Cueto’s strong start lead Giants past Phillies 5-3

San Francisco pitcher Johnny Cueto delivers a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies line up in the first inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Fri Jun 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

by Marko Ukalovic

SAN FRANCISCO—Johnny Cuteo is starting look like his old self.

The veteran right handed pitcher made an impressive start, pitching six solid innings as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 in the opening game a three-game series on Friday evening at Oracle Park.

The Giants have five games in a row and have baseball’s best record at 45-25. They are 20 games over .500 for the first time this season. The Phillies dropped a game under .500 with the loss and sit four and half games behind the New York Mets in second place in the NL East.

It wasn’t exactly how Cuteto wanted to begin the game when he gave up a lead off home run to Phillies centerfielder Odubel Herrera on the fourth pitch of the ballgame. Bryce Harper thought he had the Phillies third consecutive hit of the first inning, only to have Brandon Crawford gobble up a hard shot up the middle that ended in a 6-4-3 double play.

Cueto settled down after the first inning. He only gave up four more hits the rest of the way as he finished with five strikeouts and no walks in just 94 pitches.

“He’s always a strike thrower,” said Giants manager Gabe Kapler of Cueto. “He pitched to contact. He’s not scared of that contact. He was able to go six innings (tonight) in large part because his defense played well behind him.”

The Giants rallied in the bottom of the second for three runs to take the lead. Two doubles, a single, a wild pitch and a pass ball were the recipe needed as Phillies starter Vince Velasquez was a bit wild during the long inning.

Andrew McCutchen tied the game in the top of the fourth when hit his 12th home run of the season in the fourth inning after a bloop single by Bryce Harper.

“I feel that with every outing I’m improving,” said Cueto. “I think with every outing, I feel better and that’s how I want to keep it going.”

That was all the Phillies offense was able to generate off Giants pitching the rest of the evening. Dominic Leone and Tyler Rogers pitched a perfect seventh and eight inning. Jake McGee put the nail in the coffin in the 9th inning to pick up his 14th save in 16 chances.

The Giants tacked on singles runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Lamont Wade Jr. had a good evening with the bat as he went 2-3 with 2 RBI, including a triple that scored Cueto, which was entertaining in itself as he threw off his helmet before second base and ran like his life depended on it, who walked right before Wade Jr’s deep shot to centerfield that just eluded the reach of Herrera.

“I just want to be productive right now. I’m going to keep working, keep grinding. I just want to stay consistent and help this team win ball games,” Wade Jr. said.

Brandon Belt, who is on a hot streak, hit his 10th home run in the fifth inning to complete the game’s scoring. He is the third Giant to have double-digit home runs this season.

GAME NOTES: Cueto has surrendered eight home runs on the season. He is now in a three-way tie with Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood for the team lead.

Cueto also slipped and fell after throwing a pitch in the third inning. He was more embarrassed than injured on the play as he smiled after getting up and dusting himself off.

All three games of the series are being broadcasted on the Peacock Network Streaming service. This is the first time the Giants have been on NBC Universal’s streaming service.

The announced attendance was 16,157.

UP NEXT: The Giants and Phillies battle it out again in game two on Saturday 6/19 at 1:05pm at Oracle Park. Alex Wood vs Aaron Nola is the pitching matchup.

Kaprielian haunts Yanks in Bronx return; Kemp and Olson supply the Big Fly in A’s 5-3 win

The Oakland A’s starter James Kaprielian delivers to the New York Yankees line up at Yankees Stadium in first inning on Fri Jun 18, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jessica Kwong

NEW YORK–The Oakland A’s beat the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium 5-3 on Friday night to extend the longest active winning streak in the league to seven games.

Tony Kemp hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning that put the A’s up 5-3 and neither team scored after that. Oakland (44-27) is now a season-high 17 games over .500.

A’s right-handed pitcher James Kaprielian got his revenge on the Yankees team that traded him along with two other players back in 2017. Kaprielian struck out two in his first inning. He retired his first eight batters before walking Brett Gardner. Kaprielian allowed only three hits and seven punchouts in 5 2/3 innings.

