Baseball

A teaser: I can’t … It’s just … that is so beautiful and hilarious. Again, that’s batting-average against from the catcher’s perspective, so picture a lefty-swinging Sandoval with his back to you over on the right side of your screen. The place you go in the strike zone is in on his hands but, for goodness sake, don’t go too far in! If you miss outside the zone and come close to hitting him, he kind of rakes those pitches. Which doesn’t make sense. But, hey, neither does Sandoval.

It has been nearly 16 years since Philadelphia lost Richie Ashburn, one of the greatest Phillies players of all time. The beloved Hall of Famer, who played for the team from 1948 through 1959, died of a heart attack in 1997 after broadcasting a Phillies-Mets game from Shea Stadium. His family buried him in the cemetery outside of Gladwyne Methodist Church, where all was quiet until some developers announced plans to turn the church into condos and put a parking lot next to the cemetery. Ashburn’s widow, Herberta, is calling foul. Dig him up hand him a mitt and sit Ben Revere, I say.

Eaton (elbow) will likely see Dr. James Andrews in the upcoming days for a second opinion, the Arizona Republic reports. [...] Read more Adam Eaton news

According to his public calendar, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn will throw out the first pitch during Friday night's Rays/Yankees game at The Trop. That will be the second time Buckhorn has received the honor in the last 24 months (St. Pete's Mayor Foster=0).

The Phillies received some more bad injury luck today when the team announced that Chase Utley was going to the 15-day DL with a Grade 1 oblique strain. While the injury isn't considered particularly serious, Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told media (including CSNPhilly.com) that the team was going to be cautious in order to keep Utley's oblique from bothering him throughout the season. Utley has battled a number of injuries over the last few seasons and going on the DL yet again is likely to hurt his free agent stock this winter -- at the very least, it will drop... Read more Chase Utley news

The Philadelphia Phillies have placed second baseman Chase Utley on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique. Read more Chase Utley news

PITTSBURGH -- Before the Chicago Cubs lost 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon, manager Dale Sveum sounded like a man getting frustrated with some of his lineup issues. After the loss he seemed to direct some of that frustration to the team's $52 million offseason signing, Edwin Jackson. He had little command on the mound, giving up four runs to the Pirates in the first two innings while Pittsburgh completed a series sweep."(He) seems to be not coming out with a whole lot of conviction early in games," Sveum said. Read more Edwin Jackson news

Middlebrooks left Thursday's game in the fifth inning with lower back spasms, WEEI's Alex Speier reports. [...] Read more Will Middlebrooks news

Will Middlebrooks left Thursday's game against the Indians after the fourth inning with lower back spasms. Middlebrooks struck out the inning before, but it's not clear if he tweaked something during that at-bat or earlier. [...] Read more Will Middlebrooks news

Middlebrooks left Thursday's game in the fifth inning with back spasms, WEEI's Alex Speier reports. [...] Read more Will Middlebrooks news