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Tag: Randy Arozarena

  • A closer look at the pitches by Clase, Ortiz cited in sporting gambling indictment

    NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted Sunday on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw specific pitches that would trigger winnings on in-game prop bets.

    Prosecutors identified pitches from Clase and Ortiz that helped two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000. This included throwing pitches intentionally outside of the strike zone or within certain velocity ranges. Here’s a closer look at those pitches.

    Emmanuel Clase

    May 19, 2023

    The indictment cites this outing without a photo of the specific pitch, saying the scheme included a bet of about $27,000 that Clase would throw a pitch of greater than 94.95 mph. Clase began with a 98.5 mph cutter to the New York Mets’ Starling Marte that was low and inside in the 10th inning. Marte flied out on the next pitch, but the Mets rallied for a 10-9 win on RBI singles by Francisco Alvarez and Francisco Lindor. Clase took the loss.

    June 3, 2023

    The indictment cited bets of about $38,000 for a ball or hit by pitch and velocity slower than 94.95 mph. An 89.4 mph slider to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers bounced well short of home plate starting the ninth inning and hit catcher Mike Zunino near a shoulder, leading an athletic trainer to check on the catcher. Jeffers struck out four pitches later and Clase got the save in a 4-2 win.

    June 7, 2023

    The indictment cited bets of about $58,000 for a ball or hit by pitch and velocity slower than 94.95 mph. Clase started the ninth inning with a 91.4 mph slider to Boston’s Jarren Duran that was caught just above the dirt. Duran walked on four pitches and was stranded as Clase got the save in a 5-3 win.

    April 12, 2025

    The indictment cited bets of about $15,000 for a ball or hit by pitch and velocity slower than 98.95 mph. An 89.4 mph slider to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. bounced opening the ninth inning. Witt singled three pitches later, starting a two-run, ninth-inning rally in the Guardians’ 6-3 win.

    May 11, 2025

    The indictment cited bets of about $11,000 for a ball or hit by pitch. A 99.1 mph cutter to Philadelphia’s Max Kepler was in the dirt starting the ninth inning. Kepler grounded out five pitches later and the Phillies went on to win 3-0.

    May 13, 2025

    The indictment cited bets of about $3,500 for a ball or hit by pitch and velocity slower than 99.45 mph. A 89.1 mph slider to Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers bounced opening the ninth inning. Bauers struck out five pitches later and Clase got the save in a 2-0 win.

    May 17, 2025

    The indictment cited bets of about $10,000 for a ball or hit by pitch and velocity slower than 97.95 mph. An 87.5 mph slider to Cincinnati’s Santiago Espinal bounced starting the eighth inning. Espinal singled four pitches later. Clase was relieved by Joey Castillo with two outs and two on and got a strikeout in a game the Reds won 4-1.

    May 28, 2025

    The indictment cites the outing without a photo of the specific pitch, saying the scheme included bets of about $4,000 that a pitch would be a ball or hit batter. Clase started the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Andy Pages with a slider that bounced just behind the plate, but Pages swung and missed. Pages grounded out two pitches later to start the ninth and Clase got the save in a 7-4 win. The indictment says a bettor sent Clase a text with a GIF of a man hanging himself with toilet paper and Clase responded with a GIF of a sad puppy dog face.

    Luis Ortiz

    June 15, 2025

    The indictment cited bets of about $13,000 that a pitch would be a ball. A first-pitch 86.7 mph slider to Seattle’s Randy Arozarena bounced starting the second inning. Arozarena walked on five pitches and scored the game’s first run on Miles Mastrobuoni’s RBI single in a five-run inning of a game the Mariners won 6-0.

    June 27, 2025

    The indictment cited bets of about $18,000 that a pitch would be a ball. A first-pitch 86.7 mph slider to St. Louis’ Pedro Pagés bounced and went to the backstop opening the third inning. Pagés homered two pitches later for the game’s first run in a three-run inning, and the Cardinals won 5-0.

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

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  • MLB pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz charged with taking bribes to rig pitches for bettors

    NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted on charges they took bribes from sports bettors to throw certain types of pitches, including tossing balls in the dirt instead of strikes, to ensure successful bets.

    According to the indictment unsealed Sunday in federal court in Brooklyn, the highly paid hurlers took several thousand dollars in payoffs to help two unnamed gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.

    Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB started investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched. Some of the games in question were in April, May and June.

    Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday by the FBI at Boston Logan International Airport. He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Monday. Clase, 27, was not in custody, officials said.

    Ortiz and Clase “betrayed America’s pastime,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said. “Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports. When corruption infiltrates the sport, it brings disgrace not only to the participants but damages the public trust in an institution that is vital and dear to all of us.”

    Ortiz’s lawyer, Chris Georgalis, said in a statement that his client was innocent and “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game — not for anyone and not for anything.”

    Georgalis said Ortiz’s defense team had previously documented for prosecutors that the payments and money transfers between him and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for lawful activities.

    “There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning. Luis looks forward to fighting these charges in court,” Georgalis said.

