LEADING OFF: Dodgers’ Urías faces Giants, Cubs COVID woes

By: The Associated Press Posted: 7:32 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 3, 2021 Last Modified: 7:32 PM CDT Friday, Sep. 3, 2021

A look at what's happening around the majors Saturday:

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A look at what's happening around the majors Saturday:

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2021 (1860 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A look at what’s happening around the majors Saturday:

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U AGAIN?

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Julio Urias throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Dodgers lefty Julio Urías (15-3, 3.17 ERA) starts against San Francisco for the fifth time this year — he’s 1-1 so far, and was tagged for season highs for seven runs and 11 hits by the Giants on May 29.

Urías leads the majors in wins this year going into this matchup at Oracle Park between clubs competing for the NL West title. The 25-year-old has won seven straight decisions.

Urías’ previous career high for wins was five as a rookie in 2016. He blossomed in the postseason last year, going 3-0 with a save in six games as Los Angeles won its first World Series championship since 1988.

VIRUS WOES

The Chicago Cubs are minus manager David Ross after he tested positive for the coronavirus, while the Red Sox continue to have setbacks due to COVID-19.

Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer also has tested positive. A team spokesman said Ross and Hoyer are feeling fine in isolation, and said both are vaccinated.

Ross and Hoyer likely will have to stay away from the team for at least 10 days, though Major League Baseball has made exceptions for individuals cleared by its medical experts, based on not being infectious.

Bench coach Andy Green will run the team while Ross is away. He was ejected in the sixth inning of Friday’s 6-5 victory over Pittsburgh.

Boston put outfielder Jarren Duran on the COVID-19-related injured list. That put the team’s total to nine players added to the list in a span of a week.

WAITING RAYS

Tampa Bay is hoping to get standout rookie Wander Franco back in the lineup against Minnesota two days after he left a game with a headache.

The Rays aren’t entirely sure what prompted a headache that forced Franco out of action Thursday, although it may have been a tag applied by Red Sox catcher Christian Vázquez on Wednesday. Tests were negative but Franco was held out of the lineup Friday. Manager Kevin Cash said he thought the 20-year-old could return “within a game or two.”

Franco extended his on-base streak to 33 games with a seventh-inning walk Thursday night against Boston, but left after the at-bat. He tied Hall of Famers Mel Ott and Arky Vaughan for the third-longest streak by a player under 21.

ALL CAUGHT UP

The Mets and Nationals are set to make up a postponed game from the season’s opening weekend as part of a doubleheader. All three games of the April 1-4 series at Washington were called off amid a Nats’ COVID-19 outbreak, and it’s taken until the final month of the regular season to squeeze in all the makeups.

New York right-hander Marcus Stroman (9-12, 2.85) is set to face Washington right-hander Erick Fedde (6-9, 5.08) in the first seven-inning game. The Mets will give the ball to righty Tylor Megill (2-3, 4.04) in the nightcap against a Nats starter to be determined.

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