LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — A 1934 Lou Gehrig baseball card sold for $125,332 and a 1916 Babe Ruth rookie card went for $51,450 in SCP Auctions’ Summer Auction that closed Saturday.
SCP Auctions said Thursday that the auction amassed over $2.2 million, with a 1980-1981 Larry Bird/Magic Johnson rookie card selling for $60,667 and Travis Jervey’s 1996 Green Bay Super Bowl ring going for $37,610.
DETROIT (AP) — The Kansas City Royals have designated second baseman Elliot Johnson for assignment to make room for newly acquired infielder Emilio Bonifacio.
Toronto sent the 28-year-old Bonifacio to the Royals on Wednesday for cash or a player to be named. He was in the starting lineup Thursday night at third base.
Kansas City was in Detroit for a crucial five-game series against the AL Central-leading Tigers.
Johnson hit .179 in 79 games for the Royals this year.
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Major League Baseball Executive Vice President Joe Torre has given his instant replay proposal to the executive committee to consider as baseball’s brass huddled for two days of meetings.
Commissioner Bud Selig was to address the media on Thursday morning to discuss what’s on the table.
Selig says he thinks “it was very thoughtful and well-done.” The commissioner says it’ll be discussed in more detail on Thursday morning.
Major League Baseball is looking at a vast expansion of video review for the 2014 season and is examining whether all calls other than balls and strikes should be subject to instant replay.
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — Sixteen teams gathered for the Little League World Series, some from thousands of miles away, but all feeling right at home.
“It’s beyond exciting to be here, said Sammamish, Wash., assistant coach Matt Fitzgibbons. “We’ve kind of talked about it among the coaches and we were calling it the Augusta National of baseball. Everything is first class. The people are first class. The facilities are first class. It’s exceeded our wildest expectations.”
Newark, Del., pitcher Nate Hardcastle, 12, called it “probably the most exciting thing to happen to me so far in my life.”
The 67th World Series begins in Thursday, when Panama will face Puerto Rico at 1 p.m.
Other games are Corpus Christi, Texas, vs. Sammamish, Wash., Australia vs. Mexico and South Nashville, Tenn., vs. Westport, Conn. The final is Aug. 25.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Justin Ruggiano picked the scuffed-up ball off the carpet, smiled a toothy smile and proudly held it up for everyone to see in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium.
A souvenir from his first career hit? Nope.
Just his first hit in a while.
Ruggiano snapped a franchise-worst 0-for-42 slump by hitting that ball for a single in the first inning Wednesday, and then added two more hits and drove in a run as the Miami Marlins beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 to wrap up a winning three-game series.
“It became a mental issue. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody in the world,” said Ruggiano, whose last hit came on July 12. “I’m just glad it’s over with. Now I can get back to doing what I do.”
Ruggiano drove in the Marlins’ first run, but they still trailed 2-1 when Koyie Hill doubled off reliever Tim Collins (2-6) to start the seventh. Christian Yelich then hit a grounder toward third that utility man Elliot Johnson let through his legs to put runners on second and third.
Donovan Solano and Logan Morrison followed with RBI groundouts to give the Marlins the lead.
That was enough for the Marlins bullpen. Dan Jennings (2-3) got through the sixth, A.J. Ramos worked the seventh and eighth, and Steve Cishek handled the ninth for his 26th save.
Cishek struck out Alex Gordon with runners on first and second to end the game.
“This is a resilient group of guys,” Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. “They keep coming back and battling, and I think you saw some big hits by guys out there.”
Solano and Morrison each finished with a pair of RBIs for Miami.
“It’s always good to go out there and play well against teams that are making a push for a playoff spot,” Redmond said. “That’s a good feeling heading home.”
Indeed, the Royals were rolling when the series began. They’d won 17 of 20 after taking the opener to climb into playoff contention, but now limp off to play five games in four days against AL Central-leading Detroit with their first defeat in eight series.
Now, the Marlins have won two straight to finish off a long road trip.
The Royals, blanked 1-0 in 10 innings Tuesday night, got off to a good start when Eric Hosmer doubled in the first inning and eventually scored on a single by Salvador Perez.
The Royals failed to take advantage of the erratic Jacob Turner, though. The Marlins starter walked six without a strikeout in five-plus innings, but Kansas City could only squeeze out one more run against him on a groundout by David Lough in the fourth.
The Marlins got their first run when Ruggiano drove in Adeiney Hechavarria in the top half of the fourth. They were otherwise hamstrung by Royals starter Ervin Santana, who dodged eight hits and two walks over six innings to hand his bullpen the lead.
