Pitch clock, shift limits are adopted

6:55 a.m. Noon

RUGBY

5:30 a.m. 5 a.m. (Sun.)

SOCCER

6:30 a.m. Italian Serie A: Spezia at Napoli CBSSN 7:55a.m. French Ligue 1: Stade Brest at Paris Saint-Germain beIN 10 a.m. NWSL: San Diego Wave FC at Washington Ch. 2 11:50 a.m. French Ligue 1: Lille at Marseille beIN 12:30 p.m. MLS: Galaxy at Nashville SC TUDN, 1330 2:55 p.m. Liga MX: Santos Laguna at Queretaro TUDN 5 p.m. Liga MX: Leon at Tigres TUDN 5:30 p.m. MLS: LAFC at FC Dallas Ch. 13, 710, 980 7 p.m. Liga MX: UNAM at Toluca TUDN 7 p.m. Liga MX: Chivas at Puebla KVEA 7 p.m. USL: Galaxy II at Orange County Soccer Club BSSC, 1330 3:50a.m. (Sun.) French Ligue 1: Clermont at Strasbourg Alsace beIN

TENNIS

1 p.m.

TRACK AND FIELD

9 a.m.

MLBN MLBN Ch. 11, 830 SNLA, 570, 1020 MLBN

ESPNN ESPN+ PPV

F1Italy Grand Prix, qualifying NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300

Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens

Diamond League: Zurich

ESPNN USA

CNBC (9:30a.m., Ch. 4) CNBC

U.S. Open, women's championship

ESPN

CNBC

Major League Baseball is introducing some of its most radical rules next season, adopting a pitch clock and limiting defensive shifts after concluding modern analytics created a slower, less entertaining sport.

The decisions were made Friday by the sport's 11-man competition committee over the unanimous opposition of the panel's four players. Commissioner Rob Manfred pushed for the innovations along with a management team that included former Boston and Chicago Cubs executive Theo Epstein, now an MLB consultant.

“The influx of data in our industry,” Epstein said, “have not improved the game from an esthetic standpoint or from an entertainment standpoint. So in my role now, it's my responsibility to try to look at the big picture, think about what's great for fans.”

Players supported the third major initiative: larger bases that are expected to lessen injuries and lead to more stolen bases because of a decreased distance of 4½ inches. Base size will increase to 18-inch squares from 15 — first basemen are less likely to get stepped on.

Manfred called the rules an attempt to “bring back the best form of baseball.”

“Number one, fans want games with better pace,” he said during a news conference. “Two, fans want more action, more balls in play. And three, fans want to see more of the athleticism of our great players.”

Union head Tony Clark was noticeably absent, as he was at the announcement of an agreement in March that ended a 99-day lockout.

“Players live the game — day in and day out. On-field rules and regulations impact their preparation, performance, and ultimately, the integrity of the game itself,” the union said in a statement. “Major League Baseball was unwilling to meaningfully address the areas of concern that players raised.”

The Rays' Drew Rasmussen earned his 10th win with six shutout innings on Friday night against the Yankees.

The pitch clock will be set at 15 seconds with no runners on base and 20 seconds with runners — up from the 14/19 tested at Triple-A this season and 14/18 at lower minor league levels.

There will be a limit of two of what MLB calls disengagements — pickoff attempts or steps off the rubber — per plate appearance, and a balk would be called for a third or more unless there is an out.

A catcher is required to be in the catcher's box with nine seconds left on the clock and a hitter in the batter's box and focused on the pitcher with eight seconds remaining. Penalties for violations will be a ball called against a pitcher and a strike called against a batter.

The clock has helped reduce the average time of a nine-inning game in the minor leagues from 3 hours, 4 minutes in 2021 to 2:38 this season. The average time of a nine-inning game in the major leagues this year is 3:07, up from 2:46 in 1989 and 2:30 in the mid-1950s.

Two infielders will be required to be on either side of second and all infielders to be within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitcher is on the rubber. Infielders may not switch sides unless there is a substitution, but five-man infields will still be allowed.

Shifts have soared from 2,357 times on balls hit in play in 2011 to 28,130 in 2016 and 59,063 last year, according to Sports Info Solutions.

“I think fans will cherish the moments absent the extreme defensive shifts when games are decided not by whether their team's infield is positioned by the perfect algorithm, but by whether their team's second baseman can range to make an athletic dive playing with everything on the line,” Epstein said.

MLB's season batting average has dropped from .267 in 1997 to .243 this year, with a team's average runs declining from 4.77 to 4.33.

RAYS 4, YANKEES 2 » Aaron Hicks was benched midgame after failing to catch consecutive drives to left that landed for runscoring doubles in the fourth inning, and Tampa Bay beat New York at Yankee Stadium to close within 3½ games in the AL East.

Randy Arozarena hit an RBI double in the first off Frankie Montas (5-12) to put the Rays ahead to stay.

Wander Franco hit a twoout, two-on drive in the fourth that dropped out of Hicks' glove along the leftfield foul line just in front of the wall. Hicks drooped his head for a few seconds, thinking he caught the ball and the drive was foul, and two runs scored before he reacted and picked up the ball.

Arozarena drove the next pitch to left, and Hicks backpedaled a halfdozen steps while taking a bad route on a difficult fly, and the ball dropped behind him on the warning track as Franco scored for a 4-0 lead.

Drew Rasmussen (104) allowed six hits in six scoreless innings, striking out 10. The Rays have won nine of 10 and 15 of 18.

MARLINS 6, METS 3 » Pete Alonso hit his 33rd home run but New York could not erase an early deficit and lost at home to Miami.

New York, which began the day clinging to a halfgame lead in the NL East over Atlanta, lost for the fourth time in six games.

Garrett Cooper homered, doubled and singled for the Marlins.

The Mets chipped away at a 4-1 deficit with Alonso's two-run shot against Miami starter Edward Cabrera in the sixth.

The Marlins regained their three-run advantage on Charles LeBlanc's tworun homer against Joely Rodriguez in the eighth.

PHILLIES 5, NATIONALS 3 » Rhys Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto hit solo homers and Noah Syndergaard pitched well enough into the seventh inning to lead host Philadelphia to victory over Washington.

BLUE JAYS 4, RANGERS 3 » Bo Bichette homered for the fifth time in the last four games, Danny Jansen hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning and Toronto defeated host Texas.

Top Rangers prospect Josh Jung hit a home run in his first career at-bat.

ORIOLES 3, RED SOX 2 » Gunnar Henderson hit a tworun single in the sixth inning to cap a rally, and host Baltimore edged Boston.

It was a much-needed win for the Orioles, who lost three of four to Toronto in their previous series to fall 4½ games behind the Blue Jays for the final American League wild card.

PIRATES 8, CARDINALS 2 » Rookie Oneil Cruz finished a home run short of the cycle, and Pittsburgh beat visiting NL Central-leading St. Louis.

Cruz had a two-run triple, double and RBI single.

Albert Pujols entered as a pinch hitter for the Cardinals and went 0 for 2. The 42-year-old remained at 695 home runs with 23 games remaining in his final big league season.

ROCKIES 13, DIAMONDBACKS 10 » Elías Díaz hit a gameending, three-run homer to give him seven RBIs, C.J. Cron had a 504-foot home run and Colorado beat visiting Arizona after wasting a seven-run lead.

Arizona took a 10-8 lead with a nine-run fifth, but the Rockies rallied to become the first team to win after allowing nine runs in a single inning since the Angels at Texas on Sept. 19, 2008.