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Players say MLB’s robot umpires are shrinking the strike zone

PHOENIX — Arizona Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald knows that — in theory — Major League Baseball's new Automated Ball-Strike system shouldn't favor batters or pitchers. In practice, he thinks one side has gained an advantage. And it's not the guys throwing the baseball. "It's what (MLB) wanted — people on base," Sewald said. "Tough time to be a pitcher. Balls flying everywhere, you've got a smaller strike zone. But you just go out there and do the best you can." So ... is Sewald right? It depends on which numbers you want to use, but it sure seems like the strike zone has ...

Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick arrive in form for a brotherly bid to win the PGA Tour’s Zurich Classic

AVONDALE, La. — Matt and Alex Fitzpatrick are hoping to take advantage of a rare opportunity to win a PGA Tour event together. The English brothers have played some of their best golf lately, and the field at this week's Zurich Classic of New Orleans is down on star power because of the tour's jam-packed schedule. "It's been a nice start to the year for both of us," said Matt Fitzpatrick, now ranked third in the world after a victory last weekend in the RBC Heritage. "I feel like this year, our expectations are higher given the form that we had shown. ... We feel like we have as ...

LPGA is keeping with tradition at the first major. But it’s a pool, not a pond in Houston

HOUSTON — From a pond to a pool. From the warmth of the California desert to pop-up thunderstorms in Houston. The LPGA Tour's first major of the year, once laden with tradition and identity, feels as though it's starting over again at The Chevron Championship. What the LPGA was determined to keep was the most memorable aspect to this major — the winner's leap into Poppie's Pond on Sunday. Of course, Poppie's Pond isn't in Houston. It surrounds the 18th green at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California, the course that first hosted the LPGA in 1972, became a beloved major in ...