Browsing: Cleveland

Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase and starter Luis Ortiz face federal charges of fraud, bribery and conspiracy for allegedly intentionally throwing pitches outside the strike zone so bettors could wager correctly on whether pitches would be balls or strikes.

The 23-page indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York outlines several incidents, including one this season that involved the Dodgers.

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During a game at Cleveland on May 28, the indictment states that Clase threw a pitch that was meant to be a ball, but Dodgers outfielder Andy Pages swung and missed, resulting in a strike. Clase retired the side in order for his 11th save of the season in Cleveland’s 7-4 victory.

About 20 minutes later, the indictment states that “Bettor-1” sent a message to Clase of a GIF of a man hanging himself with toilet paper. Clase allegedly responded to “Bettor-1” with a GIF of a sad puppy dog face.

The indictment states that from 2023 to 2025, bettors “won at least $400,000 from the Betting Platforms on pitches thrown by” Clase.

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Ortiz joined the scheme in 2025, according to the indictment: “Ortiz agreed to throw balls (instead of strikes) on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks.” Clase allegedly served as middle man between the bettors and Ortiz.

The indictment states the alleged scheme started as early as May 2023 with Clase, who purposely threw pitches outside the strike zone so bettors could win proposition bets.

“The bettors wagered on the speed and type of Clase’s pitches, based on information they knew in advance by coordinating with Clase, sometimes even during MLB games,” the indictment said. “Clase often threw these pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat. To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase often threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone.”

Clase, 27, is one of the top closers in baseball. The right-hander from the Dominican Republic led the American League in saves in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and has a career earned-run average of 1.88 to go with 182 saves.

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Clase signed a five-year, $20-million contract in April 2022 that included a $2-million signing bonus. The deal also includes $10 million club options for 2027 and 2028.

Ortiz, also from the Dominican Republic, was traded to the Guardians before the 2025 season after spending three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Both pitchers were placed on non-disciplinary paid leave in July when MLB launched an investigation and were moved to the restricted list when the regular season ended. The Ohio Casino Control Commission also started an investigation.

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If convicted on all charges, both pitchers face up to 65 years in prison.

ESPN reported that the betting-integrity firm IC360 sent alerts to sportsbook operators regarding two pitches thrown by Ortiz in June. The first came when Ortiz spiked a slider in the dirt to open the second inning against the Seattle Mariners. The second came when Ortiz opened the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals with a slider that flew to the backstop.

The Guardians released the following statement: “We are aware of the recent law enforcement action. We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Cleveland Guardians re-sign veteran catcher Austin Hedges

