Baseball notes

HUNTER INJURED: Gold Glove center fielder Torii Hunter has a broken left ankle that will keep him out at least a month and possibly the rest of the season, a major blow to Minnesota's playoff hopes.

Hunter had an MRI and CT scan Monday, which revealed a small fracture in his ankle. He was injured in Boston on Friday night, when the four-time Gold Glove winner tried to make an acrobatic catch by scaling the right-center fence at Fenway Park.

The Twins initially feared Hunter had torn a tendon in the ankle, which probably would have required surgery and forced him out for the rest of the season. There is no tear, team spokesman Mike Herman said, but Hunter will be on crutches for three to four weeks.

It's discouraging news for Minnesota, which loses its best defensive player and a leader in the clubhouse. Plus, Hunter's 63 runs, 24 doubles, 56 RBIs and 23 steals are tops on the team. He's batting .269 with 14 homers.

The Twins, who had lost eight of 10, began the day four games behind Oakland in the AL wild-card race.

BONDS OUT UNTIL '06: Barry Bonds doesn't expect to play this season because of his injured right knee, putting the San Francisco slugger's quest for the career home run record on hold until at least 2006.

"I don't think you're going to see me out there this year," Bonds told MLB.com on Monday.

ARIZONA GM QUITS: Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. resigned Monday to become senior vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office.

"This is an emotional day for me," Garagiola said. "The Diamondbacks franchise has meant so much to me and my family, and I take great pride in all that we have accomplished."

Garagiola joined the Diamondbacks in 1995 and helped build the expansion team from scratch before it began play in '98. He led Arizona to a World Series championship in 2001 and three NL West titles, though the club went 51-111 last year, one of the worst seasons in NL history.

NOMO SHELLED: In Norfolk, Va., recent New York Yankees signee Hideo Nomo failed to make it out of the third inning Monday night in his first start for Triple-A Columbus.

Nomo, who was acquired last Wednesday by the Yankees in an attempt to shore up their injury-plagued starting rotation, pitched two scoreless innings against Norfolk before losing his control.

TWINS RELEASE BOONE: The Minnesota Twins released struggling second baseman Bret Boone on Monday, ending a failed experiment to jump-start the team's stagnant offense.

The Twins acquired Boone in a trade with Seattle on July 11, hoping the Gold Glove winner would be able to regain the form that made him an MVP candidate in 2001.

But like the rest of Minnesota's offense, Boone struggled mightily in his 14 games with the Twins, hitting just .170 (9-for-53) with three RBIs.