Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz called 'cheaters' at fraud trial

NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were described by a prosecutor Wednesday as “cheaters” during opening statements at a New York criminal fraud trial that has cast a spotlight on the threat gamblers pose to America's pastime.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca Urquiola told a jury in Brooklyn that Clase befriended a sports betting gambler in the Dominican Republic in early 2023 who shared his interest in dominoes and cockfighting, which is legal in his home country.

Clase eventually agreed to tell “his new friend” what kinds of pitches he would throw in certain games, enabling gamblers to reap at least $460,000 on platforms that allow customers to bet on whether a pitch would be a ball or a strike, she said.

“The defendants, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, are cheaters,” Urquiola told jurors. She said they “sold their pitches.”

Clase, the Guardians’ former star closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges and are on non-disciplinary leave from the club without pay while facing prosecution. They were arrested in November 2025 and have been free on bail since.

Prosecutors said Clase began providing information about his pitches to bettors in 2023 and recruited Ortiz into the scheme in 2025.

Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year who had completed the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract when conspiracy and fraud charges against the pitchers were made public in November 2025.

Ortiz, 27, earned $782,600 as a starting pitcher for the Guardians during the 2025 season.

Urquiola said Clase saw gamblers profiting from his pitches and “decided it wasn't enough to help his friends make money,” so he asked for kickbacks.

She said text messages in which the pitchers described rigged pitches and bets, sometimes using code words such as “chicken” or “rooster,” along with testimony from some gamblers, would prove the government's case.

Defense lawyers, however, said their clients were innocent and that a gambler who befriended Clase falsely claimed to other gamblers that the pitcher was providing inside information on his pitches and tried to sell them the information.

Michael Bronson, an attorney for Clase, said his client attended school until age 15 in a small coastal village in the Dominican Republic before focusing on baseball and becoming “a standout, a superstar” with a reputation for shutting down teams in the final inning of games.

He said Clase was 25 in the spring of 2023 when he met a 41-year-old gambler, Enoc Pena, who made over 7,000 bets from 2023 to 2025 and had a history of lying to get what he wanted.

Pena “didn't see a peer, a friend. He saw a mark,” Bronson said.

Soon Pena was bringing Clase food and picking him up at the airport in the Dominican Republic, the lawyer said. The pitcher, in turn, gave him tickets to Guardians games and loaned him money.

As Pena bragged to fellow gamblers that he was close to Clase and tried to sell them information, he was actually guessing which pitches Clase would throw in games and managed with fellow gamblers to lose over 200 bets on Clase's pitches, the lawyer said.

Pena was “selling lies,” Bronson said, urging jurors to ask themselves if his client would risk “a fortune and his lifelong dream over a few thousand dollars.”

Attorney Samuel Landes, representing Ortiz, told jurors in an opening statement that the pitcher had no contact with gamblers and that only two of his pitches, both balls, are at stake in the trial.

“That's not a conspiracy. That's just baseball,” he said.

At one point, Landes asked his client to stand as he introduced him to the jury. Ortiz stood up and waved.

Landes said Ortiz was victimized by Pena's lies, including allegations that the pitcher — who had received $1.7 million in advance for future contracts and stood to make millions more — had accepted $5,000 for tips about his pitches.

“Why would Luis Ortiz throw all that away for $5,000? He would not,” he said.

Landes said Pena had struck a deal with prosecutors allowing him to avoid prison and stay in the U.S. despite lying to banks and about his marital status on immigration forms.

Although Pena was once listed as a possible witness at the trial, prosecutors said last week that they did not intend to put him on the witness stand.

Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase arrives at the Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase arrives at the Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase arrives at the Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase arrives at the Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase arrives at the Brooklyn federal court, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The two major candidates in Alaska's U.S. Senate race urged supporters to be patient as results began coming in late Tuesday, delivering rousing speeches and expressing confidence against the backdrop of the fallout from allegations of partisan tricks to recruit a candidate with the same name as the Republican incumbent.

