Bad break for Giants’ ace
Giants left- hander Madison Bumgarner is hurt for the second consecutive year, breaking a bone in his pitching hand when he was hit by a line drive off the bat of the Royals’ Whit Merrifield on Friday.
The Giants said X- rays showed the 28- year- old fractured the fifth metacarpal on the outside of his left hand. Bumgarner said the timeline for recovery is four to six weeks, and he will have a pin inserted into his pinkie Saturday.
Bumgarner missed nearly three months last year after a dirt- bike accident April 20 during a day off in Colorado.
After six consecutive seasons with double- digit wins, more than 200 innings and 30- plus starts, Bumgarner went 4- 9 with a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts last season and threw only 111 innings.
Cubs prospect suspended
Iowa Cubs pitcher David Garner was among four minor- leaguers suspended 50 games under baseball’s minor- league drug program.
Garner, Red Sox catcher Oscar Hernandez and Cardinals pitcher Matt Pearce each had a second positive test. Pirates shortstop Andrew Walker was disciplined for an unspecified violation.
Garner, a 25- year- old right- hander, was 4- 3 with a 3.25 ERA in 35 relief appearances last year for Class AA Tennessee and Iowa.
Sano won’t be suspended
Twins third baseman Miguel Sano will not be suspended by Major League Baseball after being accused of assault. The commissioner’s office said “there was insufficient evidence to support a disciplinary determination against Sano, due to conflicting and inconsistent witness accounts and the absence of contemporaneous substantiation.”
Sano was accused of assault in December by a photographer who has covered the Twins. She posted on Twitter that the All- Star third baseman forcibly attempted to kiss her after an autograph session at a mall in 2015.
Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright accepted a 15- game suspension under MLB’s domestic- violence policy after his arrest Dec. 8. Wright publicly apologized to his wife, Shannon.
“I deeply regret my actions that night,” he said in statement. “I fully cooperated with MLB’s investigators and reiterated to them that I did not make physical contact with my wife. The legal case that was retired supports that claim. But I accept full responsibility for what happened and have taken steps, including counseling sessions, to help me become a better husband.”
This and that
The Reds announced that right- hander Homer Bailey will make his first openingday start at home Thursday against the Nationals.
Dodgers left- hander Clayton Kershaw finished spring training with a 0.00 ERA, stretching his scoreless streak to 21⅓ innings.