4:07 AM ET Associated Press NEW YORK — Major League Baseball has appointed its first African American umpire crew chief, promoting Kerwin Danley to the position this week, The Associated Press has learned. A person familiar with the move spoke to the AP on Wednesday night on condition of anonymity because the announcement had not

8:54 PM ET Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Houston’s Alex Bregman was hit on the back by a breaking ball from St. Louis reliever Ramon Santos on Wednesday, making him the seventh Astros player plunked in five spring training games. “It was a splitter,” Bregman said. “It just got away from him.” Some

2:18 PM ET Boston Red Sox prospect Chih-Jung Liu, who arrived from his native Taiwan last week, is in quarantine as a precaution against the coronavirus. The 20-year-old right-hander is in his hotel room in Fort Myers, Florida, and says he feels fine. Liu wrote on his Facebook page that he’s doing some weight training,

8:43 PM ET Associated Press TEMPE, Ariz. — Anthony Rendon had to laugh at the notion that he picked up right where he left off in helping the Washington Nationals win the World Series last year. Still, it was nice to leave his first game in a new uniform with a 1.000 batting average. Rendon

7:02 PM ET Kobe Bryant will get his wish. Baseball superagent Scott Boras told the Los Angeles Times that he will create an internship for the teenage daughter of John Altobelli, the Orange Coast College assistant baseball coach who, along with Bryant and his daughter Gianna, was among the nine people killed in last month’s

12:41 PM ET Associated Press MIAMI — Next year’s World Baseball Classic will be played in Taiwan, Tokyo, Phoenix and Miami, with the Marlins hosting the semifinals and final along with half of the quarterfinals. The fifth edition of the tournament will be played from March 9-23 next year. There will be four groups of

7:23 PM ET Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. — Gerrit Cole struck out two and walked one over a hitless inning in his spring training debut for the New York Yankees against Pittsburgh on Monday night. Cole’s first pitch to Adam Frazier was a 97 mph fastball. After Frazier popped out and Bryan Reynolds struck out,

7:05 PM ET Associated Press SURPRISE, Ariz. — Texas Rangers rookie left-hander Brock Burke will miss the 2020 season because of a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The Rangers said Monday the 23-year-old Burke is scheduled to have surgery Friday that will be performed by team physician Dr. Keith Meister. The recovery period is

1:17 PM ET Associated Press JUPITER, Fla. — Derek Jeter wishes baseball could change the subject. The Miami Marlins CEO, who masterfully steered clear of controversy throughout his Hall of Fame playing career, has watched with dismay each new headline in the Astros sign-stealing scandal. “It’s like a slow drip of responses coming out from

9:12 PM ET Associated Press SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Madison Bumgarner has been competing in rodeo events under the alias Mason Saunders and even won $26,560 in a team-roping competition in December, according to a story published Sunday by The Athletic. Bumgarner told the website he has discretely competed in rodeos for a