Rockies pitcher Darren Oliver went running from his start in the sixth inning Thursday when a swarm of bees descended on Tucson Electric Park in Tucson, Arizona, cutting short Colorado's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies won 3-1.
"I guess we've got to call that a `Bee' game," Arizona manager Bob Melvin quipped.
The bees literally chased Oliver from the mound. He kept trying to go back, but the bees would go after him again. Finally, after a 20-minute delay, he left for good and let Colorado reliever Allan Simpson complete the inning.
Oliver said the bees apparently were attracted to the coconut oil in his hair gel.
"I guess I must have smelled good. It was kind of funny at first, but after a while I started getting a little nervous and scared out there," he said.
The Diamondbacks took the field in the sixth, but by then the bees had spread over the entire field. Shortstop Sergio Santos, who had just entered the game, was chased all the way into deep center field.
"There were like little packs moving around," said Arizona's Luis Gonzalez, who hit his first homer of the spring in the first inning and was on third after a triple when play stopped. "They were all over the pitcher, and Santos when he went out. I think it was either their cologne or deodorant or something. They've got to switch it up."
There was a brief bee delay at the same ballpark two years ago.
But Joe Garagiola Sr., attending the game with his son, Diamondbacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr., said he had never seen anything like Thursday's invasion.
"And I go back to 1942," the elder Garagiola said.
Kerry Wood never made it to the mound Thursday. He woke up with a tight back and pulled out of his first start since walking off the mound March 9 with a tight shoulder. Instead, Glendon Rusch pitched five scoreless innings to lead the Cubs over the Oakland Athletics 5-2 in Mesa, Arizona.
Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild said if Wood feels fine Friday, he will throw a simulated game.
At Tampa, Florida, Randy Johnson learned he will start the Yankees' opener April 3 against Boston after he gave up one hit over six scoreless innings in a 12-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves.
"It's a big upset," New York manager Joe Torre said jokingly. "He basically pitched today like he's going to pitch. He's been doing it for years. It's nice to see him do it in our uniform. It seemed so effortless for him today."
It will be Johnson's 13th opening day assignment, tying him with Houston's Roger Clemens for the most among active pitchers. The major league record is 16 by Tom Seaver.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to