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Baseball notebook: Yankees cut ticket prices

Jorge Posada bats in front of a lot of empty seats. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Jorge Posada bats in front of a lot of empty seats. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

Turns out a few more fans might be able to buy those empty front-row seats at Yankee Stadium.

The New York Yankees slashed prices on more than 40 percent of their front-row seats by up to 50 percent Tuesday and announced many of those who bought tickets closest to the field for $325-$2,500 will be eligible for additional free seats.

Those initiatives could help pack previously unfilled areas that were an eye sore on television broadcasts during the opening homestand at the $1.5 billion ballpark.

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester, N.Y., a frequent and vocal critic of the Yankees, said the reductions aren’t enough.

“It’s the public that built Yankee Stadium, and even at these prices, the public has been excluded from the very stadium they built,” Brodsky said. “It’s a continuing disaster.”

Romero disputed

The nutritional supplement manufacturer being sued by J.C. Romero said the suspended Philadelphia Phillies reliever should have read the warning label before using the product that led to him testing positive for a substance banned by Major League Baseball.

Romero filed suit Monday against Proviant and Ergopharm, the makers of 6-OXO and 6-OXO Extreme, arguing they misrepresented their products and ingredients and should bear blame for his suspension for the first 50 games this year.

Clearing the bases

Josh Hamilton has a strained muscle in his left rib cage, and the Texas Rangers are hoping he can avoid the disabled list and get better with medication and a few more days of rest. He was out of the lineup for the third straight game. … Edwin Encarnacion has been placed on the 15-day DL after tests found that the Cincinnati Reds third baseman has a chipped bone in his left wrist. … Right-hander Freddy Garcia has been released by the New York Mets following two bad starts for Triple-A Buffalo. Garcia went 0-2 with an 8.18 ERA. … The passenger injured in the car crash that killed Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart had his status upgraded to fair late last week and has been undergoing physical and speech therapy. Jon Wilhite, 24, remains in intensive care at the UC Irvine Medical Center, but is not paralyzed.