Times wires
Sunday, June 5, 2011
BOSTON — Red Sox RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka is preparing for surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow.
Matsuzaka spoke Sunday for the first time since the Red Sox placed him on the 60-day disabled list so he can have Tommy John surgery, likely this week.
"It's my first time to get an operation, and all I can say is I'm very shocked when it comes to this result," Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. "I was told the ligament is torn and to fix it perfectly I need to have surgery."
Matsuzaka is in the fifth year of a six-year deal he signed when Boston brought him over from Japan. With a recovery time of 12 to 14 months, his future with the Red Sox is uncertain.
"I don't think of it that way," he said. "I hope I come back to the game again in a Red Sox uniform."
Dodgers draw interest of Garvey, Hershiser
Former Dodger greats Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser are forming an exploratory ownership group in case the financial-struggling team is sold.
Garvey, a Tampa native, approached Hershiser, and they launched the Garvey-Hershiser Group, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. Hershiser met with Garvey and other possible investors Friday in Los Angeles.
Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was able to meet the team's payroll last week with cash advances drawn on the team's corporate sponsorship deals, but McCourt was still searching for funding to make the team's next payroll June 15, ESPN reported.
Should the beleaguered owner fail to make payroll, Major League Baseball would cover it for him and likely seize the team.
The league appointed a trustee to oversee the Dodgers' finances in April amid McCourt's ongoing divorce proceedings.
Four tossed during Nats-D'backs game: Nationals manager Jim Riggleman and Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson were among four ejections in the Nationals' 9-4 win in 11 innings. Nationals RF Jayson Werth was drilled in the arm in the fifth inning by Diamondbacks RHP Ian Kennedy, who received a warning. Kennedy hit LF Michael Morse two batters later but remained in the game. Nationals RHP Jason Marquis hit RF Justin Upton in the lower back with a pitch in the sixth, and Marquis and Riggleman were tossed. Diamondbacks RH reliever Esmerling Vasquez was ejected after he plunked 2B Danny Espinosa in the eighth, then Gibson was tossed.
Braves: CF Jordan Schafer faced the Mets two days after sustaining a small sinus fracture fouling a bunt off his face.
Cardinals: RF Lance Berkman sat against the Cubs after receiving a cortisone injection in his left wrist, and CF Colby Rasmus was out because of fatigue.
Indians: RF Shin-Soo Choo says his arrest on a drunken-driving charge has affected his play. "I know what the problem is: I try too hard; I think too much. I need to slow down my mind," said Choo, who is not worried about the legal problems stemming from his arrest May 2 but is concerned with how he is regarded in America and his native South Korea.
Mets: RF Carlos Beltran left the game against the Braves after fouling a ball off his right shin in the second inning. Meanwhile, LF Jason Bay, now hitting .219, was held out of the game for what manager Terry Collins said was a chance to take a "deep breath."
Tigers: LH reliever David Purcey went on the paternity leave list, and LHP Adam Wilk was recalled from Triple A.
White Sox: RHP Jake Peavy left with a strained right groin in the fourth inning against the Tigers and will be re-evaluated today. The 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner rejoined the team May 11 after recovering from shoulder surgery. … 3B Mark Teahen was activated from the 15-day DL after being out with a strained right oblique, and RH reliever Jeff Marquez was designated for assignment.