Pitcher

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jeremy Bonderman of the Detroit Tigers was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed sum on Friday for intentionally hitting Delmon Young of the Minnesota Twins in the leg with a pitch. Bonderman was among three players, a manager and a hitting coach who were fined by Major League Baseball following an incident in Minnesota's 8-3 win on Thursday. Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon was suspended for one game and fined for pitcher Bonderman's actions after both teams had been warned earlier in the...

We are in the midst of a double-pronged saves crisis in Major League Baseball , and, frankly, it's keeping Couch Slouch up at night. First of all, the "save rule" has been under fire for years. Second of all, baseball's best closers hardly ever blow save opportunities anymore; they're so reliable, they make FedEx look like the U.S. Postal Service. We'll deal with the save rule first because, well, I brought it up first. A relief pitcher on the winning team recording the last out can earn a...

Last season, Ron Villone was a central figure in the Washington Nationals' bullpen, first stabilizing it in May, largely destabilizing it thereafter. The lefty didn't allow a run during his first 20 appearances. After June 11, Villone had a 6.54 ERA. Washington's continued reliance on Villone underscored the team's lack of veteran depth. This year, the bullpen is improved, and Villone will have a tougher time cracking the roster. But he'll at least receive a shot. Wednesday, the Nationals signed Villone, 40, to a minor league...

DENVER — The San Francisco Giants recalled right-handed pitcher Jean Machi from Triple-A Fresno before their game against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night. The Giants had a roster spot available after optioning infielder-outfielder Brett Pill to Triple-A following their 10-9 loss to the Rockies on Friday night. This is Machi's second stint with the Giants. He was 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA in nine appearances for San Francisco from April 17-May 7. He tossed nine scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts in seven...

Left-hander Ross Detwiler, who entered this spring as one of the top candidates to win an open spot in the Nationals' rotation, had surgery Monday to repair a torn hip flexor and won't be able to throw for the next six weeks, his agent confirmed Thursday. Agent Jeff Berry said Detwiler's hip had been bothering him for more than a year, but had gotten worse in recent months. "It was something the team, Ross and I felt should be addressed," Berry said. Berry said Detwiler is expected to report to the Nationals' spring training...

Mike Flanagan, a Baltimore Orioles pitcher who won the Cy Young Award in 1979 and later served as the team's general manager, pitching coach and a TV broadcaster, died Aug. 24 at his home north of Baltimore. He was 59. His body was found Wednesday afternoon about 250 feet behind his home in the Sparks community of Baltimore County. The Maryland medical examiner ruled Thursday that Mr. Flanagan died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head. Police said he had been upset about...

Branden Kline's cellphone first rang around 10 a.m. yesterday, when a scout from the Boston Red Sox inquired how the All-Met pitcher from Thomas Johnson High was feeling as baseball's amateur draft entered its second day. A few hours later, that same scout was phoning to say that the Red Sox had drafted Kline in the sixth round. "I thought that it was a cool situation that I could be drafted and now that I have been drafted I'm even more excited because I didn't think it could happen," Kline said as he enjoyed a relaxing...

Former Navy pitcher Mitch Harris's uncertain future gained a little more focus yesterday afternoon. The St. Louis Cardinals selected the 6-foot-4 right-hander in the 13th round, 395th overall, during the second and final day of the first-year player draft. He became the second-highest draft selection in Midshipmen history, behind pitcher Matt Foster, who was taken 380th by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2003. "My reaction was relief," Harris said. "Finally, to have the first step over with.

Don't give up on Liván Hernández. Baseball almost has. But the Nationals shouldn't. Sometimes, the bargain, the steal, a key piece, is hiding in plain sight. That's probably Liván right now. He's dragging a 5.26 ERA behind him, as well as a pink slip from the Mets last month. The phone didn't ring after he was released until the Nats called. The message was clear: Hello, scrap heap. But large Liván isn't ready to be junked for parts. It's far more likely that his next few seasons will resemble his last several...

VIERA, FLA. -- Let's be honest here: Matt Chico looked like death warmed over Wednesday morning. The bloodshot eyes. The raccoon rings. The slow, zombie shuffle. Anyone who has been a parent would recognize the look. Indeed, the nights are long and ugly at the Chico household here, not far from the Washington Nationals' spring training complex: Sydnie, 16 months, is teething. Parker, eight weeks, is colicky. One or both of them is up every hour or two. All night, every night. "When spring training starts,...

