Spring training games are on the clock

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Baseball is on the clock.

The traditionally timeless sport implemented a pitch clock in major league spring training for the first time on Saturday in an attempt to hurry up both pitchers and hitters and keep the modern fan from tuning out the increasingly lengthy games.

Sixteen games across Florida and Arizona were scheduled to be played under the new rules, which were being phased in without threat of penalty for the first few days or more. There were no notable incidents in the afternoon, when three of the six games approached or surpassed 3 hours.

"I hope it gets the tempo up," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said after the St. Louis Cardinals beat Miami 11-1 in 3 hours, 15 minutes. "It sounds like at the minor league level they get used to it, and that's the way you go."

Baseball has long billed itself as a timeless sport, but as average game times creeped over 3 hours that has become less a badge of honor and more a reason for some young or short attention span fans to turn to other forms of entertainment.

Since taking over as commissioner, Rob Manfred has made speeding up games one of his primary goals. Last year, the average length of a nine-inning game fell to 3 hours — five minutes shorter than the previous season, but still 36 minutes longer than a typical game in 1976.

After pushing for an agreement with the players last season, baseball management decided on its own to experiment with pitch clocks during spring training this year. They have the right to implement them for the regular season but would prefer to reach an agreement with the union.

Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Rich Hill threw seven pitches in the first inning and retired the Chicago White Sox in order.

"I didn't notice the pitch clock," he said. "I'm against it, but I think it's just really a fundamental thing for me. That's it, period. It's there, great, maybe we can be aware of it. But if it's going to dictate the outcome of the game, I would hope everybody who loves the game and watches baseball would be against it for that reason only."

"If it's out there and it's, 'Hey, we have to pick it up, we're using the clock to use as a warning or a guideline,' that would be fine. But I didn't really notice the clock. I usually pitch with pretty decent pace anyways," he said.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who has two of the slowest pitchers in the game in Joe Kelly and Pedro Baez, said he thinks they will figure it out.

"They have to adjust," he said. "That's just the way it goes. We'll have those conversations with those guys. I think with spring training, it's a good opportunity for these guys to make an adjustment." They'll need to hurry.

Of the six early games on Saturday, three finished at 2:30 and under and three were at 2:56 or more. The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees — a rivalry that has repeatedly resulted in four-hour regular season games ending at or near midnight — finished in 3:06 in 85-degree heat in front of a half-empty ballpark.

Each team scored two runs and used two relievers to get through the eighth inning. As the Yankees drew two walks and sent the tying run to the plate in the ninth, a boy in a Dustin Pedroia T-shirt in the front row near the Boston dugout lazily threw a ball against the protective netting.

"In spring training, the game is going to slow down," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.

Many players around the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues said they talked about the clocks in their pregame meetings, but they didn't pay much attention to them on the field. At Boston's spring training ballpark in Fort Myers, there is a clock behind home plate, one near third base and one in center field.

It counted down the time between innings, or when a relief pitcher entered the game, and switched to a pitch clock starting with the second pitch to a batter. The Independent

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The University of Rhode Island men’s basketball team avoided the embarrassment of a lopsided loss to Dayton, the indignity of a defeat to last-place Fordham and the blowout at VCU, but still couldn’t stop its losing streak Friday night.

Davidson shot 61 percent from the field and Jon Axel Gudmundsson tallied a triple-double as URI’s improved effort went for naught in a 75-66 loss in a late-night game at the Ryan Center.

“I thought we fought. I thought, offensively, we were a little bit better today. We knocked down some shots. We just didn’t have enough,” URI head coach David Cox said. “I told the guys at the end, ‘We don’t accept moral victories at all,’ but I wanted to let them know that I was proud of their effort for an entire 40 minutes. That’s something we haven’t done the last few outings. I think that bodes well for us moving forward.”

The Rams have lost five in a row and seven of their last eight, falling to 12-14 on the year and 5-9 in Atlantic 10 play. Davidson, which handed URI the first loss of its skid earlier this month, is 20-7 and 11-3 in conference play.

Gudmundsson recorded just the second triple-double in Ryan Center history, joining the 2011 achievement by URI’s Delroy James. The potential A-10 Player of the Year favorite totaled 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

“He truly is a special player,” Cox said. “He just dictates a lot of the pace of the game and a lot of what goes on out there for Davidson.”

URI didn’t have an answer for any of Davidson’s shooters. The Wildcats made nine of 13 3-point attempts, including four of five in the second half. Kishawn Pritchett made all four of his shots from deep en route to 13 points. Davidson also had success in the paint, with Luka Brajkovic scoring 12 points.

“That’s a very talented team that can hurt you in a number of ways,” Cox said. “I thought we were locked into the game plan, but when you give them open shots and they bury them at such an efficient rate - and then you take into account the back doors and things of that nature - it was too much.”

URI made seven 3-pointers - its most since the losing streak began - and managed to stay close thanks to a 19-0 advantage in second-chance points.

The Rams took 20 more shots than the Wildcats thanks to the extra looks.

Davidson began pulling away late in the first half, pushing the lead to nine. Fatts Russell hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds that looked like a momentum-shifter, but Gudmundsson followed by banking in a halfcourt shot at the buzzer, restoring the ninepoint advantage.

“Not necessarily a back-breaker because you still have 20 minutes to play, but that was a tough one there,’” Cox said. “Big shot at the end of the half for us to cut it to six. We contested that shot by Gudmundsson. To go down nine instead of six is a big difference.”

Needed a strong start to the second half, URI instead watched Pritchett and Luke Frampton hit 3s in a 9-2 run. The Rams didn’t let Davidson pull away and made things interesting down the stretch when they cut the lead to eight, but they would get no closer.

URI’s Cyril Langevine had 12 points and 13 rebounds for his 15th double-double of the season and his fifth in a row. Tyrese Martin paced the Rams with 16 points.

The Rams will welcome George Washington to the Ryan Center Tuesday night.