Indians’ Carrasco suspended eight games
Indians’ Carrasco suspended eight games
CLEVELAND — Another dangerous pitch has Carlos Carrasco in trouble again.
The Cleveland Indians pitcher was suspended for eight games by Major League Baseball on Friday for “intentionally throwing” at New York’s Kevin Youkilis, the right-hander’s second penalty in two years for aiming at a hitter.
Carrasco had just completed serving a five-game suspension for a fastball thrown at Kansas City’s Billy Butler in 2011 when he drilled Youkilis with a high-and-too-tight fastball in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 14-1 win on Tuesday, moments after giving up a two-run homer to Robinson Cano.
MLB officials Joe Garagiola Jr. and Joe Torre appeared to take Carrasco’s history into account with the punishment, which included a $3,000 fine. Carrasco was optioned to Triple-A Columbus on Wednesday and will not start serving the suspension until his recall. He was expected to ask the player’s union to appeal.
After drilling Youkilis, Carrasco was immediately ejected from his first major league appearance since Aug. 3, 2011. The 26-year-old missed all of last season following elbow ligament-replacement surgery.
Knicks waive Thomas, oldest player in NBA
NEW YORK — The Knicks have waived center Kurt Thomas, who was the oldest player in the NBA.
The 40-year-old Thomas was waived on Friday. He was sidelined last month by a stress fracture in his right foot and missed 12 games.
New York general manager Glen Grunwald says “due to a rash of injuries to our big men, we felt that it was important for us to free up a spot on our roster.”
Mississippi’s Kennedy given raise, extension
OXFORD, Miss. — Mississippi basketball coach Andy Kennedy has earned a raise and a contract extension after leading the Rebels to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.
The school said Friday that Kennedy’s contract has been extended through the 2017 season and will pay him a base salary of $1.8 million annually, which is a raise of $500,000 per year.
White Sox place Beckham on DL, recall Heath
CLEVELAND — The Chicago White Sox have placed second baseman Gordon Beckham on the 15-day disabled list with a broken bone in his left wrist and recalled right-hander Deunte Heath from Triple-A Charlotte.
Beckham, who is batting .316 in seven games, will have surgery early next week and is expected to miss approximately six weeks. He was injured during his second-inning at-bat on Tuesday against Washington and an MRI revealed the fracture.
Durant fined $25,000
for ‘menacing gesture’
NEW YORK — The NBA fined Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant for making a “menacing gesture,” when he pretended to slice his throat after throwing down a big dunk during the Thunder’s victory against the Golden State Warriors.
The play that led to Durant’s costly celebration occurred with about 1:45 left in the second quarter of Oklahoma City’s 116-97 win at Golden State.
Texas sophomore G Myck Kabongo declares for NBA
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas guard Myck Kabongo is skipping his final two seasons to enter the NBA draft.
Kabongo played just the final 11 games of his sophomore season after a 23-game NCAA suspension for accepting airfare and personal training instruction and lying about it to school officials. He led the team in scoring (14.6 points per game), assists (5.5) and steals (2.0) and was named team MVP despite the shortened season.
Wawrinka, Robredo advance in Casablanca
CASABLANCA, Morocco — Top-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland cruised past Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-1, 6-2 on Friday to reach the semifinals of the Grand Prix Hassan II.
The 2010 champion will play Tommy Robredo of Spain, who beat Benoit Paire of France 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-0. Robredo played in the Casablanca final 12 years ago.
Second-seeded Kevin Anderson of South Africa also advanced to the last four by defeating Grega Zemlja of Slovenia 6-4, 6-4. He will face Martin Klizan of Slovakia, who stopped Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-1.
From wire sources