briefs
Thumbs up for Baez
Javier Báez sprinted home from first for the game-ending run on Michael Conforto’s single, earning cheers from a fanbase he insulted days earlier in the New York Mets’ 6-5 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
In the resumption of a game suspended by rain April 11, the Mets scored five runs in the final inning and won it when Báez scored following a Marlins error.
Báez was booed when he entered as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning, hours after apologizing for revealing Sunday that a thumbs-down celebration gesture used recently by the team was dig at fans who have been booing the struggling club recently.
“Winning’s all we want – all the fans want, we’re all pulling (in) the same direction here,” Conforto said. “I don’t know what one game does. But I can tell you that the guys wanted to win this one about as badly as any other game we’ve played.
“In short, I think winning cures everything.”
Bogaerts pulled after positive test
Boston Red Sox star shortstop Xander Bogaerts was pulled from Tuesday night’s game at Tampa Bay after testing positive for COVID-19, the latest virus setback for the team.
Bogaerts hit an RBI single in the first inning but left before the start of the bottom of the second.
Before the game, the club announced that reliever Hirokazu Sawamura had tested positive for the virus. Sawamura and reliever Josh Taylor were placed on the COVID-19 related injured list – Taylor was a close contact individual.
Rondo re-signs with Lakers
When Rajon Rondo saw the opportunity to add his youth and energy to a championship-contending team, the 35-year-old point guard jumped at the chance to return to the Los Angeles Lakers.
The extremely experienced Lakers announced their latest deal with a 30-something veteran Tuesday, bringing back Rondo on a one-year contract. Less than a year after Rondo played an important role as a reserve and a team leader on Los Angeles’ 17th NBA championship team, the veteran point guard is back in purple and gold to provide the same leadership in another title chase.
Badgers dismiss RB
Wisconsin has dismissed freshman running back Loyal Crawford from the team after police said he armed himself with a knife during a fight in a dorm.
Badgers coach Paul Chryst announced the dismissal Tuesday and said freshman running back Antwan Roberts had been suspended.
University of Wisconsin police spokesman Marc Lovicott said the 18-year-old Crawford was cited on misdemeanor charges of criminal disorderly conduct and disorderly conduct while armed.
Lovicott said Tuesday that police learned Aug. 22 about a fight between two people in a residence hall that had taken place the previous night. No one was stabbed or cut with the knife, he said.