Oakland Athletics shortstop Walt Weiss ruptured ligaments in his left ankle while running to first base in yesterday's game with the Milwaukee Brewers and underwent surgery to repair the damage.
Athletics doctor Allan Pont said Weiss did not suffer any compound fractures. He did not speculate on how long Weiss will be out of action.
Weiss was injured in the third inning and removed from the field by stretcher. He appeared to catch his left spike in the dirt about six feet from first base. He flipped face-forward as he slid across the bag and lay on his stomach as A's trainer Barry Weinberg and manager Tony La Russa rushed to his aid.
Meanwhile, Athletics pitcher Joe Klink, who broke his right foot when hit by Dante Bichette's line drive Wednesday night, is expected to miss at least six weeks.
* INDIANS: Outfielder Albert Belle was sent to the minors last night after he failed to run hard on a double-play grounder during a 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.
Belle is awaiting a hearing on his appeal of a seven-day suspension for intentionally hitting a heckling fan with a baseball on May 11. That incident, however, was only one of many that caused him to lose favor with the Indians' front office.
Belle leads the Indians with nine home runs and 27 RBIs.
* PLAYERS' UNION: The Major League Baseball Players Association charged that four clubs released players during spring training to save money and filed a grievance against the teams.
The union charged that Fernando Valenzuela (Los Angeles), Pete Incaviglia (Texas), Oddibe McDowell (Atlanta) and Mike Aldrete (Montreal) were let go for reasons not allowed in the uniform player's contract. The grievance was filed Wednesday and arbitrator George Nicolau will schedule hearings.