No offense, but Giants vs. Lions is looking pretty ugly
Puig gets two-game ban
Dodgers outfielder Yasiel
Puig has been suspended for two games and fined an undisclosed amount for fighting and inciting a bench-clearing incident against the Giants.
MLB announced the sanctions Thursday, two days after Puig took a swing at Giants catcher Nick Hundley in the seventh inning of the Dodgers’ 2-1 home loss. Hundley also was fined. Barring an appeal, Puig is scheduled to begin the suspension Friday at Seattle.
The fracas started when Puig swatted his bat in frustration after fouling off a pitch from Tony Watson, and Hundley said something to the slugger while still in his crouch. Puig walked toward Hundley, the catcher stood up and they argued. Puig shoved Hundley twice, which brought players out of the benches and bullpens.
Giants’ rookie to DL
The Giants placed righthander Dereck Rodriguez, a top candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year, on the 10day disabled list with a Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring. He was injured in the scrum Monday with the Dodgers that earned Yasiel Puig a twogame ban. Right-hander
Casey Kelly is now scheduled to start Friday in the series opener against the Reds.
Beaning costs Urena
Marlins pitcher Jose
Urena was suspended six games and fined an undisclosed amount for intentionally hitting Ronald Acuna
Jr. of the Braves with a pitch. MLB announced the penalties a day after Urena hit Acuna on the left arm with his first pitch in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss in Atlanta.
The 25-year-old Urena, from the Dominican Republic, is 3-12 with a 4.74 ERA in 24 starts. Unless appealed, the suspension is scheduled to begin Friday at Washington.
Darvish set to rehab
Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish will begin a rehab assignment Sunday with a minor league team to be determined. Darvish made a rehab start June 25 with Single-A South Bend but then felt pain in his arm afterward.
Darvish last pitched for the Cubs on May 20. He has been sidelined with right triceps tendinitis and an impingement in his right shoulder.
Betting markets were not impressed by the Giants in last week’s 20-10 home loss to the Browns. You can deduce that because Big Blue is currently +3 for Friday night’s game at Detroit.
Home-field advantage in preseason action usually registers near 2-2¹/2 points. Worked out to be smaller than that on the field last week. Hosts went 8-8 straight up, with the average result a victory of 1.38 points.
Detroit is laying more than the value of home-field advantage, despite posting these lousy numbers in a loss at Oakland: Shurmur’s Giants lost by 10 points at home.
It’s not expected that projected starting quarterbacks Eli Manning or Matthew Stafford will see significant action Friday. Here are last week’s passing stats for all the others who could take snaps: