Bauer shuts eye, pitches shutout ball
What’s that piece of advice Little League coaches always tell their kids – keep your eye on the ball, right?
Trevor Bauer provided a new twist on that idea.
Eager to challenge himself in a spring training start, the new Los Angeles Dodgers ace kept his right eye closed while pitching out of a first-inning jam Saturday.
He even pointed to the eye as he walked off the mound.
“I like making myself uncomfortable and throwing different stuff my way and trying to find a solution for it,” the NL Cy Young Award winner told Los Angeles media.
“I think that’s how you improve. Find a way to make yourself uncomfortable and get comfortable with it and then do it again,” he said.
After giving up a single to San Diego leadoff man Jurickson Profar and then walking Tommy Pham, Bauer posted a shutout. Eye closed, he retired the next three batters.
Bauer wound up pitching three scoreless innings with the creative approach, striking out three while allowing two hits and a walk.
“I figured if they can’t score off me with one eye open, it’s going to be difficult to score off me with two eyes open,” Bauer said. “Just having a little bit of fun.”
.
Known for speaking his mind and going his own way, Bauer said he regularly shuts one eye during bullpen sessions and other workouts.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saw it first-hand this time.
“I did notice. It was the right eye closed on a handful of pitches,” he said. “I guess when he can’t get his command that kind of recalibrates him. I think there might have been one curveball I think he did with both eyes closed.”
From around the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues:
Padres 2, Dodgers 1 (7 Innings): Chris Paddack allowed two hits in two scoreless innings in his second start for San Diego. Keone Kela worked a perfect fifth inning, striking out the side.
Matt Davidson doubled and singled for the Dodgers.
Mets 6, Astros 1 (6): Jacob deGrom pitched two scoreless innings in his spring debut, striking out three and allowing one hit. The two-time NL Cy Young Award also got the word, not that there was any doubt, that he’d start on opening April 1 at Washington.
Pete Alonso hit an RBI double off Houston starter Zack Greinke
Greinke gave up two hits in his only inning.
Nationals 5, Marlins 3 (6): Patrick Corbin made his first start for Washington, pitching two innings and allowing a run on two hits while striking out three. Yan Gomes and Andrew Stevenson had RBI singles for the Nats.
Sandy Alcantara made his second start for Miami, striking out six in 2 1/3 innings. He gave up two hits and two walks. Garrett Cooper homered and Jesus Aguilar had an RBI single.
Blue Jays 7, Phillies 1 (7): Newcomer Tanner Roark made his first start for Toronto, allowing one hit in two scoreless innings. George Springer singled, stole second and scored on Bo Bichette’s single.
Odúbel Herrera singled, took third on Alex Bohm’s double and scored on a wild pitch for Philadelphia’s only run.
Pirates 3, Yankees 2 (7): New York manager Aaron Boone returned to the dugout, three days after surgery to have a pacemaker inserted. Boone, who turns 48 in a few days, returned to camp after clearing COVID-19 protocols and said he felt great.
Jameson Taillon made his first start for the Yankees, pitching against the team that traded him to New York this winter. He struck out four over two scoreless innings. Jay Bruce and Clint Frazier homered.
Gregory Polanco homered and had three hits for Pittsburgh. He already has eight RBIs in exhibition play. Cody Ponce, competing for the final spot in the rotation, made his first start. Ponce worked an inning, surrendering Bruce’s home run and walking two.
White Sox 7, Indians 0 (7): Reynaldo Lopez retired all six batters he faced in the start for the White Sox. Five pitchers combined to shut out the Indians on three hits.
Scott Moss started for Cleveland and allowed two runs on three hits and a walk over two innings. Bryan Shaw walked two and allowed two runs on two hits, but struck out three over two innings.
Royals 8, Giants 6: Mike Minor retired all six batters he faced in his twoinning start for Kansas City, fanning three. Bobby Witt Jr., the second pick of the 2019 minor league draft, homered and singled.
San Francisco starter Johnny Cueto struck out four of the seven batters he faced in his two innings. Evan Longoria doubled and drove in three runs and Donovan Solano homered for the Giants.
Cubs 3, Brewers 1 (7): Shelby Miller struck out three in the two-inning start for the Cubs and Joc Pederson hit his second homer of the spring.
Brett Anderson walked one and struck out two in the one-inning start for Milwaukee and Josh Lindblom followed with two solid innings of relief, striking out three and allowing one hit.
