AROUND THE HORN
■ Rays: The mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, was especially disturbing for Rays pitcher Brooks Raley. The small community of about 16,000 people west of San Antonio is the left-hander’s hometown. He attended school in the building where the shooting occurred, and his parents and a brother still reside there. “It’s a pretty small town,” Raley said Wednesday. “News travels fast. My family is still there, my brother lives there, and his wife and daughter. So it hits close to home.” Raley, 33, was in the Rays clubhouse at Tropicana Field less than an hour before a game against the Marlins when he learned the news. While making it clear he didn’t want to discuss any political implications of Tuesday’s shooting, Raley acknowledged the news is difficult to digest. “I was just sitting in here and heard something and didn’t really follow up because we were about 40 minutes before the game. I got to talk to my parents, just to get a little bit of background and get as much information as you can,” he said. “I did go to that school. I walked those halls, so I can imagine what they experience each day, and I’m feeling for that community. It’s small and a close-knit community, so it’s obviously tough. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do. It’s going to take time.” Raley, a two-sport star at Uvalde High School, hasn’t lived in his hometown since heading off to college at Texas A&M. He currently resides in College Station, Texas, with his wife and three daughters.
■ Yankees: Josh Donaldson apologized to the wife and family of Jackie Robinson for referencing the pioneering Black baseball player in remarks that led to a confrontation with White Sox star Tim Anderson.
The Yankees third baseman was suspended for one game and fined Monday by MLB. The league said Donaldson’s comment Saturday was “disrespectful and in poor judgment.” Donaldson has appealed the discipline. “... I have the utmost respect for what Tim Anderson brings to the game of baseball,” Donaldson said in a statement Thursday. “I stated over the weekend that I apologized for offending Tim and that it was a misunderstanding based on multiple exchanges between us over the years. My view of that exchange hasn’t changed and I absolutely meant no disrespect. In the past, it had never been an issue and now that it is, we have a mutual understanding. I would also like to apologize to Mrs. Rachel Robinson and the Jackie Robinson family for any distress this incident may have caused. Jackie was a true American hero and I hold his name in the highest regard . ... Matt Carpenter was inserted to the Yankees’ lineup as the DH after agreeing to a one-year contract, a week after he was released from the Rangers’ minor league system. Carpenter entered the lineup for a series opener against the host Rays when CF Aaron Hicks was scratched shortly before game time with hamstring tightness. Aaron Judge was moved from DH to center. Carpenter, 36, gets a contract paying a $1 million salary while in the major leagues and $200,000 while in the minors. A three-time All-Star with the Cardinals, he hit .275 with six HRs and 19 RBIs in 21 games for Round Rock of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. Carpenter spent the previous 11 seasons with the Cardinals, batting .262 with 155 HRs and 576 RBIs. He hit .169 last year with three homers and 21 RBIs in 207 at-bats.