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ATLANTA (AP) — Baseball owners have locked down their commissioner and their main broadcast partner http://www.tigersfan...-machado-jersey , too.Any decisions on speeding up the game and perhaps making it more enjoyable to watch will have to wait.After wrapping up two days of meetings at a hotel next to the Atlanta Braves‘ SunTrust Park, the owners announced a new contract for Commissioner Rob Manfred, keeping him on the job at least through the 2024 regular season. The 60-year-old started a five-year term in January 2015.“It seems like about 15 minutes ago I was spending a really dreadful day in a not-very-nice hotel suite in Baltimore waiting to see if I could get vote number — what was I looking for, 23 right?” quipped Manfred, who won the vote to succeed Bud Selig in August 2014 after beating out two other contenders. “It seems almost impossible that four years have gone by.”The owners also signed off on a new television deal with Fox, which still has three seasons to go on its current eight-year contract that pays baseball an average of $525 million per season.The seven-year extension, which runs through 2028, will be worth just over $5 billion to MLB — roughly a 36 percent increase to an average of about $715 million per season.Manfred was asked whether the owners had any reservations to making such a long-term commitment, especially giving the rapidly changing dynamics of the broadcast and online industries.“I’m a huge believer in the idea that when you have a good partner, even when you’re looking at an uncertain landscape, that good partners find a way to navigate that uncertain landscape,” the commissioner said.The relationship with Fox, which began in 1996, will continue to include the World Series and All-Star Game, as well as extensive playoff coverage on both the network and its all-sports cable channel, FS1.The new agreement also commits Fox to showing more games from the League Championship Series on its main network, beginning in 2019. It was criticized for televising all but Game 2 in this year’s seven-game NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers on FS1, which has a narrower distribution. Starting next year, two of the first four games and Game 7 will be on Fox.In addition to the extension with Fox, MLB also approved a $300 million Justin Verlander Jersey , three-year with DAZN, a subscription video streaming service run by former ESPN president John Skipper. Manfred called it a key part of baseball’s strategy to reach a new generation of fans.DAZN will co-produce a nightly highlight show at the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey, and do live cut-ins to games Monday through Friday, an arrangement that steers clear of national broadcast slots held by Fox and ESPN on the weekend.“The owners have shown courage, because we are new,” Skipper said. “We will make sure that young fans have a whip-around show (similar to NFL’s Red Zone) that shows every home run, every highlight. We will get them interested in the game.”While the deals with Manfred, Fox and DAZN were expected , baseball has yet to come to a consensus on the best ways to improve a sport that suffered a 4 percent dip in attendance this season to 69.6 million, plunging to its lowest level since 2003.Manfred and the owners continue to look at ways to speed play . Nine-inning games averaged 3 hours, 4 minutes in 2018. While that was 4 minutes lower than the previous season, it still matched the third-highest average in baseball history.Baseball’s style of play is also under scrutiny as teams have increasingly become reliant on a home run-or-bust offensive strategy to beat defensive shifts and reliever-heavy pitching staffs that are able to mix and match for almost any situation.Tampa Bay , most notably, even began using relievers to start games, only expecting to get an inning or two out of them before beginning a series of changes. While baseball set a record for homers in 2017 and stayed close to a record level this year, it also had more strikeouts than hits for the first time in 2018 as the cumulative batting average dipped to .248 — the lowest since 1972, the year before the designated hitter was introduced in the American League.Chris Marinak, MLB’s executive vice president for strategy, technology and innovation Houston Astros Jersey , provided owners with a report on those issues. Manfred refused to go into details, saying he preferred to reach a consensus with the players’ union. That includes any decision on a pitch clock, which the owners have the right to impose without union approval under the labor agreement.Manfred and Tony Clark, head of the MLB Players Association, have been exchanging dates to discuss possible improvements, though the commissioner stressed that no major changes are expected.“The owners are realistic about how the business performed,” Manfred said. “The focus of the conversation, however, was to make sure we do everything we can to get as many fans in the ballpark in 2019 as we possibly can. We do think we have some good ideas we’ll be rolling out in the next few months.”Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner stressed that baseball merely needs some minor tweaking, not a massive overhaul.