Major League Baseball changes up with 2011 schedule

The Major League Baseball schedule for 2011 features a midweek start in March, a midweek ending in September and the Chicago Cubs’ first visit to Fenway Park in nearly 100 years.

The new-look grid is designed to meet Commissioner Bud Selig’s goal: to have the World Series over in October. Game 7 this year is set for Nov. 4.

Five openers are scheduled for Thursday, March 31, including the Angels at the Kansas City Royals.

Starting in 1999, the season had been slated to start on either a Sunday night or Monday afternoon — except for some special neutral-site trips.

The regular season is set to end on Wednesday, Sept. 28, with games including Philadelphia-Atlanta, Colorado-San Francisco and Yankees-Tampa Bay. The last time a season finished on any day other than Sunday was 1990. This new way, the playoffs could begin in September.

The All-Star game is scheduled for July 12 in Arizona.

Francisco Rodriguez accused of violating restraining order

Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez violated a restraining order by sending dozens of text messages to his girlfriend in the weeks after he was accused of assaulting her father outside a family lounge at Citi Field and will face additional charges, prosecutors said.

Rodriguez appeared for a routine hearing in Queens Criminal Court on third-degree assault and harassment charges, and will face additional charges of criminal contempt for sending the messages. Judge Robert Raciti denied a request to send the right-hander to jail for sending the messages to girlfriend Daian Pena, the mother of their 1-year-old twins. He was arrested after a loss to Colorado on Aug. 11 — a game he didn’t pitch.

“I know this message will get me in trouble, but I already lost you, my house and my children,” he wrote, according to assistant district attorney Scott Kessler. “I do not want to have problems with your family, all I want … is to recover you and my children and continue forward.”

The 28-year-old reliever was accused of grabbing 53-year-old Carlos Pena, hauling him into a tunnel near the family lounge beneath the team’s new ball park and hitting him in the face. Pena was taken to a hospital with a scrape and swelling above his eyebrow, and Rodriguez was held by authorities.

“Your parents are manipulating you like a marionette,” he typed in one of the messages.

Pena never responded to the messages, 56 in total, which were mostly apologetic and non-threatening. The messages included 19 sent while he was in Venezuela, Kessler said.

“I understand perhaps I made a mistake, the biggest mistake of my life. But I love you,” he wrote.

Rodriguez attorney Christopher Booth said his client was unclear that he wasn’t supposed try and resolve the conflict with Pena alone, and that he was told of the problem and corrected it. He said he set up a meeting to see his children — whose birthday is Tuesday — through the attorneys.

“There are no threats, he professes his love,” he said.

Rodriguez didn’t speak after the hearing, and was told to return Oct. 7. He will be jailed if he has any further communication with Pena, the judge ruled. The restraining order is in place until at least February.

After he was restricted without pay for two days, the four-time All-Star known as K-Rod was booed when he returned to the mound, and he gave a lengthy apology to fans after that game. But he tore a ligament in his thumb of his pitching hand during the altercation, and had to have surgery. He didn’t play again.

Rodriguez is 4-2 with 25 saves and a 2.24 ERA this season.

The Mets have said Rodriguez won’t be paid while on the disqualified list and they would exercise a contractual right to convert the rest of his $37 million, three-year deal to non-guaranteed, meaning they could try to avoid paying most of what’s left on it.

By going on the disqualified list, Rodriguez will lose $3 million of his $11.5 million salary this year. Added to the $125,683 he lost when the Mets put him on the restricted list for two days last week, the altercation already has cost him about $3.1 million.

In addition, by converting his contract to non-guaranteed, the Mets gave themselves the ability to release Rodriguez in the early part of spring training next year for 30 days’ termination pay.

The players’ union filed a grievance against the New York Mets and the commissioner’s office protesting how the team has handled the Rodriguez case. The Major League Baseball Players Assn. challenged the decision to place the right-handed closer on the disqualified list and their effort to convert his contract.

If the case isn’t settled, arbitrator Shyam Das would decide whether the team’s actions were justified. The case is still pending.

Rodriguez signed the contract with the Mets after saving a record 62 games with the Angels in 2008.

PRO BASKETBALL

Matt Barnes court hearing is postponed

Lakers forward Matt Barnes and his fiancee, Gloria Govan, appeared in a Sacramento courtroom Monday after his arrest Wednesday on a domestic violence charge. But prosecutors are delaying the hearing until Oct. 18 so they have time to determine whether to bring charges against Barnes, according to Sacramento’s KXTV-TV.

Sacramento County Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Durenberger and Barnes’ lawyer, Tom Johnson, disagreed on what to make of the postponement. Nonetheless, Johnson expressed gratitude for the delay: “We feel fortunate that they’ve come to the conclusion at this point that there isn’t probable cause to charge” Barnes. That means Barnes will begin Lakers camp Sept. 25 with his case unsettled. The hearing also will coincide with the Lakers’ preseason, which include games Oct. 16, 17 and 19.

— Mark Medina

Charlotte Bobcats waive Erick Dampier

Unable to swing a trade, the Charlotte Bobcats waived center Erick Dampier on Tuesday, voiding one of the NBA’s most unique contracts and avoiding the luxury tax.

Dampier was in the last year of a seven-year, $73 million deal, but the $13 million for this season wasn’t guaranteed because he failed to meet playing time requirements.

Once he clears waivers, the 35-year-old Dampier will be free to sign for any team for any salary. Miami, looking for help in the middle to round out its superstar lineup, could be a possibility.

SOCCER

Lionel Messi helps Barcelona open European Champions League with a win

Lionel Messi scored twice Tuesday as Barcelona opened the European Champions League with a 5-1 win over visiting Panathinaikos.

Messi, the reigning FIFA player of the year, has six goals in six games for Barcelona this season after scoring 47 last season, when he led the Champions League with eight. He failed to score for Argentina during the World Cup. David Villa, Pedro Rodriguez and Daniel Alves also had goals for Barcelona in beating the Greek champions.

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Defending champion Inter Milan was held to a 2-2 tie at the Netherlands’ Twente as the Champions League first round opened, and Manchester United played a 0-0 draw at Glasgow Rangers as American midfielder Maurice Edu made his Champions League debut for the Scottish club.

In other games: Schalke lost 1-0 at Lyon. Tottenham, in its Champions League debut, wasted a two-goal lead in 2-2 tie at Werder Bremen; Valencia won 4-0 at Turkey’s Buraspor; Benfica defeated visiting Hapoel Tel Aviv 2-0, and Copenhagen beat visiting Rubin Kazan of Russia 1-0.