Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz's leave extended through Aug. 31 amid gambling probe
Article content
Ortiz's paid leave began on July 3 and was supposed to end on Friday before MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to extend it.
Article content
The team can continue to have contact with Ortiz, but he can't enter any of the Guardians' facilities.
Article content
The Guardians said in a statement they have been informed of the extension and will continue to fully cooperate with the investigation.
The investigation is related to in-game prop bets on two pitches thrown by Ortiz that received higher activity than usual during his starts at Seattle on June 15 and his recent outing against St. Louis on June 27. The gambling activity on the pitches was flagged by a betting-integrity firm and forwarded to MLB.
Article content
The 26-year-old Ortiz is in his first season with Cleveland after he was acquired in a trade with Pittsburgh last December. The right-hander is 4-9 with a 4.36 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 16 starts this season.
Article content
In four big-league seasons, Ortiz is 16-22 with a 4.05 ERA and one save.
Article content
Cleveland hosts the Athletics in a weekend series. The Guardians have won six of seven after a 10-game losing streak.
The investigation into Ortiz comes a little more than a year after MLB suspended five players for gambling, including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano. MLB said Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 with a legal sportsbook in 2022 and 2023.
Article content
Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers _ San Diego pitcher Jay Groome, Arizona pitcher Andrew Saalfrank and Philadelphia infielder Jose Rodriguez — received one-year suspensions.
Article content
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
Nick Kurtz of Athletics becomes 1st MLB rookie to hit 4 home runs in a game
Nick Kurtz of the Athletics became the first rookie in Major League Baseball history to hit four home runs in a game and matched the MLB record with 19 total bases against the Astros on Friday night in Houston. Kurtz went deep in the second, sixth, eighth and ninth innings. He also doubled and singled on his 6-for-6 night to equal Shawn Green, who had four homers, six hits and 19 total bases for the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 23, 2002 at Milwaukee. "It's hard to think about this day being kind of real, it still feels like a dream," Kurtz said in a postgame television interview. "So it's pretty remarkable. I'm kind of speechless. Don't really know what to say." It was the 20th four-homer game in major league history and second this season. Arizona's Eugenio Suarez did it on April 26 against Atlanta. Kurtz and Green are the only players with six hits in a four-homer game. Kurtz finished with eight RBIs and six runs scored as the Athletics beat the Astros 15-3. The 6-foot-5, 22-year-old slugger has 23 homers in 66 games this season. The fourth overall pick in last year's amateur draft out of Wake Forest, he made his major league debut on April 23 and hit his first homer on May 13. He is the youngest player with a four-homer game. Pat Seerey of the Chicago White Sox was 25 when he homered four times on July 18, 1948. On Friday, Kurtz homered off each of the Astros' four pitchers: Ryan Gusto, Nick Hernandez, Kaleb Ort and outfielder Cooper Hummel, who worked the ninth with the game out of hand. His longest drive was his third, a 414-foot solo shot off Ort in the eighth. For his fourth homer, he hit an opposite-field line drive to the Crawford boxes in left field on a 77 mph, 2-0 pitch from Hummel. The three-run shot made it 15-2. Kurtz has been the best hitter in the majors in July, ranking first in batting average (.425), on-base percentage (.494), slugging percentage (1.082), runs (22), doubles (13), homers (11) and RBIs (27).
National Post
4 hours ago
- National Post
Blue Jays' ascent takes them to the top of MLB standings for first time since 1992
Article content 'Best in baseball' are three words no one would have dared utter when describing a Blue Jays team that ended last season dead last in the AL East. Article content But following Friday night's 6-2 win over the host Detroit Tigers, the Jays can officially lay claim to Major League Baseball's best record. Article content At 62-42, the Jays have not been atop MLB's overall standings this late into a season since 1992 — the year they won their first World Series. Article content Article content Friday's win pushed Toronto ahead of the 61-42 Milwaukee Brewers, who lost to Miami earlier in the day. It also expanded their lead atop the AL East to 51/2 games over the New York Yankees, losers again to the visiting Phillies. Article content Many more games await, but the Jays continue to find ways to win with everyone in the lineup producing. Article content What they don't do is beat themselves, which can't be said about their opponents. Article content The following are three takeaways from Comerica Park, where the Jays went homerless, but did record 13 hits, including four for extra bases. Article content 1. Vlad the hit man Article content While it's true the Jays could use more thump from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and coming through in the big moment with a game at stake, it's also true that the half-billion dollar man in waiting has been swinging it well. Article content Vladdy went 2-for-5, with both hits being doubles. With the Jays down 1-0, he led off the fourth with a two-bagger and scored on Addison Barger's double. The hit extended Guerrero's streak to seven games. Article content Article content Next time up, in the fifth — yet another four-run inning for the team — his double plated Nathan Lukes and gave him 10 hits in his past four games. Article content Vlad's swing is as smooth as ever. That being said, he'll have to provide some consistent power at some point where he carries the team offensively. Article content 2. Tough act to follow Article content Following a brilliant outing by lefty Eric Lauer in the series opener, Jose Berrios was tasked with keeping the ball rolling Friday night. Article content Mission accomplished. Despite giving up the game's first run on an RBI double in the second inning, then a Spencer Torkelson homer in the sixth, Berrios looked solid, allowing just five hits and two walks in his six innings while striking out six. Article content Of note, Berrios twice faced Tigers veteran Javier Baez — his brother-in-law — and struck him out both times. Baez, who is enjoying a renaissance season for Detroit, has only one hit in his career off Berrios.
CBC
4 hours ago
- CBC
Trump says he ‘hasn't thought about' pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell
After two days of meetings wrapped between convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, her lawyer and U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. President Donald Trump said while he's allowed to pardon Maxwell, he has not considered it.
