Guardians pitchers Clase and Ortiz charged with taking bribes to rig pitches for bettors

NEW YORK AP Two Major League Baseball pitchers were indicted Sunday on charges they took bribes to give sports bettors advance notice of the types of pitches they d throw and intentionally tossed balls instead of strikes to ensure triumphant bets Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz both of whom pitched for the Cleveland Guardians have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July while Major League Baseball investigated unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched Clase and Ortiz were both charged with wire fraud conspiracy honest services wire fraud conspiracy conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy The top charges carry a prospective punishment of up to years in prison in the event of a conviction Ortiz was arrested by the FBI on Sunday morning at Boston Logan International Airport He is expected to appear in federal court in Boston on Monday Related Articles Ex-NBA star Damon Jones eyes plea deal in rigged poker sports-betting cases College football picks BYU USC Arizona cover Oregon Washington don t CFB picks for Week USC ASU and Utah struggle against the point spread Felon charged with running rigged NBA poker tournament triggered mob battle between Gambinos and Bonannos French The NBA should have known this was coming Major League Baseball commented it contacted federal law enforcement when it began analyzing the distinctive betting activity and has fully cooperated with officials We are aware of the indictment and currently s arrest and our inquiry is ongoing its comment stated In a comment the Guardians commented We are aware of the up-to-date law enforcement action We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue A lawyer for Ortiz declined to comment when contacted by The Associated Press and a lawyer for Clase did not instantly return messages seeking comment