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DENVER — Ryan McMahon drew a bases-loaded walk on a full-count, pitch-clock violation by Kyle Finnegan as the Colorado Rockies scored two runs in the ninth inning for an 8-7 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

It was the first game decided by a pitch-clock violation in major league history. Nationals closer Finnegan leads the league with nine pitch-clock violations this season.

“I’m just trying to focus on the pitch and then location,” Finnegan said. “I thought I picked up the clock. I guess by the time I picked up and looked at the catcher and delivered the pitch, I was just a hair too late. Those situations, it just can’t happen. We deserved to win, and I wasn’t able to do my job.”

Colorado had four straight singles to open the ninth off Finnegan (2-4) to bring up McMahon, who fell behind 0-2. Hunter Goodman and Jake Cave singled to open the inning, and Brenton Doyle singled to tie it after fouling off two bunt attempts. Ezequiel Tovar hit a line single to right to load the bases. Finnegan had converted 21 of his previous 23 save chances.

“You hate to see a game decided that way, but I’m happy it worked out in our favor,” McMahon said. “I’m never looking [at the clock]. I’m letting the umpire do his job. I didn’t know what was going on until the umpire said something.”

The pitch clock was adopted in 2023, but the time between pitches with runners on base was shortened from 20 seconds to 18 this season.

“Kyle has had some trouble lately with the clock,” Washington manager Dave Martinez said. “It hadn’t really cost him to that point, but it’s something that we’ve kind of felt like might come back to haunt him at some point. He could have stepped off, but it’s a tough situation.

“That’s something that he has to be mindful of. He’s just slow. So it burned him today. Typically it hasn’t burned him.”

Luis Garcia hit two-run homer to give Washington a 7-5 lead in the eighth inning, and CJ Abrams had three hits including his 12th home run. The Nationals had won 10 of 13.

Abrams finished a triple short of the cycle while extending his hitting streak to 13 games. He had two RBIs and scored twice.

Brendan Rodgers, Goodman and McMahon homered for the Rockies, who tied it on Goodman’s homer in the seventh off Jacob Barnes. Goodman has five homers in the past eight games. McMahon had three hits, and his bases-empty homer in the eighth inning brought the Rockies within a run at 7-6.

“The Rockies and the Nationals are part of history,” Colorado manager Bud Black said. “How about that?”

Tovar had two hits, two walks and two runs. He scored on catcher Jacob Stallings‘ single in the first inning and on Rodgers’ three-run homer for a 4-2 lead in the third. Rodgers played his first game since June 7, when he suffered a hamstring injury. He hit cleanup for the eighth time this season.

Abrams and Lane Thomas singled in runs for a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning, but the Nationals ran themselves out of more when Abrams and Thomas were thrown out attempting to steal second. Thomas had two hits.

The Nationals are third in the majors with 104 stolen bases but have been thrown out a major league-high 38 times. Stallings threw out three of four Nationals runners attempting to steal, all at second.

“Getting thrown out is not going to stop us from being aggressive on the base paths,” Abrams said. “We’re going to keep doing what we are doing.”

Nationals starter Mitchell Parker gave up four runs and six hits while striking out eight, including the final five he faced. He had not given up more than three earned runs in any of his previous 12 starts.

Colorado starter Cal Quantrill gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings for his ninth quality start. He left with a 4-3 lead.

Washington left fielder Jesse Winker was ejected by plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt after taking a called third strike for the second out in the fifth inning. Winker briefly argued with Wendelstedt at the plate and was ejected after going into the dugout, his sixth career ejection.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rockies: RHP Jake Bird (groin tightness) was removed from the game after facing three batters in the seventh inning. … RF Sean Bouchard (back soreness) was replaced after three innings. … RHP German Marquez (Tommy John surgery) gave up one hit in four scoreless innings in a rehab start for Class A Spokane on Saturday. He struck out three, walked two and threw 50 pitches.

UP NEXT

Colorado LHP Kyle Freeland (0-3, 13.21 ERA) is expected to be activated from the injured list to make his fifth start Sunday, and first since April 14, after missing nine weeks a left elbow strain. He will oppose Nationals RHP Jake Irvin (5-6, 3.24).

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

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Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

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Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

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