Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers was suspended for 20 games and fined US$50,000 by Major League Baseball on Friday for an outburst that sent a television cameraman to the hospital and prompted a police investigation.
The players' union filed an appeal on behalf of Rogers, who can keep playing until the appeal is heard.
"Mr. Rogers' behavior was unprofessional, unwarranted and completely unacceptable," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Major League Baseball is a social institution and all of us in the game have an important responsibility to act with reason and good judgment."
PHOTO: AP
Rogers shoved two cameramen before Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Angels in a tirade that included throwing a camera to the ground, kicking it and threatening to break more.
"We've made it clear from the beginning this was an unacceptable behavior for the club," Rangers general manager John Hart said.
The incident was captured on videotape and led to KDFW cameraman Larry Rodriguez being treated at a hospital.
Rodriguez filed an assault report, and Arlington police spokeswoman Christy Gilfour said the case was being investigated as a misdemeanor assault. Rogers hadn't been interviewed by investigators and no charges had been filed Thursday.
On June 17, Rogers punched a water cooler in the dugout after being pulled from a game against Washington. Rogers broke a small bone at the base of the pinkie on his non-throwing hand in the incident.
The injury wasn't made public until Rogers missed his start against the Angels on Tuesday, a week after he gave up six runs on 10 hits in 3 1-3 innings at Los Angeles.
Rogers lashed out at the cameramen Wednesday as they filmed him walking to the field for pregame stretching. A day earlier, he had ordered cameras turned off around him in the clubhouse.
Hart said ``the crux of the matter'' for Rogers was the perception by some media and fans that he skipped his start against the first-place Angels as a possible ploy in contract negotiations.
Livan Hernandez tied a franchise record by winning his 11th straight decision, leading the Washington Nationals to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Friday.
Jose Guillen hit his 16th homer and catcher Brian Schneider was 3-for-5. He also helped preserve a one-run lead by picking off the potential tying run at third base in the eighth.
Cubs starter Mark Prior (5-2) allowed three runs on six hits, struck out seven and did not walk a batter in five innings.
Chicago's Derrek Lee homered and tripled. Jeromy Burnitz had two hits and an RBI, but was caught off third by Schneider with Todd Hollandsworth, who homered earlier, at-bat.
Hernandez (12-2) allowed three runs in eight innings and joined Dennis Martinez with 11 consecutive winning decisions. The Nationals have won four straight.
Braves 9, Phillies 1
At Philadelphia, John Smoltz won his fifth straight start, and Andruw Jones and Kelly Johnson hit three-run homers for Atlanta.
Smoltz (9-5) improved to 5-0 with three complete games in his last five starts. He allowed a run on five hits and struck out seven in six innings.
Jones hit his major league-leading 26th homer, and Adam LaRoche also connected for the Braves.
Vicente Padilla (3-8) lost for Philadelphia.
Astros 10, Reds 7
At Cincinnati, Houston's Morgan Ensberg hit the ball into the upper deck for a three-run homer in the second inning.
Ensberg, who also had two doubles, has 11 of his 21 homers and 32 RBIs since June 1.
Lance Berkman drove in a pair of runs with a double and a single off Luke Hudson (1-3), who gave up a career-high seven runs in 2 1-3 innings against Cleveland last Saturday. This time, he allowed six runs on six hits in two innings.
Andy Pettitte (5-7) gave up 10 hits and four runs in six innings. Dan Wheeler got his first save.
Cardinals 6, Rockies 0
At St. Louis, the Cardinals' Chris Carpenter carried a five-hitter into the eighth inning and became the major leagues' fourth 12-game winner.
Albert Pujols homered in the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, and Carpenter contributed a sacrifice fly for the Cardinals.
Aaron Miles had two singles for the Rockies, a major league-worst 6-32 on the road.
Carpenter (12-4) had nine strikeouts, leaving him two behind league-leading Pedro Martinez. Colorado's Joe Kennedy (4-8) lasted 6 1-3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits.
Brewers 8, Pirates 4
At Milwaukee, Rickie Weeks hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh, but the Brewers lost Carlos Lee to a bruised left knee.
