Giants win appeal
The San Francisco Giants have won their protest filed with Major League Baseball, and will now get to resume a rain-shortened game the Chicago Cubs thought they had won.
MLB says this is the first successful protest since 1986.
MLB executive Joe Torre ruled Wednesday on a game at Wrigley Field played the previous night. That game was called after 4 1/2 innings and the Cubs were declared the winner by a 2-0 score.
The game had been delayed more than 4 1/2 hours because of rain after the grounds crew couldn’t put the tarp down quickly.
MLB ruled that tarp had not been properly put away after its previous use and therefore there was a “malfunction of a mechanical field device under control of the home club.”
Because of that, it is now a suspended game that will resume at 2:05 Pacific time today. The playoff-contending Giants and Chicago play their regularly scheduled game three hours later.
Schilling reveals mouth cancer
Former major league pitcher Curt Schilling says he’s battling mouth cancer and blames 30 years of chewing tobacco use.
He announced he had cancer in February, but had not disclosed what kind.
He says it’s due to chewing tobacco.
Schilling, who won the World Series with the Diamondbacks and Red Sox, received seven weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatments and is in remission. He says he’s lost 75 pounds.
Lackey pays for number swap
St. Louis Cardinals newcomer John Lackey really wanted to keep his old number, so he gave teammate Pat Neshek quite a reward for switching jerseys.
After Neshek gave up his No. 41 uniform and switched to 37, Lackey gave him a baseball autographed by Babe Ruth that’s worth thousands of dollars.
Around the League
Angels right-hander Garrett Richards was taken off the field on a stretcher in the second inning against the Red Sox with a left knee injury. … Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka threw his second bullpen session as he tries to recover from a partial ligament tear. … Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander threw for a second straight day and is expected to rejoin the rotation on Sunday. … Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin has been reinstated after serving a 25-game ban for testing positive for an amphetamine. … Giants catcher Buster Posey was out of the lineup against the Cubs with soreness in his left hip. … Indians first baseman Nick Swisher is having surgery on both knees and is done for the season. … Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran was out of the lineup Wednesday against the Astros because of elbow discomfort.