After Ryan Sadowski became the first San Francisco Giants pitcher in more than 10 years to win in his major-league debut, he realized he had a problem.
The problem? Keeping all his souvenir baseballs from getting mixed up.
"I've got one from the first pitch, one from the first strikeout, and one from my first hit," Sadowski told the San Jose Mercury News on Sunday after pitching six scoreless innings to defeat the Milwaukee Brewers.
Sadowski, 26, was a 12th-round draft pick in 2003 from the University of Florida. The last Giants pitcher to win in his first major-league game was Joe Nathan, on April 21, 1999, against Florida.
A third violation
Jeremy Jeffress, a 21-year-old righthanded pitcher in the Brewers' organization, was suspended yesterday for 100 games after his third violation of baseball's minor-league program for drug abuse.
Jeffress, Milwaukee's top pick in the 2006 draft, began the season at double-A Huntsville of the Southern League but was demoted to single-A Brevard County of the Florida State League, where he was 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA at the time of his suspension.
"We are obviously disappointed because Jeremy has such great major-league potential and this is a setback in his career," Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said in a statement.
The substance involved was not disclosed.
Hey, join the club
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre says he's "not a big fan" of interleague play.
"It's very difficult when you're managing against [AL teams] to really have a feel for who you want to pitch to, who you don't want to pitch to, even though you have scouting reports," Torre said.
The Dodgers finished 9-9 in interleague play.
Countdown to Manny
Speaking of the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez is scheduled to return from his 50-game suspension Friday in San Diego, and Torre said it was uncertain when Ramirez would feel comfortable again in a major-league game.
"That's what we're all going to find out, and I really haven't had a lot of experience with this," he said.
Noteworthy
St. Louis placed infielder Khalil Greene on the 15-day disabled list for the second time with social anxiety disorder and purchased the contract of righthander Clayton Mortensen from triple-A Memphis. . . . New York Mets centerfielder Carlos Beltran was in Colorado yesterday to have a second opinion on his ailing right knee. . . . The Houston Astros placed righthander Brandon Backe on waivers. The 31-year-old, who had no record with a 10.38 ERA in 13 innings for the Astros this season, rejected an assignment to triple-A Round Rock.
Contact staff writer Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494
or jjuliano@phillynews.com.
This article also contains information from the Associated Press.
