Murray Is Fired by Indians

The Cleveland Indians, struggling to score runs, fired hitting coach Eddie Murray, a Hall of Famer who was in his fourth year in the position.

The Indians, with a potent offense a year ago, have scored only 75 runs in their last 16 games. Hitting coordinator Derek Shelton will take over as batting coach on an interim basis for the rest of the season.

“The most difficult part of this is just obviously Eddie Murray and the tremendous amount of respect I have and we have for him,” Manager Eric Wedge said.

Murray, who had 504 homers and 3,255 hits and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003, was informed of the firing after the Indians lost to the Chicago White Sox, 6-5. He was not available for comment.

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Atlanta left-hander Mike Hampton returned to the 15-day disabled list because of tightness in his left forearm, five days after he lasted only four innings in his first start since sitting out more than two weeks with the same problem.

Hampton, off to a good start with a 4-1 record and a 1.83 earned-run average, will skip his scheduled start today against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right-hander Seth Greisinger probably will be called up from triple-A Richmond to pitch.

Hampton threw before Friday night’s game in Pittsburgh after lasting only 58 pitches Tuesday in Washington. He left with a 1-0 lead, but the Braves lost, 5-3.

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The Colorado Rockies put right-hander Shawn Chacon on the 15-day disabled list. The move was made retroactive to Friday. Chacon, 1-4 with a 3.83 ERA, strained his left hamstring running the bases on May 26 in Chicago. Byung-Hyun Kim, 0-4 with a 7.04 ERA, will take Chacon’s place in the rotation.