The race headlined by two-term Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola had been among those expected to play a role in determining which party gained control of the Senate. Democrats had won control before polls closed Tuesday night in Alaska.

“Lower 48 blue wave. But we're different,” Sullivan told supporters after initial results were reported. Peltola during her election night party said: "We are getting our government back.”

The race brought top Republican officials to Alaska to rally for Sullivan, including President Donald Trump, who placed particular focus on a third candidate in the race, retired teacher Dan J. Sullivan. Trump called him “fake” and ordered that the Justice Department sue to block certification if the incumbent loses, pending an investigation into potential voter confusion.

The lawsuit, filed less than two weeks before the ranked vote election, was dismissed by a federal judge, prompting a Justice Department appeal.

The race remained too early to call.

The candidacy of Dan J. Sullivan, who won 2.5% of the vote in the August open primary and qualified for the general election with a top-four finish, dominated attention in the final days of the race after The New York Times reported that Peltola’s campaign appeared to be involved in efforts to recruit him. The report revived long-held suspicions raised by the incumbent and his allies that Dan J. Sullivan was a “sham” candidate intent on confusing voters.

Peltola denied involvement in any such efforts, and Dan J. Sullivan, who lives in the small fishing community of Petersburg, has denied any contact with Peltola’s campaign. He has not returned messages in recent days.

Peltola appeared to reference the controversy in her speech late Tuesday, saying she was looking out on a room of people who are “smart people and know exactly who they’re voting for.”

The Justice Department last week confirmed the existence of a criminal investigation, but Alaska U.S. Attorney Michael Heyman would not say what potential crimes authorities were looking into or the targets of their probe. Donors to Dan J. Sullivan’s campaign have said that FBI agents have asked if they felt deceived by the lesser-known Sullivan.

The ballot distinguished the two as Dan S. Sullivan, Republican and incumbent, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation.

The senator, speaking to reporters after voting in Anchorage earlier Tuesday, called the controversy “the biggest election cheating scandal in the history of the state of Alaska" and called into question Peltola's denials.

“The whole scheme treats all of us Alaskans with disrespect,” he said.

Alaska accepts ballots that are postmarked by Election Day for up to 15 days after the election from overseas voters. That makes Nov. 18 the deadline for final receipt of ballots and when tabulations under the state’s ranked choice voting system will be done. Under Alaska’s system, rankings come into play if no candidate earns more than 50% of the first-choice votes.

Peltola held a significant lead over the incumbent early in the count, but the race tightened considerably, with Sullivan eventually overtaking the Democrat. Both candidates were below the 50%-plus one threshold of first-choice votes required to win outright. More returns are required to determine whether either candidate will exceed 50% or whether ranked choice tabulations will be triggered.

Peltola was at times giddy during her election night speech, even taking a selfie with the crowd. But she said that while they were all ready to celebrate, “the results are not going to be fast.”

“It’s going to take a long time to make sure we’re counting every vote from every far-flung hinterland community, from every tiny outpost, from all of our service members serving overseas, our young people going to colleges,” she said.

Sullivan also told his supporters it would take time to get final results. But he said he was confident that when all votes were counted, he'd win reelection.

Marilyn Moses, who says that she has known Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola for all of Peltola's life, becomes emotional during an election night event for Peltola Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola speaks at an election night event Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Lainey Diaz., 3, waits for mom Justise Diaz to finish voting at Midtown Mall on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

From left, Wren Peterson, Travis Peterson, and Tristen Peterson vote at the Hope Retreat Center on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Hope, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, gets a sticker after voting at the Alaska Zoo on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Mary Peltola, center, a Democrat running for Alaska's U.S. Senate seat, speaks with voters during a Get Out the Vote Rally in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (Jack Barnwell/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner via AP)

Competing yard signs for Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola and Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, are seen Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Whit sits on the shoulders of father Hayden Anderson-Michaud as he casts his ballot at a polling location open for early voting at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026, in Wasilla, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola speaks to supporters during a campaign rally at the Alaska Aviation Museum, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks during a rally at Ginger's Restaurant, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026, in Soldotna, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)