Painful elbow sidelines Price
Red Sox scratch left-hander from first spring start.
Boston Red Sox left-hander David Price was scratched from his first spring training start and will consult with specialists after experiencing soreness in his left elbow and forearm.
Price, who had been scheduled to make his first spring training start this weekend, had an MRI on Wednesday and is expected to seek second opinions from Drs. James Andrews and Neil ElAttrache.
Manager John Farrell said Price threw 38 pitches in a two-inning simulated game Tuesday and felt no discomfort.
The Red Sox were counting on Price, along with Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello and lefty Chris Sale, acquired from the White Sox, to lead the pitching staff.
Price went 17-9 with a 3.99 ERA in a major league-leading 35 starts last season, his first after signing a $210 million, seven-year contract.
Intentional walk rule takes effect: Major League Baseball and the players’ association announced their agreement on pitchless intentional walks, and the change took effect with exhibition games Thursday. If a manager signals the plate umpire for an intentional walk, the umpire would tell the batter to take first base. Commissioner Rob Manfred had hoped for more radical pace- of-game changes, but the union did not agree to raising the bottom of the strike zone, pitch clocks or limits on trips to the mound.
Abreu, trainer close: White Sox star Jose Abreu testified he had a close relationship with a Florida baseball trainer on trial along with a sports agent for allegedly smuggling Cuban ballplayers off the island. He acknowledged giving Julio Estrada $25,000 a month after Estrada’s assets were frozen by the government following his indictment in the smuggling case — $10,000 more than Estrada had requested. Abreu also paid Estrada’s wife an undisclosed amount to help decorate the player’s South Florida home. He bought a separate $500,000 house in the Florida Keys for Estrada to live in rent-free, and Estrada was best man at Abreu’s wedding. Estrada and sports agent Bartolo Hernandez are charged with conspiracy and alien smuggling for allegedly overseeing a network that brought Abreu and other ballplayers out of Cuba by boat to third countries where they could establish residency and seek free-agent contracts.
Blue Jays: Manager John Gibbons hopes second baseman Devon Travis will be ready for the start of the season but c an’t guarantee it. Travis is slowed by a bone bruise on his right knee bone, the same knee on which he had offseason surgery to remove cartilage.
Nationals: Setup man Joe Blanton, 36, agreed to a $4 million, one-year contract. The NHL leaders won their franchise-record 14th consecutive home game. Rookie forward Jakub Vrana’s scored on a power play in the third period. Braden Holtby made15 saves for his eighth shutout. Evander Kane scored the goahead goal with 5:36 remaining. Ryan O’Reilly had a goal and two assists for Buffalo, and Marcus Foligno scored twice. Newly acquired Valtteri Filppula scored in regulation, and Jakub Voracek and Jordan Weal scored in the shootout. Aaron Ekblad scored for Florida. Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves on his 35th birthday, and the Rangers got third-period goals from Pavel Buchnevich and Oscar Lindberg. Lundqvist earned his 403rd NHL win, tying Grant Fuhr for 10th all-time. Sergei Bobrovsky made 38 saves to earn his fourth shutout of the season. Brandon Saad’s goal in the third period was his 19th. Alex Burrows scored twice in his Ottawa debut, with Mike Hoffman assisting on both. Paul Byron snapped a tie with nine seconds left, scoring an unassisted goal. Ryan Strome had a goal and two assists and the Islanders rallied with four straight goals. Dennis Seidenberg got the tiebreaker at 7:46 of the third period. The Islanders have won four of five. Late Late
The Las Vegas expansion team can begin making trades and signing free agents immediately as owner Bill Foley’s final payment to the league cleared Wednesday.