major leagues:
History is on hold in the Motor City.
Miguel Cabrera’s quest for his 3,000th hit was delayed for at least one more day when the game between the Detroit Tigers and Colorado Rockies scheduled for Friday night was rained out.
The game was called about an hour before it was supposed to begin at Comerica Park. Cabrera has 2,999 career hits, a total he reached with a three-hit game on Wednesday.
Cabrera acknowledged the milestone means a lot to him, adding he has been emotional just thinking about it this week.
American League
Chicago’s Anderson suspended: Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson was suspended one game and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball on Friday for giving fans the middle finger during a game Wednesday in Cleveland.
Anderson is appealing the ban and remained in the lineup hitting leadoff Friday night at Minnesota.
Anderson had three errors in the first two innings of Chicago’s 11-1 loss Wednesday in the opener of a doubleheader. The frustrated 28-year-old made the gesture toward a fan while out in the field.
It’s the second time MLB has suspended Anderson this season. He served a two-game ban on opening weekend for making contact with umpire Tim Timmons during the ninth inning of a game on Sept. 27. Anderson successfully appealed that suspension down from three games.
National League
San Francisco 7, Washington 1: Austin Slater smacked a three-run homer as part of a seven-run second inning against struggling Washington starter Patrick Corbin, and the San Francisco Giants cruised past the Nationals, 7-1.
Slater, hitting .105 coming into the game, lined Corbin’s 2-1 sinker to right center with one out to make it 4-0.
Brandon Crawford doubled leading off the second and then capped the scoring with a three-run double just beyond the reach of a diving Lane Thomas in left-center. That chased Corbin (0-3), who allowed seven runs on seven hits and three walks while recording just five outs.
The left-hander who helped the Nationals win the 2019 World Series has been one of the worst starting pitchers in the majors since. Corbin went 9-16 with a 5.82 ERA last season and Friday’s outing sent his ERA to 11.20 in three starts this year.
Treinen to DL: Los Angeles Dodgers setup man Blake Treinen was placed on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder discomfort Friday, more than a week after his last appearance.
The move was retroactive to Tuesday, meaning he’ll be eligible to return on April 29. Manager Dave Roberts said earlier this week that Treinen’s arm was “barking” following the last time he pitched on April 14 against Cincinnati.
Treinen is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances this season, with five strikeouts and no walks.
Frazier out with appendicitis: Clint Frazier’s injury-plagued career took another hit Friday when the Chicago Cubs announced the outfielder has been sidelined because of appendicitis.
Frazier was put on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Wednesday.
The 27-year-old Frazier missed the final 82 games of last season with the New York Yankees because of vertigo. He signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Cubs after being released by the Yankees on Nov. 19.
Frazier was batting .143 (3 for 21) with two doubles and two walks in 10 games for the Cubs.
International
Roki Sasaki, the 20-year-old Japanese pitcher with a 100 mph fastball and devastating splitter, will try for perfection again when he starts Sunday for the Chiba Lotte Marines against the Orix Buffaloes in Osaka.
Sasaki pitched a perfect game against Orix on April 10 – the first in Japan in 28 years – and followed up with eight more perfect innings on April 17 before he was pulled by manager Tadahito Iguchi after 102 pitches.
This means that Sasaki has pitched an unfathomable 17 consecutive perfect innings without allowing as baserunner. That’s 51 batters. If you add on the last out he got in his start before the perfect game, that’s 52.
Sasaki struck out 19 in the perfect game and added 14 in the eight-inning game, which is 33 of the 51 batters he faced in those two starts.