A little more than three months after the Cavaliers broke the city’s 52-year championship drought, the Indians took the first swing at a franchise drought that runs back to 1948. Game 1 of the Tribe’s ALDS against the Red Sox had that after-party feel on a perfect 75-degree October night. Any doubts about the attendance at Progressive Field were put to rest early. Renowned team mascot Slider stood over the script “Indians” logo waving a bold-red “Rally Together” towel before the game....

Indians fans have been pushing the idea on social media, and Sheen — who played pitcher Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in “Major League,” a 1989 film about the Indians — was all about it. MORE: Each MLB team’s worst postseason memory An MLB spokesperson, though, told the Associated Press that the decisions about who will throw the first pitches have been made and that the league and Indians have worked together to find “former franchise greats” for the honors (evidently, this guy was not among them)....

Those in weekly leagues should note how many games each team plays, as well as which players will gain/lose at-bats because of interleague play; those in daily leagues should note first-pitch times and Monday/Thursday off-days. MORE SEASON-LONG HELP: SN Fantasy | Fantasy Alarm’s Assistant GM Tool This week’s schedule is particularly strange, as every team will play a pair of two-game, home-and-home interleague “series”. For example, the Braves will play the Red Sox in Boston on both Monday and Tuesday; then the Red Sox will travel to Atlanta to play the Braves on Wednesday and Thursday....

According to TMZ , Puig became physical with his sister at a Miami bar, shoving her at one point. Several bar staffers quickly intervened with Puig, who then allegedly became combative. MORE: Dirty incidents, cheapshots, jerks give sports a bad name After the staffers got Puig outside, he allegedly sucker punched the bar manager, setting off what TMZ called a “massive brawl.” The staff members managed to detain Puig, and police were summoned....

So Sporting News is hopping in the WABAC machine to revisit the 10 biggest trades from the week leading up to the 2009 trade deadline. July 24: A’s traded Matt Holliday to Cardinals for Clayton Mortensen, Shane Peterson and Brett Wallace Holliday was worth 2.3 WAR in 63 games for the Cardinals down the stretch in 2009, a season that ended with St. Louis losing to the Dodgers in the division series....

The Twins will get minor league outfielder Malique Ziegler from the Giants. Austin, 27, hit 17 home runs with a .767 OPS in 244 at-bats split between the Yankees and Twins last season. Minnesota had acquired him from the Yankees in the trade that sent pitcher Lance Lynn to New York. Austin had been the Yankees’ fourth-best position prospect in 2017, according to MLB.com. MORE: Watch ‘ChangeUp,’ a new MLB live whiparound show on DAZN...

Since the creation of the Central Division in 1994, the Cardinals have spent at least a day in first place every year. They have won the division 10 times. The last time St. Louis went through the entire season without spending any time in first place was 1991, when the Cardinals finished 14 games behind the Pirates in the old National League East. Unlike 1991, the Cardinals can wind up having a successful season even without being a first-place team, thanks, of course, to the wild card....

We’ve already looked at the Yankees, Braves, Reds, A’s, Padres, Brewers and Twins. Today, we’ll look at the Rays, a team that hoped to be a contender but has fallen well under .500. MORE: Slim pickings for MLB teams looking to buy at deadline The idea here is to look at the players who will be available when contenders come calling, with one featured player and a quick run-through of other position players and pitchers on the block....

THE RUMOR: The Nationals are moving on from acquiring Brandon Phillips from the Reds and are pursuing other options, including free agents Howie Kendrick and Daniel Murphy. REPORTED BY: Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal THE DETAILS: While the Reds want to ship Phillips and his $27 million contract over the next two seasons, trade talks between the Reds and Nats fizzled Saturday as Phillips apparently is unwilling to waive his 10-and-5 rights and approve a trade to a new team....

Consider, for example, the Orioles, who lead the American League East by two games on the strength of a lineup that has hit the most home runs in the major leagues and a bullpen with the third-lowest ERA in baseball. Baltimore’s weak spot is the starting rotation, with a 4.94 combined ERA that is tied with the A’s for fifth-worst in the majors, better than only the Royals, Diamondbacks, Twins and Reds....

