Astros starter Ronel Blanco received a 10-game suspension Wednesday for violating MLB’s prohibitions on foreign substances after being ejected from the game against the Oakland Athletics.

The suspension was announced by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations. The suspension will begin Wednesday night, which also includes an undisclosed fine.

Houston general manager Dana Brown said Blanco will not appeal the suspension.

Blanco was ejected at the start of the fourth inning of the 2-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday after umpires found a foreign substance that first base umpire Erich Bacchus said was “the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove.”

Third base umpire Laz Diaz ejected Blanco after a check of his glove before he threw a pitch in the fourth inning. The umpires, Blanco and Houston manager Joe Espada stood at the mound for a couple of minutes discussing the issue before the right-hander was ejected.

Bacchus said there was nothing on Blanco’s glove when he checked it in the middle of the first, but he discovered it when he did his second check before the fourth.

“I felt something inside the glove,” Bacchus said. “It was the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove since we’ve been doing this for a few years now.”

A’s wood goes on IL with tendonitis >> The Athletics placed Opening Day starter Alex Wood on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with rotator cuff tendonitis, where the veteran left-hander will join Paul Blackburn (metatarsal stress reaction) and Joe Boyle (lower back strain).

Wood pitched a season low two innings in an 8-4 loss in Seattle Sunday, with both manager Mark Kotsay and Wood conceding there was an issue with his shoulder. Wood returned home for a doctor’s visit and an MRI.It’s not known how much time Wood is expected to miss.

NFL

Prime-time spotlight shines on 49ers >> Six prime-time kickoffs are strewn across the 49ers’ schedule, dawning with a Sept. 9 opener against the New York Jets, then saving the NFC Championship Game rematch with the Detroit Lions for Dec. 30.

Both of those games are on “Monday Night Football” at Levi’s Stadium.

The Lions’ Monday night visit comes in the regular season’s penultimate week, so NFC playoff seeding could be on the line if both franchises follow last season’s path to the top two seeds.

Between prime-time affairs at Seattle (Thursday, Oct. 10) and against Dallas (Sunday, Oct. 27) is a Super Bowl LVIII rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs at Levi’s Stadium on Oct. 20 at 1:25 p.m.

Horse racing

Preakness favorite Muth ruled out after spiking a fever >> Preakness favorite Muth has been ruled out of the race after spiking a fever, removing a horse trained by Bob Baffert and potentially giving Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan a clearer path through the second leg of the Triple Crown.

The Maryland Jockey Club announced Muth’s status change Wednesday morning, roughly 12 hours after the horse arrived at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Baffert said Muth’s temperature reached 103 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) and the camp had no choice but to scratch him.

Muth was one of two horses entered for Baffert, a Hall of Famer and two-time winner of the Triple Crown who is still expected to saddle Imagination as part of what’s now a field of eight.

Motor sports

NASCAR planning in-season tournament in 2025 >> Following the lead of the NBA, the NASCAR Cup Series is planning a five-race, bracket-style tournament in the midst of the 2025 season, beginning with a night event at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

The Atlanta-based cable network will broadcast all five races in the tournament, starting with a 400-miler in its home market on June 28, 2025.

Atlanta, which has produced some of NASCAR’s most thrilling races since the track was redesigned with higher banking, gets the honor of hosting the first tournament race. The remainder of the 36-race schedule will be announced later.