Did eye-black have gay slur?
MAJOR LEAGUE Baseball is checking reports that Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar played Saturday's game against Boston wearing eye-black displaying a homophobic slur written in Spanish.
MAJOR LEAGUE Baseball is checking reports that Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar played Saturday's game against Boston wearing eye-black displaying a homophobic slur written in Spanish.
Pictures posted online show Escobar with the message written in his eye-black, a sticker players wear under their eyes to reduce glare from the sun. The slur did not appear to be directed at any person in particular.
The Cuban-born shortstop's eye black read, "Tu ere . . ." followed by a seven-letter Spanish word that's a derogatory term for a homosexual. Even with the misspelled middle word (the correct form is "eres"), the Spanish-language sentence clearly was an offensive remark.
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney confirmed the commissioner's office is looking into the reports.
"The club takes this situation seriously and is investigating the matter," the Blue Jays said in a statement Monday night, adding they "do not support discrimination of any kind nor condone the message displayed by Yunel Escobar during Saturday's game."
He did not play Sunday; the team said he was suffering from flulike symptoms.
Escobar, who is batting .251 with nine homers and 49 RBI, could face sanctions from baseball if it deems his actions inappropriate. USA Today reported that a closeup of Escobar with the offensive message was posted on Flickr by a fan whose Twitter handle is @james_in_TO.
The team said Escobar would be available to the media Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, along with general manager Alex Anthopoulos, manager John Farrell and coach Luis Rivera.
Noteworthy *
The Texas Rangers agreed on a 1-year contract extension with Colby Lewis, the injured righthander who could have been a free agent after this season. Lewis was 6-6 with a 3.43 ERA in 16 starts this season before surgery in July to repair a torn flexor tendon in his right elbow.
In games Monday *
At Chicago, Omar Infante's throwing error on a potential doubleplay helped the White Sox score two runs in the fifth inning in a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers in a pivotal makeup game.
Chicago increased its lead in the AL Central to three games.
Nate Jones (8-0) pitched 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief and the White Sox won their fourth straight.
Addison Reed, the last of three relievers in the ninth, got the final out for his 27th save in 31 chances.
Detroit won the season series 12-6 and captured nine of the final 11 games between the teams, including two of three last week before the four-game series finale was postponed.
Each team has 16 games remaining. Chicago heads to Kansas City and Anaheim to finish out this week while Detroit goes home to face the Athletics and Twins.
Delmon Young drove in three runs for the Tigers with a pair of singles.
* At St. Petersburg, Fla., Jacoby Ellsbury homered and drove in three runs, Aaron Cook (4-10) stopped his five-game losing streak and the Boston Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-2.
Tampa Bay, coming off a 1-5 road trip to Baltimore and New York, fell 5 1/2 games behind the AL East-leading Yankees. The Rays started play four games behind the Orioles - who were at Seattle later Monday night - for the second AL wild-card spot.
Ellsbury hit a two-run homer in the sixth and added an RBI single during a three-run seventh for the Red Sox, who were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday.