Baseball notebook: Sox’ Youkilis done for year
The Boston Red Sox have lost Kevin Youkilis for the season with a torn muscle in his right thumb.
Manager Terry Francona said Thursday the first baseman will have season-ending surgery today in Cleveland for the injury sustained Monday night in a 6-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Youkilis is expected to be ready well before spring training starts.
Francona said that Mike Lowell, who came off the disabled list when Youkilis went on it Tuesday, is expected to play at least four of the next five games at first base.
Strasburg feels fine, ready to return
Washington Nationals rookie Stephen Strasburg made it through his simulated game without any problems and appears to be ready to rejoin the rotation on Tuesday.
In Phoenix, the right-hander threw 43 pitches before Thursday’s game against Arizona and reported no stiffness in the shoulder that sent him to the disabled list last week.
Strasburg is expected to throw a side session on Saturday and will start Tuesday against Florida barring any further setbacks with his pitching arm.
Dodgers’ Martin out for rest of season
Dodgers manager Joe Torre says he doesn’t expect Russell Martin to play the rest of the season.
Torre made his assessment two days after the two-time All-Star catcher injured his hip in Tuesday night’s game against San Diego.
Martin was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in five big league seasons on Wednesday because of a labrum tear in his right hip.
Martin was injured trying to score after tagging up on a fly ball to center field Tuesday but couldn’t beat the one-hop throw from Chris Denorfia and was tagged out by Nick Hundley after coming in standing up.
Rangers’ bankruptcy protection now over
The Texas Rangers exited federal bankruptcy protection, about 14 hours after Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan’s group was awarded the team at a marathon auction showdown with billionaire Mark Cuban.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stacey Jernigan’s approval of the team’s reorganization plan clears the way for Major League Baseball to formally approve Ryan and sports attorney Chuck Greenberg as the team’s owners next week, before the group’s financing guarantee expires Aug. 12.
The court-appointed restructuring officer and creditors had opposed the bankruptcy plan, filed in May as a way to push through the sale to the Greenberg-Ryan group. But on Thursday, they said they supported the revised plan, in part because the auction resulted in a higher price for the Rangers.
Clearing the bases
The Kansas City Royals have designated outfielder-designated hitter Jose Guillen for assignment. He was signed three years ago to a $36 million, three-year contract that made him the Royals’ highest paid player per year in team history. … Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana is set to have surgery on his injured left knee and will miss the rest of the season. He will have surgery today to repair his lateral collateral ligament. … Indians third base coach Steve Smith has been suspended for two games and fined for his role in a benches-clearing melee at Boston’s Fenway Park this week. … The Houston Astros have signed first-round draft pick Delino DeShields Jr. The 17-year-old DeShields is the son of former major league second baseman Delino DeShields.