Union Questions Tactics

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell has asked several former and current major leaguers for medical and telephone records, requests the players’ union says overstep the scope of baseball’s steroids investigation.

Michael Weiner, the union’s No. 3 official, sent an e-mail to agents Friday telling them to inform the union if Mitchell contacts any clients.

The union told the agents that the investigation by Mitchell, who was hired by Commissioner Bud Selig, was a “substantial disruption” to the bargaining relationship between the players’ association and Major League Baseball.

Weiner’s e-mail was first reported by Newsday and the New York Post.

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Moises Alou was put on the 15-day disabled list because of a badly sprained right ankle, leaving the San Francisco Giants without their primary protection in the lineup for Barry Bonds.

The Giants recalled catcher Justin Knoedler from double-A Connecticut to take Alou’s spot.

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Seattle Mariner prospect Jeff Clement, the third overall pick in the 2005 June draft, has had surgeries to his left knee and left elbow, the team announced.

Clement, 22, a catcher from USC who has been at double-A San Antonio this season, is expected to be sidelined for at least six weeks.

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The Nashville Sounds and New Orleans Zephyrs tied a Pacific Coast League record for the longest game, playing 24 innings over two nights before the Zephyrs broke a tie to win 5-4 Saturday night at Nashville.

The game, which started at 7 p.m. Friday, was the third 24-inning game in the league’s history and lasted just over eight hours. Play was suspended in the 18th inning about 1:25 a.m. because of league curfew rules.

The game resumed at 6 p.m. Saturday and continued for an hour and a half.

The teams’ scheduled game for Saturday was to begin 20 minutes after completion of the Friday game.