Johnson Will Pay for Inside Pitch

Pitcher Randy Johnson of the New York Yankees was suspended five games by the commissioner’s office Thursday for intentionally throwing at Cleveland’s Eduardo Perez during Wednesday night’s game.

Yankees Manager Joe Torre was suspended for one game. Unless Johnson appeals, both penalties are scheduled to begin tonight, when the Yankees start a series at Washington.

Johnson and Torre also were fined an undisclosed amount by Bob Watson, vice president of on-field operations for Major League Baseball.

Johnson threw high and inside to Perez in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 6-1 victory and was immediately ejected, as was Torre.

Both benches had been warned by umpires in the sixth, when Yankees catcher Jorge Posada and Cleveland starter Jason Johnson exchanged words after Posada was hit by a pitch.

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The Oakland Athletics put designated hitter Frank Thomas, who has a strained right quadriceps, on the 15-day disabled list.

Thomas left Wednesday night’s game against the Seattle Mariners in the third inning after hitting a ball off the left-field fence that wound up as a single.

Thomas was batting .239 with a team-leading 16 home runs and 39 runs batted in in 55 games.

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The Minnesota Twins traded infielder Juan Castro back to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league outfielder Brandon Roberts. Castro was batting .231 with five doubles, one homer and 14 RBIs in 50 games.

Castro, 34, a former Dodger, spent five years with the Reds before signing with the Twins before the 2005 season.

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Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein said right-hander Matt Clement returned to Boston to see a doctor about a pain in his right shoulder and biceps. He was pulled with two out in the fifth inning of Wednesday night’s 8-1 loss to Minnesota.