In the first inning, Matt Olson homered on a fly ball to right field to put the A’s up 1-0. Mark In the third, Canha singled on a ground ball to center fielder Brett Gardner and Elvis Andrus scored and gave the A’s a 2-0 lead. DJ LeMahieu hit a home run on a line drive to right center field allowing Gardner to score and tying the game at 2-2.

In the fifth inning, Rougned Odor hit a home run on a fly ball to center field to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. That was one of Kaprielian’s mistakes.

But in the sixth inning, Tony Kemp hit a 2-2 slider from lefty Wandy Peralta for a three-run homer with Matt Chapman and Sean Murphy scoring to put the A’s back up 5-3.

Yankees starting pitcher James Taillon did not get through the fifth inning. He allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings and was pulled after only 76 pitches.

A crowd of 24,037 attended Yankee Stadium, which was back to full capacity for the first time since the pre-pandemic times.

“That’s what we been waiting for,” Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge said. “Since the start of 2020, playing in this stadium with no fans, they played the fake crowd noise, but that doesn’t compare, not even close, to what a packed house at Yankee Stadium any night brings.”

Oakland started their 10-game road trip 1-0 and improved to 19-9 on the road.

First pitch for game 2 of the three-game series is at 10:05 a.m. —

Post game Oakland A’s commentary: Oakland Celebrates Seventh Win In A Row

The Oakland A’s Tony Kemp (5) looks heavenward as the A’s line up for the conga congratulations line behind Kemp after defeating the New York Yankees at Yankees Stadium New York (AP News photo)

Post game Oakland A’s commentary: Oakland Celebrates Seventh Win In A Row

By Barbara Mason

With Game One in the books it is on to Game Two of this series.  The A’s continue to breathe fire and the Yankees continue with the ups and downs they have suffered this season.  Oakland continues to string together those hits and homeruns.  

While slugger Matt Olson had a home run in the first inning it was the bomb by Tony Kemp in the sixth inning with two runners on base that sealed the deal for Oakland.

 
In Game Two of this series the A’s will be lookingfor Chris Bassitt to bring home their eighth straightwin.  Bassitt has been having a great season witha record of 7-2 and an ERA of 3.43.  This guy hasbeen sensational allowing four runs or fewer in eachof his past twenty-five starts over the past two years.

This is the longest streak since Dave Hamilton’s streak in the 70’s.  He is really making some waves as Oakland continue to ride the wave.  

The Yankees will have Domingo German starting in Game Two.  He was having a great run of success until that came to an end at the hands of Philadelphia this past Sunday.   In this game he took his first loss since May 27 giving up seven runs on ten hits. He has a 6.05 ERA in four career starts against Oakland.

 Tomorrow the stands are again expected to be packed with full capacity allowed.  It has been agreat thing for not only in-person fans but also adds so much excitement for TV viewers.

 Nothing beats the sights and sounds of a live baseball game and with no masks required it is as normal as we have seen in several seasons.

The starting pitching certainly indicates an edge for the Green and Gold and possibly a second win for Oakland in this series.  Will the Oakland A’s win their eighth game in a row?   Tune in to Sports California for first pitch at 10:05.        

San Francisco Giants podcast with Michael Duca: Cueto gets the call, as Giants open series against Philadelphia tonight

San Francisco Giants starter Johnny Cueto gets the call on tonight against Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Vince Velasquez at Oracle Park in San Francisco to open up a three game series (AP News file photo)

Giants podcast with Michael:

#1 The San Francisco Giants (43-25) swept a four game series with the Arizona Diamondbacks (20-49) which part of glass half full and half empty scenario do you look back at in the series, the Giants benefited by keeping ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the standings by 2.5 games or just taking advantaged of a bad team who set the all time road loss record?

#2 The Diamondbacks broke a decades old record that was held by the 1963 New York Mets and the 1943 Philadelphia Athletics which only could mean a lot of bad pitching, no hitting got them this far like the Mets and A’s teams of those eras.

#3 The Giants on the other hand looked like they were more like in the batting cage rather than playing a regulation game with an accumulated 54 hits for the four game series and no signs of showing the mercy rule.

#4 Talk about the three touted Diamondbacks who will most likely be part of the Arizona fire sale, Eduardo Escobar .241, Ketel Marte .341, and Madison Bumgarner 4-5 ERA 5.73.

#5 The Giants open up a three game series starting Friday night with the Philadelphia Phillies who will start Vince Velasquez (2-1 ERA 4.25) and for the Giants Johnny Cueto (4-3 ERA 4.00) break down this pitching match for tonight?

Join Michael Duca for the San Francisco Giants podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s podcast with Lewis Rubman: A’s battle Yankees for 3 game series in the Bronx tonight

Oakland A’s starter James Kaprielian will get the start against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Friday night. Here Kaprielian is seen throwing against the Kansas City Royals on Jun 12, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Lewis Rubman for Jeremiah Salmonson:

#1 Lewis the Oakland A’s (43-27) are coming off a sweep against the Los Angeles Angels (33-35) in three games at the Oakland Coliseum the A’s bullpen did a good job holding off the Angels in the series.

#2 You can never keep a good man down the Angels Shohei Ohtani who didn’t pitch in the series against the A’s got a rip on the A’s for his 19th home run on Wednesday. Ohtani is now second in the American League in home runs right behind the Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero who has 21 homers.

#3 In a number of wins for the A’s this season they’ve had clustered runs for big rallies Wednesday was no different when the A’s scored six runs in the sixth inning for insurance runs as they were down 4-2 before the rally.

#4 A’s starter Cole Irvin who gave up four earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched had to be relieved as the A’s got the six inning rally and the bullpen held the Angels off.

#5 The A’s open up a three game series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium tonight for the A’s James Kaprielian (3-1 ERA 2.51) and for the Yankees Jameson Tallion (1-4 ERA 5.74) Lewis set this series up for us.

Lewis was filling in for Jeremiah for the A’s podcast listen to Jeremiah each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland A’s Commentary with Barbara Mason: A’s on roll Yankees a good test

The Oakland A’s Ramon Laureano is back in the line up and look for him to make more of these exciting plays such as his over the fence fourth inning catch of the Los Angeles Angels Justin Upton at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jun 16, 2021 as Laureano and the A’s open a three game series in New York Fri Jun 18, 2021 (San Francisco Chronicle photo)

Athletics VS Yankees—The Series—Game One

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s are probably playing the best baseball that we have seen them play this entire season. They have now won six games in a row, the latest a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels who were red hot coming into the series. The A’s cooled off the Angels in all three games, in fact the Angels weren’t quite sure what hit them. Stringing together hits, home runs coupled with remarkable defensive play rendered the Angels relatively ineffective.

Now we have the long anticipated series between the Oakland A’s and the New York Yankees this weekend. Whether it is played in Oakland or in Yankee Stadium it is without doubt one of the most popular series played all season.

The good news for the A’s is that they are playing even better baseball on the road than they are playing at home. After Oakland’s last two series at home it’s really hard to imagine what that would look like. Right now every player on this team is playing at an extremely high level not only offensively but defensively. The pitching; starters, relief pitching and closers have been sensational.

This Friday night Yankee Stadium will be rocking with the park open at full capacity, which is 46,537, for the series. This will be the biggest house that the Oakland A’s have played in front of since 2019. Since 2013 Oakland has seen some nice results as it pertains to the win column for the A’s vs Yankee series. This is of course a new season and we will find out if history will repeat itself tomorrow night in Game One.

Oakland’s James Kaprielian will take the mound for Game One and for the Yankee’s it will be Jameson Taillon who will get the nod. Kaprielian has had a great start with a 2.51 ERA though his first six games. He has proven to be tough against right-handed batters. He has held them to a .131 batting average which could mean trouble for New York. New York’s Taillon has a 5.74 ERA with a 1-4 record coming into this game.

When it comes to team leaders, Oakland’s biggest threat is Matt Olson who comes into this game with18 home runs. His batting average is .297 and he has 49 runs batted in. The Yankees have a threat of their in Aaron Judge with a batting average of .282 and 15 homeruns. He has brought in 36 runs. New York will be leaning heavily on him.

This series is bound to be a dandy because you never know what to expect from New York. They have had their struggles from time to time this season but have nicely recovered from those setbacks. First pitch is scheduled at 4:05 PT.

