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SPORTS Wednesday 2 OctOber 2019
Ump in '12 Braves-Cards infield

fly flap in Atlanta for NLDS

NEW YORK (AP) — The um- one out, Holbrook called wild-card game. Jeff Nel-
pire who was at the center the infield fly rule — Cardi- son will be the crew chief,
of an infield fly dispute dur- nals shortstop Pete Kozma with Mike Everitt behind the
ing the 2012 NL wild-card drifted back and called plate, working with Kerwin
game between Atlanta for the ball, but veered Danley, Cory Blaser, David
and St. Louis will be the off at the last second and Rackley and Carlos Torres.
crew chief when the Braves it dropped in front of left Bill Miller will be the crew
and Cardinals meet this fielder Matt Holliday. chief for the AL wild-card
week in the Division Series. Braves fans littered the field game Wednesday night
Major League Baseball an- with debris and the game when Tampa Bay visits Oak- Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais, left, argues with home
nounced the crew assign- was delayed for 19 minutes. land. Chad Fairchild will call plate umpire Sam Holbrook after Servais was ejected from the
baseball game against the Houston Astros during the seventh
ments Monday for the first Atlanta didn't score in the balls and strikes, and be inning Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2019, in Seattle.
two rounds of the playoffs. inning and lost 6-3 in what joined by Fieldin Culbreth, Associated Press
Sam Holbrook will head turned out to be Chipper Chris Guccione, Lance Bar-
the six-man crew and be Jones' last game. rett and Adam Hamari. Ted tween Minnesota and New day. John Tumpane works
at second base when the The Braves filed a protest, Barrett will chief the NLDS York starting at Yankee the plate in Game 1 and
Cardinals and Braves open which MLB executive Joe when the wild-card winner Stadium on Friday. Manny Jerry Meals, Bruce Dreck-
the best-of-five NLCS at At- Torre immediately denied. plays at Dodger Stadium Gonzalez has the plate for man, James Hoye and D.J.
lanta on Thursday. Holbrook's crew for the on Thursday. Will Little will the opener, joined by Eric Reyburn join him.
Seven years ago, Holbrook NLDS that begins at SunTrust work the plate in Game Cooper, Lance Barksdale, Dan Iassogna and Laz Diaz
was the left field umpire at Park includes Tom Hallion, 1, with Alfonso Marquez, Todd Tichenor and Adrian are the replay officials for
Turner Field when a popup Jim Wolf, Ed Hickox, Pat Ho- Doug Eddings, Tripp Gibson Johnson. the wild-card games. Ron
by Andrelton Simmons in berg and Alan Porter. and Jordan Baker also on Mark Wegner leads the Kulpa, Gabe Morales, Paul
the eighth inning caused The playoffs start Tuesday the crew. crew for the ALDS between Nauert and Brian O'Nora
a commotion. With runners night when Milwaukee vis- Gary Cederstrom heads the wild-card game winner handle replay in the Divi-
on first and second and its Washington in the NL the crew for the ALDS be- and Houston beginning Fri- sion Series.q

Continued from Page 18 21 such hitters on postsea- and it's not going to mat-
Expect more of the same son teams in 2014. ter," All-Star reliever Shane
this October. Verlander has been critical Greene said.
Hitters smashed a record of structural changes to the Those pitchers aren't as
6,776 home runs in 2019, baseball since 2017, when concerned about strat-
soaring past the previous pitchers and coaches from egizing around the homers
high of 6,105 from two years the Astros and Dodgers as they are with steeling
earlier. It's a rise of over 60% complained that World Se- themselves against the frus-
from 2014, a year before a ries balls were slicker than tration of it all. Soroka had
seismic home run spike at- ones used in the regular the lowest home run rate
tributed to tweaks in the season. They moaned and of any qualified NL starter,
baseballs. Major League groaned while the clubs and he credits that to an
Baseball commissioned a combined for a Series-re- effective sinker and a will-
study in 2018 that conclud- cord 25 homers, but fans ingness to be "stubborn."
ed there was less drag on largely oohed and awed "The way guys are hitting
the ball causing all those — especially during Game them out now, every time
extra homers, but Com- 5, a topsy-turvy classic fea- New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, left, celebrates with third base the ball goes in the air
coach Phil Nevin (88) after hitting a home run against the Toron-
missioner Rob Manfred has turing seven home runs. to Blue Jays during the first inning of a baseball game, Sunday, you think it has a chance,"
insisted MLB doesn't know Verlander has called this Sept. 22, 2019, in New York. Braves manager Brian Snit-
why. He has also denied year's balls a "joke." He's Associated Press ker said. "They experience
accusations from Verland- given up a career-most 36 all that on a daily basis over
er and other pitchers that homers, yet he's neck-and- Of course, strikeouts have take an away fastball and the course of the season.
the balls have been delib- neck with teammate Gerrit surged everywhere — the hit a homer opposite field. The ones that are success-
erately altered. Cole for the AL Cy Young majors set a record for the "So what's my defense to ful are the ones who can
Manfred told Forbes last Award. How'd he do that? 12th consecutive season that? My defense is I have handle that adversity."
week he has reconvened "I used to pitch to weak with 42,823 of them in 2019. to have you swing and The postseason is a differ-
the scientists from the 2018 contact," he said. "I no lon- There are varied reasons miss." ent game though, and not
study and expects to issue ger try to miss barrels. I try to for that, including stron- In the clubhouse of the just because of the extra
another report after the miss bats." ger arms and aggressive NL East-champion Braves, scrutiny and pressure. There
World Series. His goal: "pre- After years of seeking quick bullpen management, but every pitcher seems to re- are 26 hitters on postsea-
dictable, consistent perfor- outs to keep his pitch count pitchers say distrust in the member at least one home son rosters who hit at least
mance from the baseball." low, Verlander has gone baseball is a factor. run this year that looked like 30 home runs this season
First, though, may come whole hog on punchouts. "There's been an adapta- a pop fly off the bat. — not including Yelich, the
the juiciest postseason yet. The 36-year-old totaled tion in the way I pitch that "(Christian) Yelich, he went Brewers' NL MVP contender
Across the 10 playoff rosters, 300 of them in a season for correlates with the ball, I straight-center off me," who will miss the postsea-
only three qualified hitters the first time and surpassed just didn't necessarily real- starter Mike Foltynewicz son with a broken knee-
connected for fewer than 3,000 for his career in his fi- ize I was doing it because said. cap. Four teams bypassed
15 home runs this season — nal start. He avoided the of the ball," Verlander said. "(Pete) Alonso, on a chan- the previous season record
St. Louis' Kolten Wong (11), middle of the plate at all "You can no longer give in geup," added rotation- for homers, with the Twins
Milwaukee's Lorenzo Cain costs, especially with run- to a fastball away because mate Mike Soroka. (307) and Yankees (306)
(11) and Houston's Josh ners on base — 28 of his 99% of players in Major "You just know sometimes becoming the first clubs to
Reddick (14). There were homers were solo shots. League Baseball now can you might make your pitch reach 300.q