Official protests are rare in Major League Baseball, and successful ones are rarer. But Cubs manager Joe Maddon decided to file one Saturday after Nationals reliever Sean Doolittle was allowed to use his usual delivery with a slight toe-tap. Outlawing the tap was supposed to be an emphasis for umpiring crews, and they enforced it against Cubs reliever Carl Edwards Jr. (whose toe-tap is much more pronounced) earlier this season. In more usual news, the Twins kept slugging, and so did the Angels’ Mike Trout.
At first it was unclear what Maddon was protesting, but after the game he explained he thought Doolittle and Edwards were being held to two different standards.
Joe Maddon has protested the Cubs vs Nationals game, arguing (presumably) that Sean Doolittle was throwing illegal pitches. Here’s the pitch that ultimately led to the protest. pic.twitter.com/vcN5ccbUYo
— Ben Porter (@Ben13Porter) May 19, 2019
The Twins have hammered the ball all season long, but especially so Saturday night in an 18-4 rout of the Mariners.
The @Twins have 6 home runs so far tonight, already the fifth time this season they’ve hit 5 or more homers in a game.
They are the first team in MLB history to have 5 such games before the start of June.#MNTwins
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) May 19, 2019
Speaking of lots of home runs, Mike Trout has 250 for the Angels, and he’s only 27 years old. That’s fairly incredible.
473 feet for HR No. 250.
Insane, @MikeTrout. pic.twitter.com/cojm1V8lv2
— MLB (@MLB) May 19, 2019
Meanwhile, the Mets’ Robinson Cano, long questioned for his “easy” way of playing the game, caught lots of flak for not running out a double-play ball in Miami. Turns out the scoreboard said there were two outs.
Regardless @RobinsonCano, one out or two outs, you run it out to first. Leadership. https://t.co/styt8Donxc
— Mike Fasano (@fasanomike) May 18, 2019
We leave you with some good injury news for the Diamondbacks, who will get ace Zack Greinke back from a minor oblique strain without him having to hit the injured list.
After exiting his last start early with abdominal tightness, Zack Greinke is set to make his next start for the #Dbacks on Tuesday. https://t.co/s95zs61gvJ
— azcentral sports (@azcsports) May 19, 2019
TOP STORIES
• Maddon protests loss to Nats over double toe-tap | ESPN.com
• Cron, Schoop homer twice in Twins 18-4 rout of Mariners | Associated Press
