AROUND THE HORN
Guardians:
Trying to hang on to their slim lead in the AL Central, the Guardians lost two starting pitchers to injury on Friday. Both Zach Plesac (broken hand) and Aaron Civale (forearm inflammation) were placed on the 15-day injured list before the Guardians, who began the day leading the Twins by just one game, opened a three-game series against the Mariners. Plesac was supposed to start Friday’s opener, but the right-hander was scratched about four hours before the scheduled first pitch. Rookie Cody Morris will make his major league debut against the Mariners. The Guardians said Plesac has a fractured fifth metacarpal. He has been plagued by a lack of run support this season and is just 3-11 with a 4.39 ERA in 23 starts. This will be Civale’s third trip to the injured list this season. The right-hander missed time with a wrist sprain and then with a strained glute. He’s 2-6 with a 5.40 ERA in 16 games. The 25-yearold Morris was activated from the 60-day injured list Thursday. The right-hander had been sidelined with a back strain suffered during spring training. At Triple-A Columbus, he posted a 2.35 ERA in six appearances.
Braves: Spencer Strider struggled to understand why his Braves teammates started talking to him about John Smoltz when he completed the eighth inning against the Rockies. The rookie had no idea he broke an Atlanta record held by the Hall of Famer. Strider struck out 16 batters — the most by any Braves pitcher since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966 — while allowing two hits in eight innings to lead the Braves to a 3-0 win over the Rockies on Thursday night. Strider fanned his last two batters with two runners on base in the eighth — with his fastball still hitting 98 mph — to complete his masterful 106-pitch outing. “I lost track after five (innings),” said Strider of his strikeout count. Teammate Kyle Wright filled in the rookie about the record. “I came out of the game and Kyle was telling me something about John Smoltz or whatever. It didn’t make any sense,” Strider said. Finally, Strider was made to understand. “It’s pretty wild, the guys who’ve thrown in this organization, it’s a long, incredible list,” Strider said. “I’m just grateful to be here and having success.”
Yankees: Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo will miss a pivotal threegame series against the Rays this weekend after getting an epidural shot for lingering lower back pain. DJ LeMahieu started Friday night in place of Rizzo, who got the injection a day earlier in California. The Yankees completed a threegame series at the Angels on Wednesday night.
Tigers: Tigers outfielder Austin Meadows revealed on Friday he has been dealing with mental health issues along with physical ailments and will not play again this season. “This season has been an unfortunate struggle with a series of injuries and illness, from dealing with vertigo early on, then COVID, then bilateral tendinitis in my Achilles, and then having to go through the rehab process each time,” he posted on social media. “What I have told very few people is that I also have been struggling with my mental health in a way that has extended my time away from the game I love so much.”