CLEVELAND — Indians Manager Terry Francona remains absent from the team to get rest while dealing with a gastrointestinal issue that he’s battled for months.
Francona will miss his fourth straight game Wednesday night when the Indians return home to play two straight against the Reds. The two teams just wrapped up a two-game series in Cincinnati while Francona underwent tests and exams for three days at the Cleveland Clinic.
Team President Chris Antonetti said Francona will likely be sidelined for a few more days, but the hope is he’ll return to the team “in the not-too-distant future.”
Antonetti did not provide many details about Francona’s illness. He said the 61-year-old manager “is in the process of feeling better.” At this point, the objective is for Francona to feel well enough to get back in the dugout.
“Mostly right now it’s getting Tito to a point where he’s just more comfortable, where he will resume the duties that he has as manager,” he said.
Until he returns, the Indians will have third-base coach Mike Sarbaugh move into the dugout to help interim manager Sandy Alomar, the team’s usual first-base coach, with managing duties.
Tony Mansilino will fill in for Sarbaugh at third. He’s been working at the team’s alternate site in Lake County.
Francona was forced to miss a couple of spring training games in Arizona with his medical condition. He’s in his eighth season with Cleveland, which has made the postseason four times and won the AL once under Francona.
BRAVES: Atlanta placed second baseman Ozzie Albies and designated hitter Matt Adams on the 10-day injured list.
In another move on Wednesday, outfielder Nick Markakis was reinstated from the restricted list. Markakis announced on July 29 that he was returning to the team, three weeks after opting out due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
Albies is batting only .159 after he was held without a hit in Tuesday night’s 10-1 win over Toronto. He is in a 2-for-21 slump as he tried to play with a bruised right wrist. The injury led the switch-hitter to bat left-handed against left-hander Anthony Kay in the seventh inning.
Adams has been the team’s primary designated hitter and has made two starts at first base. He hit a second-inning homer on Tuesday night before leaving the game with a strained left hamstring.
• The Braves expect right-hander Mike Soroka to undergo surgery within the next week after tearing his right Achilles on Monday night.
Soroka suffered the season-ending injury while running to cover first during the third inning of the Braves’ eventual 7-2 loss to the Mets. It was a devastating blow for the player and team, which already was dealing with rotation issues.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
PHILLIES, YANKEES SPLIT: Mike Tauchman’s tie-breaking double in the seventh inning sent New York to a 3-1 victory over Philadelphia and a split of their seven-inning doubleheader.
Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto homered to back Zack Wheeler and lead the Phillies to an 11-7 victory in the opener, snapping New York’s seven-game winning streak.
Due to a late schedule change, the Yankees were the “home” team for the first game — even in Philadelphia.
Phillies ace Aaron Nola tied a career high with 12 strikeouts in the nightcap, allowing one run on Luke Voit’s homer and three hits in six innings. He gave way to Tommy Hunter after throwing 88 pitches, and the Yankees quickly took advantage.
Giancarlo Stanton and Voit greeted Hunter (0-1) with consecutive singles. Tauchman lined a double to right-center for a 2-1 lead. Gio Urshela’s single made it 3-1, chasing Hunter.
MARLINS SWEEP ORIOLES: Five pitchers combined on a four-hitter as visiting Miami swept Baltimore with 1-0 and 2-1 wins.
Brian Anderson homered in opener for Miami, which only has two hits.
The sweep kept the Marlins atop the NL East and earned Don Mattingly his 281st win as Miami’s manager, tying Jack McKeon’s club record.
METS 3, NATIONALS 1: Nationals starter Max Scherzer left after laboring through just one inning, overshadowing Juan Soto’s eventful 2020 debut for the World Series champs, and Rick Porcello collected his 150th career win in New York’s road win.
Porcello (1-1) went seven innings, allowing one run and five hits and retiring the last 10 batters. He tied David Price, the Dodgers’ lefty who opted out of this season because of the coronavirus pandemic, for the ninth-most wins among active pitchers.
INDIANS 2, REDS 0: Mike Clevinger didn’t have his best stuff but did enough to pitch into the sixth inning and lead Cleveland to a win at home.
Clevinger (1-1) worked around five walks, including three in the sixth.
Cesar Hernandez hit an RBI single off Reds rookie Tejay Antone (0-1) and Oscar Mercado scored with some daring baserunning to give the Indians a 2-0 lead in the fifth.
BLUE JAYS 2, BRAVES 1: Hyun-Jin Ryu combined with four relievers on a two-hitter and Toronto won at Atlanta.
Ryu lasted only five innings but was dominant as he gave up only one hit, an infield single by Adam Duvall in the second.
Duvall homered in the seventh off Thomas Hatch.
Ryu (1-1) struck out eight as he showed the form that produced a majors-leading 2.32 ERA for the Dodgers in 2019. The left-hander from South Korea had an 8.00 ERA in his first two starts for Toronto.
TWINS 5, PIRATES 2: Minnesota’s Randy Dobnak dominated in his homecoming, allowing three hits in six innings as the streaking Twins won at Pittsburgh.
Dobnak, who grew up a half-hour south of PNC Park in the Pittsburgh suburb of South Park, didn’t walk a batter and struck out just one.
The 25-year-old relied on a heavy fastball the Pirates pounded into the ground. Pittsburgh managed just four balls out of the infield against Dobnak, who dropped his ERA to 0.60.
Marwin Gonzalez went 2 for 4 with two RBI for the Twins. Max Kepler gave Minnesota some breathing room in the ninth with a three-run home run off Pirates reliever Dovydas Neverauskas.
BREWERS 1, WHITE SOX 0: Adrian Houser dominated over seven innings and visiting Milwaukee ended Chicago’s six-game win streak.
Milwaukee held struggling star Christian Yelich out of the lineup, with the 2018 NL MVP and two-time defending NL batting champion mired in a season-opening 3-for-34 slump.
Eric Sogard drove in Mark Mathias with a single in the third.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.