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Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson, from left, and associate GMs Jeff Greenberg and Norm Maciver pose for photos after a question-and-answer session with reporters and potential season ticket holders on May 16, 2022, at the United Center Concert Club. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joe Kelly saw how starter Johnny Cueto was progressing at Triple-A Charlotte while the Chicago White Sox reliever was on a rehab assignment.He gave a positive review.Advertisement“Johnny Cueto looked good,” Kelly said last week. “Johnny’s a great dude. He messes up hitters with timing, multiple looks, leg kicks, slide steps. Johnny does it to try to get guys off balance and he’s a master at it. He was commanding all of his pitches for strikes.”Cueto has joined the Sox in Kansas City and will start Monday’s game against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.AdvertisementThe Sox purchased Cueto’s contract from Charlotte.The veteran went 0-1 with a 5.17 ERA and 17 strikeouts in four starts with Charlotte after signing with the Sox as a minor-league free agent on April 8.“The road games were not his forte just because the umpires — I’m not going to say they weren’t ready for Johnny, but when I watched him pitch with the automatic strike zone? Pfft. Good luck. He could dot,” Kelly said. “Some umpires give up on some of the ways his balls move, and they move a ton. So when he’s flipping pitchers and they’re strikes in the strike zone, but the umpire thinks it runs off, that might get him into trouble.[ [Don’t miss] 3 takeaways from the Chicago White Sox-New York Yankees series, including an unusual line score ]“But these guys up here, big league umpires, they know that. They know Johnny, they know how it moves. He looks great. He’s definitely going to help us this year.”Cueto, 36, is 135-97 with a 3.45 ERA in 330 appearances (329 starts) during a 14-year career with the Cincinnati Reds (2008-15), Royals (2015) and San Francisco Giants (2016-21).The right-hander is a two-time All-Star (2014, 2016), finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting in 2014 and is 2-4 with a 4.54 ERA in eight career postseason starts. He made four starts in the 2015 postseason with the World Series champion Royals.Cueto went 7-7 with a 4.08 ERA in 22 outings (21 starts) in 2021.In Monday’s corresponding roster move, the Sox optioned infielder Danny Mendick to Charlotte.

The Cincinnati Reds threw a combined no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates and still lost Sunday, the equivalent of winning the lottery and losing your ticket in the wash.It will go down as a quirk of history, one of only six games in which a team lost while throwing eight or more no-hit innings. The 10,559 fans who witnessed the feat at PNC Park will never forget watching the lowly Pirates win a game without a single hit.AdvertisementUnfortunately, it won’t go down as an official no-hitter thanks to former Commissioner Fay Vincent and the eight-man committee he chaired in 1991 that changed the definition.“The committee was there, really, to clean up any ambiguities that would come up under the rules of the definitions that existed,” Vincent later told the Sporting News.AdvertisementAmbiguities?The term was pretty clear. A pitcher or team that allows no hits should be credited with throwing a no-hitter, right?Reds pitcher Hunter Greene delivers a pitch in the eighth inning during the game against the Pirates at PNC Park on May 15, 2022. (Justin Berl / Getty Images)But this was 1991, when baseball was still operating under the presumption it was the national pastime with sacred record books. And it was before the owners dumped Vincent and installed Bud Selig as their de facto CEO, eliminating the need for an “impartial” overseer of the game they preferred to run themselves.In a unanimous vote, Vincent’s panel in September 1991 defined no-hitters as games of nine innings or more that ended with no hits.Two of the 50 games that were no longer deemed no-hitters involved the Chicago White Sox. Sox pitcher Mélido Pérez threw six hitless innings during a rain-shortened win over the New York Yankees on July 12, 1990, in Yankee Stadium, two years after his brother, Pascual, threw a five-inning, rain-shortened no-hitter for the Montreal Expos.Both of the Pérezs’ no-hitters were erased, a decision Sox catcher Carlton Fisk called “ridiculous.” ″He earned it,” Fisk said of Mélido. “Doesn’t it go down in the book as a six-inning no-hitter? I don’t know why they have to delete those. It’s just something I can’t comprehend. They were official games, weren’t they?″Mélido Perez’s no-hitter occurred 11 days after a windy afternoon at old Comiskey Park where Yankees pitcher Andy Hawkins threw eight hitless innings against the White Sox, but lost 4-0 on outfield errors in the eighth inning by Jesse Barfield and Jim Leyritz. It was the Yankees’ last game at Comiskey — and the last season of the 80-year-old ballpark.Advertisement“If Comiskey II, currently under construction across 35th Street, lasts another 80 years, it will not house a stranger game than the one the Sox won 4-0 over the Yankees on their final game in Comiskey,” Tribune writer Bill Jauss wrote. Hawkins didn’t pitch in the bottom of the ninth, of course, because the Yankees lost. But he was credited with a no-hitter for over a year until Vincent decided otherwise.“We felt the ninth inning was significant,″ Vincent said of the change. “So many games lose no-hit status in the ninth inning.