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CLEVELAND — Terry Francona could have used his old scooter to get around the renovated service area beneath Progressive Field.

Instead, Francona made do with walking and joked about the changes that have occurred at the ballpark he called home for 11 seasons.

Francona returned to Cleveland for the first time since being named Cincinnati’s manager as the Reds opened a three-game series against the Guardians on Monday.

“I got lost about three times. That’s the longest (clubhouse) hallway I’ve ever seen,” Francona said. “I don’t think I’ve seen the whole thing yet just because I don’t feel like icing down my knees. But from what I’ve seen in the ballpark, it looks good.”

Francona remained unbeaten against his former team Monday after the Reds posted a 7-4 victory. The Reds swept a three-game series at Cincinnati last month.

Before the game, the Guardians welcomed Francona back with a 1-minute video and tribute on the scoreboard.

“That was really touching. I wish it had been more like about Millsie [bench coach Brad Mills] and stuff like that, because that is meaningful to me,” Francona said. “I was kind of uncomfortable, but it was very touching.

“I tried to stay away from over there [the Guardians’ clubhouse] because I have too much respect for Vogter [manager Stephen Vogt]. Like [pitching coach] Carl Willis and [first-base coach] Sandy [Alomar] I mean, they’re like my brothers, but I’m not going to run over there. I wouldn’t do that to them. They know how I feel about them.”

The 66-year-old manager — who used to ride a scooter from his downtown apartment to the ballpark — isn’t the only visitor who has joked about the long tunnel from the clubhouse to the dugout on the first-base side. Both clubhouses were renovated during the offseason, more than tripling their size.

Francona was at the helm in Cleveland for 11 seasons and is the franchise’s leader in wins (921) and games managed (1,678). Cleveland made the playoffs six times under Francona and lost the 2016 World Series to the Chicago Cubs in seven games, falling just short of the franchise’s first title since 1948.

He was a senior advisor for the Guardians last year, but only made a couple of trips to Cleveland. He didn’t want to get in the way of Vogt and his coaching staff.

“There were a couple times during spring, two hours away I wanted to come up, but I didn’t think it was right,” Francona said. “I just thought for the new staff here, they needed to be able to do things. They don’t need me telling ’em how to do it or acting like I’m going to tell ’em how to do it.

“During the season I watched a lot of baseball, probably more than I have in a long, long time. I’d turn on games that were in the eighth inning tied and I’d watch the end of it and flip to another game and really enjoyed it.”

While Francona was happy to be back in Cleveland, his focus was on trying to help the Reds (34-33) extend their winning streak to four games and get over .500 for the first time since May 19.

“I had a really good time and people were so nice to me. But I’m here now and I love being here,” he said. “I just really wanted us to win. That doesn’t take away from how I feel about a lot of people over there.”

Francona was among several Reds staffers making their return. Mills and hitting coach Chris Valaika were on Francona’s Cleveland staff, while first-base coach Collin Cowgill and major league coach Mike Napoli played for the franchise.

Reds left fielder Will Benson, who hit four home runs during the sweep of the Guardians, was Cleveland’s first-round pick in 2016.

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Reds’ Burns fans 1st 5 hitters in his MLB debut

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Reds' Burns fans 1st 5 hitters in his MLB debut

CINCINNATI — Rookie Chase Burns became the first starting pitcher in the expansion era to strike out the first five batters he faced in his major league debut.

He was not able to carry the momentum through the rest of the game.

The 22-year old Cincinnati Reds right-hander, the second overall pick in last July’s amateur draft, allowed three runs over five innings Tuesday night in a 5-4, 11-inning win over the New York Yankees.

Burns struck out his first five batters before Jazz Chisholm Jr‘s single. He gave up six hits and struck out eight, the seventh Cincinnati starter to have at least that many in his first career start.

“We watched for everything,” Reds manager Terry Francona said of Burns. “He didn’t get too excited. I think he enjoyed the competition. There’s a lot to like.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Burns also joined the Yankees’ Al Leiter and Tampa Bay’s Wade Davis as the only pitchers since 1961 whose first six outs in their debuts were strikeouts. Both gave up a run during the first two innings.

Burns struck out seven of the his first 10 hitters and allowed only one hit until Ben Rice led off the fourth by connecting on a hanging slider that went 413 feet and two-thirds of the way into the right field sun deck at Great American Ball Park.

Aaron Judge followed with a base hit. Burns retired the next two hitters, Chisholm got aboard with a single and Anthony Volpe hit a two-run triple when center fielder TJ Friedl made an ill-advised dive and the ball got by him.

“I think he’s a good pitcher,” Francona said. “I don’t think him giving up a couple runs is going to make somebody fold. If that was the case, we wouldn’t have brought him up.”

Burns averaged 98.1 mph with 48 fastballs, topping out with a pair at 100.1 mph in the first inning. He threw 24 sliders, eight changeups and one curveball. New York was 1-for-9 with six strikeouts in his first time through the order and 5-for-9 with a triple and home run the second time through.

