MLB News and Notes

Angels clinch AL West crown with win over Yanks, Rangers’ loss…ChiSox slugger Konerko has sprained MCL, return up in air…Braves manager Cox vows to return next year…Twins to push for 2014 All-Star Game…Brewers claim Coffey from Reds…Rays C Riggans needs knee surgery…Reds’ Phillips to have surgery on broken finger…Giants’ Lewis to have season-ending surgery…Grievance hearing on Alvarez begins…Padres pick up Haeger off waivers

Angels clinch AL West crown with win over Yanks, Rangers’ loss
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Torii Hunter put on goggles, got on the clubhouse floor and began doing the butterfly and backstroke in a puddle of beer and champagne.

Hunter and the Los Angeles Angels had plenty to celebrate Wednesday.

They became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season by winning their fourth AL West title in five years.

“I love it. I’m Michael Phelps,” Hunter bellowed, invoking the Olympic swimmer who won eight gold medals in Beijing. “This is what it’s all about.”

Francisco Rodriguez earned his 56th save in closing out the Angels’ 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees. Second-place Texas lost to Seattle 8-7 about an hour later, clinching the division for Los Angeles.

That set off mini-parties as the players emerged from the clubhouse to share their jubilation with several hundred fans who remained to cheer the final out in Seattle.

Hunter, who joined the Angels from Minnesota as a free agent during the offseason, began serving a two-day suspension Wednesday, so he wasn’t allowed on the field or in the dugout. Pitcher Justin Speier wore Hunter’s jersey on the field in his honor.

Stadium scoreboards flashed ‘2008 AL West champions’ and fans held up their own signs, including one that read ‘I want to go to the World Series.’

“It doesn’t get old,” longtime Angels star Garret Anderson said.

Team owner Arte Moreno came on the field, clapping his hands and repeatedly signaling thumbs-up to the red-clad fans. They responded with chants of “Arte! Arte!”

“Right now I’m more interested in how we finish up the season and get prepared to play in the playoffs,” he said. “Obviously, you always like to have home-field advantage.”

Pitcher Jered Weaver was the most exuberant, waving his cap and pumping his arms. A teammate poured beer into his mouth.

A couple players grabbed the hose behind the pitcher’s mound and turned it on, spraying their teammates and fans gathered behind the Angels dugout.

The Angels, with the best record in baseball, can spend their final 17 games resting and setting up their rotation for the playoffs.

“There’s no such thing as too soon to clinch,” Hunter said. “We’ve been going hard to get to this point. It doesn’t matter if we clinch early or late, as long as we clinched.”

Los Angeles wrapped up the division without starters Chone Figgins (injured), Mark Teixeira (ill) and Hunter, who was suspended for helping trigger a bench-clearing scuffle with Yankees catcher Ivan Rodriguez on Monday.

The Angels will try to do something that none of their previous division-winning teams accomplished — reach the World Series. They won their first and only World Series title as a wild-card team in 2002, the year they knocked Hunter’s Minnesota Twins out of the playoffs.

Perhaps, there might even be the first Freeway Series this year — the Dodgers lead the NL West.

Like Hunter, Teixeira was thrilled to come to the Angels after years of playing with the Rangers in the same division.

“I’ve always been jealous of the Angels,” he said. “Some great players play their entire careers without ever getting a taste of the postseason, and I’m going to have that opportunity this year.”

Inside the clubhouse, manager Mike Scioscia grinned when pitcher Ervin Santana delighted in dumping more booze on his head. A couple players returned to the dugout, alternately spraying champagne on fans and chugging from the bottle.

“You can’t minimize how important this is,” Scioscia said. “It happened a little earlier than it has in other seasons, but it’s not easy getting to that first step, so we’re excited about going to the playoffs and we’re going to keep going.”

Robb Quinlan hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the fifth inning for the Angels.

Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth and moved within one save of Bobby Thigpen’s 18-year-old major league record. He threw a called third strike past Hideki Matsui with runners at first and third for the final out.

Dustin Moseley (2-4) yielded two runs and three hits in five innings while making a spot start for Weaver, whose injured fingers pushed him back to Thursday. Moseley struck out six and walked three in winning for the first time since April 9 against Cleveland.

Andy Pettitte (13-13) lost for the sixth time in his last nine starts. The left-hander gave up four runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, tying his second-shortest outing of the season.

“It’s a bad feeling, especially when you work so hard to prepare yourself for the season and really prepare yourself for October,” he said. “Obviously, people think we’re out of the playoffs and guys think they’re out of the playoffs, but I’d hope they would play for some pride.”

The Yankees finished 5-5 on their four-city trip, making it likely they’ll miss the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. They head to New York for their final 10 games at Yankee Stadium.

“We started off the trip so well and we didn’t finish very well. That’s the frustrating part,” manager Joe Girardi said. “You have pride in what you do, and there’s no X by our name (in the standings), so there’s still a lot to play for. I still think our guys believe we have something to play for.”

Leading 2-1, Pettitte nearly escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. After giving up consecutive singles to Gary Matthews Jr., Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero, he retired Juan Rivera and Kendry Morales on called third strikes.

Facing a full count, Quinlan lined a single to left, scoring two runs. Guerrero continued home on Xavier Nady’s throw that sailed over the head of third baseman Alex Rodriguez and into the netting for an error, allowing the Angels to take a 4-2 lead.

“He worked the count on me and fouled off tough pitches that I felt I had a chance to get him with,” Pettitte said. “I didn’t want to walk him, and I just kind of tugged it a little bit more over the middle of the plate than I wanted to and gave up a hit to him.”

New York scored both of its runs in the first on Jason Giambi’s RBI single and a balk by Moseley that allowed Bobby Abreu to score from third.

The Angels scored their first run on Rivera’s RBI groundout in the first.

Source: AP NEWS

ChiSox slugger Konerko has sprained MCL, return up in air
CHICAGO — Paul Konerko has a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, and the first baseman isn’t sure when he’ll be able to play again as the Chicago White Sox try to hang on to the AL Central lead.

Konerko had an MRI on Wednesday that confirmed the mild sprain. He was injured in the fifth inning Tuesday night against Toronto when his foot slipped while making a throw to second base.

Konerko called it “a little quirky play” after getting treatment on his knee Wednesday.

“I have no idea when I’ll get back in,” he said. “It’s different if this happened in April or May. You might wait until there was no pain. I’ll just wait until I can function and if there is some pain, that’s fine. … We’re fighting here for a spot in the playoffs, but you got to be able to function when you hit. The move I got to make with my back knee is the move that would hurt right now.”

Konerko’s injury is the latest in a series of ailments for the White Sox, who led the Twins by one game in the AL Central before Wednesday’s action. AL home run leader Carlos Quentin has a broken right wrist and third baseman Joe Crede a sore back.

When he saw Konerko collapse on the infield writhing in pain, manager Ozzie Guillen said his first reaction was that he would be gone for the season.

“I think he is out for good,” Guillen said. “That happened to me. When I went down like that, I was out for the season.”

Guillen said it was a relief to find out it was only a sprain — the initial finding after a doctor’s exam Tuesday night. X-rays had been negative.

“Hopefully Paulie comes back soon,” Guillen said. “We still have the talent to perform a different way. Crede is not there, Quentin is not there, Paulie is not there. We have to execute better. …Everybody has to step up three notches.”

Konerko, who was on the disabled list earlier this season with an oblique injury, was just starting to shake a season-long slump. He was batting .356 in his previous 28 games to raise his average from .212 to .244. He also had one stretch in which he homered in three straight games.

The White Sox moved Nick Swisher from left field to first Wednesday night and used DeWayne Wise in left field.

“You see guys like Carlos and Joe out of the lineup,” Konerko said. “When those guys went down, I was in the lineup and you don’t think about that. You think about winning the game that night. Guys tonight will think the same, whether I’m there or not.”

Source: AP NEWS

Braves manager Cox vows to return next year
ATLANTA — Despite Atlanta’s worst season since 1990, longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox vowed Wednesday to return next season.

The 67-year-old Cox signed a one-year contract extension in May, but his team was ravaged by injuries — especially to the pitching staff — and went into a game against the Colorado Rockies with a 63-82 record, 18½ games out of first in the NL East.

Cox said the Braves’ record — good or bad — would not be a factor in his decision to step aside, whenever that might be.

“I’m not going to decide my retirement based on wins and losses, or anything like that,” he said, sitting in a tiny room just off the Braves dugout at Turner Field. “I still love the game. It’s fun. It’s no fun to lose, but I look at it different than most people. The game is fun to me. Coming to the ballpark is fun. I enjoy being able to be a part of the game.”

When Cox pointed out that he already had a contract for 2009, someone said the Braves would surely let him out of it if he had changed his mind. After all, he’s been managing the team since 1990, and management has made it clear that he can stay in the dugout as long as he likes.

