Ump suspended for bumping manager

June 27, 2008

Umpire Brian Runge was suspended one game yesterday for bumping into New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel before ejecting him earlier in the week. Manuel and center fielder Carlos Beltran also were fined by Major League Baseball for arguing with Runge in the fourth inning of Tuesday's game against the Seattle Mariners. MLB said Runge's suspension will be served immediately . . . The Baltimore Orioles put righthander Matt Albers on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation and activated righthander Fernando Cabrera . . . Pirates righthander Ian Snell was placed on the 15-day DL with a strained right elbow . . . Joe Scherer, who says he caught the baseball hit by Ken Griffey Jr. for his milestone 600th home run, plans to sell it at auction.

Spain scored three second-half goals in Vienna to beat Russia, 3-0, and reach the European Championship final. Xavi Hernandez, Dani Guiza, and David Silva scored to give the Spaniards a shot at their second European title Sunday, when they play Germany, a 3-2 winner over Turkey Wednesday . . . The Iraqi Football Association said it has dissolved the national soccer team and dismissed coach Adnan Hamad four days after the team's loss to Qatar ended the country's hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup. Tareq Ahmed, a senior federation official, said a new coach - who was not named - would choose players for a new national team . . . Deportivo Cali must play two games without spectators as a penalty for allowing fans to invade the field last week, the Colombian Football Federation ruled. Enraged by a 2-0 loss to Deportes Quindio in the fourth round of the Apertura playoffs, fans attempted to attack their own goalkeeper, Oscar Cordoba . . . Kenny Cooper scored in the 62d minute to help FC Dallas tie host Houston Dynamo, 1-1, in Major League Soccer. Brian Ching had a first-half goal for Houston.

Corey Pavin, Bo Van Pelt, and Dudley Hart shared the opening-round lead at 8-under-par 64, a shot ahead of Briny Baird and Daniel Chopra, in the Buick Open at Grand Blanc, Mich. Woody Austin was in a group at 66. Bubba Watson was in a pack another stroke back with Charles Warren, who had six straight birdies to tie the longest birdie-eagle streak this year on the PGA Tour. Jim Furyk was among a big group four shots behind the leaders. Pavin, who closed strong to tie for 10th last week at the Travelers Championship, shot 64s in consecutive rounds for the first time in his 25-year career . . . Spanish qualifier Pablo Larrazabal left his driver in the clubhouse and shot a 6-under 65 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the French Open in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

Scott Niedermayer has ruled out retirement and will play another season with the Anaheim Ducks. Team spokesman Alex Gilchrist says the star defenseman will play out the final year of his four-year, $6.75 million contract. Last season, the 34-year-old Niedermayer didn't return until December after the team won the Stanley Cup in June . . . Martin Straka, 35, has decided to leave the NHL and return to his former Czech club. Straka, who played for the New York Rangers the last three seasons after joining the NHL in 1992, will be a player and sports director for HC Lasselsberger Plzen, the club said on its website . . . The NHL and the its Players Association announced that each team will have a maximum $56.7 million to spend for the 2008-09 season - up $6.4 million from last season. The minimum payroll was set at $40.7 million for each of the 30 teams. The most money a player can earn in a new contract next season is $11.34 million a year.

Indiana athletic director Rick Greenspan will resign at the end of the year amid new NCAA allegations that the school failed to monitor the men's basketball team. The NCAA said former basketball coach Kelvin Sampson committed five major recruiting violations during his 1 1/2 years at the school. Indiana is awaiting a decision on penalties from the NCAA . . . In the WNBA, Deanna Nolan scored 13 points and Cheryl Ford added 10 to lift the host Detroit Shock over the Connecticut Sun, 70-61. Janel McCarville had 31 points and Shameka Christon added 23 to spark the host New York Liberty over the Indiana Fever, 102-96, in three overtimes. Kelly Miller scored 17 points to lead six Phoenix players in double figures and the Mercury beat the host Chicago Sky for the second time in a week, 89-79. Seimone Augustus had 23 points, rookie Candice Wiggins added 17, as the host Minnesota Lynx held off the Sacramento Monarchs, 80-76. Sancho Lyttle scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Houston Comets over visiting San Antonio, 77-71. Monique Currie's 24 points lifted visiting Washington over Los Angeles, 77-74, in overtime . . . The deadline for South African double amputee Oscar Pistorius to qualify for the Beijing Olympics has been extended to July 17, giving the runner time to compete in four European races as he tries to meet the 400-meter qualifying time of 45.55.