Sports briefs 8/31/05

Baseball

• Barry Bonds has begun taking light batting practice, a positive sign the slugger could soon be ready to resume other baseball activity as he recovers from three operations on his right knee.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean spoke Tuesday to renowned Angels orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum, who has been working with Bonds in Los Angeles along with physical therapist Clive Brewster.

"What that means in the greater scheme of things, I'll know more tomorrow," Sabean said Tuesday before the Giants faced Colorado. "The knee was tolerant. He was sore in the obvious places, being the hands and upper torso. It's a good first step toward getting back to baseball activities. ... I'm presuming it's a baby-step type of thing."

Sabean planned to speak to Yocum and Brewster again Wednesday to better determine when Bonds -- recovering from three surgeries on his right knee since Jan. 31 -- might be able to rejoin his San Francisco teammates.

* Rafael Palmeiro inserted earplugs after he was loudly booed during Tuesday's night's game between the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays.

Fans booed the Orioles veteran during his first at-bat. When he came up for his second at-bat, he was sporting earplugs.

Palmeiro struck out swinging in his first at-bat and popped out weakly to the pitcher in his second. He has been in a prolonged slump that began after he returned from a 10-day suspension for testing positive for steroids.

* Mike Mussina will miss at least one start because of slight inflammation on the inside of his pitching elbow, becoming the fifth and final member of the New York Yankees' original starting rotation to get hurt this year.

Mussina allowed four runs and six hits in three-plus innings against Seattle on Monday night, failing to complete the fifth inning in consecutive starts for the first time since Sept. 12 and 19, 1996, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The 36-year-old right-hander, 12-8 with a 4.34 ERA, had been bothered by the inflammation previously this season

* Mike Piazza will be sidelined until mid-September and perhaps the rest of the season because of a broken bone in his left hand.

After Piazza was hit by a foul tip during a game against Pittsburgh on Aug. 16, New York Mets manager Willie Randolph said his catcher would miss at least a few games.

Piazza had a CT scan Monday, and the 12-time All-Star said doctors determined the hand needed six-to-eight weeks to heal from the time of the injury.

Football

* The Cincinnati Bengals gave up on Peter Warrick, cutting the former first round pick on Tuesday, the day NFL teams were required to get down to 65 players.

The move came a day after the injury-plagued Warrick, the fourth overall pick in the 2000 draft, asked to be released if the Bengals had written him out of their plans. He has played in only one preseason game because of injuries, failing to catch a pass.

Atlanta, meanwhile, dumped Peerless Price, another one-time top receiver. His problem was inefficiency and salary. And Chicago cut quarterback Chad Hutchinson, who had been the starter for two games, but was demoted to fourth string after two dismal showings in exhibition games.Hutchinson was 20-of-42 for 211 yards with four interceptions and no TD passes and a quarterback rating of 23.1 in the preseason. Hutchinson pitched briefly in the major leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals.