NEW YORK — Yunel Escobar was suspended for three games Tuesday by the Toronto Blue Jays for wearing eye-black displaying a homophobic slur written in Spanish during Saturday’s home game against the Boston Red Sox.

He also will undergo sensitivity training.

Pictures posted online showed the Blue Jays’ shortstop with the message written in his eye-black.

The Blue Jays are in New York for a series against the Yankees

 

DODGERS: Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw was examined by a hip specialist who said the Los Angeles left-hander can continue to pitch without risking damage to his sore right hip.

The team said Kershaw would restart a throwing program.

 

TIGERS: Detroit right-hander Max Scherzer was lifted from the start against Oakland after only two innings because of a fatigued throwing shoulder. An MRI showed no structural damage.

Scherzer entered the game with a 16-6 record and a 3.77 ERA, as well as a major league-leading 220 strikeouts.

 

REDS: Dusty Baker reached another milestone in his long major league career when he managed his 3,000th game, guiding the visiting Cincinnati Reds against one of his former teams, the Chicago Cubs.

Baker began his managerial career in 1993 with the San Francisco Giants and led them to the World Series in his final season there in 2002.

 

ANGELS: Albert Pujols was not in the starting lineup for the series opener against the visiting Texas Rangers. Pujols is with his wife, Deidre, who had the couple’s fifth child Sunday in Kansas City.

 

CARDINALS: The St. Louis Cardinals anticipate breaking ground on Ballpark Village, long delayed by the economic downturn, in mid-November.

The $100 million first phase of the development is scheduled for completion by opening day in 2014.

 

MARLINS: Mindful of speculation his job might be in jeopardy, Manager Ozzie Guillen said he’s glad he rented a house in Miami rather than buying when he took the job.

Guillen said he expects to be back for a second season with the Marlins next year, but he understands why some might think otherwise.

Following a free-agent spending binge, the Marlins expected to field a playoff contender this season, the first in their new ballpark. Instead they’ve been a flop, and management began dismantling the roster before the All-Star break.