Sosa’s Penalty Cut by a Game

Sammy Sosa thrilled the fans at Baltimore’s Camden Yards during batting practice Wednesday, sending one ball after another into the seats.

After that, he was done for the day.

Sosa began serving a seven-game suspension for using a corked bat, a penalty reduced by one game after his appeal Tuesday.

Sosa refused to talk to the media before Chicago’s game against the Baltimore Orioles, but the Cubs seemed satisfied with the ruling.

“I think it’s great that they knocked a day off it. He can go serve it, then come back ready to play,” reliever Mike Remlinger said.

Sosa was ejected from a game June 3 after cork was discovered in his shattered bat. He contended he accidentally used a bat he usually uses in batting practice.

“I am convinced of the sincerity of Sosa’s explanation and his contrition,” said Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer. “In my opinion, his candor and the promptness of his apology on the night of June 3 were exemplary.

“However, at the end of the day, each player must be accountable for his own equipment complying with the rules, whether the violation is deliberate or inadvertent.”

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Seattle Mariner closer Kazuhiro Sasaki is making his second trip to the disabled list after injuring ribs while carrying a suitcase up a flight of stairs in his home.

Seattle put Sasaki on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Friday.

Sasaki, 35, bruised his right ribs when he slipped and fell after arriving home Sunday from the Mariners’ 12-game trip.

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Cleveland Indian shortstop Omar Vizquel will have arthroscopic surgery today for torn cartilage on his right knee and probably will sit out at least three weeks.

Vizquel injured the knee while sliding at the plate during the seventh inning of Cleveland’s 6-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday.

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The Kansas City Royals have purchased the contract of Jose Lima, who won 21 games for the Houston Astros in 1999 and spent the last two months with the Newark Bears of the independent Atlantic League.

The Royals assigned the right-hander to triple-A Omaha of the Pacific Coast League.

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Jose Rijo, 38, is considering retirement after a remarkable two-year comeback with the Cincinnati Reds.

Rijo has not recovered fully from surgery in March to remove a bone chip from the right elbow, his sixth operation since 1995. He is feeling pain in a different part of the elbow.

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St. Louis agreed to terms with catcher Daric Barton of Huntington Beach Marina High, the Cardinals’ first-round selection in the June 3 draft.

Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The left-handed-hitting Barton, the 28th pick overall, will be assigned to Johnson City of the Appalachian League.

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Illegal Bat Suspensions

Players who have been suspended for using illegal bats. All used corked bats except Graig Nettles. (* Original suspensions in parenthesis. Appeals resulted in lower penalties):

*--* YEAR PLAYER TEAM GAMES 2003 SAMMY SOSA Chicago Cubs (*8) 7 1997 WILTON GUERRERO Dodgers 8 1996 CHRIS SABO Cincinnati 7 1994 ALBERT BELLE Cleveland (*10) 7 1987 BILLY HATCHER Houston 10 1974 GRAIG NETTLES-x N.Y. Yankees 0

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x-Nettles, after hitting a broken-bat single against Detroit was caught having superballs in his bat. He said the bat was given to him by a Yankee fan in Chicago and he picked it up by mistake.