It’s working: Pitch clock shaves 20 minutes from early games

By JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer

So far, baseball’s new speed-up rules are working. The first-ever major league pitch clock and other rules have helped cut more than 20 minutes from spring training games through the first weekend. The average time of game has dropped from 3 hours, 1 minute last spring to 2:39. Players and umpires are still adjusting to the rules. In the Cubs game against the Diamondbacks, both pitcher Joe Mantiply and batter Brennen Davis were penalized for being too slow at the start of the third inning, so Davis’ at-bat started with a count of 1-1.