The Pirates saw quite a show Wednesday. Buchholz threw 22 of 28 first-pitch strikes and allowed just one run on eight hits. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.48 ERA in five starts this month and hasn’t allowed a home run in his last six outings. But while the Pirates may be interested, the Red Sox are likely to hang on to the 30-year-old pitcher for the time being. The Globe’s Nick Cafardo says Boston has “no intention” of trading Buchholz at the moment....

THE RUMOR: The Reds are close to sending starting pitcher Mat Latos to the Marlins. REPORTED BY: FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi THE DETAILS: Cincinnati has been in talks with both the Tigers and Marlins regarding Latos, but the Marlins appear to be more eager to acquire the 6-foot-6-inch righty. LAST SEASON: Latos went 5-5 last season with a 3.25 ERA in 102.1 innings. His 16 starts in 2014 were the fewest he made since his 2009 rookie season....

THE RUMOR: The Twins are “closely monitoring” the market for catchers, including A.J. Pierzynski, Derek Norris, Jonathan Lucroy and Alex Avila. MORE RUMORS: Justin Upton | David Price | Jonathan Papelbon REPORTED BY: St. Paul Pioneer Press THE DETAILS: Since signing a two-year, $12 million extension at the end of July last season, Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki has failed to live up to expectations. He finished 2014 batting .248/.290/.366 and is currently batting a dismal ....

Franchises have until 4 p.m. ET Wednesday to get trades done. Players can still be placed and claimed on outright waivers after that date, but trades will no longer be permitted. The market has been fairly soporific so far, but with just over a day left before the trade deadline, teams are expected to make a move, whether to improve their playoffs chances or to fine-tune their roster ahead of the postseason....

Wade Davis, a stalwart in the Royals’ lockdown bullpen, will become the Cubs’ new closer in a trade between the last two World Series champions that became official Wednesday afternoon, MLB.com reported. FAGAN: Chris Sale makes Red Sox rotation silly good Working to shave salary, the Royals will receive slugger Jorge Soler and the four seasons of team control that comes with him. Davis, 31, has a 1.18 ERA over the past three seasons, allowing just three home runs....

The Yankees manager shared his thoughts on the idea Friday when addressing the 19-5 loss his team suffered at the hands of the Indians on Thursday. “I think there would be a benefit to that,’’ Boone said. “You would probably eliminate a lot of the unwritten rules, people running or swinging. It would be like, if you get to this point after seven innings or whatever, there might be something to that and worth exploring....

The Rays (35-19) banged out 16 hits in a 14-3 win over the AL Central-leading Twins. It is Tampa Bay’s sixth-straight victory, and moves them within a half-game of the idle first-place Yankees in the AL East. Charlie Morton yielded only two runs in seven innings to run his record to 6-0. And Austin Meadows cleared the bases with a double to key a six-run third inning. Ji-Man Choi later added a two-run homer and Brandon Lowe had two hits and three RBIs....

Akpom came off the bench past the hour mark and he proved to be the difference, scoring from close range with three minutes remaining after big-money recruit Granit Xhaka made his debut for the Premier League giants at Avaya Stadium. MORE: Ranking American owners of English sides The score was level at halftime following Didier Drogba’s equalizer for Kaka and Co., canceling out Joel Campbell’s 11th-minute penalty. The result ended the All-Stars’ run of consecutive wins against European opposition, having upstaged Tottenham last year and Bayern Munich in 2014....

“It could have been handled better,” Garber told reporters at the league’s draft in Philadelphia, according to The Associated Press. “And it needs to be handled better going forward. We’ve learned lessons from this, and those lessons are that transparency is more and more important.” MORE: Biggest potential transfers in 2015 | Who is to blame for Lampard fiasco? Garber did not go into detail about what happened. City Football Group, which operates NYCFC and English Premier League side Manchester City, led fans and media to believe that Lampard would be playing in New York at the start of the MLS expansion franchise’s inaugural season....