″A record nine no-hitters were recorded in 1990, including two on the same day by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Fernando Valenzuela and Dave Stewart of the Oakland A’s. Some purists felt the strange increase in no-hitters somehow made them less special.No-hitters nowadays are often combined, like the recent five-pitcher no-hitter by the New York Mets over the Philadelphia Phillies. Even Dodgers great Clayton Kershaw was removed last month from a perfect game after seven innings in Minnesota instead of risking injury. It’s hard to argue a no-hitter is as big of a deal today as it was to fans in the 1960s and ‘70s.James Leslie “Hippo” Vaughn of the Chicago Cubs in an early photo. Vaughn played for the Cubs from 1913-1921. (Chicago Tribune historical photo)Among those who questioned the definition of a no-hitter in 1991 was friend and former colleague Jerome Holtzman, the Hall of Fame baseball writer and author of “No Cheering In The Press Box.” Holtzman believed Harvey Haddix and Hippo Vaughn were wrongly credited with no-hitters after both allowed hits in extra innings.AdvertisementThe Pirates’ Haddix threw 12 perfect innings against the Milwaukee Braves on May 29, 1959, before Joe Adcock doubled in the winning run in the 13th inning. Vaughn dueled with the Reds’ Fred Toney in a famous “double no-hitter” in 1917, but Vaughn gave up two hits in the 10th and the Chicago Cubs lost 2-0.During the “Year of the No-Hitter” in 1990, Holtzman called statistician Seymour Siwoff of the Elias Sports Bureau to plead his case. Swihoff then put those two games and others into a separate no-hitter category: “no hits, 9 innings, allowed hit in extra inning.” It was like a no-hitter with an asterisk.Holtzman wrote about the call in a Tribune column on Aug. 6, 1991, shortly after Expos starter Mark Gardner tossed no-hit innings against the Dodgers before giving up a hit in the 10th inning of a 1-0 loss.Under the headline “9 Innings Doesn’t Make a No-Hitter,” Holtzman wrote: “Modesty does not prevent me from revealing that in a conversation with Siwoff last year I challenged the Haddix and Vaughn no-hitters, arguing that a no-hit game is a no-hit game, not a no-hitter through ‘X’ number of innings. Siwoff readily agreed, and after consulting with his associates, made a common-sense adjustment.”That was all it took. Holtzman had clout, and after one conversation with the Elias Sports Bureau, a change was made. One month later, on Sept. 5, 1991, Vincent’s committee announced MLB’s official change in the definition of a no-hitter, eliminating the ones thrown by Haddix, Vaughn, Perez, Hawkins and others in the record books.Holtzman, a member of Vincent’s committee, helped lobby for the change. Coincidentally, I was in the center-field bleachers at Comiskey Park with former Tribune columnist Terry Armour when Hawkins threw his no-hitter — and still lost. It was the first no-hitter I’d ever witnessed in person and still one of the more memorable games I’ve seen.AdvertisementWhite Sox manager Terry Bevington with Tribune baseball writer Jerome Holtzman. (CHARLES CHERNEY, Chicago Tribune)Holtzman loved a good baseball argument. The next time I saw him in the press box after the rule change, I argued Hawkins had met the conditions and therefore deserved to be recognized for his no-hitter. It wasn’t his fault the Sox didn’t bat in the ninth.But Holtzman was not swayed. He pointed out that many pitchers lose no-hitters after eight innings, adding: “Who’s to say (Hawkins) would’ve thrown a hitless ninth?”The court had ruled. Case closed. That’s why Hawkins was robbed of his no-no, just as Reds pitchers Hunter Greene and Art Warren were robbed of their combined no-hitter Sunday.Baseball has corrected its errors in the past. Just last year MLB made a bold decision to add Negro League stats to the official record books.Now would be a good time to credit the Reds pitchers and restore the no-hitters of Hawkins, the Perez brothers and more who met the criteria of not allowing a base hit in a regulation game.It’s never too late to do the right thing.

DETROIT — A man walking on a footbridge to a Detroit Tigers game said he fell 15 feet to the ground when part of the concrete collapsed.Ely Hydes said the incident occurred May 9. But the bridge still was open for days until The Detroit News reached out to the state Transportation Department on Sunday.AdvertisementThe Spruce Street pedestrian bridge is above M-10, also known as the Lodge Freeway. Hydes said he was walking to Comerica Park with a friend when “the bridge just collapsed under my feet.”“I remember thinking, ‘I hope I’m not over the freeway.’ I landed about six feet from the traffic. … After I hit the ground I got the wind knocked out of me pretty good,” Hydes, 36, told the newspaper.AdvertisementHe informed police, then resumed his walk to the Tigers game, a 2-0 loss to Oakland. Hydes went to a hospital a few days later.“I’m a giant walking bruise right now,” he said.The ground below an elevated pedestrian bridge spanning the M-10 Lodge freeway in Detroit is visible through a hole in the concrete, large enough for a person to fall through. (Kevin Hardy/AP)The Transportation Department said it wasn’t aware of the hole in the bridge until notified by the News.“The Spruce pedestrian bridge was built in 1953 and based on its age and condition, it is on a yearly detailed bridge inspection that is due this month,” spokeswoman Diane Cross said.In 2019, Hydes caught a home run hit by Albert Pujols, the slugger’s 2,000th career RBI.“Crazy things happen to me when I’m going to Tigers games — good and bad,” Hydes said.

Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles spent the last two months reconstructing the roster he inherited from predecessor Ryan Pace.Poles has been forthright in acknowledging he is not going to fix a 2021 team that went 6-11 in one year. At some positions, he has made upgrades. At others, Poles has added temporary fillers until he has more resources to find the right players.AdvertisementThe Bears will get a better sense for what they have over the next month as they start organized team activities Monday at Halas Hall.[ Chicago Bears 2022 schedule: Here’s who they’ll play — and our predictions for each matchup ]Most players already became acquainted with new coach Matt Eberflus during voluntary minicamp in mid-April or rookie minicamp May 7-9. Over the next five weeks, they will diver deeper into their work with three OTAs sessions of three days apiece and then mandatory minicamp June 14-16.AdvertisementHere’s a look at the roster the Bears will field during those practices.* Indicates 2022 draft pickExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 119Bears quarterback Justin Fields scores in the fourth quarter against the 49ers at Soldier Field on Oct. 31, 2021. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: Justin FieldsNotable additions: Trevor Siemian and Nathan PetermanMajor departures: Andy Dalton, Nick Foles and Ryan WillisOutlook: Fields’ development obviously is the chief concern at quarterback, and so the most important offseason additions were the coaches who are tasked with helping him take the next step in his second season — offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko. Their relationship seemingly has gotten off to a good start, with Getsy saying recently that Fields has accepted the challenges they’ve thrown at him and that nobody in the building works harder or cares more than Fields.But the Bears also had moves to make to back up Fields.[ [Don’t miss] Chicago Bears release QB Nick Foles after being unable to find a taker for the former Super Bowl MVP ]Dalton signed a one-year deal with the New Orleans Saints in free agency, and the Bears released Foles after failing to find a trade partner. So the Bears went after a backup in Siemian, the 30-year-old former Northwestern quarterback who started 29 games over seven seasons with the Denver Broncos, New York Jets and Saints. Siemian, who signed a two-year deal, has thrown for 6,843 yards, 41 touchdowns and 27 interceptions with a 81.2 passer rating in his career. The Bears released Willis after rookie minicamp and signed Peterman, who has made four starts in five seasons, to a one-year deal to be the third-string quarterback.Bears wide receiver Darnell Mooney, right, is taken down by Vikings outside linebacker Nick Vigil during the first quarter on Jan. 9, 2022, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: Darnell MooneyNotable additions: Byron Pringle, Velus Jones Jr.*, Tajae Sharpe, Dante Pettis, David Moore and Equanimeous St. BrownAlso on the roster: Isaiah Coulter, Dazz Newsome, Nsimba Webster, Chris Finke and Kevin ShaaMajor departures: Allen Robinson, Marquise Goodwin, Damiere Byrd and Jakeem GrantOutlook: Poles didn’t exactly quiet the Bears fans clamoring for more reliable targets for Fields with his offseason shopping. With Robinson leaving in free agency, the Bears lost a player who has amassed 6,409 receiving yards and 40 touchdown catches in his career. Poles didn’t get a big name to replace Robinson, instead going after a large cast of lesser-known options.The most important replacements are Jones and Pringle, the former Kansas City Chiefs receiver who totaled 568 receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2021 and, the Bears believe, has potential for more. Jones, the Bears’ third-round draft pick out of Tennessee, had a career-high 62 catches for 807 yards and seven touchdowns as a sixth-year senior and has big value as a returner. Sharpe (1,397 yards, eight touchdowns over five seasons) and Pettis (739 yards, nine touchdowns over four seasons) were May additions to the competition.Packers inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell tackles Bears running back David Montgomery in the second quarter on Dec. 12, 2021, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: David Montgomery and Khalil HerbertNotable additions: Trestan Ebner*, Darrynton Evans and Khari BlasingameAlso on the roster: De’Montre TuggleMajor departures: Tarik Cohen and Damien WilliamsOutlook: The Bears already were solid at the position with the return of David Montgomery and Khalil Herbert, who totaled 849 and 433 rushing yards in 2021, respectively.AdvertisementEbner, a sixth-round draft pick, was an interesting addition because of his abilities as a pass catcher and a returner. He had 4,542 all-purpose yards in his career at Baylor. Evans was a waiver pickup from the Tennessee Titans with little playing time over six career games because of injuries, and Blasingame is a fullback.