BASEBALL NOTES

Bumgarner lands on DL after dirt bike accident

Giants ace left-hander Madison Bumgarner was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his big league career Friday after a dirt bike accident that sent him to a hospital with bruised ribs and a sprained joint in his pitching shoulder. San Francisco announced Bumgarner's injury Friday, a day after the accident occurred during an off day in Colorado. The Giants said Bumgarner is out of the hospital and resting at the team hotel. He is scheduled to be re-evaluated next week. "I think the main thing is you have to be grateful he's not hurt worse than he is," Giants catcher Buster Posey said. "I don't know the timetable, I'm not sure anybody does. Just thankful he's not hurt any worse." Also Friday, manager Bruce Bochy rejoined the team. Bochy missed a two-game series at Kansas City following a heart procedure. The 27-year-old Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, is 0-3 with a 3.00 ERA in four 2017 starts. Bumgarner has received just five total runs of support in his first four starts, including one run or none in three of them — and he homered twice to drive in two of those. "We ought to just look forward and go out and play hard baseball and hopefully he'll be back before too long," Posey said. The Bay Area sports scene has become accustomed to fluke injury stories. Former second baseman and 2000 NL MVP Jeff Kent broke a bone in his left wrist during spring training in 2002 popping wheelies on his motorcycle, initially saying he had injured himself washing his truck. He missed the initial four games that year, when the Giants reached the World Series and lost to the Angels in Game 7. NBA guard Monta Ellis had signed a $66 million, six-year deal with the Golden State Warriors after he averaged a career-best 20.2 points during the 2007-08 season. He then sustained a serious ankle injury that summer on his motorized scooter and missed most of the season. It cost him a 30game suspension without pay, because he wasn't supposed to be riding such a vehicle. In April 2011, ex-Giants lefty reliever Jeremy Affeldt — who also pitched for Colorado — sprained his right knee and went on the DL after reaching out to catch his then-4-year-old, 60-pound son when the boy jumped off the couch to greet his father. On Sept. 8 that year, Affeldt sliced his non-throwing hand while separating frozen hamburgers during a barbecue with his family on an off day. The paring knife he was using pushed through a hamburger patty and deep into his hand. Affeldt came within a millimeter of an artery and underwent surgery about eight hours later to repair nerve damage in his pinkie.

Rangers release Josh Hamilton

The Texas Rangers released Josh Hamilton from his minor league contract Friday after another knee injury, perhaps signaling the end of the 2010 AL MVP's career. Team spokesman John Blake said Hamilton injured his right knee while recovering from left knee surgery and will have a procedure on the newly injured knee at some point. Hamilton, who turns 36 next month, underwent reconstructive surgery on his left knee last June and left the team during spring training for another procedure after experiencing soreness. The procedure during spring training was the 11th of Hamilton's career and third since the five-time All-Star last played in the majors in 2015. "I am disappointed but not discouraged that my knee problems have not allowed me to play this season," Hamilton said. "I plan to have surgery on my right knee and then evaluate the situation." Hamilton was the No. 1 overall pick out of high school in 1999.