the most die-hard of baseball fans.

And even then, he was far from any sort of household commodity.

"I don't even know who I'm pitching against," future Hall of Fame Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said last week, a day before squaring off against the Milwaukee ...Read more

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Dylan Hernández: MLB can't afford to miss out on Shohei Ohtani vs. Aaron Judge in Home Run Derby

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — Major League Baseball will present its annual Home Run Derby on Monday night, and Shohei Ohtani isn't on the list of scheduled participants.

Aaron Judge isn't either.

A home run contest without baseball's two most famous home-run hitters?

What's the point?

Ohtani pointed to the contest's physical demands as to why he didn't ...Read more

Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Stuart Sternberg to sell Rays to group led by Jacksonville developer, report says

Sports / Baseball /

TAMPA, Fla. — The sale of the Tampa Bay Rays from Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski remains on track to be consummated. The Athletic reported Monday there was an agreement in principle and the deal could be completed as soon as September.

Zalupski, a Jacksonville-based developer, struck a deal with Sternberg to buy the Tampa...Read more

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Jazz Chisholm Jr. can make more Yankees history at Home Run Derby

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — Jazz Chisholm Jr. has a chance to join an illustrious list of Yankees at Monday night’s Home Run Derby.

The slugging second baseman seeks to become the fifth Yankee to win MLB’s annual All-Star power exhibition, following in the footsteps of Tino Martinez (1997), Jason Giambi (2002), Robinson Cano (2011) and Aaron Judge (2017)....Read more

Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Paul Sullivan: Reunion weekend offers relief to die-hard White Sox fans tired of rebuilds

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — Minutes before Mark Buehrle’s statue dedication ceremony Friday in the right field concourse at White Sox Park, a ballpark employee with a cart containing four kegs of beer tried to make his way through the gridlocked crowd awaiting the unveiling.

He stopped when he reached an area reserved for members of the 2005 team, failing to...Read more

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Cubs win series against the Yankees to head into All-Star break with the NL's 2nd-best record

Sports / Baseball /

NEW YORK — Shota Imanaga never seems fazed by road environments.

Yankee Stadium became the latest site of the Chicago Cubs lefty’s dominance.

On the heels of Matthew Boyd’s eight shutout innings in Saturday’s win, Imanaga delivered another stellar performance from a Cubs starter by holding the New York Yankees to one run and two hits ...Read more

Jason Getz/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Ken Sugiura: As Truist Park revels in All-Star glow, has it been worth it for Atlanta?

Sports / Baseball /

ATLANTA — Eight years after its opening, the Braves get to show off Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta to the baseball world.

Hosting Tuesday’s All-Star Game “puts us in a position of great pride and joy, because we now get to welcome the entire baseball world to town to see what we’ve built and what we’ve accomplished and let them ...Read more

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Jim Souhan: Twins' Byron Buxton has had a 13-year journey to stardom

Sports / Baseball /

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins made Byron Buxton the second pick in the 2012 amateur draft, right after the Houston Astros selected Carlos Correa. Thirteen years later, Buxton is performing like the everyday superstar the Twins hoped he would be.

Because the big-league Twins were inept and Buxton was their primary reason for hope, starting...Read more

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Cardinals weather rain delays, receive go-ahead homer from Jose Fermin to beat Braves

Sports / Baseball /

ST. LOUIS — On a soggy Sunday in downtown St. Louis that forced two rain delays and kept a sparse crowd of fans late enough at Busch Stadium to cheer on the Cardinals’ first-round selection in this year’s MLB draft, the Cardinals swung their way to a win before heading into the All-Star break.

A fifth-inning swing from Willson Contreras ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

White Sox head into the All-Star break a season-high 33 games under .500 with loss to Guardians

Sports / Baseball /

CHICAGO — Several first-half themes played out on Sunday for the Chicago White Sox.

There were mistakes, like pitcher Aaron Civale failing to cover first base on a potential ending-inning double play. That kept the sixth inning alive for the Cleveland Guardians, and Kyle Manzardo followed with a go-ahead three-run home run.

The Sox showed ...Read more

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J.T. Realmuto's double knocks in the decisive run as Phillies salvage third game of series with Padres

Sports / Baseball /

SAN DIEGO — For the first two games of the series, the Phillies could not figure out the Padres bullpen.

The six runs they’d scored across Friday and Saturday’s losses had all come against San Diego’s starters. But after Sunday starter Nick Pivetta walked off the mound with two outs in the seventh, the score tied at 1, the Phillies ...Read more