Donnelly Out for Eight

Brendan Donnelly has dropped his appeal of a 10-game suspension for having pine tar on his glove in exchange for a two-game reduction of the penalty, and the Angel reliever will begin serving an eight-game suspension today.

Donnelly, who pitched two innings in Wednesday night’s loss to Texas, will miss this weekend’s series in Kansas City, a three-game series against Minnesota and the first two games of a four-game series against Seattle next week. He’ll be eligible to pitch July 9, two games before the All-Star break.

The team, which must play short-handed for eight days, recalled Kevin Gregg from triple-A Salt Lake to fill Donnelly’s bullpen spot. Infielder Robb Quinlan was optioned to Salt Lake.

“Major League Baseball offered a two-game reduction, which is pretty much what we would have gotten based on the [Julian] Tavarez case last year,” said Dominic Torres, Donnelly’s agent. Tavarez, the St. Louis reliever, had a 10-game suspension for having pine tar on his cap reduced to eight games.

“We’re not real happy about it, because we don’t feel he was cited under the proper rule,” Torres said. “But baseball has to come down how it’s going to come down, and eight games is better than 10.”

Donnelly planned to base his appeal on the fact he did not throw a pitch before Washington Manager Frank Robinson asked umpires to check his glove June 14.

Crew chief Dale Scott cited Donnelly for violating Rule 8.02(b), which states a pitcher may not have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. The penalty for such an infraction is immediate ejection from the game.

But before issuing the suspension, Bob Watson, who oversees discipline for Major League Baseball, indicated he was guided by Rule 3.02, which states no player shall intentionally discolor or damage the ball by rubbing it with ... a foreign substance.

Rule 3.02 goes on to state that “if the pitcher delivers such a discolored or damaged ball to the batter, the pitcher shall be removed from the game at once and shall be suspended automatically for 10 days.”

*

The Angels are no strangers to player tirades -- former teammate Jose Guillen was suspended for the final eight games of the 2004 regular season and the playoffs for his outburst after being pulled for a pinch-runner and his subsequent clubhouse argument with Manager Mike Scioscia.

But even they had a hard time believing the television footage from Ranger pitcher Kenny Rogers’ assault of two television cameramen before Wednesday night’s game.

“I don’t know what he was doing,” pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. “I’ve been awful mad a few times in my career, but I’ve never lost all sanity. I’ve always pictured him as a pretty intelligent guy. I guess he had a bad day and just snapped.”

Arlington police detectives took an assault report from one of the cameramen and interviewed the victim and Rogers on Thursday. A police spokesman said “it appears we are investigating a misdemeanor assault case.”

No charges had been filed as of Thursday afternoon, and Ranger General Manager John Hart said a decision on possible discipline from MLB is expected today.

*

One of the few Angel highlights Thursday was back-to-back home runs by Vladimir Guerrero, his 14th, and Garret Anderson, his 10th, in the third inning. Guerrero also singled in a run in the eighth, extending his hitting streak against the Rangers to 31 games. Guerrero has a career .438 average with 13 homers and 29 RBIs against Texas. ... Darin Erstad sat out the game, only the third time in 78 games the first baseman has not started, but not because of injury. It was a scheduled day off. ... Catcher Bengie Molina is expected to return to the lineup tonight after not starting any of the four games in Texas because of food poisoning. Molina said he felt much better Thursday and was available to play if needed. ... Third baseman Dallas McPherson, who hasn’t started the last five games because of tightness in his left groin, also hopes to return tonight.

ON DECK

Opponent -- Kansas City Royals, three games.

Site -- Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.

TV -- FSN West tonight and Saturday.

Radio -- 710, 1020.

Records -- Angels 47-31, Royals 26-51.

Record vs. Royals -- 4-2.

Tonight, 5 PDT -- Paul Byrd (7-5, 3.87) vs. Runelvys Hernandez (5-8, 4.64).

Saturday, 4 p.m. -- Bartolo Colon (10-4, 3.02) vs. Jose Lima (1-6, 7.81).

Sunday, 4 p.m. -- Jarrod Washburn (4-3, 3.21) vs. Zack Greinke (1-9, 5.92).