The Royals’ relievers — with little help from their defense — failed to hold on. Johnson’s error turned the game, Royals manager Ned Yost said, and eventually led to the go-ahead runs.
“In Elliot’s defense, it was cue-ball shot with a lot of English. It had a lot of spin on it, it hit and then boom, it stayed down,” Yost said. “It changed the whole complexion of the inning.”
For his part, Johnson refused to make any excuses.
“We’re in the middle of the hunt and they’re not going to tolerate that sort of stuff. It seems like an easy play,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t as easy as it seems, (but) still I should have made it. I’m playing in the big leagues and you’ve got to make those kinds of plays.”
Solano and Morrison tacked on run-scoring singles off Luke Hochevar in the ninth, and Cishek finished up for his 21st straight save, the third-best streak in the majors.
NOTES: The Royals acquired INF-OF Emilio Bonifacio from the Blue Jays for a player to be named or cash. They made space for him on the 40-man roster by transferring INF Miguel Tejada (right calf strain) to the 60-day DL. … Johnson went 0 for 3 for the Royals, extending his slump to 0 for 30. He doesn’t have a hit since July 6. … Turner is still winless in 12 career road starts. … The Marlins’ previous four wins this month had been shutouts.
DENVER (AP) — Jorge De La Rosa pitched seven solid innings, catcher Yorvit Torrealba completed a remarkable double play by tagging out two runners and Colorado Rockies hung on to beat the San Diego Padres 4-2 Wednesday.
Corey Dickerson doubled twice, tripled and drove in two runs. Troy Tulowitzki had two hits and a pair of RBIs as Colorado completed a 5-1 homestand.
De La Rosa (12-6) allowed two runs on eight hits in running his record in eight day-game starts this season to 6-0 with a 1.57 ERA. He struck out six and walked one.
Rex Brothers pitched a scoreless ninth for his 12th save.
Andrew Cashner (8-7) gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings. He struck out seven and walked none.
DENVER (AP) — Nick Hundley homered and drove in two runs, Will Venable had three hits, and the San Diego Padres rallied to beat the Colorado Rockies 7-5 on Tuesday night.
Jedd Gyorko also went deep for the second straight night for the Padres, who rebounded from a 14-2 loss to the Rockies on Monday.
San Diego beat the Rockies for just the fourth time in 15 games this season.
Charlie Culberson had two hits and two RBIs, and Nolan Arenado and DJ LeMahieu also had two hits each for Colorado, which had its four-game winning streak snapped.
The Padres got the win despite an uncharacteristic start from left-hander Eric Stults, who was 3-0 with a 3.35 ERA in six career starts against the Rockies. He had been dominant against them this season, going 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA, but that changed in a hurry.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Christian Yelich singled home the go-ahead run with one out in the 10th inning Tuesday night and the Miami Marlins beat the Kansas City Royals 1-0 after a tidy matchup of contrasting starters.
Hard-throwing Marlins prodigy Jose Fernandez and wily Royals veteran Bruce Chen each lasted seven innings before handing the scoreless game over to their bullpens.
It continued to extra innings before Kansas City reliever Kelvin Herrera (4-6) brushed the jersey of the Marlins’ Jake Marisnick with a pitch in the 10th. Marisnick stole second and then scored on Yelich’s single through the right side of the infield, his third hit of the game.
Chad Qualls (3-1) earned the win for Miami, while Steve Cishek worked around a single in the bottom half of the 10th for his 25h save.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas was out of Tuesday night’s lineup against the Marlins because of a Grade 1 strain of his left calf that he sustained the previous night.
Moustakas said he was rounding third base when he felt the calf muscle tighten. He still managed to cross home plate and even started the next inning in the field.
But when he couldn’t push off, he went to the dugout and was examined by a trainer.
Moustakas had an MRI that revealed the strain. He hasn’t been placed on the disabled list, but it was unclear how long he’ll be out.
The Royals are banged up in the infield with Miguel Tejada on the DL with his own strained calf. Jamey Carroll started at third base Tuesday night.
DENVER (AP) — Jhoulys Chacin pitched eight solid innings and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, leading the Colorado Rockies past the San Diego Padres, 14-2 on a rainy Monday night for their fourth consecutive victory.
D.J. LeMahieu had three hits, including a homer, a double and two RBIs in a game that included a 63-minute weather delay. Dexter Fowler went 3 for 4 with a double and four RBIs, Wilin Rosario added three RBIs and Nolan Arenado had four hits and an RBI as the Rockies put up a season high in runs.
Chacin (11-6) worked out of first-inning trouble by inducing Yonder Alonso to ground into a double play with runners at first and third and one out.
Edinson Volquez (8-10) allowed eight runs on nine hits in 4 1-3 innings.
