Japan baseball under fire for switching balls

Japanese baseball officials are being criticized for secretly switching balls for this season without notifying players.

Japanese baseball officials are being criticized for secretly switching balls for this season without notifying players.

By the looks of it, the national teams for baseball and softball will be out of the picture for a long time.

Mike Napoli hit a two-run homer and drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 6-4 on Friday night in manager John Farrell’s return to Toronto.

The New York Yankees set a record for baseball’s highest opening-day payroll at $230.4 million, almost 10 times what the Houston Astros are paying their players.

After leading their teams to last year’s World Series, Justin Verlander and Buster Posey cashed in just hours apart Friday.

The New York Yankees have brought back a familiar face, signing Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming to a minor league contract.
The Yankees said on Saturday that Wang would report right away to the minor league complex.

Alex Rios blasted a two-run homer and Mike Aviles hit an RBI single as Puerto Rico upset two-time defending champion Japan 3-1 in the semi-finals of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday.

Nelson Figueroa pitched six shutout innings and Puerto Rico edged the United States 4-3 on Friday to claim the last semi-final berth in the World Baseball Classic.

Mariano Rivera confirmed he will retire at the end of the season and hopes the last pitch of his record-setting career closes another World Series victory with the New York Yankees.
Beside his wife and two kids and with the entire Yankees team looking on at a news conference on Saturday, the 43-year-old Rivera made clear how he wants his career to end.

Adamson completed a remarkable softball sweep for the third straight season while Ateneo copped its first baseball championship in two separate UAAP title series yesterday at Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Ateneo’s quest for its first ever baseball crown could end Tuesday afternoon at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Matt Laurel hit a homer in the seventh inning and Ateneo blasted defending champion National University, 6-2, in game one of the UAAP season 75 men’s baseball tournament Friday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.

Adamson punctuated a 12-game sweep of the UAAP season 75 softball eliminations with a 7-0 shutout of University of the East on Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium.