Baseball

There's no crying in baseball, but Guardians manager Stephen Vogt made an exception Monday night ... breaking down in tears after Cleveland capped off a wild comeback win!!

The Guards were playing catchup for most of their crucial divisional matchup against the Minnesota Twins ... but things swayed in their favor when Kyle Manzardo hit a clutch homer to put his squad up 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning.

The first-year skipper met with the media after Cleveland's 87th dub of the season ... and he couldn't help but choke back tears when talking about his players.

The New York Mets are in a tight race for the final wild card spot in the MLB postseason -- currently tied with the Atlanta Braves -- and they're clearly hoping that honoring a blast from their near past provides them some good luck down the home stretch!!

According to MLB reporter Mike Mazzeo, the team is ready to bring back Grimace on Monday night -- and in preparation for his return, it's installed a purple seat in section 302, row 6, seat 12 of Citi Field.

The row and seat selection, of course, is very deliberate ... as the Purple celebrity made his first appearance at Citi Field on June 12 -- and following that showing, the Mets then went on a seven-game winning streak.

Washington Spirit midfielder Croix Bethune will not play again this season ... and it's all because she hurled out a ceremonial first pitch at a Nationals game last week.

The 23-year-old was tapped by the MLB org. to kick off its tilt with the Yankees on Aug. 28 following her gold medal success at the Paris Games ... and, initially, everything appeared to go off without a hitch.

The soccer star -- who was at the D.C. game with several other Olympians -- toed the rubber, threw the ball to a catcher ... and was all smiles throughout the process.

Scary scene at the Rays game on Monday ... a fan was drilled so hard in the head by a home run ball -- it knocked him unconscious.

It all happened in the second inning of the Twins' tilt against the Rays at Tropicana Field ... when Trevor Larnach roped a Zack Littell slider into deep right field.

As the ball -- which was traveling at 112.5 MPH -- cleared the wall ... a man tried to snag it with his bare hands, but missed, and was clocked right in the noggin.

Shohei Ohtani and his wife aren't the only athletes in the family ... 'cause the Dodgers superstar's adorable dog, Decoy, stole the show with a perfect "first pitch" at Wednesday's game!!

The Japanese slugger's four-legged friend was the star of the night when L.A. hosted the Baltimore Orioles -- not only did he participate in the pre-game festivities ... but the team handed out 40,000 bobbleheads featuring Ohtani holding Decoy.

Prior to the first inning, Ohtani and Decoy -- wearing a No. 17 jersey -- went out to the field to do the ceremonial toss ... with Shohei setting him up on the mound and placing a baseball next to him before taking his position behind home plate.

Livvy Dunne's clearly not happy with her boyfriend's teammates for blowing his start on Wednesday ... she just posted a GIF to her X page following the Pirates' loss that sure reeked of shade.

Paul Skenes -- Pittsburgh's ace who's been dating the LSU star gymnast for the past year -- looked like he was in line for yet another win at PNC Park, after he left the matinee tilt against the Cubs with a cozy 10-3 lead.

But, the Buckos' bullpen came in and let Paul down in a big way ... allowing ELEVEN earned runs in the final four frames. The scoring barrage all mercifully ended in the ninth, when the Pirates ended up taking the 14-10 L.

Dozens -- if not hundreds -- of Dodgers fans are ensuring they'll get a Shohei Ohtani bobblehead later Wednesday ... by lining up in front of the stadium -- OVER EIGHT HOURS EARLY!!

First pitch in Los Angeles isn't slated to go down 'til 7:10 PM PT ... but according to multiple reporters already at Chavez Ravine, a massive line to get in has already formed, and it started well before 11 AM.

Of course, while the Dodger faithful wouldn't mind being in their seats in time to catch the start of the tilt vs. the Orioles -- they're all clearly there to make sure they get their hands on some coveted Ohtani bobbleheads, which will be handed out to the first 40,000 who come to the door.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Greg Swindell says his daughter, Brenna Swindell -- who had been missing since last Thursday -- has now been found safe.

The ex-Arizona Diamondbacks reliever shared the positive update in a post on his Facebook page Tuesday morning ... writing, "Thanks to EVERYONE who got involved."