Burns threw 53 of 81 pitches for strikes. His first big league pitch was a 98.4 mph fastball to Trent Grisham that just caught the inside corner of the plate. He got Judge to chase a 91.1 mile slider for the third out in the first inning.

“I guess you have to say Judge. I have watched him. He’s a big dude and one of the best hitters in the game,” Burns said when asked if any one strikeout stood out more than the others. “It was probably my favorite one.”

Burns fell behind 3-0 on three of the first 10 batters before ending up with strikeouts, and started 11 of 21 batters with strikes and induced 12 swing and misses. He is the fifth first-round selection from last year’s draft to reach the majors, joining Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone, Angels second baseman Christian Moore and Astros outfielder Cam Smith, who was selected by the Cubs before going to Houston in the Kyle Tucker trade last December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Latz’s no-hit bid could land him in Texas rotation

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Latz's no-hit bid could land him in Texas rotation

BALTIMORE — Jacob Latz might have earned a spot in the Texas Rangers‘ rotation.

Manager Bruce Bochy says he’ll consider it.

“Of course,” Bochy said. “He’s a weapon whether he starts or he’s in the bullpen, but he’s stretched out. You’ve heard me say he’s got starter’s stuff.”

Latz took a no-hitter into the seventh inning Tuesday night against Baltimore, and although the Rangers blew a four-run lead, they recovered to win 6-5 in 10 innings. Latz set career highs in innings pitched (six-plus) and pitches (88) and lowered his ERA on the season to 3.22.

“I don’t know the plans going forward. I was kind of just trying to soak it all up today,” Latz said. “It was just a lot of fun out there.”

In his third career start and second of the season, Latz didn’t allow a hit until Ramon Laureano singled to center to start the bottom of the seventh. A walk later, Latz was removed, but a 4-0 Texas lead didn’t last much longer.

Chris Martin came on and gave up homers to each of his three batters — Gary Sanchez, Ramon Urias and Ryan O’Hearn — and left with the Rangers down 5-4. But a sacrifice fly by Jonah Heim the following inning tied it, and Evan Carter slid home safely on Sam Haggerty‘s grounder in the 10th.

Latz walked three and struck out four — including the last three hitters of the fifth inning. His previous longest outing in the majors was Thursday, when he threw 5 2/3 innings of relief in a loss to Kansas City.

“That’s one of the better jobs in all of baseball — to be a starting pitcher,” Latz said. “I’m not going to say I don’t want to be a starting pitcher. Obviously I do. I’m comfortable either way obviously. If it’s in the rotation, it’s great.”

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Pirates remove Cruz after he loses track of outs

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Pirates remove Cruz after he loses track of outs

MILWAUKEE — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Oneil Cruz said he lost track of the outs when he didn’t run out a double-play grounder, a move that led to his removal in his club’s 9-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.

The Pirates trailed 7-3 and had a runner on first with one out in the seventh when Cruz grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Cruz slowed down after the Brewers got the force play at second, and he said afterward he believed that was the third out of the inning.

Pirates manager Don Kelly removed Cruz in favor of a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and said it was due to Cruz’s “energy and effort going down the line.” Cruz said after the game he understood Kelly’s decision.

“DK had all the rights to do what he did, and I’ll back him up on that,” Cruz said through an interpreter. “It was my fault because I thought there were two outs in that situation. That’s why I let off running to first base.”

Kelly said he explained to Cruz the reason for the benching.

“We talked,” Kelly said. “He knows the expectation. Right there, I feel we fell a little short.”

When he was asked whether Cruz would be back in the starting lineup Wednesday, Kelly was noncommittal.

“We’re going to sit down and talk, and we’ll figure that out,” Kelly said.

Cruz, 26, has batted just .156 (12-of-77) with 31 strikeouts this month after having a productive start to the season that included owning a .911 OPS in early May and hitting a 122.9 mph homer against the Brewers on May 25. That homer was the hardest-hit ball since Statcast started tracking that data in 2015.

Cruz is now hitting .208 with a .321 on-base percentage, a .404 slugging percentage, 13 homers, 31 RBIs and 26 steals in 71 games.

“He’s struggling at the plate right now,” Kelly said. “It’s difficult when you’re going through that and trying to figure it out. He’s working hard to do that. That’s one thing we’ve got to be mindful of, is not letting that offense carry over to defense and base running, and the energy and effort that we’re giving on any other aspects of the game as well.”

Cruz said his hitting slump “had nothing to do with what happened today” and isn’t impacting his focus on the basepaths or in the field. But he also said he appreciated Kelly’s instructions to him and noted how he can learn from veteran teammates Andrew McCutchen and Tommy Pham.

“They’re a really good example,” Cruz said. “They always run hard. They always go out there to do their 100%. That’s a teaching point for me. I accepted the way DK came to me and explained it and presented it to me.”

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