Thumbs down gesture to fans went too far, Mets owner says

New York Mets owner Steve Cohen said Monday that his protesting players who gave the crowd the thumbs down over the weekend “hit the third rail by messing with fans.”

Cohen made the comments to the New York Post a day after Javier Baez was the ringleader of a trio of players who pushed back at booing Mets fans with thumbs-down gestures during Sunday's game against the Washington Nationals.

“These are young guys and sometimes we forget they're on a public stage and can make mistakes,” Cohen told the Post. “They hit the third rail, though, by messing with fans. And it's unacceptable. Hopefully, this is a teaching moment and they will learn from this.”

Cohen's comments dug deeper than his tweet late Sunday night.

“I miss the days when the biggest controversy was the black jerseys.”

Baez first gave the thumbs down after hitting a home run in the win over the Nationals. Francisco Lindor and Kevin Pillar also mimicked the gesture during and after the game.

“We're not machines. We're going to struggle seven times out of 10,” Baez said after the game. “It just feels bad when I strike out and I get booed. I want to let them know that when we have success, we're going to do the same thing to let them know how it feels.”

Italy coach Roberto Mancini said his European champions can improve even further before the World Cup takes place in Qatar next year.

Following their Euro 2020 triumph last month, the Azzurri are unbeaten in 34 competitive games, one match away from equalling the all-time international record held by Spain and Brazil.

Mancini's side has won all three of its qualifying games for the World Cup.

“We can improve in the 14 months from now until the World Cup,” Mancini said on Monday.

“Nothing has changed. Our life will go on and our work, too. We have won the European Championship, we have made ourselves and 60 million Italians happy. This is what made us so proud, the fact that we gave happiness to all these people.

“But there are still five qualifying matches to go and these must be treated with care. We start again against players who have already played in the league for eight or nine matches. The important thing is qualify, then we will have time for the final phase.”

Italy plays Bulgaria on Friday in Florence. They visit Switzerland in Basel on Sunday, before hosting Lithuania on Sept. 8 at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio-Emilia.

The San Francisco Giants claimed veteran left-hander Jose Quintana off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.

Quintana, 32, signed a one-year, US$8-million deal with the Angels in January and went 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 24 appearances (10 starts). He struck out 73 batters and walked 29 in 531/3 innings.

An all-star in 2016, Quintana is 83-80 lifetime with a 3.83 ERA in 278 games (257 starts) with the Chicago White Sox (2012-17), Cubs (2017-20) and Angels.

The Giants, who have the best record in the majors, opened a four-game home series with the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

The Portland Timbers are awaiting news about the severity of the injury to midfielder Eryk Williamson, who left Sunday night's 2-0 win at Seattle with a knee injury.

“Very unfortunate, it's a severe injury, his knee, his ACL,” coach Giovanni Savarese said. “We'll see more after evaluation to give the right comment on the full details, but it doesn't look good. It looks very severe and most likely he won't play for a while.”

Williamson was injured early in Sunday's game. He was attempting a pass near midfield when he went down without an opponent in the vicinity. He briefly got to his feet and tried to walk away before being stretchered off the field.

Pre-season No. 1 Alabama will have Bryce Young at quarterback for the season opener against No. 14 Miami, coach Nick Saban announced Monday.

Young had been the presumed heir apparent to Mac Jones, a firstround draft pick by the New England Patriots in April, since the Crimson Tide won the College Football Playoff in January.

Last season, Young appeared in nine games as a freshman. The sixfoot, 194-pound quarterback from Southern California completed 13 of 22 passes for 156 yards and a touchdown.