Sunday, July 14, 2013

BASEBALL - Weekend Sports In Brief

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Tim Lincecum tossed aside his recent struggles and pitched his first career no-hitter and the second in the majors in 11 days, a gem saved by a spectacular diving catch by right fielder Hunter Pence in the San Francisco Giants' 9-0 win over last-place San Diego on Saturday night.

Lincecum has won two Cy Young Awards and two World Series rings. Now he has something really remarkable - a no-hitter in which he threw a whopping career-high 148 pitches.

NEW YORK (AP) - Pittsburgh pitcher Mark Melancon has been picked as a replacement for the NL All-Star team, giving the Pirates five players in the game for the first time since 1972.

NL manager Bruce Bochy also selected Sergio Romo, his San Francisco Giants closer, as a replacement pick Sunday. Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke and Washington Nationals pitcher Jordan ZImmermann, both on the original NL All-Star roster, are hurt and will miss Tuesday's game at Citi Field.

Baltimore pitcher Chris Tillman was picked by AL manager Jim Leyland of Detroit to replace Tigers ace Justin Verlander, who started Sunday. Under baseball's labor contract, pitchers who start on the Sunday before the All-Star game may opt not to participate. Verlander was the AL starter and loser of last year's All-Star game at Kansas City.

Yasiel Puig, the Los Angeles Dodgers rookie sensation, was left out again after the substitutes were added to the National League roster Sunday. But this time, fans were not responsible. Instead, it sounds as though Puig's ailing hip settled the issue.

NEW YORK (AP) - Matt Davidson of the Arizona Diamondbacks hit a two-run homer and the United States beat the World Team 4-2 on Sunday in the All-Star Futures Game, baseball's annual showcase for top minor league prospects.

The opening event for three days of All-Star festivities at Citi Field, the Futures Game certainly had a New York Mets flavor to it in the team's home ballpark. Two of the club's touted pitching prospects, Rafael Montero and Noah Syndergaard, started on the mound and each worked a scoreless inning.

CLEVELAND (AP) - The Cleveland Indians said Greg Van Niel, a season-ticket holder, hauled in four souvenir balls during the Indians' 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals.

Van Niel said he wasn't sitting in his usual seats, but was able to catch three balls and that one was a ''pick-up'' he tossed to another fan. Van Niel said he planned to give the three other balls to kids that were part of his group.

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