NEW YORK — Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended for 10 games by Major League Baseball on Thursday following his ejection for having a foreign substance on his hand during a game.
Scherzer initially appealed the suspension but dropped his appeal hours later. In exchange, his fine was reduced from $10,000 to $5,000, according to a person familiar with negotiations between MLB and the players’ union. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement hadn’t been announced.
He became the third pitcher suspended by MLB since the crackdown on sticky substances started in June 2021. Seattle’s Héctor Santiago was penalized that June 28 and Arizona’s Caleb Smith that Aug. 24, also 10-game penalties.
All three inspections that led to suspensions involved umpire Phil Cuzzi.
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, was ejected on Wednesday during the fourth inning of a game at Dodger Stadium. He claimed the stickiness was caused by rosin and sweat and not by a foreign substance.
Cuzzi determined after the second inning that Scherzer’s hand was stickier and darker than normal and ordered Scherzer to wash his hand, which Scherzer said he did with alcohol while a Major League Baseball official watched.
After the third inning, Cuzzi then determined the pocket of Scherzer’s glove was “sticky,” likely with too much rosin, and he ordered Scherzer to change gloves. The umpires then checked the 38-year-old right-hander again before the fourth, and his hands were even worse than before.
“No one can explain what is too sticky,” Scherzer’s agent, Scott Boras, said in a statement. “There are no units of stickiness to quantify. How do you appropriately enforce? MLB attempts to level the playing field by using standards that are not measurable. Further one umpire has a stickiness standard that is different than all other umpires.
“Under this standard, players are not given due process of how to use a approved substance provided by the league, This reminds me of local wine taster — he likes what likes.”
ATHLETICS: The Oakland Athletics have signed a binding agreement to purchase land for a new retractable roof ballpark in Las Vegas after being unable to build a new venue in the Bay Area.
Team president Dave Kaval said Wednesday night the team finalized a deal last week to buy the 49-acre site where the A’s plan to build the stadium close to the Las Vegas Strip with a seating capacity of 30,000 to 35,000.
The A’s will work with Nevada and Clark County on a public-private partnership to fund the stadium. Kaval said the A’s hope to break ground by next year and would hope to be move to their new home by 2027.
“It’s obviously a very big milestone for us,” Kaval said. “We spent almost two years working in Las Vegas to try to determine a location that works for a long-term home. To identify a site and have a purchase agreement is a big step.”
The A’s had been looking for a new home for years to replace the outdated and run-down Oakland Coliseum, where the team has played since arriving from Kansas City for the 1968 season. They had sought to build a stadium in Fremont and San Jose before shifting their attention to the Oakland waterfront.
Las Vegas would be the fourth home for a franchise that started as the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901-54.
“We’re turning our full attention to Las Vegas,” Kaval said. “We were on parallel paths before. But we’re focused really on Las Vegas as our path to find a future home for the A’s.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred said in December the A’s would not have to pay a relocation fee if the team moved to Las Vegas.
“We’re past any reasonable timeline for the situation in Oakland to be resolved,” Manfred said then.
Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said in a statement that she was disappointed the A’s didn’t negotiate with the city as a “true partner.”
The A’s lease at the Coliseum expires after the 2024 season. The A’s has struggled to draw fans to the Coliseum in recent years as owner John Fisher has slashed payroll and many of the team’s most recognizable stars have been traded away.
YANKEES: Sidelined with injuries for the 11th time in 14 seasons, Giancarlo Stanton is openly frustrated.
“It’s unacceptable this often,” he said five days after straining his left hamstring during a game against the Minnesota Twins. “The team relies on me and I can’t have this continue to happen and put us in a tough spot … it’s my duty and responsibility to be out there.”
Stanton was hurt Saturday while pulling into second base with a two-run double in the seventh inning and went on the injured list the following day. Yankees Manager Aaron Boone estimated Stanton will be sidelined for six weeks.
A five-time All-Star, the 33-year-old has been on the injured list or disabled list seven times in five seasons with the Yankees.
