Cespedes Repeats In Home Run Derby – MLB Roundup
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —The Cardinals' Adam Wainwright and Seattle's Felix Hernandez will be the starting pitchers for the All-Star game Tuesday night in Minnesota. Wainwright rolled through the first half of the season with a 12-4 mark, tying for the major league lead in victories. His 1.83 ERA is tops in the majors.
Hernandez tops the American League with a 2.12 ERA. He posted an 11-2 mark in the first half. Hernandez becomes just the second Seattle pitcher to start an All-Star game.
In the bullpen for the NL will be defending Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who already has tossed a no-hitter this year. He's 11-2 with a 1.78 ERA and fresh off a 41-inning scoreless streak that ended last week.
"It's going to be great catching them," said Milwaukee's Jonathan Lucroy (LOO'-kroy), the NL starter behind the plate. "A lot more fun than facing them."
When baseball's elite met at Citi Field last year, NL batters managed just three hits in a 3-0 loss. A year earlier in Kansas City, the AL had just six hits in an 8-0 defeat.
The game marks the last time Derek Jeter will appear in an All-Star game. The New York shortstop is retiring at the end of the season and will be making his 14th appearance in the Mid-Summer Classic.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Oakland's Yoenis Cespedes (yoh-EHN'-ehs SEHS'-peh-dehs) is the first back-to-back champion of the Home Run Derby since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1998-99. The Oakland slugger defeated Cincinnati's Todd Frazier 9-1 in the final round of the crowd-pleasing exhibition at Target Field. Cespedes launched one ball in the final that went an estimated 452 feet.
NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez faces a new challenge: He is being sued by his own lawyer.
Attorney David Cornwell's law firm filed papers Monday in Manhattan federal court saying the New York Yankees star owes more than $380,000 related to their work fighting his steroid suspension.
As first reported by The Daily News, the firm also is seeking pre-judgment interest and attorney fees that could increase the amount to half a million dollars.
Rodriguez was suspended for the 2014 season as a result of a drug investigation by Major League Baseball. He has said he plans to rejoin the Yankees in 2015.
Rodriguez has admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001-03 but has denied using them since.