Bases Covered is a daily roundup of the most interesting stories in baseball.
2,999 hits, 300 starts
The Yankees’ most polarizing player, Alex Rodriguez, is now one hit away from 3,000. He could join the 3,000 club—currently a 28-member group—as early as today, when his team faces off against the Tigers. And Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander will be reaching a milestone of his own: He’s expected to make his second start for the club this season in today’s game; it will be the one-time Cy Young Award winner’s 300th career start.
Walk-off balk
The Dodgers won their game against the Rangers on Thursday after a rare occurrence: With two outs and L.A.’s Kike Hernandez at third in the ninth inning, Hernandez made like he was going to steal home—an attempt to get Texas pitcher Keone Kela to flinch. It worked, with Kela balking, home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson noticing, and Hernandez scoring the game’s lone run.
Big Papi says no to trade
Boston slugger David Ortiz has made it clear he would not accept a trade were the Red Sox to try and deal him before the deadline. Big Papi, now 39, was emphatic, saying: “This is the team I’ll be with the rest of my career.”
All-Star votes get cancelled
MLB has cancelled more than 60 million All-Star Game votes “over concerns of fake or improper voting.” As reported by Yahoo’s Jeff Passan, more than 300 million votes have been cast, and the record amount of votes—390 million—is likely to be broken soon. But as Passan explains, fans of the Kansas City Royals—who’ve currently slotted eight of their players in starting roles at the All-Star Game—have called into question the very nature of the voting process.
Bathroom Instagram
Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval was benched for Thursday’s matchup with Atlanta, but the benching had nothing to do with his performance. Sandoval admitted to having spent some time on Instagram during Wednesday night’s game, a 5–2 loss to the Braves. Apparently Sandoval was checking out photos on Instagram while taking a bathroom break. Sandoval apologized for the incident, saying, “I know I f****d up.”