“There are reasons the game had changed,” Steinbrenner said. “I don’t see those changes reverting because, quite frankly, I think those are good changes. There’s only so much we’re going to be able to do. But we have to continue to try to do everything we can. It’s not something we can ignore.”Manfred said MLB is expected to announce a host for the 2021 All-Star Game sometimes early next year. He acknowledged that SunTrust Park is one of the contenders.The owners got a tour of the 2-year-old stadium, notable for the adjacent mixed-use development that is also controlled by the Braves. It includes restaurants, bars, retail shops, apartments, an office tower as well as the hotel where the meetings were held.Atlanta has hosted two previous All-Star Games, most recently in 2000 at its previous home, Turner Field. NEW YORK (AP) — Through the first 14 innings of their homestand http://www.astrosfan...rit-cole-jersey , the New York Yankees had five errors and four hits. A restless crowd was booing the team in pinstripes on a 96-degree night.Then all of a sudden, the Bronx Bombers snapped out of it in a big way.Pinch-hitter Neil Walker connected for a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, and New York rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 on Tuesday.“It’s not easy for us right now,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re kind of grinding through some things. It’s a tough stretch. But these guys continue to find a way.”Aaron Hicks hit a tying homer in the eighth and rookie Miguel Andujar also had a two-run shot to help the injury-depleted Yankees win for the ninth time in 11 games. With the second-best record in the majors (84-48), they remained 6½ games behind first-place Boston in the AL East.Walker batted for Ronald Torreyes with one out and launched the first pitch he saw from Dylan Covey (4-12) way over the right-center wall for his first career pinch-hit homer and second game-ending drive. As he neared home plate, Walker tossed his helmet high in the air and was swarmed by happy teammates.“As a pinch-hitter, you try to assume that the first pitch you see is going to be the best pitch you see. You try to be aggressive, just try to be on time,” explained Walker, who acknowledged the Yankees are tired. “That’s obviously as much as you can ask for tonight.”With the Yankees down by two, Giancarlo Stanton singled leading off the eighth to stop an 0-for-14 slide. Hicks drove a full-count pitch from Juan Minaya to right and shouted toward the Yankees’ dugout as he trotted to first.“Just a big relief,” Brett Gardner said. “A lot of excitement.”Dellin Betances (4-3) struck out two in a perfect ninth.New York was blanked on one hit by James Shields over the first five innings. Gardner began the comeback with a leadoff triple in the sixth , and Andujar connected for his 22nd homer two outs later.Shields left leading 4-2 with two on in the sixth. He remained 5-15 overall, tied with Baltimore right-hander Alex Cobb for the most losses in the majors.“Pretty good outing overall,” Shields said. “Unfortunately, my record is not really showing how I’ve pitched this year. Sometimes that happens. … Overall, I’m really pleased with my season.”Flashing signs of improvement, the young, rebuilding White Sox had won four straight and 10 of 13.“We’ve been playing really good baseball,” Shields said. “That’s a game we can’t let go right there. That’s a learning process for these guys Hector Rondon Jersey , and situational pitching is very important in this game. We have to do a better job of that.”Chicago chased Yankees starter Lance Lynn with consecutive two-out singles in the sixth. Yolmer Sanchez greeted Jonathan Holder with an RBI single, and Nicky Delmonico made it 4-0 when he plopped a two-run single into left field.Delmonico scored easily from first base in the fifth when Gardner bobbled Avisail Garcia’s RBI double in left.WHAT’S IN A NAME?Fittingly, Walker’s home run was the 80th walk-off homer in the majors this season. That matched the record set in 2004, according to Major League Baseball. “He’s just a true pro,” Gardner said.MILESTONE MANThe 36-year-old Shields threw 98 pitches in the heat but hasn’t won on the road since opening day at Kansas City. It was his 400th career start. “I’m pretty proud of that,” he said. “Pretty special.”TRAINER’S ROOMWhite Sox: SS Tim Anderson tripped over an oncoming Delmonico on Greg Bird’s eighth-inning popup, but held onto the ball. Anderson exited with a bruised left ankle and is day to day. “I’m assuming he’ll be fine,” manager Rick Renteria said. Anderson was replaced in the ninth by Jose Rondon.Yankees: RF Aaron Judge said his broken right wrist remains sore to the touch and he still hasn’t started swinging a bat. “It’s getting better every couple of days,” he said. “They told me I can play before it completely heals.” The slugger was injured July 26. “It takes about six weeks for something like this to fully heal,” Judge said. “I’m not that close yet. I’ll wake up one of these days and feel good. I’m just waiting for that day.” … C Gary Sanchez (strained right groin) was the DH in his second rehab game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He has homered in both games. … SS Didi Gregorius (bruised left heel) took grounders hit right at him and could begin running Wednesday. It remains to be seen whether he’ll need a minor league rehab assignment before coming off the DL. … All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman (left knee tendinitis) was scheduled to receive a second platelet-rich plasma injection Tuesday, according to Boone.UP NEXTWhite Sox: RHP Reynaldo Lopez (4-9, 4.66 ERA) makes his first start at Yankee Stadium in the series finale Wednesday night. Lopez is 0-4 with a 6.70 ERA in his last nine outings, getting a no-decision in each of the past five. But he pitched well Aug. 7 against New York, permitting one run in seven innings.Yankees: CC Sabathia (7-4, 3.30) seeks his 245th career win. The 38-year-old lefty returned from the disabled list last Friday in Baltimore and allowed two earned runs with eight strikeouts over six innings. He racked up 12 strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in a strong outing Aug. 7 against the White Sox.