Chris Sale throws 2 scoreless innings vs. Tigers - MLB

TEMPE, Ariz. — Chris Sale pitched two scoreless innings for the Boston Red Sox as the seven-time All-Star tries to bounce back from three straight injury-marred seasons.

Sale gave up two hits and struck out two against Detroit in his first outing this spring training.

“I got it back. I appreciate it more,” Sale told the Boston Globe. “I’m trying to have more fun with it; I’m trying to be more open-minded; I’m trying to kind of soak some things in and really appreciate it.”

Sale was one of the game’s most dominant pitchers throughout the 2010s, but has thrown just 48 1/3 innings since 2019. He missed the 2020 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and then had a variety of injuries last season – including a bike accident – that kept him off the mound.

The 33-year-old Sale is in the fourth season of a $145 million, five-year deal.

TWO BALKS

Baltimore Orioles right-hander Mychal Givens was called for two balks in the fourth inning.

Givens was called for both balks because he didn’t come to a complete stop while in the stretch before delivering his pitch. MLB says umpires are watching for more balks when runners are on base.

Givens has just one career balk in 419 regular-season appearances.

Some pitchers – particularly relievers – have funky idiosyncrasies in their deliveries and never come to a complete stop before delivering a pitch. That’s technically a balk, but umpires usually let those tics slide.

Not anymore. A complete stop with no movement becomes more significant because the pitch clock operator turns off the new pitch clock once the pitcher’s motion toward the plate begins.

Givens still pitched a scoreless inning of relief while striking out two.

TURNER TAKES PITCH TO FACE

Boston Red Sox infielder Justin Turner left Monday’s game against the Detroit Tigers after getting hit in the face with a pitch.

The 38-year-old Turner fell to the ground after getting hit by Detroit right-hander Matt Manning as medical personnel rushed to the plate. He was bleeding and had a towel on his face as he walked off the field.

“He’s receiving treatment for soft tissue injuries, and is being monitored for a concussion,” the Red Sox said in a statement. “He will undergo further testing, and we’ll update as we have more information. Justin is stable, alert, and in good spirits given the circumstances.”

The two-time All-Star signed a $15 million, one-year deal with Red Sox during the offseason after spending the past nine years with the Dodgers. He hit .278 with 13 homers and 81 RBIs in 128 games last season.

TROUT READY FOR WBC

Angels star Mike Trout was 0 for 2 at the plate in his final tuneup before joining the U.S. for the World Baseball Classic.

The U.S. has exhibitions on Wednesday and Thursday before Saturday’s opener against Britian in Phoenix.

Trout, the U.S. captain, is part of a roster that includes Mooke Betts, Pete Alonso, Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt.

“It’s going to be special,” Trout said. “We’re just going out there, have some fun, see where it goes. We’ve got a pretty good team, but there’s a lot of great countries out there. We’ll see how it goes.”

CASTILLO SETTLES IN WITH MARINERS

Two-time All-Star Luis Castillo pitched 2 1/3 innings for the Mariners on Monday, allowing four hits and two runs against the Chicago Cubs in his second start. He struck out four and hit a batter.

The 30-year-old right-hander was acquired from Cincinnati last summer and signed a $108 million, five-year contract. Castillo was 4-2 with a 3.17 ERA in 11 starts after the trade and helped Seattle to its first postseason berth since 2001.

Unlike many of his All-Star teammates, including outfielders Julio Rodríguez and Teoscar Hernández, Castillo opted not to play for the Dominican Republic in the WBC.

“This was a decision that a large group of us came up with,” Castillo said of staying behind. “I feel like my team has all the talent to go ahead and win the whole thing.”

One of the Cubs he faced Monday was longtime Reds batterymate Tucker Barnhart, who signed as a free agent with Chicago in the offseason.

“I think it’s the first time that I faced him,” Castillo said. “We spent a lot of time together. When we were up there he was laughing and I was laughing and we were just having fun.”

Castillo got the last laugh, retiring his former catcher on a slow roller to third.

POPULAR BRAVES

The Atlanta Braves plan to stop the sale of season tickets to preserve the availability of single game tickets.

Braves president Derek Schiller says this is the first time in team history season ticket sales have been cut off before the first game.

The Braves plan to cut off the sale of season tickets on or around March 17. The team says it is on pace to approach the 2022 Truist Park record total of more than 3.1 million in attendance. The Braves finished fourth in the majors last season with their average of 38,461 fans at Truist Park.

