Chacon suspended after fight with GM

Houston Astros pitcher Shawn Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team Wednesday for insubordination after grabbing General Manager Ed Wade by the neck and throwing him to the ground.

Chacon, upset after being demoted to the bullpen over the weekend, told the Houston Chronicle the incident started when Wade approached him in the dining room and asked to meet with him. Chacon said he insisted that Wade speak to him there but that Wade responded by “yelling and cussing” and saying he needed “to look in the mirror.”

“So at that point I lost my cool and I grabbed him by the neck and threw him to the ground. I jumped on top of him,” Chacon told the newspaper.

Chacon said players quickly separated them. Wade announced the suspension but would not elaborate, though he did confirm that Chacon’s agent called and requested a trade earlier this week.

Chacon, who set a major-league record with nine straight no-decisions to start the season after signing a one-year, $2-million deal with the Astros in February, is 2-3 with a 5.04 earned-run average in 15 starts this season.

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Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said that he is still weeks away from playing after testing his wrist by taking 25 soft swings off a batting tee.

Ortiz has been on the 15-day disabled list because of a torn tendon in his left wrist, suffered May 31 in Baltimore.

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All players at the 2009 World Baseball Classic will be tested for performance-enhancing drugs ahead of the March tournament, said Harvey Schiller, president of the International Baseball Federation.

The tests will start 45 days beforehand.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired right-hander Denny Bautista from the Detroit Tigers for a minor league pitcher and will add the reliever to their major league roster.

The Tigers got right-handed reliever Kyle Pearson from Class-A Lynchburg.

Bautista, 27, was 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 16 games with Detroit before being designated for assignment Friday.

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Umpire Brian O’Nora was released from the hospital after sustaining a mild concussion and a cut on his forehead when he was hit by a broken maple bat in Tuesday’s night game between the Colorado Rockies and Kansas City Royals.

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Derryl Cousins will umpire his third All-Star game and serve as crew chief at Yankee Stadium on July 15.

Ed Rapuano will umpire at first base, Tom Hallion at second, Mark Wegner at third, Greg Gibson in left and Phil Cuzzi in right, the commissioner’s office said.