Brewers infielder Luis Urías has a hamstring issue and won’t play in the next game.
“We’ll have him run around the field, most likely run and then take a day of batting practice and groundballs,” manager Craig Counsell said. “But I feel confident. I mean, right now, we’re just going to make him day to day.”
Urías batted .239 with 11 RBIs and a .308 on-base percentage in 41 games last season while playing mostly third base but also making appearances at second base and shortstop. The Brewers are giving him a chance to compete for the starting shortstop job this spring.
Rockies 8, Angels 2 (7): Jose Quintana started for Los Angeles and struck out four of the seven batters he faced over two hitless innings.
Dereck Rodriguez worked three innings in the start for the Rockies, giving up a two-run homer to Jo Adell.
Athletics 1, Mariners 1 (7): Tony Kemp hit a home run for Oakland.
Seattle announced before the game that outfielder Jarred Kelenic, one of the top prospects in baseball, will be sidelined due to a strained adductor muscle in his left knee. No timeline was given for his return.
Rangers 7, Diamondbacks 6: Ronald Guzman hit a solo home run and Rougned Odor had a two-run double for Texas.
Zac Gallen worked three strong innings in the start for Arizona, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out three. Ketel Marte doubled twice and scored a run.
Notre Dame 83, No. 11 Florida State 73: Prentiss Hubb scored 22 points, Dane Goodwin had 15 and host Notre Dame (10-14, 7-11 ACC) beat Florida State (15-5, 11-4) on Saturday.
The Fighting Irish had five players score in double figures. They also went 28 for 34 at the free-throw line, compared to 15 for 20 for the Seminoles.
Cormac Ryan, Nikola Djogo and Nate Laszewski had 11 points apiece for Notre Dame, which had dropped four in a row. Juwan Durham had nine points and nine rebounds.
Scottie Barnes led Florida State with 17 points. RaiQuan Gray added 15 points and 10 rebounds. M.J. Walker had 12 points on 4-for-16 shooting.
No. 4 Illinois 73, No. 7 Ohio State 68: Ayo Dosunmu returned after missing three games with a concussion and facial injuries to score 19 points, and Illinois (20-6, 16-4 Big Ten) rallied to beat host Ohio State (18-8, 12-8 Big Ten).
Andre Curbelo also had 19 points as Illinois got its second straight road win over a top 10 team after routing No. 2 Michigan on Tuesday. The Illini have won 11 of 12 and enter next week’s Big Ten Tournament with a double-bye.
E.J. Liddell led the Buckeyes with 19 points, and Duane Washington Jr. and Justice Sueing each had 15.
Illinois led by 10 during first half but a late put-back by Liddell cut the advantage to 41-37 at the break. The teams traded punches in the second half, but again Ohio State had trouble making shots down the stretch, missing on its last 10 attempts.
No. 17 Oklahoma State 85, No. 6 West Virginia 80: Sophomore Avery Anderson III scored a career-high 31 points to lead Oklahoma State (18-7, 11-7 Big 12) to a victory over host West Virginia (18-8, 11-6 Big 12) in their Big 12 regular-season finale.
The Cowboys made up for the loss of two starters by finding holes in the defense for easy layups, shooting 58% from the floor and outhustling West Virginia for rebounds.
Oklahoma State was without star freshman Cade Cunningham, who injured his left ankle late in a loss to No. 3 Baylor on Thursday. Isaac Likekele also sat out for the sixth time in seven games with a hand injury.
Freshman Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe added 18 points for Oklahoma State. Kalib Boone added 12 points while his twin brother, Keylan, scored 11.
No. 8 Alabama 89, Georgia 79: Herbert Jones had two baskets in a 9-0 run to open the second half that gave Alabama (21-6, 16-2) the lead, and the SEC champion Crimson Tide beat host Georgia (14-11, 7-11).
Jahvon Quinerly led five Alabama scorers in double figures with 18 points. John Petty Jr. had 15 and Jaden Shackelford finished with 14.
Alabama matched its school record for SEC wins in the 1986-87 season. The Crimson Tide will take a three-game winning streak into next week’s SEC Tournament in Tennessee.
Alabama led 82-79 before Keon Ellis sank a 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining. It was one of eight 3s in the second half for the Crimson Tide after they managed only two in the first half.
Providence 54, No. 10 Villanova 52: David Duke made a tiebreaking tip-in with 2.8 seconds left and host Providence (13-12, 9-10 Big East) held on after blowing a 20-point lead to beat Villanova (16-5, 11-4).
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl had an open look at a 3-pointer after a long inbounds pass, but the shot hit the front of the rim, and the buzzer sounded before Jermaine Samuels tipped it in.
Already without point guard Collin Gillespie, who tore his MCL on Wednesday, the Big East champion Wildcats lost backup Justin Moore to an ankle injury in the first half.
No. 12 Arkansas 87, Texas A&M 80: Moses Moody scored 28 points, Jalen Tate added 22 and host Arkansas (21-5, 13-4) beat Texas A&M (8-9, 2-8) to match the program’s longest SEC winning streak at 11 games.
The Razorbacks also won 11 straight SEC games in 1993-94 en route to a national championship.
Arkansas trailed by two until Moody sank a 3-pointer with 56 seconds left, prompting Texas A&M to take a timeout. Davone Davis stole the ensuing inbound pass, threw it up the court to Justin Smith, and Smith threw down an emphatic, two-handed dunk.
No. 14 Creighton 93, Butler 73: Marcus Zegarowski matched his career high with 32 points and host Creighton (18-7, 14-6 Big East) closed a difficult week off the court with a victory over Butler (914, 8-12).
The Bluejays won for the first time in three games, doing it without head coach Greg McDermott, who is suspended indefinitely for making racially insensitive remarks to his team following a Feb. 27 loss.
No. 22 Loyola Chicago 65, Indiana State 49: Cameron Krutwig had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Loyola Chicago (23-4) beat Indiana State (15-10) to advance to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final in St. Louis.
Krutwig also had four assists and blocked three shots. Fellow senior Lucas Williamson scored 14 points for the Ramblers, and Keith Clemons had 12.
No. 21 Virginia 68, Louisville 58: Sam Hauser scored 24 points, Trey Murphy III added 17 and Virginia (17-6, 13-4) beat host Louisville (13-6, 8-5) to win the ACC regular-season championship.
Assured of least a No. 2 seed entering the regular-season finale, the Cavaliers received a huge opening for bigger things when first-place and No. 11 Florida State lost 83-73 earlier in the day at Notre Dame. Virginia then methodically took care of the Cardinals to leapfrog the Seminoles despite a blowout loss at FSU in the season’s lone meeting on Feb. 15.
No. 23 Purdue 67, Indiana 58: Zach Edey scored 20 points and Jaden Ivey added 17 as host Purdue (18-8, 13-6) beat Indiana (12-14, 7-12) for its ninth straight win in the in-state rivalry, the Boilermakers’ best run in the series since John Wooden played for them.
The Boilermakers beat Indiana nine in a row from 1929-35 boosted by Wooden, a star player who went on to coaching fame.
Morehead State 86, Belmont 71: Johni Broome scored a career-high 27 points on 12-of-19 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds and Morehead State cruised over top-seeded Belmont in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship game.
Skyelar Potter made 7 of 11 from the field and finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for No. 2 seed Morehead State (23-7). DeVon Cooper scored 14 points and Ta’lon Cooper added 10.
The Eagles clinched their first berth in the NCAA tournament since 2011.
It was the March edition of “Pac-12 After Dark.”
The second game of a Pac-12 Tournament doubleheader featured second-seeded Arizona taking on thirdseeded UCLA from Las Vegas in a game that started at 9 p.m. on Friday.
By 11 p.m., the question facing Arizona — would the Wildcats accomplish their next goal, advancing to the title game? — was answered.
UCLA won 58-49 at Michelob Ultra Arena, ending the Wildcats’ Pac-12 Tournament run. For a second consecutive year, Arizona (16-5) was denied a shot at the conference championship one game short of the finals.
Aari McDonald, who scored 24 points to lead the Wildcats, said that it came down to “just not stopping ball, lack of focus, just not being together, not communicating.”
“Being a competitor, you don’t want to lose,” she said. “We’re gonna play hard for 40 minutes, but it (stinks), especially that it’s my last go-round, but I’m proud of my team for fighting all the way.”
The last time these two teams played was early December, with Arizona coming out on top 68-65.
Arizona’s return trip to Los Angeles was canceled because of COVID-19 issues with the Wildcats.
In Friday’s showdown, the two AllAmericans did what All-Americans do: score. Michaela Onyenwere and McDonald each finished with 24 points.
McDonald sparked a fourth-quarter comeback when she made a layup with multiple bodies in front of her and drew a foul to close to within six, 48-42.