KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman used an anti-gay slur on air during Cincinnati’s game Wednesday night and later left the broadcast after apologizing.
Brennaman used the slur moments after the Fox Sports Ohio feed returned from a commercial break before the top of the seventh inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Kansas City. Brennaman did not seem to realize he was already on air.
Brennaman, 56, remained on air in the second game until the top of the fifth inning, when he spoke directly to the camera before handing off play-by-play duties.
“I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the air that I am deeply ashamed of,” he said. “If I have hurt anyone out there, I can’t tell you how much I say from the bottom of my heart, I am very, very sorry.”
Brennaman added: “I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again” and apologized to the Reds, Fox Sports and his coworkers.
Major League Baseball was aware of the incident but did not have an immediate comment. The Reds did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Brennaman and the Reds announcers were working from Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, even though the doubleheader against the Royals was in Kansas City. Remote broadcasts have become the norm in the baseball this year because of coronavirus protocols.
The son of Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman, Brennaman has called major league games for 33 years and has been with Fox Sports for the last 27, covering primarily baseball and football.
“I can’t begin to tell you how deeply sorry I am,” Brennaman said. “That is not who I am and never has been. I like to think maybe I could have some people who can back that up. I am very, very sorry and I beg for your forgiveness.”
• Cincinnati put outfielder Nick Senzel on the injured list and reinstated third baseman Mike Moustakas=.
The Reds also chose infielder Robel Garcia as their 29th man for the doubleheader, which was caused by a postponement of the series opener Tuesday night. The Reds had two games postponed over the weekend because of a positive COVID-19 test, and Major League Baseball wanted to provide them with an additional day for testing.
The reason for Senzel’s injury designation was not provided, though he missed time earlier this season after reporting symptoms of COVID-19. He’s hitting .244 with two homers, five doubles and two steals in 14 games.
Moustakas had been out since Aug. 4 because of an injured left quadriceps.
YANKEES: Aaron Judge worked out on the field at Yankee Stadium before his team took on the Tampa Bay Rays. He is hoping to be activated off the injured list on Saturday, the first day he is eligible, when the Yankees are at Citi Field for the first Subway Series of the season against the Mets.
“You might have seen him out there already, with early hitting again today and throwing so he’s doing well and kind of on that trajectory,” Yankees Manager Aaron Boone said, before adding that Saturday is not a firm commitment. “But again, that’s something we’ll continue to evaluate day by day as we get closer to Saturday.”
Judge suffered a right calf strain last week. The Yankees slugger fought his assignment to the IL, feeling he could push through the calf issue, but Boone and the front office felt it was better to rest him now rather than have him risk further injury.
BLUE JAYS: Rookie right-hander Nate Pearson was placed on the 10-day injured list after complaining of elbow tightness following his fourth big league start.
Pearson told the team about the injury after a poor outing against the Orioles on Tuesday night in which he gave up three homers, five runs and three walks in four-plus innings.
“The good news is that he was feeling better this morning, but of course he’s one of our big prospects, so we’re going to have to be careful with him,” Manager Charlie Montoyo said. “We’ll run him through all the tests and see where he is.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
RAYS 4, YANKEES 2: Pinch-hitter Mike Brosseau singled home the tiebreaking run in the top of the eighth inning and streaking Tampa Bay beat New York again, taking advantage of a costly error by reliever Zack Britton.
Jalen Beeks pitched out of a ninth-inning jam and Tampa Bay got home runs from slumping hitters Ji-Man Choi and Mike Zunino off Gerrit Cole, who struck out 10 in a no-decision.
Cole’s 20-game regular-season winning streak remained intact, but he was visibly upset when Manager Aaron Boone pulled him with two outs in the seventh after a season-high 109 pitches.
BLUE JAYS 5, ORIOLES 2: Randal Grichuk extended his recent power surge with two home runs, and Toronto completed a three-game sweep at Baltimore.
Grichuk hit a solo shot in the second inning and put Toronto ahead for good with a two-run drive in the sixth. He has homered in four straight starts, and all six of his long balls this season have come over the last six games. He’s batting .424 during an eight-game hitting streak.
Toronto climbed within a game of .500 (10-11) for the first time since Aug. 5.
Baltimore has lost four in a row and five of six following a six-game winning streak. Tommy Milone (1-3) pitched well over six innings – except for the two homers he yielded to Grichuk.
CARDINALS, CUBS SPLIT: David Bote hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh and final inning, Adbert Alzolay pitched five solid innings in his first start of the season, and Chicago won at home to split a doubleheader.
Playing as the visitor in Game 2 because it was a makeup from a postponed series in St. Louis earlier this month, the Cubs loaded the bases against Andrew Miller (0-1) on singles by Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras and Nico Hoerner with one out. Bote then lined a single to center against Giovanny Gallegos.
In the opener, Matt Carpenter belted a first-inning grand slam and the Cardinals won 9-3. St. Louis held Chicago to two hits even though shaky starter Jack Flaherty only recorded five outs in his first start since a season-opening win over Pittsburgh.
ROYALS, REDS SPLIT: Trevor Bauer pitched seven innings of one-hit ball, and visiting Cincinnati earned a doubleheader split.
In the opener of the two seven-inning games, Brad Keller didn’t allow a hit until the sixth and extended his shutout streak to 17 2/3 innings, leading the Royals past the Reds, 4-0.
Bauer allowed only a single by Adalberto Mondesi in the fifth inning. He walked three and struck out nine, lowering his ERA to 0.68.
INDIANS 6, PIRATES 1: Aaron Civale struck out six and didn’t issue a walk while picking up the first complete game of his young career as visiting Cleveland pushed its winning streak to five.
Civale, 25, allowed five hits and narrowly missed a shutout when Pittsburgh pushed across a run on Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly in the ninth.
METS 5, MARLINS 3: Michael Conforto hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the ninth inning, and New York won at Miami for the third night in a row.
Jacob deGrom pitched six shutout innings and left with a lead, but Miami scored against the Mets’ bullpen on a wild pitch and two bases-loaded walks for a 3-all tie going into the ninth.
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