-
Alden Gonzalez, ESPN Staff Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas — Adolis García took a 99-mph fastball to his left arm in Friday’s eighth inning and immediately turned to Houston Astros catcher Martín Maldonado.
“Why like that?!” García yelled, according to Maldonado.
“Like what?” Maldonado responded.
Two innings earlier, García hit a three-run homer that gave his Texas Rangers a two-run lead and celebrated emphatically, walking halfway up the first-base line and slamming his bat onto the Globe Life Field turf before making his way around the bases. Less than three months before that, García and Maldonado had jawed at each other at home plate in another benches-clearing incident. It all raced through García’s mind in a split second.
“I felt like that hit by pitch could’ve been worse,” García said, “and I told him that was not right.”
A series devoid of drama through its first four contests finally sprung to life in the pivotal Game 5 of this American League Championship Series, reigniting some of the tension between two division rivals separated by 250 miles. García hit the big home run in the sixth, then took exception to being plunked two innings later. Benches cleared. Three ejections were handed out. And then Jose Altuve finished it off with the ninth-inning three-run homer that sent the Astros to a dramatic 5-4 victory, putting them one win away from their fifth World Series appearance in seven years.
Maldonado was later asked if he believed the emotions of the eighth inning fired his team up.
“Yeah,” he said, “I do.”
García and the man who threw at him, Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu, were both ejected. Astros manager Dusty Baker was ejected, too, following a heated discussion with umpires who saw him fling his cap against the dugout railing. The hit by pitch occurred in the late stages of a two-run game, with a runner on first and none out, and it ultimately prompted the Astros to turn to their closer, Ryan Pressly, an inning early. Several members of the Astros pointed to that as their defense.
“It didn’t make any sense to me,” Baker said of the notion that Abreu hit García on purpose, later adding: “I can understand how he’d take exception to that; nobody likes to get hit. But you’re not going to add runs on in the [eighth] inning of the playoffs when they’re trying to win a game. … I don’t understand. I haven’t been that mad in a long time, and I don’t usually get mad at nothing.”
Rangers reliever Aroldis Chapman was among those who disagreed with Baker’s interpretation.
“Anybody who watched that game knows that he hit him intentionally,” Chapman said in Spanish.
Asked why, Chapman said: “I imagine it’s the way he celebrated the home run he hit [two innings earlier]. I imagine it’s because of that. But I don’t think there’s any reason to hit somebody the way he did. These days, guys hit home runs and celebrate the way they want to. That era of guys celebrating and then getting hit — that’s in the past. It’s really ugly on his part to have done something like that.”
“I mean, yeah, it doesn’t look good,” Rangers third baseman Josh Jung added. “Guy hits a big homer, watched it for a second and guy comes in who throws really hard — I know he said it slipped. But if you go back and watch it, it looks like it slipped straight at Adolis.”
Benches cleared between the Rangers and Astros at Minute Maid Park in Houston on July 26, in the wake of García’s fifth-inning grand slam. Marcus Semien exchanged words with Maldonado when he reached home plate and García later joined him, prompting benches and bullpens to empty. Semien had been hit two innings earlier. No punches were thrown that night. They weren’t thrown Friday, either, but García charged at Maldonado after most of the players had reached the playing field and had to be separated a second time. Yordan Alvarez, his Cuban countryman, walked with García in an effort to calm him, telling him Abreu wasn’t trying to hit him.
“Everybody on their side is going to say it wasn’t, everybody on this side is going to say it was,” Semien said. “The only one who really knows is the pitcher.”
Maldonado said he was set up outside and that the Astros “weren’t trying to hit anybody.”
Altuve said he had no issue with García’s celebration, saying he doesn’t find such displays of emotion “disrespectful at all.” Abreu agreed.
“I’m the kind of guy that I don’t care about celebrations,” Abreu said. “That was a big, big moment, big spot for him. He hit a homer, he got a chance to celebrate and do whatever he wants. I just went in and just tried to compete against him. That was a tough spot for me. I just want to keep the lead that they have in the bottom of the eighth and just tried to compete against him.”
Astros starter Justin Verlander, who gave up the home run to García and exited his start moments later, said he was “disappointed” that Abreu was ejected.
“The umpires are there to calm the situation, keep the game moving, not let things get escalated,” Verlander said. “But more importantly they’re there just to determine if something was intentional or not. In that spot, I don’t know how those six guys got together and determined that they were sure it was intentional, because I think from a baseball perspective it surely was not.”
Crew chief James Hoye and the other five umpires worked to separate the players, then huddled and “decided that the pitch that Abreu threw was intentional on García,” said Hoye, who worked left field. García was ejected for “being the aggressor” and continuing to go after Maldonado, Hoye added. Baker was ejected for arguing Abreu’s ejection, then refused to leave the dugout until Astros bench coach Joe Espada convinced him to, according to Hoye. MLB senior vice president of on-field operations Michael Hill said the league will review the incident and determine potential suspensions “in a timely fashion.”
Rangers manager Bruce Bochy was peeved at how long it took to sort everything out, which he believes might have been part of the reason for Jose Leclerc not being sharp when he came back out for the ninth inning.
“The whole thing is a bunch of crap, to be honest, what happened there,” Bochy said. “Who knows what intensions are, but it’s not the first time it’s happened and couldn’t get the game going again. And I’m sure it affected him, because he came in to get an out there in the eighth inning. Maybe that played a part in it.”
Leclerc, who relieved Chapman with two outs in the eighth, gave up a leadoff single to pinch hitter Yainer Diaz and then walked pinch hitter Jon Singleton before serving up the three-run homer to Altuve on an 0-1 changeup low and in. Leclerc said the long delay was “no excuse. I need to execute my pitches and do a better job.”
Given what also took place in July, García was asked if it has become personal between him and Maldonado.
“I don’t have anything personal with anybody,” García said. “I’m just trying to play my game.”
ESPN’s Buster Olney contributed to this report.
-
Jeff Legwold
BOULDER, Colo. — For the horde of NFL talent evaluators and some bleachers full of fans, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said Friday that they all got to see the top two players available in this year’s NFL draft.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter were among the 16 Colorado players who took part in the school’s showcase event for scouts, coaches and personnel executives from every NFL team. And Deion Sanders said the two marquee players confirmed what he has known for a long time.
“It’s tremendous,” Sanders said. “… They should be going 1-2 [in the draft], that’s the way I feel about it. They are the two best players in this draft. … The surest bets in this draft are those two young men, and I didn’t stutter or stammer when I said that.”
Neither Shedeur Sanders nor Hunter took part in most of the position drills or physical testing, but Sanders had a throwing session for just under an hour and Hunter was one of the wide receivers who participated. Neither player worked out at the scouting combine earlier this year, so it was the first time Sanders had thrown in such a setting since the end of the season. He showed some full seven-step drops and play-action from the shotgun and under center.
“I think I did pretty good, to my expectations,” said Sanders, who set the career FBS accuracy mark in his two years at Colorado (71.8%) to go with his 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns last season. “I know I did the best in college football right now, for sure.”
Asked after the throwing session whether he believed he was the best quarterback in the draft, Sanders said: “I feel like I’m the No. 1 quarterback, and that’s what I know. But at the end of the day, I’m not stuck on that because it’s about the situation, so whatever situation, whatever franchise believes in me, I’m excited to go. … I’m comfortable in any situation.”
Players Hunter, who did not speak to the media after the workout, and Sanders met with the Cleveland Browns contingent, including team co-owner Jimmy Haslam, on Thursday night in Boulder.
“They got me really full,” Sanders said. “I definitely needed to go to the sauna after that. … It was a good vibe.”
Said Deion Sanders said: “[I] spoke to the owner, truly delightful. He was engaging. … I think one of those guys is going to be there [at No. 2].”