[ Rookies Velus Jones and Trestan Ebner may be gearing up for a special competition to be the Chicago Bears kick returner ]The release of Cohen came after he missed most of the last two seasons while dealing with personal trauma and a knee injury — ACL and MCL tears and a tibial plateau fracture, according to his essay in The Players’ Tribune — that was more serious than the Bears ever revealed publicly.Bears tight end Cole Kmet catches a ball in front of Lions inside linebacker Alex Anzalone (34) on Nov. 25, 2021, at Ford Field in Detroit. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: Cole KmetNotable additions: Ryan Griffin and James O’ShaughnessyAlso on the roster: Rysen John, Chase Allen and Jake TongesMajor departures: Jimmy Graham, Jesse James, J.P. Holtz and Jesper HorstedOutlook: The Bears certainly hope to see more growth from Kmet in his third season after he totaled 60 catches for 612 yards in 2021. The rest of the Bears tight ends group last season — Graham, James, Holtz and Horsted — combined for just 23 catches.Griffin comes in as a 10th-year veteran who has 2,158 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in his career. O’Shaughnessy is a Naperville North product who has 1,108 receiving yards and three touchdowns over seven seasons.Bears offensive lineman Lucas Patrick talks to reporters during a news conference on March 18, 2022, in Lake Forest. (Nam Huh/AP)Key returners: Cody Whitehair, Teven Jenkins, Larry Borom andSam MustipherNotable additions: Lucas Patrick, Braxton Jones*, Zachary Thomas*, Doug Kramer*, Ja’Tyre Carter*, Dakota Dozier and Julien DavenportAlso on the roster: Lachavious Simmons, Dieter Eiselen, Jean Delance and Willie WrightMajor departures: James Daniels, Jason Peters, Germain Ifedi, Elijah Wilkinson and Alex BarsOutlook: There are several questions to be answered on the line after Poles added only one certain starter. That player is Patrick, who will take over at center after starting 28 games at guard and center over the last two seasons with the Green Bay Packers.Whitehair will be back at left guard, but right guard and both tackle positions aren’t solidified. Jenkins and Borom very well could start at tackle in their second seasons, with Borom lining up on the left side and Jenkins on the right during voluntary minicamp. Mustipher and Dozier are options to replace Daniels at right guard.AdvertisementPoles also drafted four Day 3 offensive linemen, and it will be worth watching to see if any emerge as candidates for significant playing time in their rookie seasons.[ Chicago Bears Q&A: Will it be difficult to evaluate QB Justin Fields without more offensive additions? Is the roster more or less talented now? ]Bears outside linebacker Robert Quinn pressures Giants quarterback Mike Glennon on Jan. 2, 2022, at Soldier Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: Robert Quinn, Trevis Gipson, Angelo Blackson, Mario Edwards Jr., Khyiris Tonga and Jeremiah AttaochuNotable additions: Justin Jones, Al-Quadin Muhammad and Dominique Robinson*Also on the roster: Carson Taylor, Auzoyah Alufohai, Micah Dew-Treadway, LaCale London, Charles Snowden and Sam KamaraMajor departures: Khalil Mack, Akiem Hicks, Eddie Goldman and Bilal NicholsOutlook: It could be argued no group took a bigger hit to its talent, depth and leadership than this one after the Bears traded Mack, released Goldman and parted with Nichols and Hicks. But the group was deep to begin with, and Poles also invested in it with the additions of Jones at tackle and Muhammad and Robinson on the edge.Making the move from outside linebacker to defensive end in Eberflus’ 4-3 scheme, Quinn returns after one of the best seasons of his career during which he set a Bears single-season record with 18 ½ sacks. Gipson looks to make an even bigger impact in his third season after he had seven sacks in 2021. Attaochu missed most of last season because of a torn pectoral muscle.[ [Don’t miss] How Khalil Mack’s 4 years with the Chicago Bears unfolded, from a stunning beginning to the sudden end ]Meanwhile, Muhammad rejoins Eberflus after a six-sack season in 2021 in Indianapolis, and Robinson comes in as a work in progress after only two years on defense in college.On the interior, Jones was one of the Bears’ bigger free-agent acquisitions. Blackson returns after the best season of his career statistically in 2021, and Tonga and Edwards could be key rotational pieces for Eberflus, who has said he likes to use his defensive linemen in waves.Bears inside linebacker Roquan Smith tackles Cardinals running back James Conner on Dec. 5, 2021, at Soldier Field. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: Roquan SmithNotable additions: Nicholas Morrow, Matt Adams and Joe ThomasAlso on the roster: Noah Dawkins, Caleb Johnson, Jack Sanborn, Christian Albright and C.J. AveryMajor departures: Danny Trevathan, Alec Ogletree, Christian Jones and Joel IyiegbuniweOutlook: Smith is the face of the Bears defense in his fifth season. The biggest question with him — along with whether he will play middle or weak-side linebacker — is whether Smith will get a contract extension done in the coming months.AdvertisementMorrow is an intriguing addition to pair with Smith after the Bears parted with 32-year-old Trevathan. Morrow was on the rise with the Raiders before he missed all of 2021 with an ankle injury and is looking to get back to where he was. Adams comes in as a player familiar with Eberflus after playing under him during four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon stretches during rookie minicamp on May 6, 2022, at Halas Hall in Lake Forest. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: Jaylon Johnson, Kindle Vildor, Duke Shelley and Thomas Graham Jr.Notable additions: Kyler Gordon*, Tavon Young and Greg Stroman Jr.Also on the roster: Michael Joseph, BoPete Keyes, Lamar Jackson, Allie Green IV and Jaylon JonesMajor departures: Artie Burns, Xavier Crawford and Marqui ChristianOutlook: Poles used two second-round draft picks to improve a secondary that had six of the Bears’ eight interceptions in 2021. That includes using the 39th pick on Gordon, who comes off an All-Pac-12 season at Washington to be the likely starter opposite Johnson.Gordon also can play nickel, an important position in Eberflus’ defense, but coordinator Alan Williams said they’ll start him off focusing on playing outside corner. Poles signed a nickel option in Young, who started 24 games with four interceptions and 16 passes defended in four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Young has a significant injury history but played in all 17 games in 2021.[ 7 questions for 7 positions as the Chicago Bears prepare for OTAs — the next step in the offseason program ]Vildor, Shelley and Graham return as competition after all saw time on defense in 2021.Penn State safety Jaquan Brisker reacts against Michigan during a game on Nov. 13, 2021, in State College, Pa. (Barry Reeger/AP)Key returners: Eddie Jackson and DeAndre Houston-CarsonNotable additions: Jaquan Brisker*, Dane Cruikshank and Elijah Hicks*Also on the roster: Jon Alexander and A.J. ThomasNotable departures: Tashaun Gipson, Deon Bush and Teez TaborOutlook: A significant storyline on the defense this season is whether the new staff can help Jackson rebound after what he said was one of the worst seasons of his career.After Brisker had five interceptions, 14 pass breakups and 9 ½ tackles for a loss in 34 games (21 starts) at Penn State, the rookie could be poised to take over the starting role that Gipson occupied the last two seasons.Advertisement[ [Don’t miss] Column: Chicago Bears haven’t had 2 rookie DBs start Week 1 in 51 years. Could Kyler Gordon and Jaquan Brisker end that streak? ]Houston-Carson made the most of his opportunities in 2021, and his return ensures important veteran leadership for the group. Cruikshank is a key depth addition after he played in 44 games, with four starts, in four seasons with the Tennessee Titans.Bears kicker Cairo Santos makes the game-winning field goal against the Lions at Ford Field on Nov. 25, 2021, in Detroit. (Jose M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)Key returners: K Cairo Santos, LS Patrick Scales, KR Khalil Herbert and PR Dazz NewsomeNotable additions: P Trenton Gill*, KR/PR Velus Jones Jr.*, KR/PR Trestan Ebner* and P Ryan WinslowAlso on the roster: LS Antonio OrtizMajor departures: P Pat O’Donnell and KR/PR Jakeem GrantOutlook: Santos is back for his third season after following up a Bears-record-breaking 2020 season by making 26 of 30 field-goal attempts and 27 of 28 extra-point attempts in 2021. The Bears let O’Donnell go in free agency and instead used their final of 11 draft picks on Gill, a punter from North Carolina State. He and Winslow, who has been around the league since 2018 and signed with the Bears in February, could compete.The Bears lost Grant, a Pro Bowl returner in 2021, but drafted Jones and Ebner as intriguing return options.

ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright and Yadier Molina set a major-league record for wins by a starting battery as the St. Louis Cardinals routed the San Francisco Giants 15-6 on Sunday night in a game that ended with veteran slugger Albert Pujols on the mound.Molina homered and drove in four runs, Wainwright pitched six effective innings and the Cardinals roughed up Carlos Rodón early. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado each added a two-run homer for the Cardinals, who took two of three in the series after losing two of three to the struggling Baltimore Orioles. Goldschmidt drove in three runs.AdvertisementPujols, the Cardinals designated hitter, entered to pitch for the first time in his 22-year career in the ninth. He gave up a three-run homer to Luis Gonzalez and a solo shot to Joey Bart but managed to get the final three outs with plenty of margin to spare.The 42-year-old Pujols became the oldest player to make his major-league pitching debut since Lena Blackburne brought himself in to pitch at age 42 in his final big-league game as a player/manager for the 1929 Chicago White Sox.AdvertisementAlbert Pujols made his first career pitching appearance in his 2,988th career game. That is by far the most games in MLB history by a player at the time of their first pitching appearance. (2nd is Dave Concepcion 2,441) https://t.co/Kln1IAdXTw— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 16, 2022

Wainwright and Molina broke the major-league record with their 203rd win as a starting battery. They passed Warren Spahn and Del Crandall, who amassed 202 wins for the Boston/Milwaukee Braves from 1949-63.The Cardinals duo has started 311 games together, third all-time behind Spahn and Crandall (316) and Mickey Lolich and Bill Freehan (324) of the Detroit Tigers from 1963-75.Joc Pederson had a two-run homer for the Giants, who lost their second in a row after winning six straight.Molina capped a four-run outburst in the first off Rodón (4-2) with a two-run single. The 39-year-old catcher added a two-run homer off reliver Zack Littell in the fifth to push the lead to 11-0.Wainwright (4-3) gave up two runs and three hits. He struck out five and walked two. The 40-year-old right-hander retired 14 of the first 15 batters. Gonzalez got the Giants’ first hit with a two-out single in the fifth.Rodón allowed eight runs and 10 hits in 3⅔ innings. He struck out three and walked one. He had given up just seven earned runs in his previous six starts this season.Every Cardinals starter had a hit by the sixth inning.Rookie outfielder Juan Yepez singled in the first. He has reached safely in each of his first 11 games, the longest streak by a Cardinals rookie since Luis Alicea reached in 23 successive games to begin his career in 1988.AdvertisementThe Cardinals went 0-4 in Sunday night games last year before winning in their first try this season.Gonzalez came in from the outfield to pitch in the seventh with the bases loaded and two outs. He gave up a run-scoring single to Dylan Carlson before getting Harrison Bader to fly out.

Fort Lauderdale — About 1,500 pickleball players, all 50 years old and older, are competing this week in a national championship in Fort Lauderdale. An additional 1,000 people have attended to watch and cheer on their friends, family and favorite teams. The oldest player this year is 92 years old.“I think everyone that picks up the paddle and tries, they get hooked,” said tournament participant Lee Ingram, 53.AdvertisementThe event was hosted by the National Senior Games Association, which brings thousands of athletes from around the world to its annual events, according to tournament director David Jordan.About 1,500 pickleball players, all 50 years old and older, are competing this week in a national senior championship tournament in Fort Lauderdale. (Austen Erblat / South Florida Sun Sentinel)Last year’s was held in Albuquerque and saw just under 14,000 athletes who competed in about 20 individual and team sports. This year’s took place at the Broward County Convention Center.AdvertisementOfficials don’t yet have a total number of athletes that will have competed this year, but they’ve seen a steady increase in numbers since their start in 1987, when 2,500 athletes competed in 15 sports at their inaugural event in St. Louis, Mo.“Everyone seems to be having a great time,” Jordan said. “The turnout was great. It was way more than we ever expected. Last year we had 1,200 [pickleball players] in Albuquerque and we thought that was probably about as many as we’d get here, but we actually had 1,700 sign up, but because of COVID, we had about 200 drop out.”No major issues were reported, Jordan said, aside from some minor computer glitches.Seniors competed in a hall on the second floor of the convention center as attendees watched balls get volleyed back and forth. More competitive games saw dozens of people gathered in front of the courts, cheering loudly when their preferred team triumphed.For those who don’t play, pickleball is often described as a mix of tennis, ping pong, badminton and racquetball. The court is about half the size of a tennis court and usually requires less running, especially in two-versus-two games.About 1,500 pickleball players, all 50 years old and older, are competing this week in a national senior championship tournament in Fort Lauderdale. (Austen Erblat / South Florida Sun Sentinel)Tim Craig competed Saturday and has been playing pickleball since 2016 and is an instructor back in Texas. He’ll be competing again Tuesday.The game has exploded in popularity over the last 10 years and developers are incorporating more pickleball courts in new senior communities, according to Craig, 60, of Phleugerville, Texas. “Anyone from 8 to 80 can play.”Attendees and players alike appreciated that the games were indoors and out of the heat, although several players bemoaned how slick the playing surface was.AdvertisementThe oldest competitor in this year’s pickleball tournament was Joyce Jones, 92, of Seattle. She was not at the event Sunday, however, as her games finished on a previous day.About 1,500 pickleball players, all 50 years old and older, are competing this week in a national senior championship tournament in Fort Lauderdale. (Austen Erblat / South Florida Sun Sentinel)Ingram had just lost her latest game after a series of several wins and losses in her tournament bracket. She’s been playing for about four years. An older friend had tried to get her to play pickleball years ago, “but I had said it was an old person’s game,” said Ingram, of Auburn, Ala.“But she was so persistent that she got me out there before 50 and I’m hooked.”Next year’s National Senior Games will take place in Pittsburgh.Austen Erblat can be reached at aerblat@sunsentinel.com, 954-599-8709 or on Twitter @AustenErblat.

