Baseball Notes | Yanks' Torre and hurler suspended

Major League Baseball suspended New York Yankees reliever

Scott Proctor

for four games and manager

Joe Torre

for one yesterday, a day after their team skirmished with the Seattle Mariners.

Proctor appealed his suspension, meaning he can pitch until a hearing is held and a ruling issued.

Torre missed last night's game against the Mariners. Bench coach Don Mattingly managed in Torre's absence.

The problems started after Josh Phelps slid hard into Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima. When Phelps came up to bat again, Jarrod Washburn hit him in the back with the first pitch.

Proctor then threw an inside pitch to Yuniesky Betancourt in the seventh. Betancourt pointed his bat toward the mound, catcher Wil Nieves grabbed him, and the benches and bullpens emptied. No punches were thrown. Proctor and Torre were ejected.

The Yankees also optioned pitcher Kei Igawa to single-A Tampa to make room for righthander Matt DeSalvo, who started last night's 3-2 loss.

New York became the first team in major-league history to use 10 starting pitchers in its first 30 games.

Ellen Massey, a 58-year-old New York Mets fan, has filed suit in Manhattan's State Supreme Court, contending that a drunken 300-pound man fell on her and broke her back during the home opener against the Phillies.

The woman sued the team; the Philadelphia-based Aramark Corp., which has the beer concession; the union that represents the security guards at the ballpark; and "John Doe," the unidentified man who toppled on her.

Massey underwent surgery for spinal injuries.

Joel Zumaya, a Detroit reliever, is expected to be out for 12 weeks because of a ruptured tendon in his middle right finger. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday.

Former Tigers outfielder Ron LeFlore was arrested while signing autographs Saturday in Mount Clemens, Mich., and charged with failure to pay at least $48,000 in child support.

Tampa Bay reliever Juan Salas was suspended for 50 games after becoming the first player this year to fail a drug test under Major League Baseball's testing program.

Salas tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance, the commissioner's office said. His suspension will start today.

Cleveland pitcher Jake Westbrook was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Thursday because of a strained left abdominal muscle. The team called up Fausto Carmona from triple-A Buffalo to take his place in the rotation and also recalled Buffalo reliever Edward Mujica.

Jon Leicester joined the Baltimore bullpen in place of Kurt Birkins, who was optioned to Norfolk.

The Washington Nationals will purchase the contract of righthander Jason Simontacchi from triple-A Columbus and start him against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight.

Seattle Mariners reliever Julio Mateo apologized for his arrest after a dispute with his wife Saturday morning at a Manhattan hotel. The pitcher was charged with third-degree assault. Police said his wife needed five stitches in her mouth.

Louis Santangelo, a catcher in the Houston Astros' system at double-A Corpus Christi, was suspended by the commissioner's office for 50 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Matt Capps was suspended for four games and fined for hitting the Brewers' Prince Fielder with a pitch during a 6-3 loss in Milwaukee last week.

- Associated Press