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It took a little longer than Major League Baseball might have anticipated, but the San Diego Padres, fielding one of the most expensive, star-laden rosters in the industry, have become the first team to fold into its long-term plan of fitting all broadcasting rights under a national umbrella.

Diamond Sports Group, the Sinclair subsidiary navigating through bankruptcy proceedings, let a grace period come and go on Tuesday without paying the Padres, allowing the team to break free from its contract.

Through a statement, a Diamond spokesperson said “the economics of the Padres’ contract were not aligned with market realities.” And so, beginning today and continuing on in perpetuity, MLB will take over the Padres’ local broadcasts. It’s a major transition, but fans are not expected to miss any games; they’ll be available through the league’s MLB.tv app, initially for free, and through various cable companies on a different channel. MLB had been anticipating something like this for months.

“I think the whole thing’s unfortunate,” MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden told ESPN. “Since Day 1, we had hoped that our partners lived up to their contractual obligations. And through a variety of, quite frankly, mismanagement and continued mismanagement, their company fell on hard times.

“We’ve been forced to take a step back and find a way that we can continue to service the fans — and we’re going to do so, as it’s the lifeblood of our industry and so important to our fans, especially locally. We’re gonna invest in the product; we’re gonna make it better than ever; we’re gonna distribute it more widely than it’s ever been distributed; and we’re gonna stand behind our content. That’s our goal.”

The mechanisms of that approach are highly complex, but a lot of the details were sorted out on the front end, given Diamond’s publicly tenuous financial situation. Here are the answers to some of the most pertinent questions.

Wait, it’s going to be free to watch the Padres now? How is that going to work?

From Wednesday to Sunday, Padres games will be free for all fans on MLB.com and Padres.com — two road games against the Miami Marlins and three home games against the Chicago Cubs. All that will be required is an MLB.com login. Starting next Monday, a subscription cost will kick in for Padres streams in the local market.

How much will that cost?

In-market fans can pay $19.99 a month or $74.99 for the rest of the season to watch San Diego’s games on MLB.tv. But most local fans with cable subscriptions won’t have to.

OK, how will that work?

MLB cut deals with several cable companies — DirecTV, AT&T U-verse, Cox and Spectrum — to air Padres games through their services. Those will be available on different channels (694-3 for DirecTV, 781 for AT&T U-verse, 4 for Cox, 305 for Spectrum). Fans’ guides will list the channel simply as “San Diego Padres.”

MLB essentially eliminated territorial rights through those deals, which means that, for local fans who purchase the Padres MLB.tv package, streamed San Diego games will no longer be subject to blackouts. Yep, that’s right — no blackouts.

Who will work the team’s broadcast booth? What changes can we expect in the broadcast, if any?

In the Padres’ situation, not many. San Diego’s in-game, on-air talent is employed by the team (the dynamic is different with other clubs), which means fans will continue to watch play-by-play announcer Don Orsillo, analyst Mark Grant and on-field reporter Bob Scanlan. The makeup of the team’s pregame and postgame shows, however, is still being ironed out, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Microphone flags will have the MLB logo rather than the red Bally Sports one. Garden said fans will immediately notice more camera angles and a picture quality that is “significantly higher.”

What does this mean for the Padres, revenue/payroll-wise?

San Diego began this season with a near-$250 million payroll that stood as the third-highest in the sport, the largest in franchise history — by a wide margin — and more than 3½ times larger than it was just six years ago. Now suddenly its financial future is uncertain, at least concerning its profits off broadcasting rights. Only one of three payments for an RSN contract that reportedly pays the team in the neighborhood of $50 million a year was ultimately made by Diamond.

That said, the Padres will still generate broadcast revenue through the deals MLB cut with the various cable companies in preparation for this possibility. Those deals, details of which have not been made public, probably aren’t close to what San Diego was generating through Diamond (particularly because streaming rights weren’t included in them). But the league believes teams eventually will benefit from broadcasting rights and subscription revenue operating through a national model. (Big-market teams such as the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, who own their RSNs, disagree.)

What’s next?

Well, today could be a big day. A hearing will take place in Houston, during which a bankruptcy judge will preside over Diamond’s claims that it should pay lesser rights fees to the Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Guardians to account for market forces that have greatly diminished the traditional cable model in recent years.

Those teams are essentially on the bubble. And the judge’s ruling, which is expected no later than Thursday night, will play a big role in Diamond determining which contracts it keeps or sheds as part of the bankruptcy process, not just with those four teams but potentially with some of the other nine that remain under its ownership. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is among those who will testify.

Other teams that fall out will follow a similar path to the Padres, with MLB offering their games blackout-free on MLB.tv and on various cable channels.

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Misiorowski perfect into 7th, sets rookie record

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Misiorowski perfect into 7th, sets rookie record

MINNEAPOLIS — Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers lost his bid for a perfect game in the seventh inning of a 17-6 win against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

After issuing a walk to Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner lofted a home run to the flower bed just past the right-field wall, ending Misiorowski’s run of hitless innings to start his big league career at 11, the first starter to do that since 1900.

“I think this is exactly how I ever dreamed of it coming along,” the 23-year-old rookie said. “It’s exciting.”

He threw five no-hit innings against St. Louis on June 12, but left in the sixth with cramping in his right calf and quadriceps.

“I felt calmer and ready to go compared to the first one,” Misiorowski said. “Nerves were going pretty heavy on the first one, so it’s good to finally feel the feet under you.”

The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out six with a fastball topping out at 102.1 mph and a slider and changeup in the mid-90s.

“It’s important to prove to yourself as a young player that you belong in the big leagues and taste success and realize that you do belong here,” said Christian Yelich, who had a career-high eight RBIs. “He should believe he’s a really good major league pitcher because he is. All the nights probably aren’t going to go as smooth as the first two, but you see the ability.

“He’s got a chance to something special every night he goes out there.”

Misiorowski is the only big leaguer since 1900 to have more wins (2) than hits allowed (1) in his first two career starts, according to OptaSTATS.

“He was attacking, but mixing, too,” manager Pat Murphy said. “It wasn’t just heaters.”

After seeing four straight pitches of at least 100.8 mph from Misiorowski, Willi Castro twisted like a corkscrew and dropped to the ground as he struck out on a 95.5 mph slider in the first inning.

“You don’t see a guy throwing a slider 95, 96,” Castro said. “It’s really hard to pick up.”

Misiorowski threw 29 pitches of 100 mph or higher and had 12 of 101 mph or more. Since tracking started in 2008, the only starting pitchers to throw more in a game at 101 mph and above are Hunter Greene (33 on Sept. 17, 2022; 21 on March 30, 2023; 18 on July 26, 2022; and 13 on April 16, 2022) and Jordan Hicks (on July 12, 2022), according to Major League Baseball.

After the homer by Wallner, Misiorowski was pulled for reliever Nick Mears and left to a standing ovation. He threw 86 pitches, 60 for strikes, and departed with Milwaukee leading 8-2.

The Brewers scored five runs in the top of the seventh, a long time for starter to sit in the dugout, but Misiorowski was adamant about going back to the mound.

“He said, ‘Yes I’m getting toward the end, but I want to challenge myself,'” Murphy said. “It was a good time to have him do that.”

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Suarez, managers suspended for Padres-L.A. feud

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Suarez, managers suspended for Padres-L.A. feud

LOS ANGELES — San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount Friday for intentionally hitting Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a pitch during the NL West rivals’ contentious meeting Thursday night.

Suarez will appeal the suspension, keeping him eligible to play for San Diego on Friday night against Kansas City. He did not pitch in the Padres’ 6-5 loss.

Padres manager Mike Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also received one-game suspensions and undisclosed fines for their roles in the brouhaha that occurred in both halves of the ninth inning during the Padres’ 5-3 victory at Dodger Stadium.

“I support it,” Roberts said about the league’s disciplinary decision. “I think that obviously I never want to make the game about the managers. It shouldn’t be. It should be about the players and winning, so last night, both managers are protecting their teams, and it just unfortunately got to the point that we became the focus, and that’s not the way it should be.”

Both managers were ejected in the top of the ninth after they ran onto the field and bumped into each other during a vociferous argument that almost got even more physical before their players and assistant coaches intervened.

Shildt believed Dodgers reliever Jack Little intentionally hit Fernando Tatís Jr. in the right hand with a pitch, igniting the latest bench-clearing incident between local rivals with several years of bad-tempered history.

“Circumstances were really challenging this past series, and at the end of the day I don’t regret standing up for a guy that I love in Tati, and a team that I love and a city that I love,” Shildt said. “In that regard, I have no regrets how it got to that point. Again, we can all have our comments and thoughts and theories. But as far as my actions, it’s not something you want to do every night or needs to be done, hopefully ever again. But appropriate actions for the circumstances were taken, and I don’t regret it at all.”

