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MLB News & Moments You Should Know – 6/17/23

Protest mars Dodgers' Pride Night, then Giants win after bizarre play.

Steve Drumwright
MLB Morning News 6/17/2023

Stay updated on everything baseball with our morning MLB News & Moments articles. We’ve got you covered to keep you in the know.

You never know what you are going to see at a baseball game. Friday was proof of that. A rivalry took center stage and two rookie pitchers had banner nights. Let’s jump right in.

 

Today’s Headlines

 

Protest Mars Dodgers’ Pride Night

A large group of people protesting the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence on the team’s 10th Pride Night briefly forced the two main gates at Dodger Stadium to be closed before Friday’s game against the San Francisco Giants. The Sisters, a self-described “order of trans and queer nuns”, were honored with a Community Hero award for the work they do with the LGBTQ+ community. But the award turned out to be a center of controversy, first causing the Dodgers to bow to religious leaders and disinvite the Sisters, then reversing course after being heavily criticized by the LGBTQ+ community. According to the Los Angeles Times, about 2,000 protestors marched toward the stadium, prompting police and team security to temporarily close the main entrance.

Bizarre Play Punctuates Giants’ Win

This was straight out of Little League. A play in which the third baseman dropped a pop-up and the pitcher threw the ball once past first base, then flipped it to third base after he tagged a runner out resulted in no runs scoring. It all added up to a 7-5 Giants win in 11 innings over the Dodgers in a game where a pitcher made a remarkable MLB debut. Freddie Freeman singled home the tying run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning for the Dodgers, then the Giants got a go-ahead single from Brandon Crawford as part of a two-run top of the 11th inning. In the bottom of the 11th, this happened:

Before the late-game drama, the story of the game was Dodgers right-hander Emmet Sheehan, who spun six no-hit innings in his MLB debut. Sheehan had never pitched above Double-A before Friday.

Sheehan had a little help on defense to keep his no-no bid intact.

Sizzling Start For Reds’ Abbott

Are the Cincinnati Reds the newest feel-good story in MLB? Looks like it. While Elly De La Cruz makes a lot of headlines, fellow rookie Andrew Abbott has been perhaps more impressive. The left-hander extended his career-opening scoreless streak to 17⅔ innings by blanking the Astros in Houston for six frames in a 2-1 Cincy victory. Abbott’s six-inning outing vs. the Astros made him the first pitcher in the modern era to throw three straight scoreless games of at least five innings. Oh, and the Reds, winners of six straight, are now tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates (34-34) for second place in the National League Central at 35-35, a half-game behind the Milwaukee Brewers.

Arraez Back On Track

Going hitless in three consecutive games is not unusual for any MLB hitter. But for Miami Marlins second baseman Luis Arraez, three straight games without a knock was a season-worst streak for him. Arraez, who went 0-for-12 in those games and was 1-for-17 in his last four, resumed his pursuit of .400 with a 5-for-5 night in the Marlins’ 6-5 win over the Washington Nationals. It was his second five-hit game this season, making him the second Marlin to do so (Juan Pierre, 2005). His average dropped from .402 before the 1-for-17 skid and was at .378 entering Friday, with his perfect day at the plate boosting him back to .390. Arraez cranked out his second homer of the season and drove in three runs while scoring twice.

Old-Man Strength

It only seems like Travis d’Arnaud has been around forever. The 34-year-old catcher for Atlanta, now playing a backup role to Sean Murphy, blasted two home runs, doubling his season total, including a 474-foot shot in Atlanta’s 8-1 triumph over the Colorado Rockies. That blast was the 100th of his career, then he added a 433-foot shot later. It was also Atlanta’s 15th homer of at least 450 feet, more than doubling the next closest teams (the Rockies and Los Angeles Angels each have six).

Another feat from Friday was Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr. stealing his 30th base of the season, making him the first player in the modern era with at least 15 homers and 30 steals in his team’s first 70 games.

 

Too Much Prime-Time TV

It is about time. Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora said what the fan bases of the other 28 teams spew whenever his team faces the New York Yankees and appears on national TV. Specifically, Cora was asked about the rivals squaring off on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” — arguably the flagship MLB broadcast — for the second week in a row. “I think it’s too much sometimes,” Cora said before Friday’s series opener. “Back-to-back Sunday night games, with all due respect to ESPN, come on. There’s other teams out there and people want to watch them.” Maybe the four-letter network needs to adopt a flex-scheduling model for “SNB” that the NFL has for its late-season games, only apply it throughout the season, perhaps choosing a game one month out to accommodate scheduling travel.

 

Best Moments From Yesterday

 

E-Scorekeeper

If your life depended on your prediction of what the official scorer would rule this play, today would be your last day alive.

 

Sticking Up For Yours

The Arizona Diamondbacks had something to say to @MLB regarding a tweet about potential first-time All-Stars. While Zac Gallen was chosen, the D’backs clearly (rightfully?) had gripe. Kind of like when you have a family of 26 and your parents only chose one for a special trip.

 

Injuries and Other Moves

 

Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck left his start against the Yankees in the fifth inning after being struck just below below the right eye by a liner off the bat of Kyle Higashioka. He was diagnosed with a facial contusion.

Angels infielder Gio Urshela, who missed a spate of games recently due to back issues, was placed on the 10-day injured list with a fractured left pelvis. Infielder Michael Stefanic was called up from Triple-A.

Giants outfielder Mitch Haniger is expected to miss 10 weeks after having surgery to repair a broken right ulna.

Veteran catcher Mike Zunino was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians, who called up right-hander Touki Toussaint from Triple-A. The Guardians will promote top catching prospect Bo Naylor on Saturday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers placed infielder Max Muncy (strained hamstring) on the 10-day IL and promoted Sheehan from Double-A to make his MLB debut Friday against the San Francisco Giants. Infielder Michael Busch was also called up from Triple-A and right-hander Michael Grove was optioned.

Infielder Johan Camargo has opted out of his contract with the Kansas City Royals and is now a free agent.

The St. Louis Cardinals acquired infielder Richie Palacios from the Cleveland Guardians for cash considerations. Palacios was DFA’d by the Guardians. The Cardinals assigned him to Triple-A.

 

Articles You Should Read

 

The McKenzies: A father-son bond built through baseball — Zack Meisel, The Athletic

Manfred lied about Oakland stadium deal, insulted A’s fans — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle

Lessons learned while on the White Sox beat — James Fegan, free agent

 

Fantasy Baseball Coverage

 

Starting Pitcher Roundup

Hitter Performances

Reliever Ranks

Starting Pitcher Streamers

Steve Drumwright

Steve Drumwright is a lifelong baseball fan who retired as a player before he had the chance to be cut from the freshman team in high school. He recovered to become a sportswriter and have a successful journalism career at newspapers in Wisconsin and California. Follow him on Bluesky and Threads @DrummerWrites.

3 responses to “MLB News & Moments You Should Know – 6/17/23”

  1. Burt says:
    June 17, 2023 at 10:17 AM

    Seriously, you’re encouraging me to read three articles behind paywalls?

    Reply
  2. Brenda says:
    June 18, 2023 at 4:03 AM

    hello America

    Reply
  3. Brenda says:
    June 18, 2023 at 4:05 AM

    chlick here

    Reply

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