BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Sanders Hit by Pitch, Leaves Game

Deion Sanders bruised his right elbow Tuesday night when he was hit with a pitch in San Francisco’s 10-4 loss at St. Louis. The two-sport star’s status is day-to-day.

Sanders wobbled to first base after being hit by Allen Watson with one out in the third inning and left the field after being examined by team trainers. The Giants said preliminary X-rays were negative.

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Houston Astro outfielder Derek Bell, who was expected to be out only two weeks with a leg injury, will instead be sidelined for six to eight weeks when surgery revealed he had a muscle tear in his left thigh.

Houston Dr. William Bryan intended to remove a blood clot that formed after Bell was hit by a pitch from Atlanta’s Steve Avery on Aug. 22.

Bryan said Bell apparently tore the muscle 10 days later when he tried to run on it and tore it further Sept. 5 during a brawl with the Cincinnati Reds.

Bell is hitting .334 and leads the team with 86 RBIs.

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St. Louis catcher Tom Pagnozzi will be sidelined for the rest of the season after breaking his left wrist almost two weeks ago.

Pagnozzi was hurt in a play at the plate Sept. 3 and hadn’t played since then. The injury didn’t show up on X-rays, but a bone scan Tuesday revealed the break.

The injury will take about six weeks to heal, the team said.

Also, pitcher Alan Benes, St. Louis’ first-round pick in 1993 and the younger brother of Seattle starter Andy Benes, was among six players promoted by the Cardinals from triple-A Louisville. The contracts of Benes, pitcher Doug Creek and first baseman Ray Giannelli were purchased, and the team recalled pitchers Cory Bailey and John Frascatore, and outfielder Terry Bradshaw.

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Ben McDonald will pitch today, although it’s not exactly what he had in mind.

McDonald, activated off the disabled list Monday, will appear in relief of rookie Jimmy Haynes when the Baltimore Orioles play the Boston Red Sox. It will be McDonald’s first relief appearance since 1990.

McDonald has been sidelined because of tendinitis in his right shoulder since July 19.

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ABC Sports won a coin toss for Game 7 of the World Series if it should go that far.

The Baseball Network, a TV partnership among baseball, ABC and NBC, made the announcement. Game 7, if necessary, is scheduled for Sunday night, Oct. 29.

Since this will be the final year of The Baseball Network, ABC and NBC already had decided to televise the first six games on an alternating basis. ABC will do Game 1 on Saturday, Oct. 21, beginning at the National League city.

In addition, ABC and NBC will jointly cover the division and league championship series.

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Former umpires Steve Palermo and Doug Harvey have been added to the staff of baseball’s umpire evaluators.

The evaluation system was established this season by the American and National leagues to provide feedback to league presidents Gene Budig of the AL and Leonard Coleman of the NL, the umpires and the clubs. The evaluators observe all umpires in both leagues and at the triple-A level.

Budig and Coleman previously chose former major leaguers Johnny Roseboro and Billy Sample, and Phil Janssen, the coordinator of umpire supervision for the AL since 1992, as umpire evaluators.