The Chicago White Sox have three more games against the New York Yankees next weekend in the Bronx, so there’s still a chance to show they’re in the same league.They might have been considered equals at the outset of the 2022 season, but the four-game series that concluded Sunday suggests they’re in different stratospheres.AdvertisementThe Yankees are the best team in baseball. The Sox are a talented team that isn’t living up to its own lofty expectations. And it showed this weekend on the South Side.Four home runs and a seven-run eighth inning paced the Yankees to a 15-7 win in Thursday’s opener, and they busted out to a 5-0 lead after two innings Friday, pounding out four more home runs in a 10-4 shellacking.AdvertisementAfter the Sox eked out a 3-2 win Saturday on Luis Robert’s walk-off hit, Michael Kopech imploded during a 41-pitch second inning Sunday, issuing four walks, forcing in two runs and allowing a third to score on a wild pitch.It was a prolonged hiccup during an otherwise dominant outing by Kopech, who allowed only one hit in six innings. But the walkathon and Joey Gallo’s two-run homer off José Ruiz in the ninth proved to be enough in the Yankees’ 5-1 win before 29,500, giving them three of four in the series.[ [Don’t miss] Column: A crazy week for the White Sox shows off the many moods of manager Tony La Russa ]“We had a chance, we were competing today,” Sox manager Tony La Russa said. “We got blown out of one game. That one score (15-7) was deceptive, so, I mean, I think we can compete with anybody.”Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu concurred.“I feel like our team just has a lot of ways that can lead to a win,” LeMahieu said. “We play pretty good defense and have really good pitching, which keeps us in every game. Offensively, we just have a lot of ways to score. A couple games there where we just found a way to win.”We see them three more times pretty quick. They’re a good team, one of the better teams we’ve seen this year.”Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu ducks out of the way of a pitch by White Sox starter Michael Kopech in the second inning Sunday, May 15, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Sox pitchers allowed only two hits Sunday, but the offense managed only four, including an infield hit by Robert when they trailed by four with two out in the ninth.A lot can change between now and October. Perhaps the return of injured Sox stars Lance Lynn and Eloy Jiménez would be a difference-maker if the two teams meet in the playoffs, or maybe the Sox can win next weekend’s series in New York and show they’re in the same area code as the Yankees.Advertisement“We came in here and played good baseball, and at the end of the day we took three of four,” Yankees third baseman Josh Donaldson said. “I know they’re probably a little banged up right now. Look, they played well last year, but like I said, they’re a little banged up and we were ready to go.”Dylan Cease struck out 11 Yankees in four innings in the opener, but every mistake he made was costly. Ditto Kopech with his brief loss of control. How much was Kopech and how much was the Yankees’ patience?“A little bit of both,” LeMahieu said. “We do a good job of keeping the pitcher in the zone. But he wasn’t making his pitches either.”[ [Don’t miss] Eloy Jiménez is recovering after surgery. So when will the White Sox LF be back? ‘You can ask that to Rick Hahn.’ ]Even if the Sox win the American League Central, they might have to beat the Yankees at some point in the postseason to make it to the World Series, a goal that seemed doable at the start of the season.They can replay the ending of last year’s Field of Dreams game from now until the apocalypse, but until the Sox show they can consistently beat the Yankees, that magical night last August will be treated as an outlier.La Russa on Sunday inserted José Abreu in the designated hitter spot for the sixth time this season, giving his struggling first baseman a day off his feet. Abreu snapped an 0-for-21 drought Saturday but has yet to find his stroke and has been subpar defensively.AdvertisementAbreu always has been a reluctant DH. And like managers Robin Ventura and Rick Renteria before him, La Russa appears reluctant to make Abreu at least a part-time DH.“He plays first most of the time, but he knows that once in a great while (we’re) just getting him off his legs out there because he’s so active,” La Russa said. “It’s hard not to (leave him at first) because you watch him, he makes a lot of plays. But I think he understands, and this year actually he’s been good as a DH. It hasn’t taken away from his hitting.”White Sox designated hitter José Abreu strikes out to end the first inning Sunday, May 15, 2022, at Guaranteed Rate Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)Abreu went 0-for-4 and watched his average dip to .197. He has a .190 average and .551 OPS while playing first. At age 35, it might be time for Abreu to at least share first base with Andrew Vaughn because it’s going to happen sooner or later anyway.La Russa was blunt before Sunday’s game while discussing Dallas Keuchel’s comment about wanting to pitch longer than five innings Saturday, assuring the media that lifting his starter was one of the easier moves he has made.“We, the team, are mostly appreciative and excited about the five innings he pitched,” La Russa said before pointing out that Keuchel has been “not good” when pitching past the fifth. “With the guys that were coming up, I think the team would have appreciated him saying, ‘Boy…’”[ [Don’t miss] Yoán Moncada gives the White Sox lineup some needed pop in his return from the injured list ]La Russa didn’t finish the thought. He went on another tangent, so we can’t really say what he thought the team would’ve appreciated Keuchel saying after Saturday’s win. We can only speculate that La Russa wished Keuchel had thanked Kendall Graveman for two solid innings and Robert for coming through in the clutch instead of bringing up the managerial decision.AdvertisementIt’s not easy telling players you like and respect they are getting older, but it has to be done. La Russa once credited his close friend and former coach Jim Leyland for persuading him to tone down his tough guy act during his first go-around as Sox manager.“Jimmy’s always had the gift of being able to chew somebody out today and be laughing with him tomorrow,” La Russa told Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci in 1996. “He was the one who told me in 1982 that I had to let the players see the other side of me, a lighter side, or else they would flame out.”Unfortunately, a lighter side of La Russa isn’t what the Sox need right now.