Stanton missed 223 of 546 games in the previous four seasons because of a strained right biceps and strained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee (2019), strained left hamstring (2020), strained left quadriceps (2021) and right ankle inflammation and left Achilles tendinitis (2022).
ANGELS: Manager Phil Nevin had never been ejected twice from the same game. Until Wednesday.
In the ninth inning with the score tied at 2 on Wednesday, Mike Trout was called out on a full-count checked swing by first base ump Will Little, stranding two.
Nevin emerged from the Angels dugout to yell and point at Little. He was tossed, but continued past the foul line to approach Little and was thrown out again by plate umpire Lance Barksdale.
Nevin said he told Barksdale he already had been tossed, “Just to let you know.”
The umpire responded, “Oh, I’m sorry,” according to Nevin.
DIAMONDBACKS: The Arizona Diamondbacks have designated four-time All-Star Madison Bumgarner for assignment following his latest shaky start.
The move takes Bumgarner off the team’s 40-man roster and leaves Arizona seven days to trade the 2014 World Series MVP or else place him on outright waivers. The Diamondbacks announced the move a day after Bumgarner allowed seven runs in three innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.
The big left-hander hasn’t lived up to expectations in the desert since signing a five-year, $85 million deal in 2020. A postseason hero for San Francisco, he has gone 15-32 with a 5.23 ERA in 69 starts and is having his worst season with Arizona.
The 33-year-old has allowed at least five runs in three of his four starts and dropped to 1-3 with a 10.26 ERA after his latest blowup in St. Louis.
DODGERS: The Los Angeles Dodgers activated outfielder Mookie Betts from the paternity list and recalled right-hander Andre Jackson from Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Right-hander Evan Phillips was placed on the paternity list, and infielder Yonny Hernández was optioned to the team’s top farm club.
Betts’ wife gave birth to their second child Tuesday. He missed two games before rejoining the Dodgers ahead of a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
WHITE SOX: Closer Liam Hendriks says he is in remission from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Hendriks announced on Instagram that he is cancer-free. He posted several videos and photos documenting his treatment with this caption: “How It Started VS How It’s Going…. REMISSION. It’s official. I’m cancer free.”
Hendriks announced his diagnosis in January and completed his final round of chemotherapy two weeks ago.
A three-time All-Star, Hendriks was third in the majors with 37 saves and made his third All-Star team last season. The Australian led the AL with a career-high 38 saves in 2021, after leaving Oakland to sign a $54 million, three-year contract with the White Sox.
Hendriks has 115 saves and a 3.81 ERA over 12 seasons with Minnesota, Toronto, Kansas City, Oakland and Chicago.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
YANKEES 9, ANGELS 3: Nestor Cortes kept Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout off the bases, Jose Trevino hit a three-run double in a five-run first inning and New York beat visiting beat Los Angeles to take 2 of 3.
Ohtani and Trout each went 0 for 3 against Cortes.
Ohtani walked against Wandy Peralta with two outs in the seventh and Trout followed with an infield single that second baseman Oswald Peraza knocked down on the center field grass. Anthony Rendon, still without a home run this season, stranded the bases loaded with a flyout.
Aaron Judge singled to help spark the first-inning rally.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa made a pair of diving catches in center and hit a two-run single in a three-run seventh, and Anthony Rizzo went 3 for 3 with a pair of walks, raising his average to .344.
New York has won five of its first six series along with a four-game split against Minnesota, just the third time since 1957 the Yankees didn’t lose any of their first six series and first time since 2003. The Yankees improved to 10-0 this year when facing a series loss.
PIRATES 4, REDS 3: Connor Joe and Jack Suwinski hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, Roansy Contreras took a shutout into the seventh and Pittsburgh beat visiting Cincinnati.
ROCKIES 5, PHILLIES 0: Ryan Feltner tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings, C.J. Cron homered and visiting Colorado snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Justin Lawrence struck out four in 2 1/3 strong relief innings and Pierce Johnson tossed a scoreless ninth to complete the shutout.
Mike Moustakas had an RBI double for the Rockies, who rebounded from getting shelled in a three-game sweep by the Pirates at home in which Pittsburgh outscored the Rockies 33-9 while accumulating 43 hits.
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