Adam Jones provided perhaps the best highlight of the World Baseball Classic, when he took a home run away from Manny Machado with a spectacular catch in center field.
Now Jones and Machado are just teammates again.
“Pretty cool catch, pretty great moment,” Jones said. “Sorry it had to be my boy Manny, but it’s part of the game, part of that process.”
Jones is back with the Baltimore Orioles at their camp in Sarasota, Florida, after winning the WBC with Team USA. The international tournament was an opportunity that clearly meant a lot to him, and now he’s hoping he can accomplish something similar with Baltimore.
“To do it with those guys, it was probably the best experience of my life so far, especially with sports,” Jones said. “Hopefully, we can do something special with these guys in the clubhouse with the Orioles, because it was pretty, pretty humbling, pretty special to go out and represent your country, for all the countries to go out and represent their countries.”
After Jones robbed Machado of a homer, Machado - who was playing for the Dominican Republic - doffed his cap and waved it in salute.
“Great picture with USA across my chest right in front of the logo, in front of some American flags,” Jones said. “There’s one guy who doesn’t look impressed at all by it, sitting off to the left like, ’What?’ I’ve seen the picture. But a pretty great moment, pretty special moment for that team.”
Jones has been with three Baltimore teams that have appeared in the postseason, but hasn’t played in a World Series.
“My main objective obviously is here playing for the Orioles, but that’s Major League Baseball. That’s just the United States,” he said. “This was on a global scale.”
St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who played for Puerto Rico, said Jones owed Puerto Ricans an apology. The U.S. beat Puerto Rico in the final, and Jones said reports that Puerto Rico was planning a celebration had motivated the Americans.
“I don’t think I said anything wrong. I just said what we’ve seen motivated us,” Jones said. “It wasn’t a slight at Puerto Rico by any stretch. I don’t think I said anything wrong, and I would never disrespect a country, because that would make totally no sense.”
AROUND THE GRAPEFRUIT AND CACTUS LEAGUES
METS 3, BRAVES 0
Mets starter Rafael Montero tossed five shutout innings and allowed four hits and a walk. Michael Conforto hit his third spring homer.
Braves starter R.A. Dickey went six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits and a walk. Brandon Phillips had two hits.
PIRATES 5, TIGERS 4
Anibal Sanchez pitched six hitless innings for Detroit, striking out six. Tyler Collins hit a three-run homer off Pirates starter Tyler Glasnow.
Glasnow struck out nine in four innings. Adam Frazier and Pittsburgh prospect Austin Meadows both homered and Francisco Cervelli hit a two-run triple.
MARLINS 1, CARDINALS 0
Miami starter Justin Nicolino went five shutout innings, giving up three hits. Derek Dietrich doubled in a run.
Cardinals starter Lance Lynn, who hasn’t pitched in a big league game since October 2015 due to an elbow injury and subsequent Tommy John surgery, was lifted after one inning for “precautionary reasons, ” general manager John Mozeliak said during the Cardinals broadcast of the game. Lynn didn’t allow a hit or run and struck out one. He’s pitched 15 innings this spring to a 1.29 ERA.
YANKEES 6, BLUE JAYS (ss) 5
Yankees first baseman Greg Bird hit his seventh home run this spring, tying Kansas City’s Pete O’Brien for the big league lead. Adam Warren was roughed up for four runs on four hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings.
Devon Travis, in his second spring game returning from knee surgery, got two hits for Toronto. Jerrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Goins both homered. Starter Mat Latos gave up two earned runs on five hits and a walk over three innings.
NATIONALS 4, ASTROS 1
Tanner Roark, in his first start for Washington since the World Baseball Classic, gave up one run on three hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out five. Team USA teammate Daniel Murphy went 2 for 4 with a two-run double while Trea Turner added an RBI and stolen base.
Astros starter Lance McCullers gave up four runs on six hits over 3 1/3 innings. Jose Altuve hit a run-scoring double.
PHILLIES 3, RED SOX (ss) 3, 9 INNINGS
Jackie Bradley Jr. homered for Boston. Kyle Kendrick gave up two runs on eight hits, striking out six through six.
Phils starter Alec Asher gave up two runs on three hits and a walk over three innings. Tommy Joseph had two hits.
RED SOX (ss) 7, RAYS 5
Pablo Sandoval, returning from an injury-plagued 2016, hit his fourth spring homer and Rusney Castillo had two hits and scored twice.
Rays starter Blake Snell allowed four runs on six hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings. Corey Dickerson homered and is hitting .367 this spring.
ANGELS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 4
Albert Pujols hit a two-run home run and Andrelton Simmons drove in a pair during a four-run first inning for Los Angeles. Carlos Perez added a two-run shot in the fourth, and Tyler Skaggs gave up a run on four hits over four innings.
