FOOTBALL

Browns limit access to QB

The Cleveland Browns are limiting media access to Johnny Manziel’s appearance this weekend at the team’s rookie minicamp. Hoping to avoid a media circus around Manziel, the Browns are allowing only local media members — and some select national outlets — to be at the Texas A&M quarterback’s first practices as an NFL player. The Browns selected Manziel in the first round of last week’s draft. Since drafting Manziel, the team has been inundated with requests to interview college football’s biggest star. Reporters and photographers will only watch the first 15 minutes when players do stretching exercises and individual drills. Coach Mike Pettine also has decided to close Sunday’s practice.

Alabama Coach Nick Saban still advocates changing SEC scheduling. Saban was the only coach who supported adding a ninth SEC game before the league opted to stick to its current format. He said Wednesday at the Regions Tradition Pro-Am in Birmingham that if it was up to him, teams from the five power conferences would play only against each other. He said there won’t be much support for that unless the six-victory minimum for bowl eligibility is changed to a formula based on RPI and strength of schedule. Saban even floated the idea of playing 10 conference games, which he said “would be much, much better for the fans.” Saban said he “didn’t think our conference would be so easily influenced to stay at the current way that we do it.”

The Oprah Winfrey Network plans to produce a documentary series following the life of Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team. The series will take an up-close look at the man recently drafted by the St. Louis Rams in a groundbreaking moment in professional sports. Cameras will follow the former University of Missouri football player as he works to earn a spot on the Rams while under a media microscope. Sam said it would be great if his story can lead others to accept who they are and go for their dreams. OWN did not specify a premiere date for the as-yet-untitled series or how many episodes it will be.

BASEBALL

Cardinals recall Wong

The St. Louis Cardinals recalled second baseman Kolten Wong from Class AAA Memphis after a four-hit, four-RBI game in the minors. Less than two hours after the move was announced Wednesday, Wong was sent home from Busch Stadium because of a stomach illness. The team didn’t anticipate he’d be available for its game against the Cubs. Infielder Greg Garcia was optioned to Memphis. Garcia was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 12th inning Tuesday night for the game-winning run against the Cubs, also his first career RBI. Wong, 23, opened the season as the Cardinals’ starting second baseman. He was batting .225 when he was demoted April 27. He hit .344 at Memphis with 2 home runs and 10 RBI in 15 games with 5 steals in 5 attempts. He was 4 for 5 against Round Rock on Tuesday. Veteran Mark Ellis has been starting at second since Wong was optioned and was batting .190 with 7 RBI in 63 at-bats.

New York Mets pitcher Dillon Gee has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained back muscle. Jacob deGrom will take Gee’s spot in the rotation tonight, meaning two consecutive Mets starters were scheduled to make their major-league debuts in the Subway Series against the New York Yankees. Rafael Montero pitched Wednesday night at Citi Field after he was called up from Class AAA Las Vegas. Gee has been the Mets’ most consistent and durable starter for about a calendar year. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA in 8 starts this season. He went on the DL retroactive to May 11 and hopes to miss only two turns in the rotation with his strained right lat.

Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Ben Zobrist left the game with Seattle on Wednesday after dislocating his left thumb in the fifth inning. Zobrist walked off the field holding his left thumb after sliding head first into second base on a steal attempt. Zobrist’s hand jammed into the base after he was tagged out by Seattle’s Brad Miller. Zobrist immediately yelled in pain. He had reached base on a one-out single. The Rays later announced the thumb had been dislocated and put back into place. He was replaced in the bottom of the fifth by Sean Rodriguez.

The Chicago White Sox have designated infielder Jeff Keppinger for assignment. The team announced Wednesday that Keppinger was returned from a minor league rehab assignment and activated from the 15-day disabled list before he was let go. Keppinger had been out all season recovering from shoulder surgery last September. Keppinger is in the second year of a $12 million, three-year contract and is owed $4 million this season and $4.5 million next year, but the White Sox decided to let him go anyway to give more time to younger players. Keppinger, 34, batted .253 with 4 home runs and 40 RBI last season.

BASEBALL

MLB changes error to hit for Ortiz

Yu Darvish’s recent no-hit bid now officially ended in the seventh inning, not the ninth.

Major League Baseball overturned a controversial scoring decision from Friday night’s game between the Texas Rangers and Red Sox. Acting on an appeal by Boston slugger David Ortiz, MLB changed an error in the seventh to a single.

Darvish had retired the first 20 batters before Ortiz hit a popup that was ruled an error even though it wasn’t touched. Ortiz added a clean single with two outs in the ninth, the only other hit against the Rangers ace from Japan who came out of the game after that.

MLB confirmed the scoring change Wednesday. But, as is routine on the numerous scoring appeals each week, the league didn’t provide an explanation for the reversal.

Veteran outfielder Alex Rios and 20-year-old second baseman Rougned Odor, playing his second major-league game, both were in position to catch the popup in the seventh. Instead, Rios suddenly slowed and Odor made a late lunge. The ball fell to the ground untouched between them.

Official scorer Steve Weller, in his 20th season working major-league games, charged Rios with an error. While that ended a perfect game, Darvish’s no-hit bid was still intact.

Weller made a judgment call that Rios, with normal effort, could have made a routine catch.

“I don’t think there’s a lot of argument about that,” Weller told a pool reporter after the game.

Even Ortiz acknowledged that the ball should have been caught. Rios also didn’t dispute the error.

Weller watched numerous replays and conferred with Elias Sports Bureau, the sport’s longtime record-keeper. He cited MLB rules that a ball doesn’t have to be touched to be an error. If a fly ball drops to the ground, the official scorer can charge an error if, in his judgment, the outfielder “making ordinary effort would have caught” it.

Once Ortiz singled in the ninth, the slugger decided to appeal the play in the seventh. He said he would have been OK with the error “if the guy’s throwing a no-hitter.”