Lee, who leads the majors with 72 RBIs, skidded to a stop chasing a foul ball near the left-field foul line and appeared to bang his knee against the wall in the first inning. The team said Lee is day-to-day.
Matt Wise (2-2) pitched 1 2-3 innings of scoreless relief for the victory. Mark Redman (4-7) allowed three runs in the first on Damian Miller's two-run double and Wes Helms' RBI double.
Mets 7, Marlins 6
At New York, Chris Woodward hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Mets beat Florida despite blowing a late three-run lead.
With the score tied 6-all, Marlon Anderson led off the eighth for the Mets with a double over Florida center fielder Juan Pierre's head. He advanced on a sacrifice by Ramon Castro and scored on Woodward's single off Jim Mecir (1-3) to put the Mets back in front.
Mike Cameron homered to start the seventh and put the Mets ahead 6-3, but a shaky bullpen couldn't protect it.
Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run double off Aaron Heilman, and Luis Castillo had a two-out RBI single off the glove of reliever Roberto Hernandez (3-2). Braden Looper put runners on first and second in the ninth but finished for his 17th save.
Giants 3, Padres 2
At San Diego, Todd Linden scored on Khalil Greene's throwing error in the eighth inning to give San Francisco its fourth straight victory.
Jason Christiansen (5-1) pitched a perfect seventh for the win. Tyler Walker got the last five outs for his 12th save in 14 chances. Rudy Seanez (4-1) took the loss in relief.
Padres ace Jake Peavy struck out nine in six innings. He allowed two runs on four hits before leaving for a pinch hitter.
Mark Sweeney homered for San Diego, which lost for the third time in four games.
Dodgers 7, Diamondbacks 0
At Los Angeles, Brad Penny pitched three-hit ball over eight innings, and the Dodgers got solo homers from J.D. Drew and rookie Mike Edwards.
Penny (4-5) struck out seven, walked one and retired his final 14 batters after former Dodger Shawn Green singled with one out in the fourth. Penny had lost his last three starts, with the Dodgers totaling only two runs.
Oscar Robles started at shortstop for the injured Cesar Izturis and drove in two runs with a squeeze bunt and a double. Javier Vazquez (7-7) lost his third straight start for Arizona, allowing six runs and six hits with 10 strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings.
Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer in his return to the lineup, and Jeremy Bonderman pitched a complete game as the Detroit Tigers shelled Randy Johnson in a 10-2 victory Friday night over the New York Yankees.
Bonderman (10-5) allowed eight hits in his second complete game in three starts.
Ordonez, sidelined with a hernia since April 13, homered off Johnson (7-6) in the fifth. Johnson gave up nine hits and seven runs in five innings for New York, which has lost six of eight
Placido Polanco had a career-high five RBIs -- three on a homer off Scott Proctor in the sixth. Chris Shelton had a two-homer.
Indians 3, Orioles 1
At Baltimore, C.C. Sabathia pitched a strong game, and Cleveland handed the Orioles their eighth loss in nine games.
Travis Hafner had two hits and scored a run for the Indians, who have won six of seven overall and 10 of their last 12 road games.
Sabathia (6-4) allowed a run on three hits in 7 2-3 innings. He struck out seven to match a season high. Bob Howry got the last out in the eighth, and Bob Wickman worked the ninth to complete the three-hitter for his 22nd save.
Rodrigo Lopez (7-4) gave up three runs and nine hits in seven innings.
Blue Jays 15, Red Sox 2
At Boston, Reed Johnson hit a pinch-hit grand slam and drove in six runs, and Toronto beat the Red Sox for the seventh time in nine games this season.
The 15 runs were the most allowed by the Red Sox this season, and came one game after the Blue Jays matched their season high for runs in a 12-3 win at Tampa Bay.
Ted Lilly (6-8) pitched six strong innings. He beat Matt Clement (9-2), who allowed eight runs on eight hits in 5 2-3 innings.
Angels 5, Royals 0
At Kansas City, Missouri, Paul Byrd pitched a career-best two-hitter and Los Angeles improved to 48-31 -- its best record after 79 games.
Aided by two double plays and a Royals' mix-up with their batting order, Byrd (8-5) faced one batter over the minimum in his first shutout since 2002. The right-hander struck out five and walked one in his second complete game in three starts.
Runelvys Hernandez (5-9) went 6 1-3 innings and was charged with five runs and eight hits.
Byrd actually gave up three hits, but one was erased by an embarrassing Kansas City blunder. The Royals delivered the wrong lineup to umpires before the game.
Vladimir Guerrero singled home two runs in the seventh for a 5-0 lead for the Angels, coming off an 18-5 loss in which Texas hit eight home runs.
Rangers 6, Mariners 2
At Seattle, David Dellucci led off with a home run for the second straight day, and Park Chan-ho (8-2) pitched seven strong innings for Texas.
Dellucci gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead on the second pitch of the game by Aaron Sele (6-7).
Athletics 6, White Sox 2
At Oakland, California, Nick Swisher and Marco Scutaro drew bases-loaded walks from Chicago's erratic pitching staff in the fifth inning, and the Athletics got their eighth straight victory.
Rich Harden (5-3) didn't allow an earned run in 5 2-3 innings for the A's, who won for the 12th time in 13 games.
Jose Contreras (3-5) threw three wild pitches -- increasing his major league-leading total to 14 -- and issued seven walks in 4 1-3 innings.
Twins 7, Devil Rays 4
At Minneapolis, Jacque Jones hit a bases-loaded triple in the eighth inning for Minnesota.
Jesse Crain (8-0) extended his AL record to 11 consecutive wins in relief to start a career, despite allowing a two-run homer in the eighth to Jorge Cantu that ran Johan Santana's home victory drought to eight.
Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 21st save after the Twins rallied for four runs in the eighth against Dewon Brazelton (1-8).
Veteran Fumiya Nishiguchi gave up one run on five hits over eight solid innings Saturday as the Seibu Lions downed the Chiba Lotte Marines 3-1.
Nishiguchi struck out only two Lotte batters at Chiba Marine Stadium but picked up his 10th win of the season in a 97-pitch effort. Shinji Mori retired the side in the ninth for his second save of the season as the Japan Series champion Lions snapped a seven-game losing skid, their longest in five years.
Shogo Akada hit a solo homer in the first inning and drove in a run in the fifth to lead the Seibu attack.
Lotte starter Dan Serafini took the loss after giving up three runs on eight hits over seven innings.
Tasuku Hashimoto accounted for Lotte's only run with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth off Nishiguchi. Lotte, which trails the Softbank Hawks in the Pacific League standings, has now lost three of their last four games.
Golden Eagles 7, fighters 6
At Fullcast Stadium, pinch-hitter Koichi Oshima drove in three runs with a bases-clearing triple in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Rakuten Golden Eagles to a 7-6 walkoff win over the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Nippon Ham held a 6-3 lead going into the ninth but reliever Yukiya Yokoyama gave up four runs in the ninth inning.
Rakuten reliever Hisashi Ogura picked up the win after working a scoreless top of the ninth.
Fernando Seguignol hit a two-run homer for the Fighters in the top of the fifth.
Swallows 9, dragons 4
In the Central League, Akinori Iwamura and Atsuya Furuta each drove in a pair of runs to lead the Yakult Swallows to a 9-4 win over the Chunichi Dragons.
Yakult starter Masanori Ishikawa picked up the win after giving up three runs on eight hits over 5-1/3 innings.
Major League Baseball is going international for its Home Run Derby during its annual mid-season All-Star Game festivities.
Instead of having four players from each league, the commissioner's office said Friday it will have eight players represent their native countries at the July 11 event. Major League Baseball plans to formally launch plans that day for its first World Baseball Classic, a 16-team event during spring training next year.
This year's Home Run Derby is at Detroit's pitcher-friendly Comerica Park, where the All-Star Game will be played the following night.
The top four players in the first round advance to the semifinals, and the top two in the semis move on to the final.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
The sacred flame for the Paris Olympics was lit yesterday in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises. “In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even — and in particular — during times of war and conflict,” International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said. “Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then as now, the Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message — yes, it is possible to compete fiercely