Hernandez Faces Long Layoff

New York Yankee right-hander Orlando Hernandez was given a cortisone shot in his injured left foot Monday and probably will be sidelined until at least the All-Star break.

Hernandez’s foot will be partially immobilized for one week and the Yankees will wait to see how the pitcher responds to rest before determining whether surgery will be necessary.

Hernandez, 0-5 with a 5.14 earned-run average in nine starts, was placed on the disabled list Friday. The irritation is in the second toe of his left foot, the one he lands on after releasing a pitch.

A Cuban pitcher was denied a request for free agency by a judge in Tampa, Fla., who said the player will not be irreparably harmed by being part of the amateur draft.

Rolando Viera arrived in the United States in April on a visa he won in a lottery.

He wanted the judge to block major league baseball from making him part of today’s draft.

Utility player Bobby Bonilla of the St. Louis Cardinals was suspended for one game and fined by major league baseball for slapping the Milwaukee Brewers’ Jeromy Burnitz during a game last month.

Bonilla decided not to appeal the ruling and to sit out Monday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds. He was not in the starting lineup.

Bonilla, Burnitz and Cardinal Manager Tony La Russa were ejected from the May 28 game, in which the benches emptied after Matt Morris hit Geoff Jenkins in the shoulder one pitch after Jenkins’ bid for an upper-deck home run hooked foul.

Burnitz, who was on deck, walked toward the Cardinal dugout and yelled in that direction. After the dugouts cleared, Bonilla hit Burnitz with a right-hand slap.

Houston Astro closer Billy Wagner went on the 15-day disabled list because of a left forearm strain.

Right-hander Shawn Boskie, who gave up a home run to Cal Ripken Jr. the night he broke Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-games streak, retired after 15 pro seasons.