IN BRIEF : Scurry Charged With Cocaine Use

RENO — Free agent pitcher Rod Scurry Tuesday was formally charged with possession and use of cocaine.

Scurry is free on $6,000 bail and faces a Jan. 5 Justice Court arraignment on the charges that were filed by the Washoe County district attorney’s office.

The 32-year-old left-hander was arrested Thursday after he allegedly purchased $40 worth of crack, a rock form of cocaine, from a police informant in front of a house that had been staked out by police.

Scurry was an All-State pitcher for Reno’s Hug High School in 1974. He pitched in the 1980s for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees and, in 1988, for the Seattle Mariners.

He was 0-2 in 1988 with two saves and a 4.02 earned-run average in 39 games, all in relief. He is 19-32 lifetime with 39 saves in eight major-league seasons.

Scurry, who made $145,000 in 1988, became a free agent when Seattle failed to tender him a contract by the Dec. 20 deadline.