Maddux Goes on Disabled List

Atlanta Brave right-hander Greg Maddux was put on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career Friday night.

Maddux, who missed his opening-day assignment on Monday because of an inflamed nerve in his lower back, received a cortisone shot on Wednesday and had been expected to start on Sunday against the Mets.

He threw in the bullpen on Thursday and said he felt he was ready to go. But the Braves announced after their 9-3 loss to the New York Mets on Friday night that Maddux would be sidelined.

The four-time NL Cy Young Award winner is eligible to be activated on April 10.

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Pedro Martinez thinks Toronto Manager Buck Martinez was uninformed and out of line for criticizing the pitcher’s brief appearance in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse Wednesday.

Buck Martinez was angry that the Boston pitcher dropped by the Toronto locker room during a rain delay at Fenway Park.

Pedro Martinez explained that Fenway Park security ushered him through the visitor’s clubhouse to avoid a crush of people after the pitcher greeted fans during pregame ceremonies.

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Baseball’s top labor lawyer called Forbes’ analysis of the sport’s finances, which shows a $75-million operating profit instead of a $232-million operating loss, “the type of journalism one expects from a supermarket tabloid.”

Forbes responded by saying the sport’s accounting “simply did not make sense in some cases” and said the magazine “stands firmly behind its figures.”

“Not only does the article contain wildly inaccurate financial information, but more important it was written in total disregard of actual audited financial information that we provided to the authors,” management lawyer Rob Manfred wrote in a letter to Forbes.

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Washington Redskin owner Dan Snyder and Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson have joined forces to try to buy a team to bring to the Washington area.... Moises Alou, the Chicago Cubs’ major off-season acquisition, was put on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right calf. It is the third consecutive season that Alou has gone to the DL with an injury to his right calf.... The New York Mets acquired Montreal closer Scott Strickland, sending Bruce Chen to the Expos. The teams also traded two minor leaguers.