\n\n”,”providerName”:”Twitter”,”providerUrl”:” was one of three Guardians players who was set to become a free agent this offseason, along with outfielder Lane Thomas and reliever Jakob Junis. Instead, the 33-year-old backstop will return for a sixth season in Cleveland.\n\nWhile Bo Naylor has emerged as the Guardians†starting catcher, Hedges has remained a key cog to the teamâ€s success behind the plate and inside a clubhouse full of many up-and-coming players.\n\nThe Guardians once were 15 1/2 games out of first place in the AL Central this summer. They went on to make a historic comeback to clinch their second consecutive division title, and folks around the team continually pointed to Hedges as a stabilizing presence in the room.\n\n“He’s always talking in the dugout. He’s talking with the starters who aren’t pitching,†manager Stephen Vogt said of Hedges last month. “He’s talking with the other hitters. He’s actively engaged in chatter and keeping our guys focused. He’s a great leader, great teammate. He pushes everyone around him to get better.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”OEmbed”,”html”:””,”providerName”:”MLB”,”providerUrl”:null,”thumbnail_url”:”https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-photos/image/upload/ar_121:168,c_fill,g_face/w_121/v1/people/595978/action/vertical/current”,”type”:”oembed”,”width”:425,”contentType”:”rich”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”“\\[What\\] Austin brings on the field, obviously, is a huge amount of value. But what he brings in the clubhouse, in the dugout with his teammates is equal to that. We wouldn’t be where we are without Hedgey, not only on the field, but in the clubhouse as well.â€\n\nThose intangibles led the Guardians to bring back Hedges on a one-year deal each of the past two offseasons. They initially acquired him from the Padres at the 2020 Trade Deadline, but he departed for the Pirates as a free agent following the â€22 season and went on to win the â€23 World Series with the Rangers.\n\nThis past season, while Hedges recorded a .527 OPS at the plate in 68 games, he once more was one of the best defensive catchers in the Majors. He was tied with the Yankees†Austin Wells for third among qualified backstops in catcher framing runs (11).\n\nHedges was tied with the Mets†Luis Torrens for first among qualified catchers in caught stealing percentage (43 percent). All the while, Guardians pitchers recorded a 3.72 ERA in his 479 2/3 innings when Hedges was behind the plate.\n\nWith Hedges rejoining the fold, the Guardians once more could feature three catchers next season. Along with Naylor, David Fry is set to return to catching after he was limited to DH duties in 2025, following the Tommy John surgery he underwent last November.\n\nFry is versatile and also played left and right field and first and third base in 2024.”,”type”:”text”},{“__typename”:”Video”,”contentDate”:”2025-10-02T23:27:20.858Z”,”preferredPlaybackScenarioURL({\”preferredPlaybacks\”:\”mp4AvcPlayback\”})”:” Hedges reacts to the Guardians being eliminated from the 2025 postseason and young players experiencing their first playoff action”,”displayAsVideoGif”:false,”duration”:”00:01:13″,”slug”:”austin-hedges-reflects-on-guardians-playoff-run”,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”GameTag”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-114″,”title”:”Cleveland Guardians”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:114″},”type”:”team”},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-595978″,”title”:”Austin Hedges”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:595978″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”vod”,”title”:”vod”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”alwc”,”title”:”AL Wild Card”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”series-a”,”title”:”Series A”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”postseason”,”title”:”postseason”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”imagen-feed”,”title”:”Imagen feed”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”interview”,”title”:”interview”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”thumbnail”:{“__typename”:”Thumbnail”,”templateUrl”:” Hedges reflects on Guardians’ playoff run”,”relativeSiteUrl”:”/video/austin-hedges-reflects-on-guardians-playoff-run”},{“__typename”:”Markdown”,”content”:”Though the Guardians were eliminated in three games in the AL Wild Card Series against the Tigers, they showed the baseball world you canâ€t count them out, and the group knows it can lean on what it experienced next season and beyond.\n\n“We’ve proved a lot to ourselves,†Hedges said after Cleveland was eliminated from the postseason. “Itâ€s just more evidence of why we just keep believing in ourselves until the last out of the game on a daily basis over and over and over again. It’s exhausting. We’re all exhausted right now mentally, but that’s how you should be — even more so than physically at the end of the season because you care so much, because you’re so locked in for 27 outs, especially in the postseason.\n\n“… But the beauty of experiencing that is you do have that roadmap. So now we have a couple more road signs on that map that tell us where to go next year because we’ve been there already. I’m looking forward to seeing what this group can do with that.\””,”type”:”text”}],”relativeSiteUrl”:”/news/cleveland-guardians-resign-veteran-catcher-austin-hedges”,”contentType”:”news”,”subHeadline”:null,”summary”:”CLEVELAND — Beloved Guardians catcher and team leader Austin Hedges is sticking around.\nThe Guardians have reached a one-year contract with Hedges, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman, who reported the deal is worth $4 million plus $500,000 in incentives. The deal has not been confirmed by the club.”,”tagline({\”formatString\”:\”none\”})”:null,”tags”:[{“__typename”:”InternalTag”,”slug”:”storytype-article”,”title”:”Article”,”type”:”article”},{“__typename”:”ContributorTag”,”slug”:”tim-stebbins”,”title”:”Tim Stebbins”,”type”:”contributor”},{“__typename”:”TeamTag”,”slug”:”teamid-114″,”type”:”team”,”title”:”Cleveland Guardians”,”team”:{“__ref”:”Team:114″}},{“__typename”:”PersonTag”,”slug”:”playerid-595978″,”title”:”Austin Hedges”,”person”:{“__ref”:”Person:595978″},”type”:”player”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”transactions”,”title”:”transactions”,”type”:”taxonomy”},{“__typename”:”TaxonomyTag”,”slug”:”apple-news”,”title”:”Apple News”,”type”:”taxonomy”}],”type”:”story”,”thumbnail”:” Guardians re-sign veteran catcher Austin 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September 29, 2025 | Alan Ransome OBE

