BRAVES
Freeman fractures wrist
Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman suffered a fractured left wrist when he was hit by a pitch and is expected to miss about 10 weeks. Freeman was hit by Toronto’s Aaron Loup during the fifth inning of an 8-4 victory over the Blue Jays on Wednesday night. X-rays taken afterward at SunTrust Park were inconclusive. Freeman had an MRI and other tests on Thursday. The Braves said those tests showed the fracture. Freeman was Atlanta’s most productive hitter. He was hitting .341 and tied for the major league lead with 14 home runs.
BLUE JAYS
Pillar suspended for slur
Toronto Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Pillar was suspended two games Thursday for yelling an anti-gay slur at a Braves pitcher. The Blue Jays suspended Pillar without pay shortly after he apologized in a statement, saying he was “completely and utterly embarrassed” by the word he directed at Jason Motte. Pillar was angry at Motte for allegedly quick-pitching him to get a strikeout that ended the seventh inning in Wednesday night’s 8-4 loss to Atlanta. He will forfeit approximately $6,066 of his $550,000 salary, with the money donated to charity. He also will pay an undisclosed fine.
PIRATES
Court upholds Kang’s sentence
SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court Thursday upheld a suspended prison sentence for Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jung Ho Kang over a drunken driving conviction, a ruling that may complicate his plans to rejoin the National League baseball team this season.
The Seoul Central District Court dismissed Kang’s appeal of a suspended two-year prison sentence over charges of fleeing the scene after crashing a car into the guardrail while driving drunk, a court official said.
Kang had sought to lower the punishment to a fine. His lawyers have called the suspended prison term issued in March as a potential “death sentence” to his career, blaming it for visa issues that have prevented him from rejoining the Pirates.
Kang was previously fined on drunk driving-related charges in 2009 and 2011.
He is in the third year of a four-year, $11 million contract he signed with Pittsburgh in 2015.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Bids for Marlins similar
NEW YORK — The two groups bidding to buy the Miami Marlins are relatively even in their price offers, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush leads one group, which includes former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who would head the team’s baseball operations. The other group is led by businessman Tagg Romney, son of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and includes Hall of Famer Tom Glavine.
The groups are bidding to buy the Marlins for approximately $1.3 billion from owner Jeffrey Loria, 76.
Quicker games sought
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledges games have slowed even more this season, and Major League Baseball will meet with players in an attempt to find a solution. The average time of a nine-inning game is a record 3 hours, 5 minutes — up from 3 hours last year and 2:56 in 2015, Manfred’s first season as commissioner. Manfred said Thursday after an owners’ meeting that baseball has “probably gone backwards a little bit.” Management proposed making changes for this year, such as installing pitch clocks and limiting trips to the mound by catchers, but the players’ union would not agree. Management can implement changes unilaterally with one year advance notice.
European games in ’19?
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Thursday he remains hopeful the sport can play regular-season games in Europe for the first time in 2019. Major League Baseball had hoped to have European games in 2018, possibly between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox at London’s Olympic Stadium, but decided there was not enough time to get plans in place. “It’s something we’d really like to do in 2019,” Manfred said. “I can’t tell you we are going to do it. I can’t give you a percentage, but we do think it’s time, whether it’s 2019 or shortly thereafter, that we play in Europe.”
Facebook to carry games
Facebook will carry a live game nationally each Friday starting with Colorado at Cincinnati this week. The Facebook package of 20 games will use the broadcast feed of one of the involved teams. The Twitter feed of a game each Friday, which started April 7, will be moved to Tuesdays. Commissioner Rob Manfred said the deal with Facebook is important for Major League Baseball “in terms of experimenting with a new partner in this area.”