    A lawyer for Clase, Michael J. Ferrara, said his client “has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win. Emmanuel is innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”

    The Major League Baseball Players Association had no comment.

    Unusual betting activity prompted investigation

    MLB said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity and has fully cooperated with authorities. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” a league statement said.

    In a statement, the Guardians said: “We are aware of the recent law enforcement action. We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”

    Clase and Ortiz are both charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The top charges carry a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison.

    In one example cited in the indictment, Clase allegedly invited a bettor to a game against the Boston Red Sox in April and spoke with him by phone just before taking the mound. Four minutes later, the indictment said, the bettor and his associates won $11,000 on a wager that Clase would toss a certain pitch slower than 97.95 mph (157.63 kph).

    In May, the indictment said, Clase agreed to throw a ball at a certain point in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the batter swung, resulting in a strike, costing the bettors $4,000 in wagers. After the game, which the Guardians won, one of the bettors sent Clase a text message with an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper, the indictment said. Clase responded with an image of a sad puppy dog face, according to the indictment.

    Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year, had a $4.5 million salary in 2025, the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract. The three-time AL save leader began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023 but didn’t ask for payoffs until this year, prosecutors said.

    The indictment cited specific pitches Clase allegedly rigged — all of them first pitches when he entered to start an inning: a 98.5 mph (158.5 kph) cutter low and inside to the New York Mets’ Starling Marte on May 19, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Minnesota’s Ryan Jeffers that bounced well short of home plate on June 3, 2023; an 89.4 mph (143.8 kph) slider to Kansas City’s Bobby Witt Jr. that bounced on April 12; a 99.1 mph (159.5 kph) cutter in the dirt to Philadelphia’s Max Kepler on May 11; a bounced 89.1 mph (143.4) slider to Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers on May 13; and a bounced 87.5 mph (140.8 kph) slider to Cincinnati’s Santiago Espinal on May 17.

    Prosecutors said Ortiz, who had a $782,600 salary this year, got in on the scheme in June and is accused of rigging pitches in games against the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals.

    Ortiz was cited for bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to Seattle’s Randy Arozarena starting the second inning on June 15 and bouncing a first-pitch 86.7 mph (139.5 kph) slider to St. Louis’ Pedro Pagés that went to the backstop opening the third inning on June 27.

    Dozens of pro athletes have been charged in gambling sweeps

    The charges are the latest bombshell developments in a federal crackdown on betting in professional sports.

    Last month, more than 30 people, including prominent basketball figures such as Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a gambling sweep that rocked the NBA.

    Sports betting scandals have long been a concern, but a May 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling led to a wave of gambling incidents involving athletes and officials. The ruling struck down a federal ban on sports betting in most states and opened the doors for online sportsbooks to take a prominent space in the sports ecosystem.

    Major League Baseball suspended five players in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego infielder Tucupita Marcano for allegedly placing 387 baseball bets with a legal sportsbook totaling more than $150,000.

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    This story was first published on Nov. 9. It was updated on Nov. 11 to correct that, according to an indictment, a bettor sent Clase an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper. Clase didn’t send that image to the bettor.

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    Associated Press reporters Eric Tucker in Washington and Ron Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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  • Astros’ Peña 1st rookie hitter to win World Series MVP

    Astros’ Peña 1st rookie hitter to win World Series MVP

    HOUSTON — Jeremy Peña’s key to success was keeping his head dry.

    Capping a freshman season like no other, he became the first rookie position player to win a World Series MVP award Saturday night after hitting .400 in the Houston Astros’ six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

    “The hardest part was just blocking everything that’s not part of the game,” Peña said. “There’s a saying that you can’t sink a ship with water around. It sinks if water gets inside. So I just try to stay strong and keep the water outside my head.”

    Peña also won a Gold Glove and was the AL Championship Series MVP. The 25-year-old shortstop became the first hitter to win those three prizes in a career, according to OptaSTATS — and he did it all in his rookie season.

    “It has a lot to do with my family, my upbringing,” he said.

    Peña praised Dusty Baker, the Astros’ 73-year-old manager. When Baker made his major league managerial debut for San Francisco on April 6, 1993, the leadoff hitter for the other team was Peña’s father, St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Gerónimo Peña.

    “Dusty Baker’s a legend in the sport,” Jeremy Peña said. “Not just because he’s been around. He’s had success at this game. He brings the best out of his players. He gives you the confidence to just go out and play hard and let the game take care of itself.”

    Peña singled to chase Phillies starter Zack Wheeler in Game 6, giving the Astros two baserunners for the first time. Yordan Alvarez followed with a go-ahead, three-run homer that sent Houston to a 4-1 victory.

    Peña finished the postseason with a .345 batting average, four homers, eight RBIs and a 1.005 OPS. He also became the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove, as well as the first to homer in the World Series.

    Just 24 when he was handed the starting job at the beginning of the season after Carlos Correa left as a free agent, Peña became the third rookie at any position to earn World Series MVP, joining a pair of right-handed pitchers: the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Larry Sherry in 1959 and Miami’s Liván Hernández in 1997.

