LEADING OFF: All-Stars Ohtani, deGrom on tap for starts
Jul 5, 2021, 5:53 AM | Updated: 5:55 pm
A look at what’s happening around the majors Tuesday:
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OHTANI DAY
Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani (3-1, 3.60) takes the mound for the first time since being named an All-Star on both sides of the ball. Ohtani plans to participate in next week’s Home Run Derby, then pitch and hit in the All-Star Game, meaning this will likely be his last turn pitching for Los Angeles before the break.
The right-hander struggled in his last outing, allowing seven runs in 2/3 of an inning at Yankee Stadium. He’ll try to bounce back against the Red Sox and another AL All-Star, Nathan Eovaldi (9-4, 3.41). Boston has a major league-most five All-Stars.
CITI BREW ON TAP
Mets ace Jacob deGrom (7-2) looks to lower his major league-best 0.95 ERA when New York hosts Milwaukee in a matchup of NL division leaders.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner allowed a season-high three earned runs over seven innings last week in Atlanta, but joined Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (1993 and ’99) as the only pitchers with four 14-strikeout games in the first half of a season.
The right-hander is just 3-3 with a 4.80 ERA in eight starts against the Brewers, including 1-3 with a 7.30 mark in five outings at home, and hasn’t beaten them since June 2015.
Brett Anderson (2-5. 4.69) is scheduled to come off the injured list for Milwaukee. The left-hander last started June 21 at Arizona, exiting after 31 pitches because of a bruised right knee.
NO RAYS
The scheduled game between the Cleveland Indians and Tampa Bay Rays has been postponed because of the path of Tropical Storm Elsa and will be made up as part of a doubleheader Wednesday. The Rays and Major League Baseball announced the adjusted schedule about two hours before the start of the three-game series Monday night at Tropicana Field.
It will be the fourth doubleheader in Tropicana Field history. The dome stadium opened in 1998.
EIGHTY-SIXTO’D
Marlins rookie right-hander Sixto Sánchez will miss the rest of the season after an MRI revealed a small tear in the posterior capsule of his throwing shoulder. He will undergo arthroscopic surgery.
Expected to be one of the mainstays in the club’s starting rotation, Sánchez has been sidelined all season because of shoulder soreness. Sánchez recently experienced a setback while increasing velocity in a throwing program.
The 22-year-old from the Dominican Republic and top prospect in the Marlins’ system made seven starts last season and finished 3-2 with a 3.46 ERA.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Tigers third base coach Chip Hale is leaving Detroit to manage the University of Arizona, where he won a national championship as a player in 1986.
Hale was an infielder for four seasons at Arizona and is still the all-time leader in several categories, including games, hits and total bases. He went on to play seven big league seasons with Minnesota and the Los Angeles Dodgers, then spent 15 seasons in the majors as a coach with stints at Detroit, Washington, Oakland, Arizona and the New York Mets. He was the Diamondbacks’ manager from 2015-16 and won a World Series as Washington’s bench coach in 2019.
Hale replaces Jay Johnson, who left last week to become the coach at LSU after leading the Wildcats to the 2021 College World Series.
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