Category: Sports News

The A’s can’t seem to get many wins this spring but luckily these games don’t count just yet. Still would be nice to see another win sometime soon as the Athletics dropped another game on Friday afternoon, losing to the Royals 7-6 and dropping their meaningless record to 1-5.

The A’s jumped out to an early lead this afternoon. A pair of walks put two runners on for Max Muncy. Looking to put some distance between himself and Darell Hernaiz for the starting third base job, Muncy took a fastball down the middle and drove it into center field for a double and bringing in both runs, giving the A’s the first lead.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs got his first action today, taking the ball to start against KC today. While the stats don’t matter today still wasn’t a great first outing for the 33-year-old considering his early-game struggles last year. Springs had an easy first inning but got hit hard in the second, allowing four runs to score capped by a Bobby Witt Jr. three-run home run that wiped away the A’s early lead. That would chase him from this game after getting up to 39 pitches, which is probably around where the coaching staff wanted him as they slowly ramp the veteran lefty up for the long season ahead.

The A’s got one of those runs back in the next frame thanks to a Carlos Cortes double and a pair of productive groundouts to bring him in. Then the A’s got the big hit they were looking for in the fourth. Shortstop Jacob Wilson came to the plate with a runner on first and blasted a 429-foot home run to left field, his first long ball of spring and one that tied this game up a 5 apiece. The A’s would then take the lead the very next inning, courtesy of Muncy’s first home run of the spring.

The Royals would battle back late however. Lefty Brady Basso began the seventh and didn’t have his best stuff today. A double and a pair of walks loaded the bases and while he was just one strike away from getting out of the jam, a two-run double bit him and gave KC back the lead.

The A’s put together a scoring threat in the eighth thanks to a couple hits from some prospects (including Leo De Vries!), but couldn’t manage to knot this game up, falling 7-6 to finish the afternoon off.

Not great but the offense has really picked it up after a slow start to spring. We do this all again tomorrow, with the San Francisco Giants coming to Hohokam Stadium for another afternoon matchup with our A’s. Right-hander Luis Morales is set to get the ball for his second appearance this spring. He allowed a run on a couple hits in a couple innings of work earlier this week but will be getting his first starting nod. The Giants will go with veteran righty Tyler Mahle for his first appearance of camp. Hopefully the A’s can get another one of those currently-meaningless wins.

Notes:

• Muncy finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI’s. It’s a super small sample but he’s 4-for-10 so far with one walk and one strikeout.
• Hernaiz isn’t making the coaching staff’s job easy though. He went 0-for-1 today but also drew a pair of walks. He’s 5-for-11 this spring. Does a big showing in the upcoming WBC do him any favors with the coaching staff?
• Jamie Arnold sighting! The A’s most recent first-round pick made it into his first game action for the A’s. He pitched a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and a walk while also collecting two punchouts. A nice little spring debut for the left-hander.
• Center fielder Denzel Clarke has had a rough go of it at the plate to start camp, but he finally collected his first hit this spring today. He doesn’t need to do much offensively to have value for the A’s this coming season but he also can’t be a complete black hole in the lineup.
• Top prospect Leo De Vries went 2-for-2 today, a positive showing for the young shortstop who is nearly in the big leagues. He won’t be breaking camp with the club but a strong showing in front of the coaches during camp doesn’t hurt.
• Righty reliever Elvis Alvarado had a second scoreless appearance this afternoon, while fellow relief pitcher Michael Kelly gave up a run in his inning of work. These two could be closer options for Mark Kotsay this coming year.

Observations from Mets’ spring training on Friday:

The whammer

MJ Melendez homered twice for the Mets in their 14-3 exhibition victory over the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.

Melendez is competing for an outfield job after arriving on a one-year contract.

Kneed an MRI

Grae Kessinger departed the game with left knee discomfort and will likely have an MRI exam, according to manager Carlos Mendoza.

Caught my eye

Carson Benge looked sharp defensively in the second inning with a diving catch in right field to rob Nelson Velazquez of a hit.

Saturday’s schedule

Tobias Myers will start against the Nationals in Port St. Lucie, with Craig Kimbrel among the relievers scheduled.

Good evening! I hope your week has gone well and that the weekend treats you just as well. The floor is now yours and here’s a random clip:

JUPITER, Fla. — Devin Williams’ first Grapefruit League pitch in a Mets uniform resulted in a ball disappearing behind the fence at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Friday.

The cutter, a pitch Williams is still learning, got too much of JJ Wetherholt’s strike zone in the fourth inning.

“That one, specifically, I was just trying to throw a strike,” Williams said on a day the Mets rolled to a 14-3 victory over the Cardinals. “He jumped on it, so that is part of it.”

Williams, who is slated for the closer’s role, retired the next three batters he faced in the inning.

He averaged 93.8 mph with his four-seam fastball.

“That first pitch, that cutter didn’t cut much,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “It’s a pitch that he is working on, but I thought the fastball was good. He did a couple of good sliders, which is another pitch that he is working on, so a good inning of work for him.”

Williams, who arrived on a three-year contract worth $51 million — he spent last season with the Yankees — said he needs about eight or nine appearances in spring training games to prepare for the season.