Isaac Kingham from Suffolk led the Grantham Academy attack on the Cleveland Junior 4* titles at Middlesbrough Sports Village last weekend, winning the Junior Boys’ Singles without the loss of a single game.Â

Kingham came through to the final with a semi-final victory over Cadet Boys’ Singles winner, Pablo Ramirez Rioja from Hertfordshire, after winning the first two close games.

In the final Kingham overcame the local favourite, Ormesbyâ€s Zac Greenhough from Cleveland, by 11-9, 11-7, 11-7.Â

Isaac Kingham in action at the Cleveland Junior 4* (photo by Chris Rayner)

Ramirez Rioja reached the semi-finals with a win over Charlie Williams from Lancashire. In the bottom half of the draw, the No 2 seed Aarav Parihar from Grantham Academy fell in the first round to Scotlandâ€s Joe Mulhern. Mulhern went through to the semi-final before losing in five to Greenhough.

Ella Pashley from Cleveland, who was also part of the Grantham squad, was the local winner of the Junior Girls’ Singles but this was not without some close matches. In the semi-final Ella beat fifth seed Anjali Singh from Northern Ireland. Singh took a 2-1 lead before Pashley won the fourth and fifth games comfortably.Â

In the final, Pashley also lost a game to Eva Eccles from Norfolk before winning comfortably in the fourth game. Eccles came through with two very close victories, beating Hannah Saunders from Cambridge and Naomi Coker, Derbyshire, both at deuce in the fifth.

Ella Pashley (photo by Chris Rayner)

The Under-17 Boys’ Singles was a Scottish success. Joe Mulhern from Drumchapel beat Archway Peterboroughâ€s Kai Lun Chow 3-1 in a close final. Mulhern, whilst ranked No 1 in Scotland, was unseeded and came through to the final with wins over Ryan Holland and top seed, Aarav Parihar, both from Grantham. Second seed Kai Lun Chow reached the final without dropping a game.

The Under-17 Girls’ Singles was won by Granthamâ€s Hannah Saunders, from Cambridge, beating Charlotte Lok Ching Wong from Warwickshire 3-1. Charlotte took the top seeded position by beating Brooke Morris from Lancashire in her qualification group.

In the final, Saunders beat Drumchapelâ€s Kiishi Adekola 3-1, reversing her defeat in the qualification group. Adekola having beaten another Scottish player, Alexandra Hart, in the semi-final.

The Cadet Boys’ Singles was won by Pablo Ramirez Rioja. The third seed from Hertfordshire beat two Grantham players to win the title. In the semi-final he beat Aarav Parihar 3-1 and then, in the final, Ryan Holland in straight games.Â

Holland, from the fifth seeded position, reached the final by beating top seed Kai Lun Chow 3-1 in the quarters and the fourth seed, Theo Kniep from Berkshire, in five games.

In the Cadet Girls’ Singles there was another win for Hannah Saunders, without the loss of a game. In the final Saunders defeated the unseeded Senuli Ranasinghe from Norfolk. In the semi-final, Ranasinghe beat Charlotte Lok Ching Wong from Warwickshire in five games.

The Under-13 Boys’ Singles was won by the third seed, Li Hao Chen from Archway, who beat the second seed, Lev Sahmurov from Middlesex, in five games in the final. Chen beat the top seed Lusio Wen from Middlesex in straight games in the semi-final.

The Under-13 Girls’ Singles was won by Senuli Ranasinghe who beat the top seed Cindy Xiao from Peterborough in straight games in the final. Ranasinghe had a close match in her semi-final against Ormesbyâ€s Mindy Gao before winning by 3-1.

The Under-11 event was a mixed competition and was won by Lok Hei Lam from Cheshire who beat Stefan Wierszyllowski from Lancashire in four close games.

