Sports briefs 7/28/05

Baseball

• Boston pitcher Matt Clement was released from a hospital Wednesday, less than 24 hours after being hit in the side of the head by a line drive that knocked him off his feet.

"The results of a second CT scan taken this morning were also negative, and Matt was released from the hospital this afternoon," Red Sox medical director Dr. Thomas Gill said in a statement released before the club played Tampa Bay in the finale of a three-game series.

Gill said the 30-year-old All-Star would accompany the team back to Boston after the game and be evaluated there by the Red Sox medical staff.

* Kenny Rogers' appeal of his 20-game suspension for shoving two cameramen was rejected Wednesday by commissioner Bud Selig.

The commissioner, who heard the appeal by the Texas Rangers pitcher last Friday, said the suspension would begin with Wednesday night's at Baltimore. Under baseball's rules, Selig decided the original penalty and also ruled on the appeal.

Selig imposed the suspension and a $50,000 fine for a June 29 videotaped tirade in which Rogers, a three-time All-Star, shoved two cameramen when he came onto the field for pregame stretching.

* Chicago Cubs right-hander Greg Maddux became the 13th pitcher in major league history to strike out 3,000 batters when he threw a called third strike past San Francisco's Omar Vizquel in the third inning Tuesday night.

Maddux got Vizquel on a 2-2 pitch on the inside corner and the crowd at Wrigley Field that had waited out a 2-hour, 43-minute rain delay at the start, erupted. It was the final out of the inning.

Maddux, with 313 wins entering the game, also became just the ninth pitcher to have 3,000 strikeout and 300 victories.

* The New York Yankees claimed right-hander Hideo Nomo off waivers from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday and signed him to a minor league contract.

The acquisition of the 37-year-old Nomo marks the second time this month the Yankees have picked up a veteran pitcher that was discarded by the team he started the season with to help fill a hole in the Yankees' beleaguered rotation.

Al Leiter, who was set to make his third start for the Yankees on Wednesday night against Minnesota, was acquired on July 16 from the Florida Marlins.

Nomo was released by Tampa Bay July 25 after being designated for assignment on July 16. He was 5-8 with a 7.24 ERA for the Devil Rays.

Football

* The St. Louis Rams signed third-round pick Oshiomogho Atogwe and released three others on Wednesday, the day before the start of training camp.

Atogwe, a safety from Stanford, was the sixth of the team's 11 draft picks to sign and got a three-year contract. He led Stanford in tackles for three straight seasons and had four interceptions and two forced fumbles his senior year.

Among the players released by the Rams was offensive guard Scott Tercero, who started four games early last season before being placed on injured reserve with wrist and shoulder injuries on Nov. 16. The team also released tight end Nick Burley and defensive tackle Matt McChesney.

Tercero was expendable after the Rams resigned Tom Nutten on Tuesday. The team also added free agent guard Rex Tucker and drafted Richie Incognito in the third round.

Swimming

* Grant Hackett bumped off one of the sport's most enduring world records Wednesday night, leaving everyone else in his wake on his way to eclipsing Thorpe's mark in the 800-meter freestyle.

The 6-foot-6 Hackett claimed his second gold and third medal of the World Swimming Championships with a time of 7 minutes, 38.65 seconds, breaking the mark set four years ago by his countryman Thorpe.

American Michael Phelps had his busiest day of the championships, swimming four times to qualify for the finals of the 100 free and 200 individual medley.

Pawel Korzeniowski of Poland took advantage of Phelps' absence in the 200 fly to win the gold. His time of 1:55.02 was more than a second off the American's world record.

Thirty-five-year-old Mark Warneke of Germany won the 50 breaststroke in 27.63 Solenne Figues of France captured gold in the women's 200 freestyle, winning in 1:58.60.

-- From wire reports