MLB Notes: Cleveland Indians’ Trevor Bauer cuts pinkie fixing drone
A drone dropped into the A.L. Championship Series before the first pitch was even thrown.
No, this isn’t a pre-Halloween hoax.
Indians starter Trevor Bauer cut open his right pinkie while fixing one of the hovering objects he likes to build and fly. Bauer won’t start Game 2 of the A.L. Championship Series against Toronto, again diverting the Indians’ pitching plans for the playoffs.
Cleveland manager Terry Francona, who has had to juggle his rotation for weeks because of injuries, managed to keep a sense of humor about the latest – and by far the strangest – setback.
“‘It’s kind of self-explanatory,” Francona quipped at the start of his news conference. “Probably everybody in here probably at some point or another had a drone-related problem.”
Nationals’ Ramos has knee surgery
Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos had surgery on his right knee and his rehabilitation is expected to take six-to- eight months.
Washington says Ramos had the operation on Friday, hours after the team’s season ended with a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of their N.L. Division Series.
Ramos was injured last month, during the last week of the regular season. During Friday’s surgery, he had his knee’s ACL reconstructed and the medial meniscus and lateral meniscus repaired.
He batted .307 with 22 homers and 80 RBIs this season, a career year right before he can become a free agent.
Maeda to start Game 1 for Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Kenta Maeda will start Game 1 of the N.L. Championship Series against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.
Maeda has lost three straight starts, lasting just three innings in his first career playoff appearance Monday against Washington. But manager Dave Roberts had limited options after he used six pitchers in the Dodgers’ series-clinching win against the Nationals on Thursday night, including ace Clayton Kershaw for the final two outs.
Jon Lester gets the ball for the Cubs, who eliminated the Giants with a 6-5 win in Game 4 of their N.L. Division Series on Tuesday night.
Kyle Hendricks, Jake Arrieta and John Lackey round out the rotation for the Cubs in a repeat of the first round. Roberts wasn’t ready to announce the rest of the rotation for the Dodgers.