The Junior Boys’ team event was a success for Drumchapel who beat Ellenborough in the final. Marcel Ndongola was the star of the match winning both his singles for Ellenborough but this was not sufficient to claim the title. Drumchapel also excelled in the semi-final, beating the Ormesby team by 3-0, whilst Ellenborough beat Fusion by the same score in their semi-final.

The Junior Girls’ team event was played as a round-robin group. The winners who were Grantham, with Ella Pashley and Lowri Hurd beating Draycott (Naomi Coker and Eva Eccles) in the final by 3-0. The win for Grantham was convincing when only one of the three matches went to four games, when Hurd beat Eccles in the fourth.

The Cadet Boys’ Team was won by Archway Peterborough who beat Grantham 3-1 in the final. Kai Lun Chow won all of his team matches for Archway which included a 14-12 in the fourth game over Hector Alarcon to clinch victory. Both Archway and Grantham won their matches by 3-0 en route to the final.

The Cadet Girls’ title was won by Drumchapel who beat Scarborough by 3-0 in the final. Only one set went to a fourth game when Drumchapelâ€s Kiishi Adekola beat Phoebe Oâ€Brien by 16-14.

Presentation photos by Brenda Stephenson:

Junior Boys: Zac Greenhough (left) and Isaac Kingham with Alan Ransome OBE, Chair of Cleveland TTA

Junior Girls: Ella Pashley (left) and Eva Eccles with Alan Ransome OBE

Under-17 Boys: Joe Mulhern (left) and Kai Lun Chow

U17 Girls: Hannah Saunders (left) and Kiishi Adekola

Cadet Boys: Pablo Ramirez Rioja (left) and Ryan Holland

Cadet Girls: Hannah Saunders (left) and Senuli Ranasinghe

U13 Boys: Lev Sahmurov (Left) and Li Hao Chen

U13 Girls: Senuli Ranasinghe (left) and Cindy Xiao

Under-11s: Lok Hei Lam (left) and Stefan Wierszyllowski

Junior Boys Team: Ben Hart and Joe Mulhern (left) and Marcel Ndongala and Sam Poyntz with Alan Ransome OBE

Junior Girls’ Team: Lowri Hurd and Ella Pashley (left) and Eva Eccles and Naomi Coker

Cadet Boys’ Team: Zihan Lin and Kai Lun Chow (left) and Ryan Holland and Hector Alarcon

Cadet Girls’ Team: Dorian Cheung and Phoebe O’Brien (left) and Alexandra Hart and Kiishi Adekola

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CLEVELAND — José Ramírez has made a tremendous impact on not only the Guardians organization but Cleveland overall during his stellar 13-season big league career. And on Saturday, the city will honor one of the best professional athletes it has seen.

The City of Cleveland, in partnership with the Guardians, will recognize Ramírez by naming a street after him. “José Ramírez Way†will connect José Ramírez Field at Clark Field with Clark Ave.

Ramírez will become the first active athlete to have a street named after him in Cleveland. A ceremony to present him with new street signs will be held on Saturday. It will include members of the Guardians and City of Cleveland officials, including city council president Blaine Griffin.

On the field, Ramírez continues to solidify a resume that will likely earn him a place in Cooperstown one day. On Thursday, he became Clevelandâ€s all-time leader in extra-base hits, which is one of many franchise records he could set by the end of his career.

Ramírez entered Friday with 285 career homers, second in franchise history to Hall of Famer Jim Thome (337). He ranked second in stolen bases (283), behind only Kenny Lofton (452). On Wednesday, he became the second player in team history to tally 3,000 career total bases, joining Earl Averill.

“It’s fun to watch,†manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s truly a pleasure that we get to all watch him every night and take it for granted because it’s impossible to cherish it as much as we do every single day. José Ramírez is one of the best players on the planet, and we get to watch him every day.

“He leads our guys. He makes people better. It’s the teammate just as much as the player that really does it.â€

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CLEVELAND — José Ramírez continued to put his stamp on the Cleveland franchise record books in Thursdayâ€s 4-2 loss to the Tigers at Progressive Field.

