LEADING OFF: D-backs keep pitching amid no-hitter debate

A look at what's happening around the majors on Tuesday:

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ARIZONA ARMS

Right-hander Merrill Kelly (1-2, 7.71 ERA) starts for the Diamondbacks when they host Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres following a dominant pitching performance in a doubleheader at Atlanta.

Madison Bumgarner tossed a seven-inning no-hitter against the Braves on Sunday after Zac Gallen threw a one-hit shutout in the opener.

Bumgarner didn’t get credit for a no-hitter in the Major League Baseball record book. An MLB committee in 1991 ruled a no-hitter had to go at least nine innings and the Elias Sports Bureau — the sport’s official statistician — repeated that stance last year when seven-inning doubleheaders began.

Bumgarner’s gem has ignited a lively debate among fans over whether it should count as a no-hitter. There currently are no plans by MLB to revisit the decision.

SPRINGER AND SCHERZER

Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo was optimistic that outfielder George Springer would finally be ready to make his Blue Jays debut when they host Washington in Dunedin, Florida. MVP of the 2017 World Series with Houston, Springer signed a team-record $150 million, six-year deal with the Blue Jays during the offseason but has been slowed since spring training — first because of a strained oblique and then by a right quadriceps strain.

Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (1-1, 1.80 ERA), who has pitched 17 1/3 straight scoreless innings, is on the mound for the Nationals. Toronto counters with a bullpen day in the opener of a five-game homestand. It is the second homestand at the club’s spring training complex, where the Blue Jays are playing through at least May.

RESURGENT ROYALS

Fresh off their first four-game sweep on the road since 1999, surprising Kansas City opens a three-game series at...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-D-backs-keep-pitching-amid-no-hitter-16130969.php