MLB opening day has 14 clock violations, stolen base spike

By JAY COHEN
AP Baseball Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Cubs right-hander Marcus Stroman committed Major League Baseball’s first pitch-clock violation in the third inning of an opening day game against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the first of 14 violations in 15 games on a day the average game time was 2 hours, 45 minutes. With no outs, rookie Brice Turang on second base and Christian Yelich at the plate, plate umpire Ron Kulpa called the violation on Stroman at Wrigley Field. Kulpa pointed to his wrist in announcing the call, and the automatic ball made it a 2-2 count against Yelich.