The A’s execute a perfect relay to retire Adam Jones

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It should go without saying that you don’t try to score from third with no outs unless you’re quite sure that you can make it. Then again, it’s hard to blame Adam Jones for being quite sure he could make it here.

Not only was it a picture-perfect relay from Yoenis Cespedes to Stephen Drew to Derek Norris, but I think Norris had Jones deked, at least a bit, by not reacting to the throw until the very end. There’s no conclusive angle in the video, but I believe it to be the case.

One thing I’ve never been a fan of on these plays: the outfielder gets all of the credit for the assist. Cespedes certainly deserves his share, but Drew’s role will go completely unrewarded in the statistics.

Dodgers place pitcher Noah Syndergaard on injured list with no timetable for return

dodgers syndergaard
Katie Stratman/USA TODAY Sports
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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”