BALTIMORE — Baltimore's hitters staged an improbable comeback Friday night. They just couldn't pull the Orioles all the way out of the big hole their pitchers put them in. Kelly Johnson hit a three-run homer and an RBI single and the Tampa Bay Rays held on for a 12-10 victory over slumping Baltimore on Friday night. The Orioles, who trailed 12-4 after six innings, surrendered a season-high 17 hits for the second straight game and gave up their most runs in any game this season.

NEW YORK — A minor league pitcher in the Miami Marlins' organization has been suspended 50 games for a drug violation. The commissioner's office announced Thursday that right-hander Juan Arias has been penalized. Arias is on the roster of the Dominican Summer League Marlins. Arias was suspended after testing positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance. The suspension was the 20th this year under the minor league program. Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

LOS ANGELES — The Washington Nationals ' losses have grown familiar in style, a chain of zeroes and ones, of wasted pitching performances and weak offense. Wednesday night, though, brought cruel and potentially damaging variety. It is one thing to lose a series. It is another to lose a left-handed starting pitcher and a star-crossed catcher. By the fourth inning of the Nationals' 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers , Ross Detwiler and Wilson Ramos had each...

PHILADELPHIA — In a need of a lift in the rotation, the Phillies are taking a chance on Carlos Zambrano. The three-time All-Star agreed to a minor league contract with Philadelphia on Wednesday and will report this week to Clearwater, Fla., for extended spring training. Zambrano is known as much for his volatile outbursts and dugout confrontations with teammates as he is for his 132 wins over 12 seasons and a no-hitter. With Roy Halladay and John Lannan on the disabled...

DETROIT — Houston Astros right-hander Bud Norris has left his start against the Detroit Tigers with lower back spasms. It wasn't initially clear what was wrong with Norris, who pitched five innings and threw 71 pitches Monday night. But at the start of the Detroit sixth, there was a brief conference on the mound, and he ended up leaving the game. The nature of his injury was eventually announced in the press box. The Astros also lost standout second baseman Jose Altuve to a...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay starter Alex Cobb has struck out 13 in 4 2-3 innings Friday night, becoming the first pitcher in major league history to fan that many batters and fail to make it through the fifth inning. The right-hander left the Rays' 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres after throwing 117 pitches. He recorded 12 of 14 outs on strikeouts — four of them in the third, when a wild pitch on strike three allowed Will Venable to reach base. The Padres center fielder...

VIERA, FLA. — The work is what Micah Owings missed most. Being a pitcher meant a structured, protective routine, a limit to how much baseball he could play. Being a hitter means all the batting practice he wants, extra groundballs after workouts, staying late to catch more flyballs. "That's what I'm looking forward to," Owings said. "Getting after it and working. " The Washington Nationals are short on underdogs and experiments this spring, but Owings counts as both. A non-roster invitee,...

SARASOTA, Fla. — Baltimore Orioles Manager Buck Showalter pondered the question and then deftly evaded it. Just how good do you think right-hander Jason Hammel has a chance to be? Instead of answering, he reflected back on the deal last February that brought Hammel to the Orioles along with reliever Matt Lindstrom for veteran starter Jeremy Guthrie — a deal that was heavily criticized at the time for being one-sided in favor of the Colorado Rockies. "If I'd known then what I know now,"...

ST. LOUIS — Former Cy Young award winner Chris Carpenter took another step toward possibly returning to the mound by tossing a pain-free bullpen session prior to Friday night's game with the Colorado Rockies. The 38-year-old's career appeared as if it may be over when it was announced in February that he was unlikely to pitch in 2013 as he was still suffering from chronic pain in his neck, shoulder and arm. Those same symptoms shelved Carpenter for 150 games last season, though he returned late and pitched in the...

Bryce Florie wonders why any pitcher would resist wearing a little extra protection on his head. Maybe it would be different if they could look at the world through his eyes. Specifically, his right eye — the one that was struck by a line drive nearly 13 years ago. To this day, his peripheral vision remains a blurry mess. "Normally when you get hurt, the bruise heals, the injury heals, and you forget about it," Florie said Friday from his home in Charleston, S.C....