Baseball

KYODO – Former Netherlands international and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles pitcher Loek van Mil has died, the Royal Dutch Baseball and Softball Federation said Monday. He was 34. In a statement, the governing body said van Mil had died as the result of “a fatal accident.” At 216-cm, van Mil […]

Ofunato High School was inundated with calls after its loss in the final of the Iwate Prefectural tournament on Thursday. But it wasn’t a stream of commiserations and condolences pouring in — there were around 150 calls on the day of the school’s 12-2 loss to Hanamaki Higashi High School […]

MILWAUKEE – After losing consecutive close games in a matchup of NL Central contenders, Kyle Schwarber made sure the Chicago Cubs could breathe easier in the series finale. Schwarber hit a grand slam and a three-run homer to power the Cubs past the Milwaukee Brewers 11-4 on Sunday, averting a […]

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – Shohei Ohtani belted his 15th home run of the season on Saturday and drew a late-game intentional walk as the Baltimore Orioles played it safe to secure an 8-7 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani led off the third inning at Angel Stadium with a game-tying […]

FUKUOKA – Ariel Miranda allowed three hits over six scoreless innings as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks beat the Orix Buffaloes 9-2 on Sunday to preserve their slim Pacific League lead. Miranda (4-3), who struck out four and walked one, won for the first time since May 19. The Hawks entered […]

MILWAUKEE – Chicago Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish on Saturday criticized Japan’s high school baseball system’s failure to protect young ballplayers. Darvish, himself a nationally famous former high school pitcher, spoke at Milwaukee’s Miller Park about the controversy surrounding one high school holding back its best pitcher on Thursday, when it […]

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – August Wold pulled on his tiny green No. 19 Athletics jersey, began swinging a Khris Davis bat from both sides while standing in front of his very own locker, then made sure everyone knew something was still missing. “I hope I get to use batting gloves,” the […]

NAGOYA – Daisuke Matsuzaka was yanked after throwing just 32 pitches, during which the former major leaguer allowed eight runs on eight hits and a hit batsman in the Chunichi Dragons’ 12-3 Central League loss to the DeNA BayStars on Saturday. Matsuzaka was making just his second start of the […]

SEATTLE – Mallex Smith still has things to learn about being an everyday center fielder in the major leagues. But a sure sign that the lessons are starting to sink in came Friday night. The 26-year-old speedster hit a sharp single up the middle with two outs in the bottom […]

DETROIT – A former clubhouse attendant has brought a discrimination lawsuit against the Detroit Tigers and former pitching coach Chris Bosio. In a complaint filed this week in Wayne County Circuit Court, Derrell Coleman II, who is black, accuses Tigers management of tolerating “a culture of racism” and says Bosio […]