A look at what’s happening around the majors Wednesday:
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ROBERTO CLEMENTE DAY
Pittsburgh Pirates players and coaches will wear No. 21 to mark Roberto Clemente Day, celebrated by Major League Baseball on the start of Hispanic Heritage Month. Players from Puerto Rico, annual Clemente Award winners and this year’s Clemente Award nominees also have the option to wear the number of the Hall of Famer, who died in a plane crash on a humanitarian mission on Dec. 31, 1972. Additional players may be allowed to wear 21 based on team ability to have them in time.
LEADING THE WAY
Dodgers left-hander Julio Urías tries to become the major leagues’ first 18-game winner when Los Angeles hosts the Arizona Diamondbacks. Urías has won four straight starts and is 8-0 with a 1.79 ERA, 80 strikeouts and 16 walks in 13 starts since a June 21 loss at San Diego.
TRYING TO GET EVEN
Chicago White Sox pitcher Dallas Keuchel (8-9) starts against the visiting Los Angeles Angels and Janson Junk (0-1). Keuchel, a 33-year-old left-hander, is trying to avoid finishing with a losing record for the first time since he was 9-12 for Houston in 2016, a year after he went 20-8 and won the AL Cy Young Award.
METS MASTER
Jon Lester (5-6, 4.75 ERA) pitches for the St. Louis Cardinals against Pete Alonso and the New York Mets in the finale of a three-game series between NL wild-card contenders at Citi Field.
The 37-year-old lefty has won six straight decisions versus the Mets and is 8-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 career regular-season starts against them. The five-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion went six innings for Washington in a 6-2 win over New York in June before getting traded to St. Louis at the July 30 deadline. He is 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA in eight starts for the Cardinals, helping to stabilize an injury-depleted rotation.
Last time out, Lester allowed just three hits over seven innings in a no-decision against Cincinnati.
Rookie right-hander Tylor Megill (3-4, 4.06) is on the mound for the Mets.
SHOPPING AROUND
With a decade left on their lease at Kauffman Stadium, the Kansas City Royals are evaluating their options and owner John Sherman said one of those could be a new downtown ballpark.
The Royals are tied to the 53-year-old stadium, named after founder Ewing Kauffman, until 2031 under terms of a public-private partnership 15 years ago that helped to fund $250 million in renovations to the quaint but aging ballpark on the outskirts of town.
But the club must make a decision in the next couple of years to press on with more renovations at Truman Sports Complex, which is also home to Arrowhead Stadium and the Kansas City Chiefs, or look elsewhere. The design and construction for a new stadium typically takes up to five years, and securing the necessary funding can sometimes take just as long.
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