CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox have become the first team in the major leagues to extend protective netting from foul pole to foul pole, starting Monday night against the Miami Marlins.

The extra netting at Guaranteed Rate Field was in place for Chicago’s first home game since the All-Star break. The White Sox announced the safety measure last month, a week after a foul ball at the park sent a woman to the hospital with her head bleeding.

On Sunday in Cleveland, another fan was hurt by a foul ball. Indians star Francisco Lindor said he was told his line drive put a 3-year-old boy in the hospital.

“It’s a great idea,” White Sox pitcher Evan Marshall said. “It’s a shame it wasn’t done sooner and just almost a standard across baseball, I think. Finally the players are speaking out because everybody is tired of seeing people get hit.

“It just sucks the air right out of the game and we see it happen. It’s hard to move on to the next pitch or do whatever because somebody’s going to the emergency room.”

Several fans, including a 2-year-old girl in Houston, have been injured by hard-hit fouls this season. Many players and fans have implored Major League Baseball to require pole-to-pole netting covering foul territory at every ballpark.

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The new netting in Chicago will be 30 feet high above the dugouts and reach a maximum height of 45 feet down the lines.

As for ground rules, the nets will be treated like walls – as in, a ball that bounces or is thrown into the netting remains in play.

White Sox rookie star Eloy Jimenez hit the foul last month that injured the woman.

“It’s really good because now the fans are going to be more safe,” he said. “Especially because line drive foul balls, most of the time they’re super hard. I think it’s going to be safe for the fans.”

The Washington Nationals were among other teams to announce this season they would extend their netting. It was in place at Nationals Park on Monday when the game against Colorado was rained out.

Commissioner Rob Manfred recently said extending protective netting down foul lines is a ballpark-to-ballpark decision because of differing configurations. MLB mandated before the 2018 season that netting extend to the far end of each dugout.

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TIGERS: Right-hander Edwin Jackson agreed to a minor league contract and will report to Triple-A Toledo.

The 35-year-old was 1-5 with an 11.12 ERA this season for Toronto, his record 14th major league team over a 17-year big career. The Blue Jays released him on Friday.

He was an All-Star with the Tigers a decade ago, threw a no-hitter the next year with Arizona and helped St. Louis win the World Series in 2011.

Detroit traded Jackson in 2009 as part of a three-team deal with the New York Yankees and Arizona, trades that brought right-hander Max Scherzer and outfielder Austin Jackson to the Tigers.

PIRATES: Pittsburgh suspended reliever Keone Kela two games for an unspecified violation of his contract.

The suspension came after the team activated Kela from the 60-day injured list. He had completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis over the weekend.

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NATIONALS: Ryan Zimmerman was put on the 10-day injured list because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot, the second time this season the injury has sidelined the 34-year-old first baseman.

RANGERS: Texas placed closer Shawn Kelley on the 10-day injured list with biceps soreness in his right arm, but Manager Chris Woodward said the injury appears far less severe than first believed.

BREWERS: All-Star pitcher Brandon Woodruff could miss up to six weeks with a left oblique strain. Woodruff left Sunday’s game after throwing two pitches in the fourth inning, and underwent an MRI on Monday.

ATHLETICS: The team is set to offer a special broadcast to fans who appreciate the game’s analytics side.

On Thursday, Oakland will feature simultaneous audio broadcasts for a game against Texas – their traditional broadcast as well as a “data-driven” version on A’s Cast. The team announced its plan Monday, saying General Manager David Forst and scouting assistant Ben Lowry would be special guests on the streaming broadcast.

MONDAY’S GAME

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INDIANS 7, BLUE JAYS 3: Mike Clevinger pitched seven innings to win his third straight decision, Oscar Mercado homered and tripled, and the surging Indians won at Toronto to improve to 13-3 in July.

Francisco Lindor drove in a pair of runs and Jason Kipnis had two hits and scored twice for the Indians, who are a major league-best 29-11 since June 4.

Clevinger (4-2) allowed three runs and five hits, matching his longest outing of the season. He walked two and struck out seven. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in four July starts.

Clevinger also worked seven innings on April 1 against the White Sox.

Tyler Clippard finished with two perfect innings. Kipnis ended the game with a spectacular leaping catch at second base on Cavan Biggio’s liner into shallow right field.


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