PITTSBURGH — Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene and reliever Art Warren combined to allow zero hits in a complete game, but it didn’t count as a no-hitter — or even a win — because the Pittsburgh Pirates eked out a run in the bottom of the eighth inning for a 1-0 victory Sunday at PNC Park.Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI grounder helped the Pirates become the sixth team since 1901 to win despite not getting any hits. It last happened in 2008, when Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo of the Los Angeles Angels held the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless in a loss.AdvertisementBy Major League Baseball’s record-keeping rules, the Reds’ accomplishment isn’t an official no-hitter because their pitchers didn’t go at least nine innings. And in a season in which almost everything has gone wrong for the Reds, this surely had to be the topper.Greene (1-6), the prized Reds rookie, struck out nine and was pulled after one-out walks in the eighth to Rodolfo Castro and Michael Perez. Greene threw 118 pitches, the most by a pitcher in the majors this year. Seven of his heaters reached 100 mph.AdvertisementWarren relieved and walked Ben Gamel to load the bases. Hayes followed with a grounder to second baseman Alejo Lopez, who bobbled the ball before throwing to shortstop Matt Reynolds for one out. Reynolds’ relay was a fraction late to get the speedy Hayes at first base.Reds batters went down in order in the ninth, and that was it — no celebration for the Reds, who have the worst record in the majors.“I mean, to not even get a hit in a game and to get a win, I’m sure that hasn’t happened a lot since baseball’s been going on,” Hayes said.There have been two no-hitters in the majors this season. Angels rookie Reid Detmers pitched one last Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, and five New York Mets pitchers combined to hold the Philadelphia Phillies hitless on April 29.Rays pitchers combined to hold the Boston Red Sox hitless into the 10th inning last month and wound up winning 3-2. That wasn’t an official no-hitter, either, because the Rays didn’t throw a complete game without giving up a hit.The second pick in the 2017 amateur draft, Greene suffered an injury in 2018 that required Tommy John surgery in 2019. After the COVID-19 pandemic, he didn’t return to minor-league play until 2021. He made the Reds roster for the first time coming out of spring training this year.In his second start of the season, he set an MLB record with 39 pitches over 100 mph, but he carried a 7.62 ERA into Sunday’s game thanks in part to allowing a major-league-high 11 home runs this season. He also has 15 walks in 26 innings.Pirates starter José Quintana held the Reds scoreless through seven innings, giving up three hits while striking out five.AdvertisementChris Stratton (2-1) pitched around a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth. David Bednar worked a clean ninth for his seventh save.

PHOENIX — The Chicago Cubs hoped Nico Hoerner’s fluke injury wouldn’t require time on the injured list.Unfortunately for Hoerner, the Cubs couldn’t continue to wait and see how his ankle progressed as they deal with thin infield depth. So Hoerner went on the 10-day IL with a right ankle sprain before Sunday’s series finale in Arizona.AdvertisementThe Cubs activated shortstop Andrelton Simmons off the IL. Simmons spent the Cubs’ first 34 days sidelined with right shoulder soreness, an issue that emerged shortly after he signed in March.Hoerner hurt his ankle getting tangled with second base umpire Dan Iassogna during an outfield collision in the first inning Tuesday in San Diego. He remained in the game, striking out in the top of the second before leaving in the bottom of the inning. Hoerner had not appeared in a game since then.AdvertisementHoerner can’t seem to catch a break. It’s the fifth time in the last two seasons the 25-year-old infielder spent time on the IL. He was getting in a groove before the fluky injury, hitting .305 with a 328 on-base percentage to accompany stellar defense to anchor the Cubs’ middle infield.Simmons wasn’t in the lineup Sunday, but should provide defensive stability at shortstop for however long Hoerner is sidelined. Simmons went 2-for-24 with seven strikeouts and two walks in six rehab games at Triple-A Iowa.