MJ Melendez homered twice for the Mets, going to the opposite field for both.

Melendez is attempting to land an outfield job with the team after arriving three weeks ago as a free agent.

“I knew that I was going to learn a lot coming here,” Melendez said. “Very advanced things that I kind of knew about myself, but really not how to get the best version of myself, and just learning those things each and every day, and it’s been amazing so far.”

Melendez’s education has included learning about his swing path and stance.

“Just stuff that my body does well, but I necessarily didn’t know, exactly how and why,” Melendez said. “Just kind of get into those things and on the outfield side, how to get better reads and improve daily out there.”

Grae Kessinger departed the game with knee discomfort, according to Mendoza, and will likely have an MRI exam.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Dan Serafini was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday for the 2021 first-degree murder of his father-in-law and attempted murder of his mother-in-law in Lake Tahoe.

Serafini, who pitched for six MLB teams during a 22-year professional career that ended in 2013, killed Gary Spohr, 70, and seriously injured Wendy Wood during a burglary of their home on the west shore of Lake Tahoe.

"He is a monster who knows no moral boundaries and has zero reservations about taking the lives of others to benefit himself," said Adrienne Spohr, daughter of the victims, at the sentencing hearing.

He was convicted in July after a six-week trial and made two unsuccessful appeals, denied a new trial only a week ago. During his ruling, Placer County Superior Court Judge Garen J. Horst said Serafini, 52, was a "liar, manipulator, arrogant and someone who has a loose relationship with the truth."

The jury also found Serafini guilty of first-degree burglary and found the special circumstance allegations of lying-in-wait and felony murder, as well as related firearm allegations, to be true.

Serafini broke into the Spohr's home while the couple was boating with their grandsons and daughter Erin Spohr — Serafini's wife and sister of Adrienne Spohr. He waited in a closet until his family left and shot them both in the head upon their return, according to prosecutors.

Wood took her own life in 2022 at age 69. After a year of rehabilitation after the shooting, she had regained her ability to read and write, as well as to hike and ride a bicycle, according to Adrienne Spohr. But she battled disability and depression.

Read more:Ex-MLB pitcher Dan Serafini found guilty of murdering father-in-law

Samantha Scott, a nanny employed by Serafini and Erin Spohr to watch their two young children, pleaded guilty to being an accessory to the crimes. She testified in 2025 that she drove Serafini to the crime scene, believing it was for a drug deal.

Scott also testified that she saw Serafini with a gun and a silencer made of PVC pipe in his backpack. She testified that she dropped him off near the Spohr's home and later saw him discard items from his backpack after they crossed the Nevada state line.

"When I learned that my sister’s husband Daniel Serafini and sister’s close friend Samantha Scott were arrested for the shooting of my parents, I was shaken to my core,” Adrienne Spohr said in a statement to the court. “This was a heinous, calculated crime. My parents had been incredibly generous to Daniel Serafini and Erin Spohr throughout their marriage."

The Minnesota Twins made Serafini their first-round draft pick in 1992 out of Junipero Serra High in San Mateo, Calif., the same school that all-time home run king Barry Bonds attended. Serafini made his big-league debut in 1996 with the Twins and pitched with the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies.

Serafini pitched in Japan from 2004 to 2007 before returning to the United States. He was suspended for 50 games in 2007 for using performance-enhancing drugs that he blamed on medication he took in Japan. He also pitched for Italy in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Serafini’s bar in Sparks, Nev., was featured on an episode of “Bar Rescue” in 2025. The bar’s named was changed from the Bullpen Bar to the Oak Tavern as part of the makeover, but not before Serafini's financial woes were described: He blew through $14 million in career earnings and took a $250,000 loan from his parents.

Prosecutors said Serafini's crimes were driven by anger and financial distress. Evidence was presented that he made threats and spoke about wanting his in-laws dead for many years. He and Gary Spohr also had disputes over a $1.3 million loan intended for Erin Spohr's horse ranch business.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

MESA, Arizona — Friday was Edward Cabrera’s first outing in a Cubs uniform and it was a great success. Cabrera retired all six Guardians batters he faced, striking out three. He threw 20 strikes in 31 pitches and had six swings-and misses.

The bullpen did a good job, too — well, with one exception, I’ll get to that — and Dansby Swanson homered and singled and drove in three runs as the Cubs defeated the Guardians 8-6.

Here are Cabrera’s three K’s, all swinging [VIDEO].

Here’s Swanson’s two-run homer in the first inning [VIDEO].

Ryan Rolison, Daniel Palencia, Collin Snider and Jacob Webb all threw scoreless innings in relief of Cabrera. Those four combined to allow just two hits and struck out four.

Swanson’s RBI single in the sixth made it 3-0 Cubs, and things looked good … until Porter Hodge entered the game in the seventh. Hodge again struggled with command, issuing two walks. He also got hit pretty hard, allowing three hits — and remember, these were basically all Guardians minor leaguers. Hodge got charged with five runs and Cleveland led the game 5-4 after seven. Scott Kingery had homered for the Cubs in the seventh.

I’m not sure what’s up with Hodge but he now sports a 31.50 ERA with four hits, seven walks and seven runs allowed in two innings of work this spring. That’s a 5.500 WHIP which, yikes. I suspect Hodge is going to wind up starting the year at Triple-A Iowa.

The Cubs scored four in the eighth to take the lead. The big blow was a bases-clearing double by Leonel Espinoza, an outfielder who split 2025 between Myrtle Beach and South Bend, where he stole 31 bases in 116 games.

Gavin Hollowell entered for the save opportunity. He did give up a pair of hits and a run, and it might have been more except for a really slick play by Pedro Ramirez at short. Ramirez, who was added to the 40-man roster this winter, might wind up at Iowa this year. He’s only 21 (turns 22 in April). Even if he doesn’t hit much, that glove plays in the major leagues.

Attendance watch: 11,217 attended Friday afternoon’s contest at Sloan Park. That makes the season total 56,039 for five dates, or 11,208 per date.

A note on Friday afternoon’s weather: It was 86 degrees at game time and as of 2 p.m., the temperature in Phoenix was 92 degrees, which tied the record high for both the date and the entire month of February. It’s not supposed to be this hot in the Valley in February — the average high right now is 73. It’s forecast to be in the mid-90s for at least the next three days.

Saturday, the Cubs head west to Glendale to face the Dodgers. Colin Rea gets the start for the Cubs and Justin Wrobleski will go for L.A. Game time is 2:05 p.m. CT and the game will be televised via the Dodgers channel SportsNet LA.

The Milwaukee Brewers stayed hot in sunny Phoenix on Friday afternoon, taking down the Chicago White Sox for their fourth consecutive win to move to .500 at 4-4 in Cactus League play. The Crew did it behind a balanced offensive attack and some solid bullpen work late.

Right-hander Brandon Sproat, one of Milwaukee’s acquisitions in the Freddy Peralta trade, made his spring debut in this one. He allowed a leadoff single in the first before striking out the next two hitters. After Chase Meidroth stole second, catcher Edgar Quero singled him home to make it 1-0 early. Sproat would pick off Quero at first base, but the Brewers faced an early deficit.

Milwaukee went down 1-2-3 against Sean Burke in the first, and after Sproat recorded a strikeout of Jarred Kelenic, he allowed a walk and a single. That marked the end of Sproat’s day, as he went 1 1/3 innings with three strikeouts and a run allowed on a walk and three hits.

Kaleb Bowman worked around a passed ball to finish out the inning with the score still 1-0.

After once again going down 1-2-3 in the second, Abner Uribe got the ball in the third. He allowed a run on a walk, a sac bunt, and a double as Quero picked up his second RBI of the day.

With the score now 2-0, Luis Rengifo cut that lead in half to lead off the third, slugging his first homer of the spring 345 feet over the wall in right. Milwaukee wasn’t done there either.

Garrett Mitchell followed with a walk, Joey Ortiz singled, and Jackson Chourio singled to tie it up at 2-2. Brice Turang then flew into a 7-5-6 double play as Ortiz was thrown out on the basepaths, and William Contreras popped out to end the rally.

Shane Drohan, one of Milwaukee’s acquisitions in the Caleb Durbin trade, made his spring debut in the fourth and proceeded to strike out the side (all swinging).

The Brewers took the lead in the fourth against new pitcher Tanner McDougal, as Jake Bauers doubled and was brought home by Rengifo to make it 3-2 entering the fifth.

Drohan’s fifth inning didn’t go quite as well as the fourth, as he allowed a single and hit Meidroth with a pitch before recording an out. He was able to induce a pair of groundouts — including a fielder’s choice at the plate to cut down Oliver Dunn — and Quero lined out to end the inning with no damage done.

Milwaukee tacked on another in the fifth, as Ortiz singled, stole second, and later scored on a Brice Turang double to make it 4-2.

Most of Milwaukee’s starters were substituted in the sixth and seventh, as Chourio, Mitchell, Sal Frelick, and Turang were all removed before Bauers and Rengifo exited the next inning.

The Brewers were able to tack on one more run in the seventh, as Ortiz, Jacob Hurtubise, and Contreras all singled to make it 5-2.

The White Sox nearly mounted an eight-inning rally against Drew Rom, as Rom walked the bases loaded before his replacement, Will Childers, was able to get a called strike three upon review (initiated by catcher Darrien Miller) to escape the inning unscathed.

Both teams went down in order in their final at-bats, and the Brewers locked up another win to push them to 4-4 this spring.

Ortiz and Rengifo were the big hitters offensively, as Ortiz went 3-for-3 with three singles, two runs scored, and a steal, and Rengifo went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored on his homer. Five other Brewers collected hits in the win, including doubles from Bauers and Turang.

Shane Drohan picked up the win in his Brewer debut, pitching two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Blake Holub got the save with three strikeouts in the ninth, while Bowman, Easton McGee, Rom, and Childers also had scoreless outings. The two runs went to Sproat and Uribe.

The Crew will look to make it five straight and move over .500 tomorrow, as they’ll stay home to take on the Reds. First pitch in that one is at 2:10 p.m. CT on Brewers TV and the Brewers Radio Network.