    Peña’s 18th-inning homer completed a Division Series sweep at Seattle and he hit a go-ahead drive off Noah Syndergaard in Game 5 of the World Series. His Game 2 jersey is headed to the Hall of Fame.

    “You have to make tough decisions in this job, and Jeremy’s making it look like it was an easy decision, and it wasn’t,” Houston general manager James Click said. “Carlos is a great player, and he’s been a huge part of this franchise. But to do what Jeremy did, to step in and elevate his game in the playoffs, it just speaks to his hard work, his character and the talent that he has. There’s not that many special guys on the planet that can do what he just did.”

    Peña became the ninth player to win MVP of a League Championship Series and the World Series in the same season. He batted .353 with two homers and four RBIs against the Yankees in the ALCS.

    The only other player to win an LCS MVP award, World Series MVP and a Gold Glove during their career was pitcher Orel Hershiser, who took all three prizes with the Dodgers in 1988.

    Peña hit .291 with 22 homers and 63 RBIs during the regular season and likely will finish high in AL Rookie of the Year voting. Seattle outfielder Julio Rodríguez is the favorite.

    Others to win LCS and World Series MVP in one year were Pittsburgh’s Willie Stargell (1979), St. Louis’ Darrell Porter (1982), Hershiser (1988), Hernández (2003), Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels (2008), the Cardinals’ David Freese (2011), San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner (2014) and the Dodgers’ Corey Seager (2020).

    Only four other rookies were LCS MVPs: Baltimore right-hander Mike Boddicker in 1983, Hernández in 1997, St. Louis right-hander Michael Wacha in 2013 and Tampa Bay outfielder Randy Arozarena in 2020.

    Peña thought back to last year’s Game 6 loss to Atlanta at Minute Maid Park, where he joined the Astros but was inactive.

    “These guys were left with a bitter taste in their mouth last year,” he said. “Me being in the dugout last year, I didn’t want to experience that again.”

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    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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  • Rays’ Bats Went Cold In Cleveland After Struggling Down The Stretch

    Rays’ Bats Went Cold In Cleveland After Struggling Down The Stretch

    With runners on first and third and one out in the top of the 15th inning, a flyball of medium depth off southpaw Sam Hentges would have scored the fleet Vida Brujan from third to break the seemingly unbreakable ice in Game 2 of the Rays’ wild card series against Cleveland.

    Alas, Francisco Mejia went down swinging on three pitches. Then, with two outs and needing a base hit, Jose Siri went down swinging on three pitches.

    That sequence of offensive ineptitude was the exclamation point to a series in which the Rays hit .115 (9-for-78) with 29 strikeouts. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-6 in Game 2.

    The first four batters in the lineup for both games at Progressive Field — Yandy Diaz (0-for-10), Wander Franco (1-for-9), Randy Arozarena (1-for-9) and Harold Ramirez (1-for-9) — were a combined 3-for-37 with 14 strikeouts.

    “It’s frustrating, no doubt,” said manager Kevin Cash, following Saturday’s marathon. “We just could not get anything going offensively, a bunch of strikeouts. I’d like to think that we could have some better at-bats. But in this two-game series you saw about as good a pitching as you’re going to see.”

    While the pitching was exceptional on both sides, the Rays went into the postseason leaking some serious oil offensively. In fact, after clinching a playoff spot with a 7-3 win at Houston on September 30, Tampa Bay failed to win another game while going 0-for-October. They went 0-7 while scoring all of nine runs and hitting .151. They were 2-for-32 (.062) with runners in scoring position.

    As head-scratching as those numbers are, they are not too surprising when considering how many players were slumping over the last couple of weeks, or longer, of the regular season. To that extent, consider the following….

    *Arozarena was 2-for-29 with 14 strikeouts in his last eight games.

    *Jonathan Aranda, who did not appear in the wild card series, was hitless in last 26 at-bats.

    *Compared to many of his teammates, Ji-Man Choi was scorching in the season’s final week by going 8-for-19 in six games. Now, let’s put things in a larger context. That mini spree raised his post-all-star break average from .123 to .164. He then went 0-for-5 against Cleveland.

    *Manny Margot hit .166 (10-for-60) in his last 15 games before going 1-for-8 in the wild card series.

    *Following a three-hit game against Texas on September 16, Francisco Mejia finished the season 2-for-27. He was 0-for-3 in the wild card.

    *Isaac Paredes hit .138 (10-for-72) since the calendar turned to September. At least he was the only Rays player to reach base safely more than twice (2H, BB) in the two-game series against Cleveland.

    *Harold Ramirez hit .198 (19-for-96) in his last 27 games and was hitless in his last 15 at-bats. He then went 1-for-9 against the Guardians.

    *Taylor Walls struggled to hit all season, and especially on the road where he hit .110 – you read that correctly – with 73 strikeouts in 219 at-bats. (Since May 16 his season’s average did not get above .181.)

    When considering the above, is it any surprise the Rays scored all of 25 runs in their last 11 games? Thirteen of those runs were scored in their only two wins during that season-ending stretch. Looking at it another way, including the wild card series, the Rays scored one run or were shut out in 11 of their last 18 games.

    Tom Layberger, Contributor

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