Times wires
Saturday, April 30, 2011
WASHINGTON — Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval broke a bone in his right wrist and is expected to miss four to six weeks, adding to the concerns for the struggling World Series champions.
An MRI exam Saturday morning revealed the injury to the hamate bone, and head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said Sandoval probably will have surgery Tuesday in Arizona. Groeschner said the team isn't sure when, exactly, Sandoval got hurt.
Sandoval felt pain while batting during Friday's 3-0 loss to the Nationals and had an X-ray. The hamate bone is at the base of the hand, where the knob of the bat typically rests when a player is hitting.
Sandoval is hitting .313 with five homers and 14 RBIs.
"It's a tough blow for us," said manager Bruce Bochy, whose club has lost six of nine games.
The Giants already had INF Mark DeRosa, OF Andres Torres and LHP Barry Zito on the disabled list. They've also had their problems hitting of late, getting shut out in two of three games before Saturday and scoring 21 in the nine-game swoon.
Sandoval had been a bright spot, though.
"I feel for Pablo, because we've talked about, many times, how hard he's worked this past offseason to get himself in this kind of shape, condition, that he's in," Bochy added. "And of course, the way he was playing — it was really paying large dividends the way he worked out this offseason. Now he's got to get this taken care of."
SURGERY FOR ZIMMERMAN: An abdominal injury to Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman that surfaced as a minor nuisance in spring training is now a tear that requires surgery and will sideline him for about six weeks.
"It's to the point right now where it hasn't been getting better, to the point where you might as well go in there and fix it," Zimmerman said.
General manager Mike Rizzo said Zimmerman will have surgery in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
OBITUARY: Emilio "Millito" Navarro, believed to be the oldest living professional baseball player, died in his native Puerto Rico. He was 105. The former Negro Leagues star was hospitalized Thursday in the southern coastal city of Ponce after having a small heart attack. Mr. Navarro was elected to the Puerto Rico Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Puerto Rican Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
MCDOWELL case: Braves general manager Frank Wren said the team is still gathering information on allegations that pitching coach Roger McDowell made homophobic comments and crude gestures toward fans before a game in San Francisco last weekend. The Braves will forward results of their inquiry to commissioner Bud Selig.
BREWERS: RHP Zack Greinke, out all season with a fractured rib, is set to make his club debut Wednesday.
INDIANS: DH Travis Hafner, who has a strained tendon in his right foot, will wear a protective walking boot when not in uniform and hopes to avoid the disabled list.
MARINERS: OF Milton Bradley was ejected in the third inning while standing at second base. Bradley was tossed by second-base umpire Gerry Davis after Miguel Olivo was called out on a close play at first.
PIRATES: RH reliever Evan Meek went on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder weakness. LHP Daniel Moskos, the fourth overall pick in the 2007 draft, was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis. … LF Jose Tabata left in the first inning after his right hamstring tightened up as he ran out a grounder.
RED SOX: RHP Clay Buchholz, who has a 5.33 ERA in five starts this season, was scratched from today's start because of an illness and will be replaced by RHP Tim Wakefield, who has a 5.56 ERA in seven relief outings. … RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka, pulled in the fifth inning of a poor outing Friday because of elbow tightness, felt fine a day later and tested well in medical exams, manager Terry Francona said.