With an opposite-field RBI double in the eighth inning, Ramírez became Clevelandâ€s all-time extra-base hits leader, with 726. The 33-year-old broke a tie with Hall of Fame outfielder Earl Averill, who compiled 725 extra-base hits over 11 seasons with the franchise.

“Iâ€m surprised he didn’t do it earlier,†said a prideful Austin Hedges when asked about Ramírezâ€s incredible feat. “That record is going to be untouchable by the time he’s done playing.â€

That very well may be the case for a number of Clevelandâ€s all-time records. It feels like Ramírez has made franchise history weekly this season, and lately, he has.

On Sept. 7, Ramírez passed Hall of Famer Jim Thome for the second-most RBIs in franchise history, since it became an official stat in 1920. Ramírez also passed Omar Vizquel for second in franchise history in stolen bases on Sept. 6. With 283 career steals, he now only sits behind Kenny Lofton (452) on the all-time list.

Thursdayâ€s accomplishment was the latest feather in Ramírezâ€s cap as he continues to pad his Hall-of-Fame-worthy resume. It came during what has been one of his best offensive months of the season.

In 24 games this month, Ramírez is slashing .292/.382/.551 with nine doubles, four home runs and 17 RBIs — the latter of which leads the team. The only month he recorded more RBIs was July (18). His .933 OPS this month is his third best this season; he had a 1.085 OPS in 26 games in May and a .952 OPS in 26 games in July.

As Cleveland has gone on an 18-6 surge in September to put itself on the verge of clinching a postseason spot, Ramírez has been coming up huge.

“We have a joke in the dugout,†manager Stephen Vogt said this week. “Whenever he comes up in a big spot, we say, ‘Come on, Hosey. One time do something. One time do something cool.†He just seems to always answer the call when he gets in these big moments, because he’s a Hall of Fame-caliber player.â€

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For players who like to inject a little personality into their golf equipment, Cleveland’s new collab with SWAG — Cleveland x…

By: Ed Weaver  /  November 29, 2023

Senior Natalie Cleveland was named the NTL’s Defensive Player of the Year as the league announced their 2023-24 Volleyball All-Star teams on Tuesday, November 28.

Cleveland recorded 317 digs, made 25 assists, received 399 serves, and scored 106 points and 16 aces on 196 serving attempts (0.949).

“I am extremely proud of Natalie being named the Defensive Player of the Year,” 1st year head coach Darci Warriner said. “Natalie has provided our team with great defensive leadership for the past two and a half years. Moving from a defensive specialist to the libero provided her with experience anywhere in the back row. Natalie had over 500 career digs as the libero. Natalie has worked hard for this accomplishment, and I am beyond grateful to have her recognized by the league.”

Joining Cleveland on this year’s all-star team are senior Meredith Brownlee, juniors Lexi Urena and Paige Logsdon, and sophomore Taylor Main.

Urena led the Lady Hornets with 148 kills, 61 aces, and 12 blocks. She also had 139 points and 131 digs.

Brownlee led the team with 176 points and had 136 kills, 44 aces, and 125 digs and Main led the team with 149 assists and had 149 points, 21 aces, and 102 digs.

Logsdon recorded 38 kills on 144 attempts, made 14.5 blocks, and made 4 assists.

“I am so excited to see our girls recognized for their hard work and achievements this season,” Warriner continued. “Lexi and Meredith led the team from the outside and service line, earning themselves first team selections. They both worked extremely hard this season and I am so proud of their accomplishments. Both girls can play any position we need and were thrown in to multiple spots at any given moment to help their team. Taylor is a first year varsity player and came in as a leader on the court. Taylor came to every practice and game ready to give it her all. I am excited to see what next year brings for her.

“Paige played the last half of the season due to an injury, but played a major role in the team’s success. Although Paige wasn’t on the court in the start of our season, she was the biggest supporter on the bench. When Paige returned, she became a right side, which was her first time in this position. Paige is a leader on and off the court and is a great addition to our team in any position.”

WellsboroAthletics.com would like to congratulate Natalie, Meredith, Lexi, Paige, and Taylor on being named to this season’s all-star team.

View the complete 2023-24 NTL Volleyball All-Star teams.

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