His wife, Sarah, added her thanks in a message of her own on the social media site as well.

Greg Swindell -- a former MLB pitcher who helped the Diamondbacks win the 2001 World Series -- is pleading for the public's help ... after he says his daughter has gone missing.

The 59-year-old wrote in a Facebook post over the weekend that Brenna Swindell, a single mom of three, went missing from the Austin, Texas area last Thursday -- and he and his family are worried sick about her.

Greg says her phone's been turned off and she has not been in contact with any one of her Swindell relatives -- including her own children.

Aaron Rodgers is gearing up for the new season with some tunes ... checking out his good friend Mike.'s concert in NYC -- and he had the best seat in the house!!

The New York Jets quarterback and his fellow Big Apple star, Yankees pitcher Marcus Stroman, were VIP guests at the musician's sold-out "Upside Down Tour" gig at the Rooftop at Pier 17 on Thursday ... and they appeared to be having a blast.

Rodgers and Mike. -- FKA Mike Stud -- have been pals for a while ... but the singer/rapper and Stroman go back even further ... as they were both teammates on the Duke baseball team.

One of the most famous baseball fields in Hollywood history was burned to a crisp on Thursday ... as the diamond used in "A League of Their Own" was engulfed in flames.

According to local reports, the fire at Jay Littleton Ball Park in Ontario, CA started roughly 30 minutes before midnight ... and it grew so strong, nothing could be done to preserve the landmark.

Local authorities say the flames came from the dugout and stadium ... although it's unclear what started it all.

Comedian Eitan Levine has set a new Guinness World Record, and no, it has nothing to do with telling jokes ... the funnyman's thrown more first pitches in a year than anyone in history!

The historic moment took place Wednesday when the Mets beat the Baltimore Orioles, 4-3, at Citi Field stadium in Queens, New York.

Levine -- a childhood cancer survivor -- walked to the mound with a No. 50 blue and orange Mets jersey ... and threw the ceremonial pitch to outfielder Tyrone Taylor before the first inning.

9:22 AM PT -- A spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department tells TMZ Sports authorities at the game did take an incident report and both parties were ejected ... although neither man said they wanted to press charges and no arrests were made.

"Medical attention was declined by both subjects," cops added.

A pair of MLB fans hit the ballpark Tuesday night to catch a baseball game, but at some point, they found themselves in the middle of a boxing match -- and the violent scene was all captured on video.

Cleveland Guardians ace Shane Bieber is no longer the only high-profile person in his household ... his wife, Kara, has just become a pro model!!

The 26-year-old inked a contract with Ford/Robert Black Agency earlier this month ... and both she and her MLB superstar husband are stoked about the new endeavor.

Kara wrote on her Instagram page she's "beyond excited for what’s to come" after signing the deal ... while Shane added on his own social media account he's "so beyond proud" of his significant other.

Dodgers star Freddie Freeman and his wife say their three-year-old son, Maximus, is taking steps in the right direction ... revealing they have "seen a lot of progress in the last week and a half" after he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

The Freemans took to Instagram to share the strides their son has made after he was forced to spend eight days in the pediatric ICU ... and thankfully, it's all good news.

They wrote that they are happy with how things are going ... saying he can sleep through the night again and sit without needing any assistance. They noted he recently started to army crawl ... as the disease can affect one's ability to walk.

7:29 AM PT -- Haliey Welch just took to her X page to reveal she was actually at the Mets game in order to raise awareness -- and money -- for America's VetDogs, an org. that aims to pair pooches with war veterans.

Bad news for Newsday readers hoping to learn more about "Hawk Tuah" girl's first pitch at the Mets game Thursday ... one of their writers claims the org.'s bosses have barred mentions of her.

Tim Healey -- who's been writing about The Amazins for years -- said that after Haliey Welch toed the rubber and kicked off the festivities at Citi Field ... he was told he couldn't spit out anything further regarding her appearance.

Healey didn't specify why -- but it's easy to infer his honchos believe an explanation of Welch's claim to fame is just a little too X-rated for their readers.