Damon and Petkovsek Suspended

Johnny Damon of the Kansas City Royals was suspended for three games Friday for actions that led to a bench-clearing melee in an interleague game Aug. 30 at Kansas City.

Mark Petkovsek of the St. Louis Cardinals was given the same punishment.

Petkovsek was suspended for intentionally hitting Damon with a pitch, and Damon was suspended for charging the mound.

The suspensions, effective immediately, were announced by presidents Leonard Coleman of the National League and Gene Budig of the American League.

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Second baseman Fernando Vina has agreed to a two-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers with a club option for 2000. Other terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Vina, 28, is hitting .287 with three home runs.

Vina, a Brewer since being traded by the New York Mets in December 1994, sat out nearly three months this season after breaking his right fibula in April.

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Mike Diebolt, a minor league pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, died Friday in a car accident in suburban Cleveland, the team said. He was 22.

Diebolt was en route to his parents’ home in Mayfield Village when he reportedly suffered a seizure that caused the accident.

Diebolt was drafted by the Tigers in June in the seventh round from the University of Minnesota. In 15 games with Class-A Jamestown, N.Y., he was 3-6 with a 4.30 ERA.