“We are now focused on ensuring that more of our fans who only come to one or two games are able to buy seats,” Schiller said in a statement released by the team.

The Braves say their April 6 home opener against San Diego and some other high-profile games already are approaching sellout or standing room only status.

MIAMI (AP) — Trea Turner and Paul Goldschmidt and an unrelenting U.S. lineup kept putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard, a dynamic display of the huge gap between an American team of major leaguers and Cubans struggling on the world stage as top players have left the island nation.

Turner homered twice to give him a tournament-leading four, driving in four runs to lead the U.S. to a 14-2 rout Sunday night and advance the defending champion Americans to the World Baseball Classic final.

Goldschmidt also homered and had four RBIs and Cedric Mullins went deep in a game interrupted three times by fans running on the field to display protest signs.

“The team kind of represents the government over there, and people aren’t too happy about it,” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said.

The U.S. plays Japan or Mexico in Tuesday night’s championship, trying to join the Samurai Warriors as the only nations to win the title twice.

“I think it took us a little bit of time, but now we kind of found our stride a little bit,” Turner said.

Turner has a tournament-leading 10 RBIs. He followed his go-ahead, eighth-inning grand slam a night earlier against Venezuela with a solo homer in the second inning off Roenis Elias (0-1) and a three-run drive in the sixth against Elian Leyva.

“I kept saying every time he went deep, who is the idiot that’s hitting him ninth?” DeRosa said.

Cuba went ahead when its first four batters reached off Adam Wainwright (2-0) without getting a ball out of the infield. The 41-year-old right-hander recovered to strand the bases loaded.

“I put myself in that situation in the first place by making horrible PFP plays — or not making PFP plays,” Wainwright said in a reference to pitchers’ fielding practice.

American batters had 14 hits, including eight for extra bases, and seven walks. Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the first on a 112 mph rocket high over the left-field wall. He added a two-run single in the fifth.

“For me that was one of my favorite home runs I’ve ever hit in my entire life,” Goldschmidt said.

St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado left after he was hit on a hand by a pitch in the fifth inning, briefly raising another injury concern before X-rays came back as negative. Mets closer Edwin Díaz sustained a season-ending knee injury during the celebration that followed Puerto Rico’s win on Wednesday and Houston second baseman Jose Altuve broke a thumb when hit by a pitch while playing for Venezuela on Saturday.

Fans in the sellout crowd of 35,779 at loanDepot Park sounded evenly split between the U.S. and Cuba. Several hundred people gathered before the game outside the ballpark in Miami’s Little Havana section to protest the presence of the Cuban team, whose island nation has been under communist rule since 1959.

Play was briefly interrupted in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings when fans ran onto the field. The first held a banner that read “Libertad Para Los Presos Cubanos del 11 de Julio (Freedom for the Cuban Prisoners of July 11)” referring to the date of 2021 demonstrations.

“There were provocations, but we never paid attention to it,” Cuba manager Armando Johnson said.

Cuban fans roared in the early going when their team’s first four batters strung together three infield hits and a bases-loaded walk. Wainwright allowed one run and five hits in four innings. Cardinals teammate Miles Mikolas followed with four innings and Aaron Loup finished.

An Olympic gold medalist in 1992, 1996 and 2004, Cuba’s national team has struggled in recent years as many top players left for MLB. Cuba failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Cuba for the first time this year is using some players under contract to MLB clubs, including Chicago White Sox Gold Glove centerfielder Luis Robert and third baseman Yoán Moncada — who were booed. But many Cuban big leaguers were absent.

“We would like for the other players to join,” Johnson said. “They should think about it and return to Cuba.”

SECOND GUESSED

DeRosa on what he did after Saturday night’s come-from-behind quarterfinal win over Venezuela.

“I was reading how horrible a manager I was on social media first,” he said.

OTHER SIDE OF THE BRACKET

In the other semifinal, Japan starts 21-year-old sensation Roki Sasaki against Mexico and the Los Angeles Angels’ Patrick Sandoval on Monday night.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Moncada left after the third baseman collided in the sixth inning with left fielder Roel Santos, who caught Kyle Schwarber’s fly. Moncada was hit on the ribs but is OK, Johnson said.

UP NEXT

Arizona RHP Merrill Kelly is likely to start the final.