CINCINNATI — A pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies is criticizing some Major League Baseball teams for extending alcohol sales with games running around 30 minutes shorter due to the sport’s new pitch clock.

Matt Strahm said Thursday on the Baseball Isn’t Boring podcast that teams should be moving the cutoff for beer sales up to the sixth inning, rather than stretching to the eighth or later, since fans will have less time to sober up and drive home.

At least five teams – the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers – have extended alcohol sales past the traditional seventh-inning cutoff. The Baltimore Orioles had already allowed sales into the eighth.

Other teams haven’t ruled out changes.

“The reason we stopped it in the seventh before was to give our fans time to sober up and drive home safe, correct?” Strahm said. “So now with a faster pace game, and me just being a man of common sense, if the game is going to finish quicker, would we not move the beer sales back to the sixth inning to give our fans time to sober up and drive home?

“Instead, we’re going to the eighth, and now you’re putting our fans and our family at risk driving home with people who have just drank beers 22 minutes ago.”

Strahm suggested team owners should re-evaluate whether the extension of beer sales looks out for the safety of fans, or whether it’s a “way to make their dollars back.”

Through the first 1 1/2 weeks of the season, the average MLB game time has been down 31 minutes because of the rule changes, particularly the new pitch clock.

TWINS: Minnesota placed shortstop Kyle Farmer on the 10-day injured list a day after he was hit in the face by a pitch and needed surgery to reset his bottom four teeth and suture lacerations around his lower lip.

The Twins had quite the scare when the 32-year-old Farmer was knocked to the dirt by a 92-mph fastball that got away from Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito in the fourth inning of Minnesota’s win on Wednesday. Farmer avoided any fractures to his jaw, which Manager Rocco Baldelli said was “probably some sort of miracle.”

UMPIRE IN HOSPITAL: Umpire Larry Vanover remained hospitalized Thursday after being hit in the head with a relay throw during Wednesday’s game between the Yankees and Guardians.

Vanover was struck on the left side of his head in the fifth inning by a throw from Guardians All-Star Andrés Giménez. The 67-year-old Vanover was standing between second base and the pitching mound when he got hit. The impact knocked Vanover to the ground and the frightening moment drew a collective gasp from the Progressive Field crowd.

Vanover was taken to the Cleveland Clinic, where he was checked for a concussion and other medical issues. He was kept in the hospital overnight for observation, and there was no immediate word on when he’ll be released.

THURSDAY GAMES

ORIOLES 8, ATHLETICS 7: Adley Rutschman led off the ninth inning with a tiebreaking homer off Trevor May, and Baltimore also got a long ball from hot-hitting Ryan Mountcastle in a victory over visiting Oakland.

Mountcastle’s sixth home run. his fourth of the four-game series, sparked a four-run third inning that provided Baltimore with a 7-4 lead.

Oakland pulled even behind Brent Rooker, who homered twice and drove in five runs.

In the ninth, Rutschman drove the second pitch from May (2-1) into the center-field seats. Now in his second season after being selected No. 1 in the 2019 amateur draft, Rutschman had never before ended a big league game with a home run.

Félix Bautista (1-1) worked a perfect ninth.