Hunter, the No. 1 player on Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board, did not do any defensive drills Friday, but he ran a full assortment of routes.
Colorado safety Shilo Sanders, Shedeur’s brother, offered plenty of encouragement, shouting commentary and clapping after each throw, including “not a lot of quarterbacks can make that throw” after one deep completion.
The highly attended event — by NFL representatives as well as fans packing small bleachers — had a festive atmosphere. Deion Sanders named it the “We Ain’t Hard 2 Find Showcase,” complete with a large lighted “The Showcase” sign next to the drills.
Hunter, who has said he wants to play offense and defense in the NFL, won the Chuck Bednarik (top defensive player) and Fred Biletnikoff (top receiver) awards in addition to the Heisman. He said whether he will primarily be a wide receiver or a cornerback in the NFL depends “on the team that picks me.”
On Friday, Deion Sanders said “ain’t nobody like Travis.”
Hunter had 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver last season to go with 35 tackles, 11 pass breakups and 4 interceptions at cornerback. In the Buffaloes’ regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, he became the only FBS player in the past 25 years with three scrimmage touchdowns on offense and an interception in the same game, according to ESPN Research.
He played 1,380 total snaps in Colorado’s 12 regular-season games: 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. He played 1,007 total snaps in 2023.
Shilo Sanders, who hoped to show teams more speed than expected, ran a 4.52 40-yard dash after he measured in at 5-foot-11⅞, 196 pounds. He did not participate in the jumps or bench press that opened the workout, citing a right shoulder injury.
With all NFL eyes on the Colorado campus to see Shedeur Sanders throw, one player who made the most of it was wide receiver Will Sheppard. Sheppard, who measured 6-2¼, 196 pounds, ran the 40 in 4.56 and 4.54 to go with a 40½-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-11 broad jump.
Baltimore Orioles All-Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson was activated from the 10-day injured list and will make his season debut Friday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Henderson has been sidelined with a right intercostal strain and missed the first seven games of the big league campaign.
The 23-year-old Henderson will lead off and play shortstop against the host Royals.
Henderson was injured during a spring training game Feb. 27. He was fourth in American League MVP voting last season when he batted .281 and racked up career bests of 37 homers and 92 RBIs.
Henderson completed a five-game rehab stint at Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. He batted .263 (5-for-19) with two homers and four RBIs and played four games at shortstop and one as the designated hitter. He did commit three errors.
“I think everybody’s looking forward to having Gunnar back on the team,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said Thursday. “The rehab went really, really well. I talked to him a couple days ago, he feels great swinging the bat. The timing came, especially the last few days. He just had to get out there and get some reps defensively and get some games in, and it all went well.”
Baltimore optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk to open up a roster spot. The 26-year-old was 0-for-4 with a run and RBI in two games this season.
-
Jorge Castillo
When New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns attempted to assemble the best possible roster for the 2025 season this winter, the top priority was signing outfielder Juan Soto. Next was the need to replenish the starting rotation and bolster the bullpen. Then, days before pitchers and catchers reported for spring training, the lineup received one final significant reinforcement when first baseman Pete Alonso re-signed.
Acquiring a player with a singing career on the side didn’t make the cut.
“No, that is not on the list,” Stearns said with a smile.
Stearns’ decision not to re-sign Jose Iglesias, the infielder behind the mic for the viral 2024 Mets anthem “OMG,” was attributed to creating more roster flexibility. But it also hammered home a reality: The scrappy 2024 Mets, authors of a magical summer in Queens, are a thing of the past. The 2025 Mets, who will report to Citi Field for their home opener Friday, have much of the same core but also some prominent new faces — and the new, outsized expectations that come with falling two wins short of the World Series, then signing Soto to the richest contract in professional sports history.
