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Heaney, Rizzo, Velazquez help streaking Yankees sweep Red Sox – Sportsnet.ca

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NEW YORK (AP) — Growing up in the Bronx, Andrew Velazquez remembers attending plenty of Yankees games — though not any specific ones against Boston.

“Those tickets were probably too expensive,” he said.

Velazquez had much more than a good view Wednesday night.

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Playing in the big leagues for his neighborhood team, the substitute shortstop delivered a pair of RBI singles and combined with first baseman Anthony Rizzo on a terrific defensive play for the dramatic final out as New York beat the Red Sox 5-2 for its sixth straight victory.

“’I’ve dreamt of doing what we just did,”’ Velazquez said he told teammates during his postgame speech in the clubhouse. “So, in real life it was way better.”

Andrew Heaney pitched seven smooth innings, Rizzo hit a two-run single in his return from COVID-19, and the Yankees matched their longest winning streak of the season.

“You come here, you want to be a part of something,” said Velazquez, the championship belt for the night slung over one shoulder. “Apparently I gave a pretty good speech, which was shocking.”

Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman, just activated from the injured list, was pulled by manager Aaron Boone with two outs and two on in the ninth. Lucas Luetge retired Kevin Plawecki on a grounder for his third major league save and first since his 2012 rookie season with Seattle.

Luetge became the sixth different New York reliever to earn a save in the past eight days as the Yankees finished a three-game sweep of their longtime rivals that vaulted them into playoff position ahead of struggling Boston.

“We got beat in every aspect of the game,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It’s that simple.”

New York, which has won 18 of 23, now holds the first of two AL wild cards in a tight three-way race that includes the Red Sox and Oakland Athletics.

“I think it’s just belief,” Rizzo said. “Every day is a different story.”

Xander Bogaerts and Hunter Renfroe homered for Boston, which has dropped 14 of 20. Nick Pivetta (9-6) was chased in a four-run second, and the Yankees improved to 6-10 in the season series after losing the first seven matchups.

The teams meet one more time, Sept. 24-26 in Boston.

“It’s very quiet in the clubhouse, and understandably so,” Cora said. “It’s not a good feeling.”

Perhaps in jeopardy of losing his spot in the rotation, Heaney (8-8) permitted just two hits — including Bogaerts’ opposite-field solo homer on an 0-2 pitch in the first. The left-hander, acquired from the Angels at the July 30 trade deadline, rebounded nicely in his fourth start for the Yankees after getting roughed up by the White Sox in the Field of Dreams game last week.

“Got some very timely groundballs,” Heaney said. “Just avoided trouble.”

Zack Britton pitched a perfect eighth and Chapman gave up a long home run to Renfroe before exiting with runners at the corners.

Plawecki grounded a full-count pitch into the hole between shortstop and third base. Velazquez, filling in for injured Gleyber Torres, made a sliding stop, popped up and fired a one-hop throw to Rizzo that barely nipped Plawecki at first base.

“I’m gonna throw it as hard and as low as I can so Rizzo can pick it,” said the 27-year-old Velazquez, who added that he’s staying with his parents during this homestand partly because it’s cheaper than Manhattan.

“If not, I would have thrown it in the family section in the second deck.”

The out call was upheld following a replay review that lasted 2 minutes, 20 seconds.

“Probably too close to overturn,” Cora said.

New York loaded the bases with nobody out in the second before Brett Gardner hit a sacrifice fly and Velazquez, batting ninth, grounded an RBI single up the middle.

“He’s been fun to watch,” Rizzo said. “It’s special stuff.”

Rizzo, sidelined since Aug. 8 after testing positive for the coronavirus, drove in two runs with a grounder that deflected off the glove of Bobby Dalbec as he attempted to make a sliding play behind first base.

“If you ask Bobby, probably he’ll tell you he needs to make that play,” Cora said.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Red Sox: DH Kyle Schwarber, who returned from a strained right hamstring last Friday, was rested against the left-hander but was available off the bench. The goal is for Schwarber to play the outfield this weekend, Cora said. … INF Christian Arroyo (left hamstring strain) was scheduled for a day off in the minors after going 0 for 2 with a hit by pitch as the DH in his first rehab game Tuesday night for Triple-A Worcester. He’ll play second base Thursday at Worcester. … RHP Ryan Brasier is close to joining the Red Sox, Cora said. Brasier, hit in the head by a line drive while rehabbing from a left calf strain, was set to pitch in back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday for Worcester. … Bench coach Will Venable, who tested positive for the coronavirus while the team was in Toronto and was forced to quarantine in Canada, will rejoin the Red Sox at home Friday.

Yankees: Chapman had been sidelined since Aug. 6 with left elbow inflammation. … RHP Corey Kluber (right shoulder strain) threw 56 pitches over three innings Tuesday in a rehab outing with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after struggling in his first one last week, at Double-A Somerset. The next step for Kluber will be another rehab game as he keeps building up. … RHP Domingo German (shoulder inflammation) threw a bullpen. … Boone said he hoped to have an update Thursday on RHP Luis Severino, who received a second opinion on his tight right shoulder.

UP NEXT

Red Sox: After an off day, LHP Chris Sale (1-0, 3.60 ERA) makes his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery when Boston opens a three-game series at home Friday night against Texas. RHP Dane Dunning (5-7, 4.06 ERA) pitches for the Rangers.

Yankees: RHP Jameson Taillon (7-4, 3.89 ERA) takes the ball Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series against Minnesota. Taillon is 6-0 with a 2.37 ERA in 11 starts since June 18.

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Vasilevskiy stops 23 as surging Lightning beat Bruins – Sportsnet.ca

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Shane Pinto has a goal, three assists as the Senators roll over the Sabres – Sportsnet.ca

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Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

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LOS ANGELES –

Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the interpreter and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are underway by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

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Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

Why was Ippei Mizuhara fired by the Dodgers?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers superstar to feed it.

Did Shohei Ohtani ever bet on sports?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

What’s next for Ohtani?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and he is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

What don’t we know?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although he was born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

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