Preview Oakland A’s-New York Yankees: Yankees and Steinbrenner not paying luxury tax to get the players they need

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner is needless to say not very happy with the direction the Yankees have gone and the team has not been to the World Series since 2009. The Yankees are seven games back in the AL East (photo from nj.com)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (43-27) are off on Thursday. On Friday, they will play three games against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. After New York, the A’s play four against the Texas Rangers and finish the trip with three against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

The Yankees are 35-32 and are in third place in the AL Eastern Division, seven games behind the Tampa Bay Rays. Many people, press and fans alike, expected the Yankees to be the beasts in the East. The fans know the Yanks have not been to the World Series since 2009.

The drought is killing them. The Yankees’ front office, managerial staff, and players are feeling the wrath of the fans. People are questioning the decisions made by general manager Brian Cashman, manager Aaron Boone, and owner Hal Steinbrenner. The Yankees are the most valuable franchise in all of the sports. They are a money machine, yet Hal Steinbrenner seems not to want to pay the luxury tax to get the players they need.

The pitching matchups are set for the series. The A’s will send James Kaprielian to the hill Friday night. Kaprielian would love nothing better than send the Yanks down to defeat. New York sent Kaprielian to Oakland when they acquired Sonny Gray from the A’s.

James’ record is 3-1, and he has an ERA of 2.15. He has been especially tough on right-handed hitters, holding them to a .131 batting average. Righty Jameson Taillon (1-4, ERA 5.74) will pitch for New York on Friday night. On Saturday, Chris Bassitt will go for the A’s.

Bassitt is 7-2, with an ERA of 3.43. Bassitt has allowed four runs or fewer in each of his last 35 starts the past two seasons. Domingo Herman will go for the Yanks. Herman is 3-3, ERA 3.88. Sunday’s game will be a battle of lefties. Sean Manaea goes for Oakland.

Manaea is 6-2, ERA 2.99. Sean has allowed one run or less in nine of his last 14 starts. He is 1-0 in two career starts at Yankee Stadium. The big lefty has not allowed a run in 12 innings of work. Jordan Montgomery will pitch for the Yanks. Montgomery is 3-1, ERA 4.20.

The feared injury jinx has hit the Yankees hard. Righty Corey Kluber, who threw a no-hitter earlier in the season, is now on the 60-day IL. Lefty Justin Wilson is on the 10-day IL. Slugger Luke Voit has been on the 10-day IL and is almost done rehabbing his injury.

Centerfielder Aaron Hicks is out for the season. The Yankees will use Chris Gittens at first base. D J LeMahieu’s first two seasons with New York were fantastic.

He has a career .303 batting average and a .781 OPS. His numbers are way down this year. He is batting .262 with four homers and 19 RBIs. LeMahieu will be at second base. Glyber Torres will be at shortstop. Torres is having a tough time adjusting to the position.

He is better suited to play second base. He is hitting .263 with three homers and 23 RBIs. Gio Urshela will be at third base. Urshela is hitting .261 with seven round-trippers and 27 RBIs. Rougned Odor, the former Texas Ranger, and Tyler Wade can fill in if needed.

With the Aaron Hicks injury, the outfield has been a problem for New York. The Yankees will use Miguel Andujar or Clint Frazier in left. Frazier, finally getting an opportunity to play regularly, has not performed well. His batting average is an anemic .188. He has five home runs and 12 RBIs. Brett Gardner, now 37-years old, moved from left to center.

Brett is hitting .215 with two home runs and eight RBIs. The big man in the Yankee offense is Aaron Judge. Judge, 2017 Rookie of the Year with 52 homers, will be in right field. Judge, from Linden, California, has a .282 batting average to go along with 15 homers and 35 Ribbies. His OPS is .894. Judge is finally healthy. He has missed a lot of time over the last three seasons due to injury.

Giancarlo Stanton will be the Yankees’ DH Stanton was the NL MVP in 2017. The big guy blasted 59 homers that year. He joined the Yankees as a free agent in 2018. In 158 games that year, Stanton homered 38 times. He was injured in 2019 and 2020. In 2019 he hit three and four in 2020. This year, he has stayed healthy. So far, he is hitting .260 with 12 homers and 33 RBIs.

Gary Sanchez will handle most of the catching chores for New York. Sanchez has received a lot of criticism for his defensive work as a catcher. The Yanks have been working with him to improve. They keep him in the lineup as he is a threat to go deep at any time. Kyle Higashioka is the backup catcher.