But there’s a question surrounding this year’s team that you can’t put a price tag on: Can these Mets rekindle the magic — the vibes, the memes, the feel-good underdog story — that seemed to come out of nowhere to help carry them to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series last season?
“Last year the culture was created,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “It’s a matter of continuing it.”
For all the success Stearns has engineered — his small-market Milwaukee Brewers teams reached the postseason five times in eight seasons after he became the youngest general manager in history in 2015 — the 40-year-old Harvard grad, like the rest of his front office peers knows there’s no precise recipe for clubhouse chemistry. There is no culture projection system. No Vibes Above Replacement.
“Culture is very important,” Stearns said last weekend in the visiting dugout at Daikin Park before his club completed an opening-weekend series against the Houston Astros. “Culture is also very difficult to predict.”
Still, it seems the Mets’ 2024 season will be all but impossible to recreate.
There was Grimace, the purple McDonald’s blob who spontaneously became the franchise’s unofficial mascot after throwing out a first pitch in June. “OMG,” performed under Iglesias’ stage name, Candelita, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Digital Songs chart, before a remix featuring Pitbull was released in October. Citi Field became a karaoke bar whenever Lindor stepped into the batter’s box with The Temptations’ “My Girl” as his walk-up song. Alonso unveiled a lucky pumpkin in October. They were gimmicks that might have felt forced if they hadn’t felt so right.
“I don’t know if what we did last year could be replicated because it was such a chaos-filled group,” Mets reliever Ryne Stanek said. “I don’t know if that’s replicable because there’s just too many things going on. I don’t know if that’s a sustainable model. But I think the expectation of winning is really important. I think establishing what we did last year and coming into this year where people are like, ‘Oh, no, that’s what we’re expecting to do,’ makes it different. It’s always a different vibe whenever you feel like you’re the hunter versus being the hunted.”
For the first two months last season, the Mets were terrible hunters. Lindor was relentlessly booed at Citi Field during another slow start. The bullpen got crushed. The losses piled up. The Mets began the season 0-5 and sunk to rock bottom on May 29 when reliever Jorge Lopez threw his glove into the stands during a 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that dropped the team to 22-33.
That night, the Mets held a players-only meeting. From there, perhaps coincidentally, everything changed. The Mets won the next day, and 67 of their final 107 games.
This year, to avoid an early malaise and to better incorporate new faces like Soto and Opening Day starter Clay Holmes, players made it a point to hold meetings during spring training to lay a strong foundation.
“At the end of the day, we know who we are and that’s the beauty of our club,” Alonso said. “Not just who we are talent-wise, but who each individual is as a man and a personality. For us, our major, major strength is our collective identity as a unit.”
Organizationally, the Mets are attempting a dual-track makeover: Becoming perennial World Series contenders while not taking themselves too seriously.
The commemorative purple Grimace seat installed at Citi Field in September — Section 302, Row 6, Seat 12 in right field — remains there as part of a two-year contract. Last week, the franchise announced it will feature a New York-city themed “Five Borough” race at every home game — with a different mascot competing to represent each borough. For a third straight season, USA Today readers voted Citi Field — home of the rainbow cookie egg roll, among many other innovative treats — as having the best ballpark food in baseball.
In the clubhouse, their identity is evolving.
“I’m very much in the camp that you can’t force things,” Mets starter Sean Manaea said. “I mean, you can, but you don’t really end up with good results. And if you wait for things to happen organically, then sometimes it can take too long. So, there’s like a nudging of sorts. It’s like, ‘Let’s kind of come up with something, but not force it.’ So there’s a fine balance there and you just got to wait and see what happens.”
Stearns believes it starts with what the Mets can control: bringing positive energy every day and fostering a family atmosphere. It’s hard to quantify, but vibes undoubtedly helped fuel the Mets’ 2024 success. It’ll be a tough act to follow.
“It’s fluid,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I like where guys are at as far as the team chemistry goes and things like that and the connections and the relationships. But it’ll continue to take some time. And winning helps, clearly.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway