Baseball-Major League Baseball roundup

Aug 4 (The Sports Xchange) - The Detroit Tigers announced Tuesday that assistant general manager Al Avila will take over as general manager and vice president of baseball operations from Dave Dombrowski. Dombrowski had served as GM since 2002 and put together clubs that made five playoff appearances and won two American League titles. "I've decided to release Dave from his contract in order to afford him the time to pursue other career opportunities," Tigers owner Mike Illitch said. The 59-year-old Dombrowski's contract was set to expire at the end of the year. It's speculated that he could wind up with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Tigers are in third place this year in the AL Central with a 51-54 record. -- Freddie Freeman's return was short and not so sweet. The Atlanta Braves first baseman was scheduled to be placed on the disabled list with a strained right oblique suffered during Monday night's game against the San Francisco Giants. Freeman had missed five weeks with a sprained right wrist and played in just 10 games before the latest injury occurred. Right-hander Jason Frasor (shoulder strain) was also placed on the disabled list by the Braves. -- Toronto Blue Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez was suspended for three games after throwing a pitch at Kansas City Royals infielder Alcides Escobar on Sunday. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was handed a one-game suspension by Major League Baseball because he came back onto the field after he had been earlier ejected from the game during Toronto's 5-2 win. Sanchez hit Escobar after Blue Jays' third baseman Josh Donaldson had been hit by a pitch and had two other pitches thrown up near his head earlier in the game. -- Leonys Martin, the Texas Rangers' Opening Day center fielder this season, was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock. Martin had been the Rangers' regular center fielder since 2013, but two weeks ago was benched in favor of Delino DeShields. Martin batted .220 with five homers and 25 RBIs in 94 games this season. The Rangers also put left-handed pitcher Wandy Rodriguez on unconditional release waivers. -- An inflamed right shoulder forced Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis onto the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday. Kipnis leads the American League with 31 doubles, shares first place with 132 hits, ranks second with a .401 on-base percentage and is third with a .326 batting average. -- The New York Yankees placed infielder-outfielder Dustin Ackley, acquired at the trade deadline last week from the Seattle Mariners, on the 15-day disabled list with a right lumbar strain. To take Ackley's place on the roster, the Yankees called up right-hander Caleb Cotham from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. -- The Cincinnati Reds reinstated left-hander Manny Parra from the 15-day disabled list and optioned OF Kyle Waldrop to Triple-A Louisville. Parra had been sidelined with a left elbow strain. -- Chicago Cubs left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada was activated from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Iowa. Wada had been out since June 23 with left deltoid inflammation. (Editing by Larry Fine) ))