Ligtenberg Says He’ll Have Elbow Surgery

Kerry Ligtenberg said Friday he will likely have season-ending surgery on his ailing right elbow, leaving a gaping hole in the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen.

“I’m trying to remain positive, but I just don’t think it’s going to heal by itself,” Ligtenberg said before Friday’s exhibition game against Montreal in Kissimmee, Fla. “There’s no sense in putting it off. If I get it done now, I can be back for the opener next season.”

Ligtenberg was diagnosed with a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament in his right elbow March 10, two days after giving up five runs in the ninth inning of a spring game against Houston.

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Chicago Cub closer Rod Beck pitched for the first time since March 5 and promptly helped spark a bench-clearing brawl against Arizona.

Beck, bothered by a protruding disk in his lower back, hit Travis Lee in the shoulder in the sixth inning of a game the Diamondbacks won, 17-10, in Mesa.

“I was just trying to put the fastball inside. I wasn’t trying to hit him,” Beck said. “I’ve got no reason to hit anybody in spring training.”

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The New York Mets placed former Dodger Hideo Nomo on unconditional release waivers after the right-hander reported to triple-A Norfolk. If Nomo isn’t claimed before waivers expire Tuesday, the Mets will release him and give him 45 days termination pay, $719,262, instead of his full salary of $2,925,000. Nomo would then be a free agent and could sign with any team.

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A smiling and tan Joe Torre returned to Legends Field in Tampa, Fla., meeting with his New York Yankee players and coaches for the first time since prostate cancer surgery at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis on March 18.

Torre, the Yankees’ manager, talked with his players for about five minutes during a closed-door meeting. He also met with his coaching staff in the manager’s office for 45 minutes.

“I thought it was important for them to see that I’m feeling fine and that it’s just a matter of time,” Torre said. “I asked them if there were any questions, I’d be around.”

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Unable to reach a new contract agreement, the San Francisco Giants and J.T. Snow broke off talks, raising the possibility the first baseman will become a free agent after the season.

“They’re locked in on four or five years. We’re at three years and an option,” Giant assistant general manager Ned Colletti said. “We’re not inclined to go any farther. They’re not inclined to take any less so for now at least, we’re going to put it aside.”

Snow, who earned his fourth career Gold Glove award after committing only one error last season, gets $3 million this season, the last year of his current pact.

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Nomar Garciaparra needed only one pitch to prove his batting stroke was in great shape. Now he hopes to show his elbow is just as healthy.

He hit the first pitch he saw Friday over the left-field fence in his first game since March 18. Then, on his third at-bat, he let one pitch go by before hitting another homer, also off Rick Helling.

“Sometimes you close your eyes, it works,” said Garciaparra, the designated hitter in Boston’s 10-3 victory over the Texas Rangers in Port Charlotte, Fla.

He hopes to return to shortstop today when the Red Sox visit the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Garciaparra, the 1997 AL Rookie of the Year, last played shortstop on March 11 when he felt pain in his elbow after making a relay throw. He sat out three games, was the designated hitter the next four and missed three more before heading for the West Coast last Sunday to be examined by two doctors.

The diagnosis was encouraging. He had tendinitis but no structural damage in his throwing elbow.