The Yankees are 4-6 in their last ten games. They have won the last two over the Toronto Blue Jays. The teams are playing the third game of the set Thursday night in Buffalo, the temporary home of the Blue Jays.

Oakland is hot right now. The A’s were 8-1 on the last homestand. They have won six in a row. Ramon Laureano returned from a stint on the 10-day IL and led the team to an 8-4 win over the LA Angels Wednesday in Oakland. Laureano robbed Justin Upton of a home run in the fourth inning. He then hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fourth to get the A’s offense going. The A’s were trailing 4-0 when Laureano homered.

The A’s are hoping to continue playing well. Matt Chapman and Elvis Andrus appear to have snapped out of their early-season doldrums as they both come through with key hits. Mark Canha has been a steady presence all season long. Canha, in the leadoff spot, has shown a knack for getting on base.

He has a lot of pop in his bat, too. Matt Olson is leading the team in homers and RBIs. Other key contributors have been Laureano, Tony Kemp, Sean Murphy, Mitch Moreland, Seth Brown, and Stephen Piscotty. The A’s starting rotation has been solid, and the bullpen has come through many times this year.

Playing in New York has to be fun. The A’s want to do well to start the 10-game road trip. Let’s hope they win at least two of the three games.

Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Ramon does it all with glove and bat; Ohtani hits 19th for Angels

The Los Angeles Angels Shohei Ohtani goes deep for his 19th home run of the season against the Oakland A’s in the second inning on Wed Jun 16, 2021 at the Ring Central Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, The Oakland A’s (43-27) really did a job on the Los Angeles Angels (33-35) sweeping them at the Coliseum the A’s move up in the AL West standings three games over second place Houston.

#2 In Wednesday afternoon’s game a huge contribution from A’s centerfielder Ramon Laureano who made a great catch and hit a home run in his return off the injured list.

#3 The A’s piled it on in the sixth inning with six runs off Angels reliever Tony Watson who coughed up six earned runs on five hits.

#4 The A’s couldn’t contain the Angels star designated hitter Shohei Ohtani who slugged his 19th home run of the season on Wednesday and is second in the American League in home runs behind the Toronto Blue Jays Vladimir Guerrero who has 22.

#5 The A’s will open a three game series against the New York Yankees on Friday night at Yankees Stadium in the Bronx the A’s will be start James Kaprielian (3-1 ERA 2.51) the Yankees starter James Tallion (1-4 ERA 5.74).

Join Jerry each Thursday for the A’s podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Giants rout Diamondbacks 13-7 at Oracle Park

San Francisco Giants Buster Posey connects for a three run home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning as Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt watches at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Wed Jun 16, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The San Francisco Giants continued to torment the Arizona Diamondbacks Wednesday night at Oracle Park. The Giants won as they routed the Snakes 13-7. The Giants, having come back from a 7-0 deficit to beat Arizona 9-8 Tuesday night, continued to torment the hapless D-Backs. The Giants banged out 13 hits, including five more home runs to send the D-Backs down to their 13th loss in a row and the 22nd consecutive road loss. 

Torey Lovullo’s team put two runs on the board in the top of the first. Giants’ starter, Anthony DeScalfini, gave up a double to Josh Rojas. Ketel Marte followed with a single. Lamonte Wade, playing in leftfield, mishandled the ball, and Rojas scored. Marte went to second. Eduardo Escobar doubled to drive in Marte with Arizona’s second run.

The Giants stormed back in the bottom of the first. They put four runs on the board to go ahead 4-2. Wade started the rally with a single to center. Wade stole second. The Snakes’ starter, Merrill Kelly, walked Mike Yazstremski. The Giants’ Buster Posey blasted his twelfth dinger of the year to put the Giants ahead 3-2. Kelly walked Brandon Belt. Belt went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Jason Vosler’s double. The Giants led 4-2 after one inning. They would not relinquish the lead.

Lovullo brought in Keury Melli to pitch the fourth for Arizona. The Giants plated four runs. Steven Duggar led off the inning with a home run. Melli retired DeScalfini for the first out. The next hitter, Lamonte Wade, also homered to make it 6-2. The G-Men weren’t finished. Melli walked Yaz, and Buster singled to put men on at first and third. Brandon Belt walked to load the bases. Donovan Solano singled to drive in Yaz and Posey. The Giants led 8-2 after four.

The onslaught continued in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Buchter was now pitching for Arizona. Steven Duggar walked to start the rally. Wilmer Flores, pinch-hitting for pitcher Anthony DeSclafini, homered to make it 10-2. Buchter walked Yaz. Posey singled to sent Yaz to third. Brandon Belt blasted an Earl Weaver special(a three-run dinger) to propel the Giants to a commanding 13-2 lead.

Giants’ Manager Gabe Kapler brought Conner Menez into the game to pitch the sixth. Arizona roughed him up for five runs. The key blow was Asdrubal Cabrera’s homer. 

The Giants’ Jose Alvarez pitched the seventh and eighth and did not allow a hit. James Sherfy pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the win for the Giants.

Game Notes: With the win, the Giants are now 43-25 for the year. They have a two-game advantage over the LA Dodgers in the race for the NL West division lead. The Snakes fall to 20-49. 

The hitting stars for the Giants were Buster Posey with three hits, three ribbies, three runs scored, and a home run. Lamonte Wade had two hits, and one of them was a solo dinger. Brandon Belt drove in three with a home run. He finished the night with two hits. Steven Duggar had two hits, too. One was a solo homer.

The Giants face the Snakes again on Thursday. The game will start at 12:45 pm. The Philadelphia Phillies are in town for three starting Friday night.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Baseball Umpires to check Pitchers’ Balls

Former Cleveland pitcher Gaylord Perry was checked often for using foreign substances and doctoring baseballs which is now the case this season with the use of the spider tack baseball used by some MLB pitchers (file photo from Hobart Pulp)

Baseball: Umpires to check Pitchers’ Balls

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Being a few days since California “was opened” due to Covid, there is a new scandal brewing…… in baseball. Beginning this Monday June 21, MLB umpires will be enforcing new guidelines around pitchers using foreign substances on baseballs during games.

According to MLB, umpires will be urged to check the pitcher regularly and ask for the ball if they suspect the baseball has an unusually sticky feel to it. Also, when an umpire notices a pitcher going to his hat, glove, belt, or any place on his uniform or body to apply what may be a foreign substance, he will be checked.

Players caught will be ejected and suspended (with pay) for 10 games, even if the opposing manager doesn’t request inspection. Major League Baseball is responding to a season with: 1-Record strikeouts, 2-League batting average more than half-century low at .235 and 3-Spin rates of the ball.

This represents more responsibility for baseball umpires, who will be policing these new guidelines. MLB is not de-funding the umpires, but giving them more power. MLB investigated numerous complaints from players, tested balls, plus collected data during April and May.

Spin rates on the ball that provides pitchers with an unfair competitive advantage over pitchers and hitters who do not used foreign substances. All this has also translated to less action on the field. There have been six (6) no hitters this year (one of 7 inning thrown by Madison Bumgarner) but MLB doesn’t recognizes that as a no hitter because is less than 9 innings. The record is eight (8) no hitters in 1884.

This April, Trevor Bauer, now with the LA Dodgers and the 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner reacted sarcastically to the report on his twitter account. He also noted that many baseballs were being collected from games across baseball, not only from him.

More recently after the MLB announced on this new guidelines he told the MLB network that pitchers use the ‘rosin bag’ (a sticky substance extracted from the sap of fir trees) and is used by pitcher to improve their grip on the baseball and keep their hands dry, but Bauer said many pitchers use the rosin bad and it gets mixed with their sweat.

Gaylord Perry is 82 years old, born in Williamston, NC. He pitched for 22 years won 314 games, with 6 different teams, first pitcher to win the Cy Young in both leagues, with the Indians in the AL in 1972 and with the Padres in the NL in 1978 5 times All Star, five season with 20 or more wins, inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown in 1991.

He wrote the book “Me and The Spitter” an autobiographical confession by Gaylord Perry. This is one of Gaylord Perry’s quotes: “I’d always have grease in at least two places, in case the umpires would ask me to wipe one off. I never wanted to be caught out there with anything though; it wouldn’t be professional.” See you at the park.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Hall of Fame Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com