Scherzer is anticipated to throw the very first pitch of the routine season when the Nats host brand-new ace Gerrit Cole and the Yankees on Thursday night. The right-hander struggled in his last tuneup, also allowing a three-run shot to previous teammate Bryce Harper.
Booed heartily last season after rejecting Washington in complimentary company, Harper heard no such jeers this time.
For their first exhibit game given that the infection break out shut down spring training in mid-March, Yankees gamers took a group bus from the Bronx to Queens to fulfill the Mets– no subways for this series.
The pregame regular looked familiar enough– skyrocketing batting practice homers from Giancarlo Stanton and Pete Alonso, ground ball work for Gleyber Torres and Robinson Canó.
Signs of the times were certainly there. Some coaches struck fungoes in face masks, and the usual high fives and hugs between opponents around the batting cage were changed by elbow taps and distanced chats– including one in between Yankees basic manager Brian Cashman and Mets counterpart Brodie Van Wagenen.
Without any fans filing in for very first pitch, almost 1,000 cardboard similarities of Mets fans were established behind home base. The team prepares to have 5,000 in location by opening day.
Reserve players viewed from under large awnings construct behind both dugouts. Mets backups gave a standing ovation to scheduled starter Rick Porcello as he returned from the bullpen, then started a chant of “Lets go, Mets!”
The first homer in Flushing likewise came from a masked gamer– Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier. The 25-year-old, who says hes taken heat on social networks for his choice to use a face covering at all times, drove a two-run homer into the 2nd deck in the fourth inning.
The Cleveland Indians packed into three buses Saturday for the 2-hour-plus drive to Pittsburgh. Manager Terry Francona said the group abided by social-distance guidelines– and staggered arrival times– for the teams very first journey given that camp re-opened.
” I think its a great experience for everyone,” he said. “Were not used to getting on a bus and get your temperature level taken and things like that, so its great to go through that.”
Cleveland made a public program of support for social justice before its 5-3 win, standing with their right-hand men over their hearts and their left hands on the right shoulder of their colleagues throughout the nationwide anthem.
A few fans gathered outdoors PNC Park, wanting to catch some sort of game action.
Michael Kirkpatrick, 73, and his kid, Zac, based on the Clemente Bridge beyond center field– the exact same location they stuffed shoulder to shoulder during the NL wild-card game in 2013. No trouble finding a spot this time.
” I simply require to hear a bat hit a ball,” Zac stated.
In Washington, a minute of silence was held for late civil rights trailblazer John Lewis. Players stood socially distanced for the national anthem– an acoustic rendition by the U.S. Army Brass Quintet performed before Game 4 of last years World Series and replayed on the video scoreboard.
” Definitely has a different sensation to it,” Nationals center fielder Michael A. Taylor stated.
Postgame handshake lines got a shakeup, too. The Yankees air-fived each other outside the dugout after completing a 9-3 win, and Cleveland commemorated its triumph by tapping toes with teammates.
NO CANADA
The Blue Jays were denied approval by the Canadian government to play in Toronto due to the cross-border travel needed.
As for where it might play home games, the group has actually been looking at its spring training website in Dunedin, Florida, one of the states hardest-hit by the virus, and its Triple-A site in Buffalo.
Heaven Jays are set up to begin the season July 24 at Tampa Bay. Their home opener was set for five days later on versus Washington.
BACK IN CAMP
A pair of All-Stars remain unpredictable for opening day after missing the start of summertime camp due to favorable coronavirus tests– Atlantas Freddie Freeman and the Yankees DJ LeMahieu.
Freeman was at Truist Park on Friday about an hour after getting his second negative test for the coronavirus, making him medical clearance to return. On Saturday, the four-time All-Star exposed he had a heat of 104.5 degrees early on and was fearful of losing his life.
” I said a little prayer that night,” Freeman said.
LeMahieu took part in his first practice Friday after checking favorable at his house in Michigan last month. The three-time Gold Glove winner said it was “shocking” to get the result because he had no signs.
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AP Sports Writers Will Graves and Howard Fendrich and Associated Press Writer Rob Gillies added to this report.
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Follow Jake Seiner: https://twitter.com/Jake_Seiner
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NEW YORK CITY (AP)– Didi Gregorius supervised the top of his face mask as his drive off Washington ace Max Scherzer sailed into empty outfield seats.
Fake cheers– implied to motivate the hometown Nationals– inadvertently piped through the arena as the Philadelphia Phillies shortstop rounded the bases. After touching home base, he pantomimed air-fives to teammates.
” This is 2020 baseball,” Scherzer said. “Embrace it and have a good time with it.”
Exhibition video games in Washington, New York and Pittsburgh on Saturday gave Major League Baseball its first look at coronavirus-era video games– cardboard cutouts for fans, sound impacts for crowds and more. Still, for clubs restricted to practices and intrasquads in their own ballparks for the past 2 weeks, Saturday stood as a crucial mile marker as the sport attempts to begin a shortened 60-game season next Thursday amid a pandemic.
” In some methods, this is really much a dress practice session for the new world were in,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said prior to an exhibit at the crosstown Mets.
No fans hurried off the 7 train in Flushing at Citi Field, and no masses hurried over the Clemente Bridge in Pittsburgh– not with MLB preparing to start this pandemic-shaken season at empty stadiums. At Nationals Park, a number of people viewed from a structure balcony far beyond the left field wall.
Umpires used face masks, as did some gamers. Backups seen from the stands to keep social distancing in dugouts. They all tried to follow security protocols, including a restriction on spitting or licking fingers.
Another makeover– the Mets became the first club to sell ad area on the field itself, spray painting a Ford logo on the back of the pitchers mound.
Gregorius drilled a three-run homer in the first inning in Washington, the very first huge fly by a player in any of Saturdays video games.
The 30-year-old Phillies newcomer is one of a handful of gamers who has actually stated hell wear a mask full-time this season. Gregorius has a persistent kidney disorder that makes him high risk for the coronavirus.
