FALLING CHUCK OF ICE TEARS ROOF OF ROGERS CENTRE
TORONTO» Even moving indoors couldn’t get the Blue Jays back on the field.
Toronto postponed Monday’s series opener against Kansas City after chunks of ice crashed down from the nearby CN Tower following a weekend of freezing rain, including one that punctured a hole in the Rogers Centre roof.
Andrew Miller, the Blue Jays’ executive vice president of business operations, was standing in the infield with two colleagues Monday morning, examining existing damage, when a falling piece of ice tore a hole about three feet by five feet in the PVC roof over right field, sending ice and pieces of insulation crashing onto the turf.
“We saw it happen,” Miller said. “It was pretty frightening. It was really loud. It sounded like fireworks or some kind of explosion going off.”
It’s the first postponement at Rogers Centre since a game against the Royals was called off after a collision between two panels of the stadium’s moving roof on April 12, 2001.
The teams will play a doubleheader Tuesday.
Rays’ Kiermaier out 2-3 months.
ST. PETERSBURGH,
Tampa Bay center fielder Kevin Kiermaier has a torn ligament in his right thumb that requires surgery and could be sidelined two to three months.
The Rays placed the defensive whiz on the 10-day disabled list Monday, a day after he was injured sliding headfirst into second base during a 10-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Kiermaier said he will have surgery Friday.
“I kind of expected it,” he said. “Hearing those words that I’ll out for months at a time is really hard to take right now.”
Drury facing blurred vision.
Yankees infielder Brandon Drury says he has batted with blurred vision caused by migraines.
Drury has not played since April 6 and has been undergoing tests for the cause of the migraines.
He resumed baseball activities before Monday’s homestand opener against Miami and said he has been put on an anti-inflammatory medication. Drury said not all the test results have come back and the issues have not yet subsided.
Ellsbury adds ailment.
Another week, another ailment for the increasingly brittle Jacoby Ellsbury.
The 34-year-old New York Yankees center fielder has plantar fasciitis, extending a stay on the disabled list that began with an oblique injury and was prolonged when he hurt a hip.
“It’s just trying to get him back to a point here he can start in on baseball activities,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday.
Pirates’ Harrison out six weeks.
PITTSBURGH» The Pittsburgh Pirates placed second baseman Josh Harrison on the 10-day disabled list after he broke the pinky finger on his left hand for a second time in a year.
The team said Tuesday that Harrison fractured the fifth metacarpal in the finger when he was hit with a pitch by Miami’s Jose Urena in the third inning of Pittsburgh’s 7-3 win Sunday over the Marlins. He is expected to miss six weeks.
The two-time all-star broke the same bone last September when he was hit by Cincinnati’s Tyler Mahle.
Under Armour switch pushed to 2020.
YORK» Under Armour’s NEW takeover from Majestic Athletic as the supplier of Major League Baseball uniforms has been pushed back a year to 2020, the original terms of its agreement. Fanatics Inc. and MLB announced a deal in December 2016 that gave the company licensing rights to manufacture and distribute merchandise starting in 2020.
Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said last May the switch would move up a year, but MLB and the company decided the accelerated schedule could not be met.