Arizona’s Taijuan Walker was roughed up for six runs - three earned - and eight hits in four innings. Chris Iannetta had a triple and a run scored.
WHITE SOX 10, INDIANS 7
Jose Abreu and Jacob May each homered for Chicago, and Dylan Covey tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera and Tim Anderson were 0 for 3.
Carlos Santana hit a two-run home run and Francisco Lindor had two hits for Cleveland. Josh Tomlin went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and nine hits - including four home runs.
CUBS (ss) 11, REDS (ss) 7
Kris Bryant homered and doubled, top prospect Ian Happ had a three-run homer and four RBIs and Chesny Young added a pair of homers for the Cubs. Happ is hitting .417 this spring with a team-leading 17 RBIs. Kyle Hendricks went three shutout innings despite allowing three hits and four walks.
Arismendy Alcantara clubbed a two-run homer for Cincinnati against his former team. Robert Stephenson allowed four runs and six hits over four innings, but also went 2 for 3 with a run scored. Jesse Winker had a pair of hits.
REDS (ss) 11, ATHLETICS (ss) 6
Top prospect Amir Garrett went five innings for Cincinnati, giving up six runs, seven hits and three walks. Cincinnati put up six runs in the second, including RBI singles by Jose Peraza and Ryan Raburn and a pair of run-scoring walks by Oakland’s Sean Manaea.
Manaea gave up six runs, five hits and five walks over three innings. Rajai Davis led off the third with a homer and scored three runs, and Trevor Plouffe had a triple and an RBI single.
ROYALS 1, BREWERS 0
Raul Mondesi homered in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Kansas City the win. Ian Kennedy struck out seven over six innings, giving up three hits and walking two.
Wily Peralta gave up three hits and two walks over 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the Brewers. Travis Shaw tripled and is hitting .348 this spring.
The Royals announced left-hander Danny Duffy as their opening day starter. “With what Danny did last year and this spring, we feel he has earned this,” manager Ned Yost said.
DODGERS 11, ATHLETICS (ss) 6
Andrew Toles hit a grand slam and Justin Turner hit a solo shot in L.A.’s five-run fourth. Turner had three hits and two RBIs, and Adrian Gonzalez had two hits and an RBI. Chris Taylor had two hits with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored and is hitting .432 this spring. Yasiel Puig went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts. Rich Hill struck out six but gave up four runs, four hits and four walks over 3 2/3 innings.
Matt Chapman hit a three-run homer in the first for Oakland. Jesse Hahn was roughed up in his second consecutive start, giving up seven runs - five earned - and eight hits, including two homers, in 3 1/3 innings. He has allowed 12 earned runs and 16 hits in his last 6 2/3 inning.
ROCKIES 7, CUBS (ss) 4
German Marquez struck out six while allowing two runs, five hits and a walk over six innings for Colorado. Mark Reynolds and Dustin Garneau each had two-run doubles in the fifth inning. Garneau, who is hitting .345 this spring, also walked twice.
Brett Anderson allowed one unearned run, six hits and a walk in four innings for Chicago. Jason Heyward hit a two-run homer.
MARINERS 3, RANGERS 1
Dillon Overton continued his strong spring, allowing four hits and one run over six innings for Seattle. Ben Gamel produced two runs on a fly-ball double to left that Ryan Rua lost in the sun. Taylor Motter hit a solo shot, and Mitch Haniger had a double. Haniger is hitting .403 this spring and has an eight-game hit streak.
Nick Martinez allowed two runs while striking out six over four innings. Jurickson Profar went 0 for 3 and is hitless in 11 at-bats since returning from the World Baseball Classic.
ORIOLES 6, TWINS 3
Gabriel Ynoa gave up just one hit and one walk over five scoreless innings for Baltimore, lowering his ERA to 1.98 this spring. J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop each hit a solo homer, and Chris Davis hit a two-run shot. Seth Smith returned from a hamstring injury and went 2 for 3 with a double.
Minnesota’s Hector Santiago allowed two runs on four hits and one walk with four strikeouts in four innings. Ehire Adrianza fouled a ball off his foot and was replaced by Benji Gonzalez in the third.
GIANTS 8, PADRES 7
Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford homered and Jae-gyun Hwang singled in the winning run in the ninth after the Giants rallied from a six-run deficit. Posey had two hits and two runs, while Crawford launched a two-run shot in the sixth. Chris Stratton allowed seven runs and nine hits, including three homers, over three innings. Hunter Pence went 0 for 3 and is batting .136 this spring.
San Diego’s Clayton Richard allowed five runs and eight hits over six innings. Cory Spangenberg had three hits, including his first homer of the spring, Erick Aybar hit a two-run shot and Hunter Renfroe had a two-RBI double.
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