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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Brewers’ Melvin stung by scorpion

Melvin
Associated Press

Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin spent three hours in the emergency room Wednesday night after he was stung by an Arizona bark scorpion inside his spring training condominium in Phoenix.

Melvin said he was eating dinner with his wife when they saw a bug walking across the floor. He reached down with a tissue to pick up what he thought was a spider and was stung on his left middle finger. He said his hand started swelling almost immediately and he decided to head for a hospital.

“I got nervous when all of the numbness started getting up in the shoulder area,” Melvin told MLB.com. “You think, ‘Can this thing go to your heart?’ They said you can lose your breathing; your vision can be a problem. None of that happened to me.”

Melvin was back at the team complex Thursday.

Hicks carries Twins

Aaron Hicks made a pretty strong case that he should be the Twins’ starting center fielder.

He homered three times and helped the Twins to a 10-6 victory against the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla. He now has five home runs in his last three games.

Hicks hit homers in the first, fifth and seventh innings, the first coming on the second pitch of the game from Phillies starter Cliff Lee. He went 4 for 5 in the game with six RBIs.

Hicks came up in the eighth inning with a chance at four homers, but instead laced a broken-bat, two-RBI single to center.

Harvey nearly perfect

Matt Harvey was nearly perfect for 4 1/3 shutout innings, pitching the New York Mets past the Miami Marlins 4-1 in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

Harvey didn’t give up a hit or walk, and struck out five. The only baserunner against him reached on an error. The Mets right-hander is set to begin his first full season in the majors.

Around the league

The Chicago White Sox say they have agreed on a five-year, $32.5 million contract with left-handed starter Chris Sale. The 23-year-old went 17-8 with a 3.05 ERA and 192 strikeouts in his first season a starter. He was on the American League All-Star team and finished sixth in the Cy Young voting. … St. Louis shortstop Rafael Furcal will undergo ligament replacement surgery in his right elbow and expects to miss the 2013 season.

World Baseball Classic

Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run double off San Francisco Giants closer Sergio Romo in the ninth inning and Jason Grilli escaped a bases-loaded jam in the bottom half to help Italy rally to beat Mexico 6-5 in the opening game of Pool D in the World Baseball Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz. … Jose Reyes had four hits, Robinson Cano drove in three runs and the Dominican Republic beat Venezuela 9-3 at San Juan, Puerto Rico.