LEADING OFF: Baseball gets 1st 9-inning twinbills since 2019

Updated Apr. 18, 2022 7:43 p.m. ET

Associated Press

A look at what’s happening around baseball Tuesday:

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18 INNINGS

Tuesday's schedule will feature two doubleheaders — the first in the majors this season and the first twinbills of nine-inning games since Sept. 28, 2019.

Major League Baseball used seven-inning doubleheaders in 2020 and ’21 amid rules changes brought on by the coronavirus pandemic but did away with the shortened games for this season.

There were 31 scheduled doubleheaders on the calendar when the lockout-delayed season began, but these first two twinbills were added because of weather. Arizona's game at Washington and San Francisco's game at the New York Mets were postponed Monday because of rain.

The Diamondbacks and Nationals will play a split doubleheader with the first game at 1:05 p.m., while the Giants and Mets' conventional doubleheader will start at 3:10 p.m.

The Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox played the most recent twinbill of nine-inning games on the penultimate day of the 2019 season. Host Chicago won the opener 7-1 and lost the second game 4-3.

SINGLE DIGITS

The Yankees don’t have any single-digit jersey numbers left, but their scoring is stuck there.

In 10 games this season, New York has scored 6, 4, 3, 0, 4, 4, 3, 1, 5 and 0 runs.

That adds up to 30, the Yankees’ second-fewest run total through 10 games since the American League adopted the designated hitter in 1973. New York has managed a 5-5 record.

The Yankees totaled 26 runs through 10 games in 1977, but that season worked out OK for them: The team went on to win the World Series.

MAX EFFORT

Perhaps pitching in his hometown of Los Angeles — and against former teammate Freddie Freeman — will fire up Atlanta's Max Fried, who is seeking his first win of the season.

Fried, who wore No. 32 to honor Sandy Koufax while pitching at LA's Harvard-Westlake School, is 0-2 with a 5.73 ERA in two starts this season. He takes the mound for the Braves against the Dodgers' Walker Buehler (1-0, 3.38).

Although wins by starting pitchers get less attention than they used to, Fried's record from 2019-21 was an eye-popping 38-13. He's 40-20 in his career with a 3.40 ERA.

ACUÑA NEARS RETURN

Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. is scheduled to start an injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett at Jacksonville. It will be his first game since July 10, when he tore his right ACL during a game at Miami.

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