James Loney homered and had three RBIs to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-1 victory over the Cuban national team on Tuesday in Havana in a game witnessed by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro.
The Rays’ trip to Cuba was the first by a major league team since 1999 when the Baltimore Orioles visited.
Obama and Castro sat side by side behind the plate to watch the game in Estadio Latinoamericano. The near-capacity crowd cheered loudly when both men entered the stadium.
Loney singled in Kevin Kiermaier with the first run in the second inning and homered in the top of the fourth to give the Rays a 3-0 lead. Rays starter Matt Moore pitched six innings and gave up no runs, six hits and one walk while striking out three.
–Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier suffered a broken leg that will sideline him for 10 to 14 weeks after he was hit by a pitch last week.
Ethier was struck on the right shin during a spring training game against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Friday. Initial X-rays indicated that no bones were broken, but when soreness persisted, he had a CT scan on Tuesday that showed the tibia fracture.
The injury won’t require surgery, but it’s expected to keep him out until June.
–The New York Yankees optioned outfielder Slade Heathcoff to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the team announced.
Heathcoff was reassigned to New York’s minor-league camp. The 25-year-old Heathcoff was 1-for-22 in 11 spring-training games.
Heathcoff drew the ire of the Yankees last week when he missed the bus for a spring-training game.