Indians release former Oriole Tommy Hunter
The Cleveland Indians released former Orioles reliever Tommy Hunter on Thursday. Hunter was rehabilitating at Triple-A Columbus after injuring his back in a fall during the All-Star break. Cleveland.com reported that Indians manager Terry Francona, when asked about Hunter earlier this week, said he’d been told that the Indians wouldn’t activate him until the roster expanded Sept. 1. Francona said Hunter was fine with that decision. Now he’s a free agent. Hunter, an Oriole from 2011 to July 31, 2015, signed a one-year $2 million deal with the Indians in spring training after pitching the last two months of 2015 with the Chicago Cubs. He went 2-2 with a 3.74 ERA in 21 appearances for the Indians, striking out 17, walking five and allowing nine earned runs in 212⁄ innings. In 14 games at Columbus, Hunter was 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA. IRONMAN: Billy Busko, a Cockeysville native and 1982 graduate of Dulaney who lives in New York, has qualified for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, for the eighth straight year. Busko, 52, finished third in the 50-54 age group Sunday at Ironman Coeur D’Alene in Idaho and 39th overall out of 1,346 athletes with a time of 10 hours, 16 minutes, 23 seconds (2.4-mile swim in 1: 07:14, 112- mile bike ride in 5: 34: 54 and 26.22-mile run in 3:28:07). The race in Kona will be Oct. 8. TRACK AND FIELD: Matthew Centrowitz, a Broadneck alumnus who grew up in Arnold and won the Olympic gold medal in the 1,500-meter run Saturday, finished sixth Thursday in the 1,000 in a Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland. Centrowitz’s time was 2:16.67. Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti was first in 2:13.49. MARATHON: Six-time defending wheelchair champion Tatyana McFadden, an Atholton alumnus from Clarksville, will compete Oct. 9 in the Chicago Marathon. HORSE RACING: Bolstered by increased purses and a new trainer bonus program, live racing shifts to Timonium Race Course for the annual Maryland State Fair meet, which opens today. The Maryland Jockey Club will simulcast all of Timonium’s races as well as other races at its OTB facilities at Timonium, the Horseshoe Casino, Boonsboro, the Riverboat on the Potomac, and Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course. The only fair racing left on the East Coast, the meet will have seven live race days: Friday, Saturday, Sunday, next Friday and Sept. 3-5. First-race post time each day is 1 p.m. Timonium’s OTB facility, on the second-floor grandstand, will be open seven days a week. Purses are up approximately 10 percent from last year’s meet. WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Jen Gast, a 6-foot-2 center at Catonsville, has accepted a scholarship offer from UMBC and will begin there in the fall of 2017. The Arbutus resident can sign her national letter of intent as soon as Nov. 9. Gast averaged 9.9 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds per game last season and blocked 33 shots. COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Former Maryland football player Will Ulmer, who left the Terps in the aftermath of Randy Edsall’s midseason firing last fall, has enrolled at Alabama-Birmingham, according to al.com. Ulmer tweeted Thursday that he officially committed to the school. COLLEGE FIELD HOCKEY: Johns Hopkins was picked in the Centennial Conference preseason poll to finish sixth of11 teams. Washington College was picked for seventh and McDaniel ninth. WOMEN’SCOLLEGESOCCER: Freshman Nikki Saad scored from 22 yards to lead host UMBC (2-1) to a 1-0 victory over Big South Conference favorite Liberty (0-3). ... Stevenson was picked in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth preseason poll to finish third in the nine-team league. Hood was picked for ninth. —