Major leagues: Indians’ Martin recovering from serious infection
Cleveland Indians outfielder Leonys Martin is recovering from a bacterial infection that team president Chris Antonetti described as “life-threatening.”
Martin is in stable condition at the Cleveland Clinic. Antonetti provided an update on Martin’s status when he addressed the team prior to Monday’s series opener against the Reds.
Doctors determined Martin had a bacterial infection that entered his bloodstream and created toxins that damaged his internal organs, compromising their function.
Antonetti says it was “very serious.” But he says Martin has made a lot of progress in the last 24 to 36 hours.
National League
Atlanta 9, Miami 1: Touki Toussaint threw six strong innings in his big league debut, Ronald Acuna hit another leadoff homer and the Atlanta Braves climbed a half-game ahead of Philadelphia in the NL East, beating the Miami Marlins 9-1 in the first game of a doubleheader.
Toussaint, a Haitian-American whose appearance was sure to be cheered in an impoverished nation that has never sent a player to the big leagues, surrendered just two hits and escaped his only serious jam in the second inning by limiting the Marlins to a single run.
Toussaint (1-0) was born in Florida but lived in Haiti for about six years. He returned to Florida after his parents split up and became a first-round draft pick by Arizona in 2014.
The right-hander was dealt to the Braves the following year in one of several trades made by Atlanta to bolster its farm system during a massive rebuilding effort.
First Hall class baseball fetches $623,369: A baseball with the signatures of Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and eight other greats of the game has sold for more than $600,000.
The players all signed the ball on the same day in 1939, when they had gathered to become the first class to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.
SCP Auctions said Monday that it has sold for $623,369. That crushes the previous record of $345,000 for a signed ball, set in 2013.
The winner was identified only as a Southern California collector.
The ball also includes the signatures of Cy Young, Connie Mack and six others. The only original inductee who didn’t sign it was Lou Gehrig, who on that day was headed to a hospital where he’d be diagnosed with ALS.