SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner is hurt for the second straight year, breaking a bone in his pitching hand when struck by a line drive hit by Whit Merrifield of the Kansas City Royals during a spring-training game Friday.

The Giants said X-rays showed Bumgarner, 28, had a broken bone on the outside of his left hand.

Bumgarner, the 2014 World Series MVP, missed nearly three months last season after a dirt bike accident on April 20 during an off day in Colorado.

After six straight seasons with double-digit wins, more than 200 innings and 30-plus starts, Bumgarner went 4-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 17 starts last season and threw just 111 innings.

RED SOX: Brian Johnson was named to start the season in the rotation after pitching 42/3 scoreless innings against the New York Yankees in a 5-0 victory at Tampa, Florida.

Johnson has allowed three earned runs in 152/3 innings this spring with 12 strikeouts.

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REDS: Homer Bailey will make his first opening-day start, a breakthrough after years of setbacks with his elbow.

Bailey will start Thursday at home against Washington.

A DETROIT CORNER that has been a stage for many of baseball’s greatest players now will host youth games, events and other programs for young people.

A ribbon-cutting is scheduled at Saturday at The Corner Ballpark on the site of the former Tiger Stadium. A high school doubleheader will be played in the afternoon.

YANKEES: Aaron Judge could be used at times as a leadoff hitter this season.

“It’s a potential, that’s why we’re deploying it and assessing it,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “We’re going to take a peek here. We’ll see how it feels, simple as that.”

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TWINS: Third baseman Miguel Sano will not be suspended by Major League Baseball after being accused of assault.

The commissioner’s office said in a statement “there was insufficient evidence to support a disciplinary determination against Sano, due to conflicting and inconsistent witness accounts and the absence of contemporaneous substantiation.”

Sano was accused of assault in December by a photographer who has covered the Twins. She posted on Twitter that he forcibly attempted to kiss her following an autograph session at a mall in 2015.

BOSTON CATCHER Oscar Hernandez, Chicago Cubs pitcher David Garner, St. Louis pitcher Matt Pearce and Pittsburgh shortstop Andrew Walker were suspended for 50 games each under baseball’s minor league drug program.

Hernandez, 24, played 18 games for Arizona in 2016 and four the following year. He hit .197 with eight homers and 21 RBI in 67 games last year for Jackson in the Double-A Texas League and is on the roster of the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox of the International League.

MINOR LEAGUE baseball players who make as little as $5,500 a season were stripped of the protection of federal minimum wage laws under a provision in government spending legislation.

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The “Save America’s Pastime Act” is included on page 1,967 of the $1.3 trillion spending bill and appears to pre-empt a lawsuit filed four years ago in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by three players alleging Major League Baseball and its teams violate the Fair Labor Standards Act, and state minimum wage and overtime requirements for a work week they estimated at 50 to 60 hours.

NATIONALS: Second baseman Daniel Murphy is likely to remain behind in Florida when the team breaks camp.

Murphy had micro-fracture surgery on his right knee Oct. 20 and hasn’t appeared in any major league or minor league spring-training games. His rehabilitation has taken longer than expected, and Howie Kendrick or Wilmer Difo are expected to start at second base in next Thursday’s season opener at Cincinnati.

DODGERS: Clayton Kershaw stretched his scoreless streak to 211/3 innings with 62/3 innings against Kansas City in his final tuneup for Thursday’s opener against Kansas City. He allowed a leadoff single to Jon Jay and no other hits. He struck out four and walked none in a 10-0 win.

“He was efficient as he could ever be,” Manager Dave Roberts said. “He had everything working, fastball to both sides of the plate, the slider had the depth, the breaking ball was sharp. Clayton threw the ball really well. It was really encouraging for all of us. He doesn’t smile too often after outings but I think he was pretty pleased.”


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