Phillies slugger Ryan Howard goes on disabled list

The Philadelphia Phillies’ season-long wave of injuries has claimed All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard for at least 15 days.

Howard, who was leading the National League with 81 runs batted in, went on the disabled list Tuesday because of a sprained left ankle. The Phillies said the sprain was moderate.

The 2006 NL most valuable player was hurt Sunday while sliding into second base at Washington. He traveled with the team to Miami, but when swelling in the ankle became worse, he returned to Philadelphia for an MRI exam Tuesday.

Howard is the 15th Phillies player to go on the disabled list this season.

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The Boston Red Sox put first baseman Kevin Youkilis on the 15-day DL because of a thumb injury and said that his season could be over.

Youkilis tore a muscle in his right thumb during Monday night’s 6-5 loss to Cleveland.

He lined out to end the first inning, grabbed his hand in pain and stayed in the game until the third.

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Cleveland Indians catcher Carlos Santana was put on the 15-day DL, a day after he was carried from the field on a stretcher following a collision at home plate against the Red Sox.

Santana has a sprained left knee, tests showed.

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St. Louis Cardinals rookie third baseman David Freese will sit out the rest of the season because of a tendon injury in his right leg that will require surgery.

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Former NL All-Star Mark Prior signed with the Orange County Flyers of the independent Golden Baseball League, then pitched a scoreless sixth inning of relief in his debut Tuesday, a 6-0 win over the Victoria Seals.

Prior’s five-year major league career with the Chicago Cubs ended in 2006. The right-hander had a 42-29 record and a 3.51 earned-run average in 106 starts. He made the All-Star team in 2003, when he was 18-6.

Prior, 29, had shoulder surgery and missed the 2007 season, and a shoulder tear forced him to miss the next season. He spent last year in the minors with his hometown San Diego Padres.

ETC.

Galaxy’s Mathis to retire this weekend

The Galaxy’s Clint Mathis will retire from soccer this weekend, the team announced.

The team said that the 33-year-old midfielder will end his 11-year Major League Soccer career after Saturday’s exhibition against Real Madrid at the Rose Bowl.

Mathis began his career with the Galaxy in 1998, the first of three stints he had with the team. He left in 2000, then returned briefly following the end of the 2007 MLS season, and was reacquired from Real Salt Lake in January.

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In Round 1 of the U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Beach, junior standout Granger Larsen, a 20-year old from Hawaii, topped an impressive field with the highest heat total of the day, 14.97 out of 20.

That score was bolstered by the day’s highest single-wave score in the men’s group, an 8.93 out of 10.

Sally Fitzgibbons, who posted the day’s highest scores in Monday’s early rounds, notched Tuesday’s highest score on the women’s side, a 9.00 out of 10.

The round of 96 begins at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday. On the men’s side, surfing legend Kelly Slater is scheduled to compete in Heat 13.

—Baxter Holmes

The Ducks signed right winger Kyle Palmieri to a three-year entry-level contract.

Palmieri was the 26th overall pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft.

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Mardy Fish extended the longest winning streak of his career to 11 matches, beating Viktor Troicki, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic at Washington.