Devil Rays’ Saunders Breaks Arm Again

Tony Saunders’ comeback from a broken left arm was derailed Thursday night when the arm snapped again while he was pitching.

Saunders, 26, originally broke his left humerus--the bone from shoulder to elbow--while throwing a 3-2 pitch on May 26, 1999, in a game against the Texas Rangers at Tropicana Field.

Saunders, making his fifth rehabilitation start and third for Tampa Bay’s Class-A affiliate in St. Petersburg, Fla., crumpled to the ground with a similar injury after throwing a wild pitch in the third inning against Clearwater on Thursday night.

He was in obvious pain and his screams could be heard throughout the stadium as teammates and trainers rushed to the mound to help him.

Saunders was taken to Bayfront Medical Center where team orthopedist Dr. Koco Eaton set the arm.

“From a medical standpoint, him getting to pitch again would not be optimistic,” Tampa Bay Devil Rays’ spokesman Rick Vaughn said. “His chances would not be optimistic.”

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The ball used by major league baseball has been altered to make it livelier over the past two decades, according to a study performed by a maker of imaging systems.

Universal Systems Inc., based in Solon, Ohio, studied hundreds of baseballs of various eras dating to the 1930s through the imaging process before concluding that the ball has been changed to increase its flight.

The eight-year project was performed with help from Dr. Avrami S. Grader and Dr. P.M. Halleck from the Center for Quantitative Imaging at Penn State.

League officials could not immediately be reached to comment.

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Cristian Guzman, who never played baseball until he was 16, signed a four-year extension with the Minnesota Twins. The club holds an option for a fifth year for the 22-year-old shortstop.

Guzman has established himself as one of baseball’s brightest young stars this season, batting .263 with 20 doubles, a club-record 19 triples, eight homers and 47 RBIs in 124 games.

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Houston Astro pitcher Jay Powell will have exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder Tuesday. . . . The Detroit Tigers have signed 16-year-old Australian catcher Brad Wise to a minor league contract. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Wise batted .500 with five home runs, 10 doubles and 15 RBIs during the recent under-16 Australian National Tournament.