“I won’t change my mind,” he insisted.

Cox is the fourth-winningest manager in major league history and likely headed to Cooperstown after he does decide to retire. The Braves won a record 14 straight division titles from 1991-2005 and captured the city’s lone World Series championship in 1995.

Source: AP NEWS

Twins to push for 2014 All-Star Game
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins say they’ll make a push to host the 2014 All-Star Game in their new stadium.

Twins officials and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak said that the Twin Cities area showed it could handle a major event with last week’s Republican National Convention.

The Twins are due to open a new ballpark in 2010 in downtown Minneapolis.

The 2009 All-Star Game is in St. Louis, and the Los Angeles Angels will host the 2010 game. Arizona is the expected host in 2011, Kansas City in 2012 and the New York Mets’ Citi Field in 2013.

Source: AP NEWS

Brewers claim Coffey from Reds
MILWAUKEE — Right-handed reliever Todd Coffey was claimed by the Milwaukee Brewers to add another arm to their bullpen.

Coffey, who made 213 appearances over four seasons in Cincinnati, was designated for assignment on Tuesday by the Reds, who were in Milwaukee.

Coffey turned 28 on the day he was put on waivers and had appeared in 17 games for the Reds this season, going 0-0 with a 6.05 ERA. Coffey had left Milwaukee after being designated for assignment, but will join the Brewers in Philadelphia to start a 10-game trip.

Source: AP NEWS

Rays C Riggans needs knee surgery
BOSTON — Tampa Bay backup catcher Shawn Riggans needs surgery on his right knee and could miss four weeks, Rays manager Joe Maddon.

“He has a bursitis problem that requires attention quickly,” Maddon said before the AL East-leading Rays played second-place Boston. “It may be up to a four-week gig depending on the severity.”

As Maddon spoke before the game, he said he thought Riggans might have already been in surgery.

Riggans had been listed as day-to-day, playing only once in the last six games. He has started 38 games this season and is batting .222 with six home runs and 24 RBI.

Source: AP NEWS

Reds’ Phillips to have surgery on broken finger
CINCINNATI — Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips will have season-ending surgery Friday to have a pin inserted into his broken right index finger to help it heal properly.

Phillips broke the finger in Tuesday night’s game at Milwaukee when he was hit by a pitch on a bunt attempt. The Reds’ medical director, Dr. Timothy Kremchek, examined him in Cincinnati.

Kremchek and hand specialist Dr. Andrew Markewicz will perform the surgery, the Reds said.

Source: AP NEWS

Giants’ Lewis to have season-ending surgery
SAN FRANCISCO — Giants outfielder Fred Lewis will undergo season-ending surgery on Friday to remove a bunion from his right foot.

Lewis started in left field and went 2-for-5 in San Francisco’s 4-3 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks before the team announced the decision about the surgery.

Lewis was the Giants’ leadoff hitter much of the season but saw his playing time decrease in recent weeks as San Francisco turned to some of its younger prospects.

The 27-year-old outfielder batted .282 with nine home runs and 40 RBI in 133 games this season. He also leads the Giants in triples (11) and runs scored (81).

Source: AP NEWS

Grievance hearing on Alvarez begins
NEW YORK — Baseball commissioner Bud Selig was the leadoff witness on the first day of testimony in a complicated grievance filed by the players’ association after first-round draft pick Pedro Alvarez refused to sign his contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Given that Selig was the only witness to complete his testimony and the hearing was recessed until Sept. 23, it appears that barring a settlement, it will be several months before the case is decided.

Shortly after the Aug. 15 midnight deadline had passed for draft picks to sign, Alvarez agreed to a minor league contract with a $6 million signing bonus. When he later refused to sign the deal, he was placed on the restricted list by the commissioner’s office.

Major League Baseball admits it extended the deadline for Alvarez and Eric Hosmer, the No. 3 pick. Hosmer agreed to a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals, a deal that also included a $6 million signing bonus. Hosmer has not contested his contract.

Source: AP NEWS

Padres pick up Haeger off waivers
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Padres claimed right-hander Charlie Haeger off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.

Haeger went 10-13 with a 4.45 ERA in 28 games, all but three starts, for Triple-A Charlotte this season. He tied for the International League lead with three complete games. He was designated for assignment by Chicago on Sept. 6.

Haeger, 24, will join the Padres on Friday when they host the San Francisco Giants.

Source: AP NEWS