BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Yankees’ Fernandez Breaks Elbow

New York Yankee second baseman Tony Fernandez will be sidelined indefinitely after fracturing his right elbow in an 8-3 victory over the Houston Astros at Tampa, Fla. Surgery will be required, and the Yankees did not know when he would be able to return.

“I don’t want to put a time frame on it, but it’s not a two- or three-week deal,” team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon said. “A fracture would normally take a minimum of six weeks to heal and that’s before you actively start to exercise it.”

Pat Kelly, who has been bothered by tendinitis in his right shoulder this spring, is Manager Joe Torre’s first choice to take over at second. If Kelly is not ready, it will be Mariano Duncan.

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Barry Bonds came out swinging in his first game in a week. Bonds, sidelined for six days because of a bruised left wrist, threw a punch at Seattle catcher John Marzano after being hit by a pitch from former teammate Salomon Torres in an exhibition game at Scottsdale, Ariz.

Marzano put a bearhug on Bonds after he started walking toward the mound. “I was telling him to relax, and he kept pushing and pushing. And he took a swing at me,” Marzano said. “I backed off, [but] he almost got me.”

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Pittsburgh Manager Jim Leyland missed Sunday’s 8-1 exhibition victory over Texas to take his 4-year-old son Patrick to a doctor. Patrick hurt his leg when he fell Thursday at Leyland’s apartment outside Bradenton, Fla. . . . Mark Acre, who made 43 appearances for the Oakland Athletics last season, was one of four pitchers optioned to triple-A Edmonton by the A’s.