The Chicago White Sox used a five-run first inning to jump on their crosstown rival Cubs en route to a 5-3 Summer Camp exhibition win Monday night at Guaranteed Rate Field. Second year White Sox slugger Eloy Jimenez clubbed a grand slam off of Cubs starter Yu Darvish in the first inning and the Sox held on for their second exhibition win in a row over their crosstown rivals. The Cubs got within two runs with a 3-run seventh inning and had the go-ahead run at the plate with two outs in the ninth inning before White Sox closer Alex Colome shut the door.
Taking a chance to review instant replay, Major League Baseball doubled the number of isolated cameras available for video reviews to 24 this year. MLB also arranged for high-frame-rate cameras to stream directly to the new replay operations center and ballpark video rooms, and for MLB-controlled 4K cameras with zoom lenses to be installed at high locations behind home plate. Each manager will have 20 seconds to decide whether to ask for a video review of a call subject to a challenge, down from 30.
Indiana Pacers coach Nate McMillan said Monday he expects All-Star guard Victor Oladipo to play in the team’s first scrimmage later this week. The Pacers play the Portland Trail Blazers Thursday afternoon. McMillan said Oladipo has been looking good in practice and has practiced with all three units, but did not say how many minutes he expects Oladipo to play or if he will start. Oladipo told The Athletic July 3rd he would be sitting out the rest of the season before reversing course July 15th when he said there’s a strong possibility he will play.
The NBA announced Monday it tested 346 players in the bubble in Orlando, Florida for COVID-19 since July 13th with and there were no positive tests. In the last round of testing, two out of the 322 players tested were positive for the virus. The season resumes July 30th, while the Indiana Pacers restart the season August 1st against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The NFL has made an offer to the NFL Players Association to play no preseason games this summer. The players had been pushing to not play preseason games this year, and the league had been seeking to play two games instead of the usual four. The Players Association has not yet informed the league whether it will accept the proposal. Earlier in the day, the league said players will be tested daily for the coronavirus for at least the first two weeks of training camp, per the league’s new testing protocols.
