MLB game time drops 24 minutes to 2:40 with pitch clock. Players steal most bases since 1987
The average time of a nine-inning major league game dropped to 2 hours, 40 minutes in the first year of the pitch clock, a 24-minute decrease in a season of change that resulted in a spike in batting average and the most stolen bases in nearly 40 years.
LEADING OFF: Balkovec up; Scherzer, Freeman, Correa debut
Rachel Balkovec is set to become the first woman to manage a minor league affiliate of a major league team Friday when her Class-A Tampa Tarpons in the New York Yankeesโ organization face the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League.
LEADING OFF: Opening day! Guardians debut, Ohtani and Braves
Cubs veteran Kyle Hendricks is set to deliver the first pitch of the season against Corbin Burnes and Milwaukee at Wrigley Field just past 2:20 p.m. EDT, the first of seven games still on the calendar amid rainy forecasts across the country.
MLB spring camps open, Bieber in Guardians gear, Vlad Jr set
Cleveland ace Shane Bieber limbered up in Guardians gear, Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. began taking grounders and new St. Louis Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol signed autographs as spring training camps in Florida and Arizona finally opened to big leaguers.
The Latest: Astros force series back to Houston with 9-5 win
Carlos Correa had three hits, Martin Maldonado found three different ways to drive in runs and pinch-hitter Marwin Gonzalez blooped a tiebreaking, two-run single in the fifth inning to lead the Houston Astros over the Atlanta Braves 9-5 and cut their World Series deficit to three games to two.