Baseball

The Seattle Mariners announced they have suspended catcher Steve Clevenger without pay for the remainder of the regular season after he sent a series of offensive tweets on Thursday night. 

There's a saying in baseball: "A team never wants to lead the league in meetings."

The implication being that when a club holds a meeting, it's almost universally to discuss what is going wrong and how to repair it. But teams rarely find themselves where the Chicago Cubs stand, having already clinched the NL Central and preparing for the playoffs.

If the season ended Thursday, the Detroit Tigers would own the American League's second wild-card slot.

And they'd be one dangerous wild card.

Seattle Mariners catcher Steve Clevenger has been suspended for controversial tweets he posted regarding the civil unrest in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team announced the punishment on Friday. 

Jon Humbert of KOMO 4 shared a screen cap of two tweets from the catcher:

New York Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro has not appeared in a game since Sept. 17 because of a hamstring injury, but manager Joe Girardi said he could take the field again this season, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.

Continue for updates.

Castro Rode Stationary Bike

Thursday, Sept. 22

Hoch noted Castro was on the bike on Wednesday.

New York Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka has suffered a flexor mass injury, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

Continue for updates.

Following a report that a shoulder injury has hampered Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, the reigning NL MVP reportedly denied any issues in a closed-door meeting with management Tuesday. 

When MLB added a second wild-card spot for each league in 2012, this is exactly what it wanted.

Less than two weeks remain before the 2016 regular season ends, but all four bids in the American League and National League Wild Card Games are still up for grabs. While three teams fight furiously for a shot at the NL play-in game, multiple teams still lurk in the AL picture.

There's a New York Yankees coach named Tony Pena. He was an All-Star catcher when he played in the major leagues, the only All-Star catcher ever born in the Dominican Republic.

When you ask him why there's only been one, he first says, "Don't ask me that question." Then he points across the Yankees clubhouse, at the corner where 23-year-old Gary Sanchez is sitting in front of his locker.

"There's one coming up," he says.

As the National League continues to leave no doubt about who its World Series favorite is, the American League may finally be settling on one of its own.

The Boston Red Sox.