CARSON CITY, Nev. — Republican Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo announced Wednesday a tentative agreement between his office, legislative leaders in the state and the Oakland Athletics for a stadium funding plan after weeks of negotiations over how much public assistance the state will contribute to a $1.5 billion ballpark in Las Vegas, according to a joint statement.
The tentative agreement indicates a funding bill will be introduced in the Nevada Legislature in the coming days with less than two weeks until the legislative session’s end. It still needs approval from both the state Senate and Assembly.
The threat of a special legislative session looms if lawmakers can’t agree on the bill by the end of the regular session on June 5. The financing is not a sure thing either.
The bill comes on the heels of the Oakland Athletics’ purchase of land on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip where the Tropicana Las Vegas casino resort sits — a pivot from an earlier agreement that would have required a heftier $500 million price tag that many lawmakers signaled was too high. The joint statement did not give a specific number for the amount of public assistance the A’s will ask for.
The project includes the most private investment of any stadium in Major League Baseball, Nevada state treasurer Zach Conine said in the release.
The A’s have been looking for years for a home to replace Oakland Coliseum, where the team has played since arriving from Kansas City for the 1968 season. They had sought to build a stadium in Fremont and San Jose before shifting their attention to the Oakland waterfront.
Las Vegas would be the fourth home for a franchise that started as the Philadelphia Athletics from 1901-54. It would become the smallest TV market in Major League Baseball and the smallest market to be home to three major professional sports franchises. The team and the city are hoping to draw from the nearly 40 million tourists who visit Las Vegas annually to help fill the stadium.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
WHITE SOX 6, GUARDIANS 0: Michael Kopech struck out nine and allowed two hits over seven dominant innings, Romy González had a two-run double and Chicago won at Cleveland.
Kopech (3-4), who retired the first 16 batters in his last start against Kansas City, did not allow a baserunner until Josh Naylor singled leading off the fifth. The right-hander walked one and extended his shutout streak to 15 innings in his last two outings.
RAYS 7, BLUE JAYS 3: Shane McClanahan became the first eight-game winner in the majors and Tampa Bay rebounded from a 19-run loss to beat visiting Toronto.
McClanahan (8-0) allowed one run, four hits and struck out seven in seven innings. Tampa Bay is 10-1 when the left-hander starts.
McClanahan joins Matt Moore (2013) and Charlie Morton (2019) as the only Rays pitchers to start 8-0 as Tampa Bay improved to 23-5 at home.
Luke Raley and Jose Siri homered for the major league-best Rays (36-15), who lead the big leagues with 97 homers.
Raley, a first baseman, pitched 1 2/3 innings Tuesday night in a 20-1 loss to the Blue Jays in which he allowed seven runs, including a grand slam by Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
BRAVES 4, DODGERS 3: Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly drove in Austin Riley in the bottom of the ninth and Atlanta beat visiting Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep.
Austin Riley doubled to left field off Phil Bickford (1-2) to lead off the ninth. Riley moved to third on Travis d’Arnaud’s grounder to first base. Following an intentional walk to Eddie Rosario, Albies’ fly to deep right field allowed Riley to score easily.
INTERLEAGUE
BREWERS 4, ASTROS 0: Adrian Houser allowed two hits in 5 1/3 scoreless innings and Milwaukee homered three times to beat visiting Houston.
Willy Adames hit a two-run blast in the first inning to put the Brewers ahead for good. Owen Miller and Brian Anderson added solo shots in the seventh.
RANGERS 3, PIRATES 2: Martín Pérez pitched seven strong innings, Marcus Semien hit the 16th leadoff homer of his career and Texas won at Pittsburgh.
Pérez (6-1) allowed two runs on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts to win his fifth straight decision. The 32-year-old left-hander kept the Pirates in check, inducing 12 groundball outs, including a pair of inning-ending double plays.
TWINS 7, GIANTS 1: Edouard Julien returned to the leadoff spot and hit a home run, knocked in two runs and scored twice as host Minnesota ended a three-game losing streak.
Joe Ryan gave up six hits, struck out four and allowed a run in five innings in picking up his seventh win in eight decisions. Four relievers finished up on a day San Francisco left 15 runners on base and went 2 for 16 with runners in scoring position.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
REDS 10, CARDINALS 3: Ben Lively earned his first victory as a starter since 2017, Kevin Newman drove in three runs and Cincinnati had its highest hit total in almost a year in winning at home.
Rookie shortstop Matt McClain hit the second homer of his big league career and Spencer Steer had a career-best four hits with two RBI for Cincinnati, which pounded out 18 hits, the team’s highest total since posting 20 against the Chicago Cubs last May 26.
Lively’s last win as a starter came as a member of the Phillies on Sept. 29, 2017, against the Mets.
NATIONALS 5, PADRES 3: Alex Call had a two-run double in a four-run second inning and Washington held off visiting San Diego.
Call also singled to help the rebuilding Nationals improve to 11-11 in May and 21-28 overall.
CUBS 4, METS 2: Marcus Stroman pitched eight efficient innings to help Chicago beat visiting New York.
Nico Hoerner homered in Chicago’s second straight victory since coming home after a 2-7 trip. Seiya Suzuki also drove in a run with a double off Japanese countryman Kodai Senga.
Stroman (4-4) threw just 88 pitches in his longest outing of the season, 59 for strikes. The right-hander allowed four hits, struck out three and walked two.
Francisco Álvarez hit a two-run shot in the third, but that was it for the Mets.
Mark Leiter Jr. worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save.
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