TORONTO (AP) — Orioles right-hander Grayson Rodriguez will return to Baltimore for imaging after being scratched from Tuesday’s start at Toronto because of pain in his upper back and shoulder, manager Brandon Hyde said.
“I hope everything works out OK,” Hyde said after the Blue Jays beat the Orioles 5-2.
Rodriguez was scratched minutes before first pitch because of discomfort in his right latissimus dorsi and teres major, the Orioles said. The two muscles help move the upper arm.
Rodriguez was on the injured list April 30-May 18 because of right shoulder inflammation, but Hyde said Tuesday’s pain was “all new” for the 24-year-old.
“He’s been feeling fine, threw a really good bullpen in Cleveland,” Hyde said. “It just came up tonight while he was warming up.”
Rodriguez is 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA in 20 starts for the AL East-leading Orioles, tied with Atlanta’s Chris Sale and Kansas City’s Julio Lugo for the major league lead in victories.
Baltimore’s first-round pick in the 2018 draft, Rodriguez has won five of his last six decisions. He went 7-4 with a 4.35 ERA in 23 starts as a rookie last season.
Right-handed reliever Albert Suárez got the start in place of Rodriguez and struck out six in five shutout innings. He walked two and allowed two hits, both singles.
“To give us five innings in that kind of spot, that’s unbelievable,” a grateful Hyde said.
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Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez delivers during the first inning of a baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The risk of a strike at Boeing appears to be growing, as factory workers complain about a contract offer that their union negotiated with the giant aircraft manufacturer.
The president of the union local that represents 33,000 Boeing workers predicted that they will vote against a deal that includes 25% raises over four years and a promise that the company's next new airplane will be built by union members in Washington state.
“The response from people is, it’s not good enough,” Jon Holden, the president of the union local, told The Seattle Times newspaper.
Members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in the Seattle area and machinists at other locations in Washington and California are scheduled to vote Thursday on the Boeing offer and, if they reject it, whether to go on strike beginning Friday.
Union members have gone on social media to complain about the deal. Hundreds protested during a lunch break at their plant in Everett, Washington, chanting, “Strike! Strike! Strike!” according to the Seattle Times.
Holden, who joined the union bargaining committee in unanimously endorsing the contract, told the newspaper he doesn’t believe he can secure the votes to ratify the proposed contract.
Boeing did not immediately respond when asked for comment.
Unlike strikes at airlines, which are very rare, a walkout at Boeing would not have an immediate effect on consumers. It would not result in any canceled flights. It would, however, shut down production and leave Boeing with no jets to deliver to the airlines that ordered them.
On Sunday, the company and the union local, IAM District 751, announced they had reached a tentative agreement that featured the 25% wage hike and would avoid a suspension of work on building planes, including the 737 Max and the larger 777 widebody jet.
The deal fell short of the union’s initial demand for pay raises of 40% over three years and restoration of traditional pensions that were eliminated in union concessions a decade ago. Workers would get $3,000 lump-sum payments, increased contributions to retirement accounts and the commitment about working on the next Boeing airplane.
Holden said in a message to members Monday, “We have achieved everything we could in bargaining, short of a strike. We recommended acceptance because we can’t guarantee we can achieve more in a strike.”
A strike would add to setbacks at Boeing. The company, headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has lost $27 billion since the start of 2019 and is trying to fix huge problems in both aircraft manufacturing and its defense and space business. A new CEO has been on the job a little over a month.
Boeing shares were down 3% in afternoon trading.
FILE - Cristina Green waves a towel to machinists and fellow union members for a "stop work meeting" and strike sanction at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, July 17, 2024. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File)
FILE - Boeing 737 MAX airplanes are shown on the assembly line during a media tour at the Boeing facility in Renton, Wash., June 25, 2024. (Jennifer Buchanan/The Seattle Times via AP, Pool, File)