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Tigers ace Tarik Skubal appeared to avoid a significant injury Thursday against the Colorado Rockies in Detroit.

Skubal, a front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award, was hit in the right (non-pitching) hand by a line drive from the Rockies’ Brenton Doyle in the sixth inning. Skubal caught the deflection with his pitching hand but spent several minutes with the Tigers athletic training staff before staying in the game.

The next hitter, Ryan McMahon, hit a bouncer back to the mound. Skubal made the play without apparent difficulty but left after the inning.

“Yeah, I have a whole glove, and I decided to catch it with my hand,” Skubal told reporters after the game, a 4-2 Detroit loss. “Not smart on my side.”

Tigers manager AJ Hinch said X-rays were negative but Skubal would have more tests on the hand.

“It was time to take him out and get him tested,” Hinch said. “It was a scary situation and you hold your breath until you get the full array of tests.”

For his part, Skubal said he’s not concerned about missing a start for the Tigers, who are chasing an AL wild-card spot.

“It’s a little sore, but I think I’m fine,” the left-hander said. “We got some good news but there’s going to be more tests. I’m not too worried about it.”

Skubal pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits. He struck out six without a walk and did not factor into the decision.

Skubal is 16-4 and lowered his ERA to 2.50. No Tigers pitcher has had an ERA of 2.50 or better in a season making at least 25 starts since Justin Verlander (2.40) in his 2011 MVP season.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.

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A’s Kurtz (oblique) day-to-day after ‘clean’ MRI

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A's Kurtz (oblique) day-to-day after 'clean' MRI

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz is day-to-day after experiencing right oblique soreness against the Texas Rangers on Friday, Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said Saturday.

Kurtz had an MRI that returned “clean,” Kotsay said. He was not in the lineup for the second game of a three-game series Saturday.

Kurtz began feeling discomfort after batting practice Friday. After drawing a walk, he was rounding third base and heading for home on Brent Rooker‘s double in the third inning when Kurtz apparently aggravated the soreness and slowed down. He crossed the plate to tie the score at 2-2 but immediately walked to the clubhouse with the team medical staff.

Kotsay said there is no strain in terms of muscle tissue, but Kurtz is dealing with pain tolerance. Kotsay did not say when Kurtz would return.

“We hope to get him back sooner than later,” Kotsay said.

Kurtz is hitting .308 with 23 doubles, 2 triples, 27 home runs, and 70 RBIs this season. He is one of just three players in the majors this season to hit four home runs in a game.

Kurtz is the first rookie in major league history to hit four homers in a game and matched the MLB record for total bases with 19 in a July 25 game against the Houston Astros. He also had a double, a single, and a total of six RBIs in that game.

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FBI reveals more Pete Rose gambling documents

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FBI reveals more Pete Rose gambling documents

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has released 130 pages of documents relating to Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s career hits leader who was subsequently banned from the game and the Baseball Hall of Fame until earlier this year for betting on baseball.

The documents focus on Rose’s deceased bookie, Ronald Peters, and a mid-1980s investigation into narcotics and bookmaking operations that Peters ran. Some of the information in the released Rose file appears to have been covered in the 1989 Dowd report, commissioned by Major League Baseball.

Rose was banned from baseball in 1989 following an investigation that showed he bet on baseball. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred removed Rose from the permanently ineligible list in May, allowing him to be eligible for Hall of Fame induction. There is no specific mention of Rose betting on baseball — something he eventually acknowledged having done — in the documents released by the FBI.

Rose died on Sept. 30, 2024, at age 83. After an individual dies, the FBI publicly releases records it maintains on individuals, often with redactions. Many names in the Rose file have been redacted. It is not clear whether there will be further releases of Rose-related files. In this release, 125 additional pages were deleted as duplicates or for reasons such as interagency or intra-agency memos, personnel or medical files, an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or the revealing of the identity of a confidential source.

Among the documents was a 1987 memo requesting an FBI investigation. The memo cited a cooperating witness who said that “at one time Rose owed Peters $90,000 in sports wagering losses.” In the same memo, police officers in Franklin, Ohio, are said to have seen Rose often enter Peters’ establishment, called Jonathan’s, “through its private entrance.” The same memo alleged Rose was “a silent partner in a bar that Peters operated in Cincinnati before [Peters] moved to Franklin.”

A November 1987 interview with a person whose name was redacted said Rose would bet on 10 football games a weekend in 1986, usually around $1,000 to $2,000 per game, and that at one point Rose owed Peters $80,000. The individual also “believes that Rose bet only on football, basketball, and horse racing; he never saw Rose place a bet on a baseball game.” The report also said the individual believed another person “stole $3,500 of Rose’s money” and that person then left town.

The same person also told the FBI that Rose “sometimes places bets with an individual known to [redacted] only as [redacted] in New York when Peters will not accept Rose’s bets.” In an interview summary with a redacted individual in March 1988, the individual said someone called in bets for Rose but that “if I had called in bets for Pete, or if I knew if [redacted] did, I wouldn’t tell you. I don’t want to implicate a ballplayer.”

A summary of a July 1987 interview with a redacted individual said that person was in a business partnership with Rose until Rose’s “gambling debts created a financial problem for him.” The individual ended the partnership with Rose but remained in touch with both him and Peters, the summary said.

Some of the documents had been released to ESPN in an earlier request for documents relating to Peters, but Rose’s name was redacted at the time.

The vast majority of the file centered around the FBI requesting subpoenas for phone records and surveillance recordings related to Peters. It is unclear whether any of those subpoena requests also tied to Rose or his involvement with Peters.

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Tong receives ovation, wins debut in Mets’ rout

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Tong receives ovation, wins debut in Mets' rout

NEW YORK — Jonah Tong allowed one earned run in five innings in his major league debut and the New York Mets hit six homers and set a franchise record for runs in a home game in a 19-9 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday night.

Tong (1-0) received a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 42,112 when he took the mound for a six-pitch first inning. The 22-year-old Canadian right-hander had a 5-0 lead when he returned for the second, and the Mets made it 12-0 in the bottom of the inning.

With an over-the-top delivery that has drawn comparisons to Tim Lincecum, Tong struck out six without a walk. He threw 63 of 97 pitches for strikes.

In the bottom of the first, Juan Soto hit a two-run homer and Brandon Nimmo had a three-run shot before an out was recorded.

Pete Alonso had a two-run homer in the second. Nimmo added a solo shot in the sixth before Mark Vientos went deep, and Luis Torrens slugged a three-run shot in a six-run eighth off infielder Javier Sanoja.

Tong allowed all four runs in the fifth following fielding errors by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso. Lindor dropped a throw from second baseman Brett Baty on a force attempt, and Alonso misplayed a grounder by Jakob Marsee.

After allowing Lopez’s hit, Tong ended his outing by getting a called third strike on a 95 mph fastball against Liam Hicks.

The Mets won for the ninth time in 13 games.

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