Former Pitcher Jailed in Hit-Run

Former Oakland Athletics pitcher Matt Keough was arrested late Monday on suspicion of drunken driving and leaving the scene of a crash that injured a pedestrian, authorities said Tuesday.

Keough was being held on $100,000 bail and could be charged with driving under the influence and hit and run, both felonies. His blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit of 0.08% in a Breathalyzer test administered three hours after the incident, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

Keough, 49, is listed as a special assistant to the Athletics’ general manager on the club’s website and is a resident of Coto de Caza. He was an Angel scout in the 1990s.

Keough was driving a sport utility vehicle at 9:50 p.m. Monday when it struck the rear of another SUV at a red light at Via Serena and Santa Margarita Parkway in Rancho Santa Margarita, Amormino said. The vehicle Keough hit was pushed into a pedestrian crosswalk, where it hit an unidentified 31-year-old man, Amormino said.

Keough began walking away, but a witness brought him back to the scene, Amormino said. However, he walked away again before sheriff’s deputies arrived, the sheriff’s spokesman said.

“Deputies searched a condominium area nearby for a while but didn’t locate him,” he said.

At 1 a.m. Tuesday, deputies arrested Keough after spotting him at a pay phone. The jail’s website said Keough was booked at 2:29 a.m. and was still in custody Tuesday afternoon. He has a court appearance scheduled today at Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

The man injured in the incident was taken to a hospital with undisclosed injuries.

Keough pitched in the major leagues from 1977 to 1986, compiling a record of 58-84 with a 4.17 earned-run average. His best year was 1980 with Oakland, when he went 16-13 and pitched 20 complete games.

He appeared in 215 major league games, 170 of them with the Athletics. He also pitched for the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros.