Brennaman uses anti-gay slur
Play-by-play man apologizes, leaves Reds broadcast
Thom Brennaman, here in
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman used an antigay slur on air during the team’s game Wednesday night and later left the broadcast after apologizing.
Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader in Kansas City. Brennaman didn’t seem to realize he was already on air.
The 56-year-old Brennaman remained on air in the second game until the top of the fifth, when he spoke directly to the camera before handing off play-by-play duties.
“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said.
“If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”
After pausing to announce a home run, Brennaman added: “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” and apologized to the Reds, Fox Sports and his coworkers.
Major League Baseball was aware of the incident but didn’t have an immediate comment. The Reds didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, Thom has called major league games for 33 years and has been with Fox Sports for the past 27.
Astros: DH Yordan Álvarez, last season’s AL rookie of the year, will miss the rest of the season because of a partially torn right patellar tendon that requires surgery, manager Dusty Baker announced Wednesday. Álvarez hit 27 HRs in 313 at-bats last season but appeared in just two games this year. He missed the Astros’ summer camp and the first three weeks of the season while recovering from the coronavirus. Álvarez made his season debut Friday and homered against the Mariners. He played again Saturday but was scratched from Sunday’s lineup because of the knee injury . ... Two-time All-Star 3B Alex Bregman left Wednesday night’s game against the Rockies with an apparent leg injury. There was no immediate word on the extent of the injury.
Indians: Aaron Civale struck out six and didn’t issue a walk while picking up the first complete game of his young career as the Indians pushed their winning streak to five with a 6-1 win over the host Pirates on Wednesday night. The 25year-old Civale allowed five hits and narrowly missed a shutout when the Pirates pushed across a run with Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly in the ninth. Carlos Santana broke open a scoreless game with a three-run HR in the sixth, one night after slamming a towering threerun blast to lift the Indians to a 10-inning victory. Domingo Santana added a bases-clearing double in the eighth as the Indians improved to a season-best six games over .500 (15-9).
Blue Jays: Randal Grichuk extended his recent power surge with two HRs, and the visiting Blue Jays completed a threegame sweep of the fading Orioles with a 5-2 victory. Grichuk hit a solo shot in the second and put the Blue Jays ahead for good with a two-run drive in the sixth. He has homered in four straight starts, and all six of his long balls this season have come over the last six games. Grichuk is batting .424 during an eight-game hitting streak that’s featured six multi-hit games.
Rays, Yankees: Pinchhitter Mike Brosseau singled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth and the streaking Rays beat the host Yankees again, taking advantage of a costly error by reliever Zack Britton in a 4-2 victory. Jalen Beeks pitched out of a ninthinning jam and the Rays got HRs from slumping hitters Ji-Man Choi and Mike Zunino off Gerrit Cole, who struck out 10 in a nodecision. Cole’s 20-game regular-season winning streak remained intact. The Raus have won four straight and 10 of 11 to move within a half-game of the AL East-leading Yankees. The Rays have taken five of six in the season series.
Extra innings: Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, and the visiting Reds beat the Royals 5-0 to split a doubleheader. In the opener of the seven-inning games, Brad Keller didn’t allow a hit until the sixth and extended his shutout streak to 172⁄3 innings, leading the Royals past the Reds 4-0 . ... Kenta Maeda lost a nohitter in the ninth for the host Twins, who blew a three-run lead but came back to beat the Brewers 4-3 in 12 on Tuesday night.