White Sox star to miss 5-6 months with pectoral injury
Chicago White Sox slugger Eloy Jiménez is expected to be sidelined for five to six months after rupturing his left pectoral tendon trying to make a play in the outfield during an exhibition game.
Jiménez needs surgery to repair the injury, putting his season in jeopardy. General manager Rick Hahn said the team will know more when he begins the rehab process. Jiménez got hurt when he tried to make a leaping grab at the wall on A’s catcher Sean Murphy’s solo homer in the second inning of their spring game. Jiménez’s left arm barely moved as he walked off the field with a trainer.
Even before the diagnosis, the injury immediately led to another round of questions about whether Jiménez might be better suited for designated hitter than left field — where he has gotten hurt a couple times since his big league debut in 2019.
“Our biggest concern is Eloy. He’s the guy who’s hurt. He’s the guy that’s got to go through the rehab,” manager Tony La Russa said.
Chicago is looking for a deep postseason run after it made the playoffs last year for first time since 2008. With Tim Anderson, AL MVP José Abreu and Yoán Moncada, it has one of the most potent lineups in baseball, but Jiménez’s prolonged absence leaves the team without one of its most dangerous hitters.
He was acquired in a July 2017 trade with the crosstown Cubs. He hit 31 homers in his first year in the majors in 2019. He batted .296 with 14 homers and 41 RBIs in 55 games during the pandemic-shortened season. ORIOLES ADD MATT HARVEY TO MAJOR LEAGUE ROSTER >> Matt Harvey is back in the major leagues with the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore selected the contract of the 31-year-old righthander on Thursday, one week before its season opener at Boston.
Harvey gets a $1 million, one-year contract.
FORMER AL PRESIDENT DR. BOBBY BROWN DIES >> Four-time World Series winner and former Texas Rangers and American League president Dr. Bobby Brown died in his home in Fort Worth, Texas. He was 96. A family member confirmed Brown’s death on Thursday to the Fort Worth StarTelegram.
Brown batted .279 with 22 homers and 237 RBIs during his time as an infielder with the New York Yankees (1946-52, 1954), helping the club win titles in 1947, 1949, 1950 and 1951.
He later served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and practiced cardiology in the Dallas-Fort Worth area until accepting a position to serve as the interim president of the Texas Rangers in 1974. He later was named the president of the American League from 1984-94.
Figure skating
TOUGH SKATE FOR ZHOU AT WORLD
CHAMPIONSHIPS >> Vincent Zhou’s World Championship performance could not have been a bigger disaster in Stockholm, Sweden.
Zhou, the 2019 world bronze medalist, failed to qualify for the free skate after imploding during the men’s short program. Zhou, who grew up in Palo Alto, whiffed on all three jumps in one of his most disappointing performances in some time.
The American team suffered a
tough day as defending world champion Nathan Chen fell on a quadruple lutz and is third heading into the free skate on Saturday.
Japan’s stars dominated the day with Yuzuru Hanyu leading the competition with 106.98 points and Yuma Kagiyama second with 100.96. Chen, who won his fifth consecutive U.S. title this year, is third with 98.85 points. American Jason Brown is seventh with 91.25 points.
Zhou, 20, scored a meager 70.51 points and missed qualifying for the free skate by one place.
Soccer
MEXICO BEATS U.S. 1-0 IN MEN’S OLYMPIC QUALIFYING >> Uriel Antuna scored following a sloppy giveaway by Sebastian Soto in the 45th minute, and Mexico beat the United States 1-0 at Guadalajara on Wednesday night in qualifying for the men’s Olympic soccer tournament.
Both teams already were assured of advancing from Group A to semifinal berths Sunday. The United States finished Group B in second place at 2-1 and will play Honduras, unless Canada beats the Catrachos in tonight’s finale of Group B.
Semifinal winners from the North and Central American and Caribbean region get the final two places in the 16-nation field for the Olympics.
U.S. BEATS JAMAICA IN FRIENDLY >> Sergiño Dest scored his first international goal with a spectacular 25-yard shot, Sebastian Lletget added a pair of second-half goals, and the United States beat Jamaica 4-1 in an exhibition at Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
Christian Pulisic returned to the U.S. lineup for the first time since October 2019 and played the first half. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, this was just the third match on a FIFA fixture date for the Americans since November 2019. Brenden Aaronson also scored for the U.S.
Broadcasting
ANNOUNCER DICK STOCKTON RETIRES
AFTER 55 YEARS >> Record-setting playby-play announcer Dick Stockton is retiring after a 55-year career. Stockton has called at least 1,545 games on network television in the four U.S. sports leagues, which FOX said in a
news release is the most of any broadcaster.
He also worked college basketball for FOX and other networks.
Golf
KISNER PREVAILS, MCILROY REBOUNDS
AT WGC MATCH PLAY >> Kevin Kisner handed world No. 2 Justin Thomas his second loss in as many days while Rory McIlroy rebounded from a disastrous opener to win at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play event in Austin, Texas.
Kisner defeated Thomas 2 and 1 in Group 2 for his eighth consecutive match win at the event.
McIlroy rebounded with a 4-and-3 win over Lanto Griffin in Group 11 after his outing Wednesday that included finding a swimming pool on an errant tee shot.
• No one is playing better than Patrick Cantlay at the Match Play. No one is having to work harder.
Through two rounds at Austin Country Club, Cantlay would be the equivalent of 15-under par. In both matches, he had to sweat it out on the 18th green for a 1-up victory.
Cantlay and Carlos Ortiz of Mexico both played so well Thursday that they halved 15 of the 18 holes. Cantlay took the lead with a 6-foot birdie putt on the 14th hole. They matched 6-footers for par and 5-footers for birdie, and then Cantlay won the match when Ortiz missed a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
Cantlay now is 2-0 in group play and faces one more match against Hideki Matsuyama to advance to the knockout stage. WIE WEST STRUGGLES TO 81 IN RETURN
TO LPGA TOUR >> Michelle Wie West struggled through a round of 9-over 81 in her first tournament in nearly two years, while Inbee Park shot a 6-under 66 to take the first-round lead Thursday in the Kia Classic in Carlsbad.
Hyo Joo Kim was a stroke behind, and Sophia Popov, In Gee Chun, Stephanie Meadow and Mel Reid shot 68.
The focus was on the 31-year-old Wie West in her first event since giving birth to daughter Makenna nine months ago. This is her first tournament since June 2019.