Shildt and Roberts served their suspensions Friday. Bench coach Danny Lehmann managed the Dodgers in their 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals, and Padres bench coach Brian Esposito was in San Diego’s dugout vs. the Royals.

In the bottom of the ninth, Ohtani was hit on the back of his right shoulder by Suarez’s pitch, putting the tying run on base during the Dodgers’ three-run rally. Ohtani’s teammates appeared to be preparing to storm the field for the second time before Ohtani waved them back. The three-time MVP then walked to the Padres’ dugout for some light banter, defusing the tension.

Suarez on Friday insisted he hadn’t retaliated for Tatís.

“I was never trying to get anyone into trouble or hit anybody,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “Unfortunately it happened. I got ejected and I couldn’t finish out the game, but we won as a team, and we were able to salvage that game. … [The Dodgers are] entitled to their opinion. They can say whatever they want. That was not the case. I was out there to try to save the game.”

Ohtani threw a bullpen session as scheduled Friday despite getting hit by Suarez on his pitching shoulder. Ohtani’s second mound start for the Dodgers is still expected to happen Sunday, Roberts said.

Tatís was in the Padres’ lineup as usual Friday. Manny Machado said afterward that the Dodgers should “pray” Tatís had escaped serious injury, encouraging them to “put out a candle.”

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Devers, facing Boston, clarifies first base mindset

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Devers, facing Boston, clarifies first base mindset

SAN FRANCISCO — As he prepared to face his former team just five days after being traded, San Francisco Giants slugger Rafael Devers wants to leave things in the past as it pertains to the Boston Red Sox.

But he did provide some insight into his feelings when he was asked Friday why he would consider playing first base for the Giants when he refused to do so for the Red Sox.

“I put up some good numbers in Boston and I feel like I earned some respect,” Devers said through an interpreter. “If they would have asked me at the beginning of spring training, yes, I would have played [first].”

Of course, back then the Red Sox didn’t have an opening at first base as Triston Casas didn’t get hurt until about a month into the season. But the overall damage had been done.

The lack of communication between the sides seemingly led to the stunning trade, and now just three games into his career with San Francisco, Devers has to face his old teammates in a weekend series at Oracle Park.

“Whatever happened, happened,” Devers said. “But they’re still my friends.”

Devers actually got to see his friends after they arrived in town Thursday, but as of early Friday afternoon, he had not seen or talked to manager Alex Cora. He’s confident he will.

Devers was pressed about his former manager.

“I don’t want to talk about the past,” Devers said. “I don’t have anything good or bad to say about Alex. I just want to leave everything in the past.”

Cora addressed the subject during his pregame media availability, saying, “There’s a lot of stuff that Rafy did for us that we’re going to miss. We’re very proud of him.”

Asked if the two need to clear the air about anything, Cora replied, “Clear the air about what? It’s a trade. It’s baseball. It’s a business. That’s how it works.

“It’s not the first guy that’s gotten traded. It’s not the last guy. People have their opinions about the whole thing. Communication, first base, DH, third base, the manager, the GM, the owner, whatever. It’s a baseball trade. From my end, I turn the page.”

Cora was then asked if he’s “surprised” Devers is working at first base, to which the manager offered a succinct, “No.”

Devers acknowledged it’s been a “long week” but he’s feeling more relaxed and even happy now. Entering Friday, he was 3-for-11 with two walks and four strikeouts for his new team, which desperately needs his presence in its lineup.

Devers, batting third and serving as the Giants’ designated hitter, got a standing ovation before grounding out in his first at-bat in the first inning Friday and hit a drive to the wall in left-center that Ceddanne Rafaela caught against the wall.

He would finish the game 0-for-5 as San Francisco lost 7-5 and dropped to 1-3 since the trade. It was the second time this season Devers went 0-for-5 or worse (0-for-6 at at Detroit on May 13), and the first time he did so in a home game since Sept. 26, 2023 (Rays at Red Sox).

Eventually, he’ll see time at first base — but only when he’s ready.

“It’s not a position I’m going to learn how to play overnight,” Devers said.

“It’s not the first guy that’s gotten traded. It’s not the last guy. People have their opinions about the whole thing. Communication, first base, DH, third base, the manager, the GM, the owner, whatever. It’s a baseball trade. From my end, I turn the page.”

Red Sox manager Alex Cora

He was asked several times when he might get a start there.

“Whenever I feel like I’m comfortable,” he answered.

The conversation eventually came back around to his relationship with the Red Sox, but Devers insisted on putting it behind him.

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” he said. “I want to concentrate what’s in the future for me.”

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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