Jul 22, 2022 4 min read

Former Braves player dies of heart failure

Dwight Smith, a runner-up for NL rookie of the year who played on Atlanta’s World Series-winning team in 1995, died Friday, the Braves announced. He was 58.

The Braves said the former outfielder and pinch-hitting specialist died of congestive heart and lung failure.

Smith played in the big leagues for eight years, starting out with the Chicago Cubs, splitting a season between the Angels and Baltimore Orioles before joining the Braves for his final two seasons.

His son, Dwight Jr., has also spent time in majors, most recently with Baltimore in 2020.

Bauer accuser says she didn’t lie

A San Diego woman who alleges Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Trevor Bauer beat and sexually abused her has denied that any of the accusations were “false, fabricated, or bogus,” her attorneys said in a court filing.

Bauer has denied abusing the woman he met through social media. He sued her for defamation in April, claiming she lied about details involving their sexual encounters in order to destroy his reputation and career while enriching herself. After he sued, Major League Baseball suspended Bauer for two years.

Bauer has said he engaged in consensual rough sex with the woman but did nothing to warrant a suspension.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual assault.

The woman’s response was filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. In it, she denied allegations she made a “false, misleading or defamatory police report” and denied she had altered or filtered photographs in requesting a restraining order in June of 2021.

The woman admits she sent a text message to a friend about “going to Europe when she was a rich baseball wife.” However, she denied she had a plan to destroy Bauer’s reputation or career or exploit him for money, although she admits “she was angry at Plaintiff because he had sexually assaulted her.”

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge declined to grant the restraining order, saying the woman had been “materially misleading” in part of her request. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office declined to file criminal charges against Bauer.

Fred Thiagarajah, one of the woman’s attorneys, is included in Bauer’s defamation lawsuit. He is seeking to have Bauer’s case against him thrown out.

Bauer is also suing two media outlets for defamation over their coverage of the allegations.

In the majors

Toronto’s Raimel Tapia sprinted around the bases for an inside-the-park grand slam Friday night after Boston Red Sox center fielder Jarren Duran lost the ball in the Fenway Park lights and then didn’t hustle after it.

Tapia hit the second inside-the-park slam in Toronto’s history – both of them at Fenway. This one came as part of a seven-running inning that helped the Blue Jays take a 10-0 lead.

With two outs in the third and Toronto leading 6-0, Tapia lifted a two-out fly ball to center against reliever Austin Davis.

Duran took a couple steps back, then a couple in, then put up his hands in confusion. Fans groaned when the ball landed on the warning track behind him.

Duran walked slowly toward the ball while left fielder Alex Verdugo raced over, slid to scoop it up and fired it toward the infield. The relay home wasn’t close to nabbing Tapia, who picked up speed when he realized Duran had lost the ball.

The 25-year-old Duran, in his second major league season, came into the game in a 2-for-30 slump.