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SEATTLE -- Josh Hamiltons attempt to beat out an infield grounder with a headfirst slide into first base landed him on the bench for up to two months. The 2010 AL MVP was placed on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday by the Los Angeles Angels with a torn ligament in his left thumb. He was hurt trying to hustle down the line and beat out a grounder in the seventh inning of Tuesday nights loss to Seattle. Hamilton was thrown out, but the consequences of his decision ended up being far greater. "The news sucks. Anytime you play and youre playing hard and having fun, the last thing you want to do is do something that is going to cause you to miss time and maybe hurt your team in the long run," Hamilton said. "If I could see the future, obviously, I wouldnt do it." Los Angeles said an MRI Wednesday revealed a complete tear of the thumbs ulnar collateral ligament. After initially saying hand and wrist specialist Dr. Steven Shin would operate at Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedics in Los Angeles, the Angels said Hamilton will be examined by Shin on Friday to determine whether surgery is needed. Hamilton was placed on the 15-day disabled list, and outfielder J.B. Shuck was recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake. Hamilton said he believed it was just a jammed thumb, but when he tried throwing in the outfield between innings he knew something might be wrong. Hamilton told manager Mike Scioscia to have someone pinch hit for him in the ninth. Ian Stewart batted for Hamilton and struck out with the potential tying run on base in a 5-3 loss. "Its definitely unfortunate but I think as a team you have to be able to absorb and be deep enough to absorb injuries to players and Josh is a special talent who is off to a great start for us. Well do our best to fill that void," Scioscia said. "Over the years, weve had a lot of our key players miss significant time, but weve been able to absorb it and move on. Thats what we have to focus on doing now for the next six, eight weeks, whatever the time frame is going to end up being." Scioscia said the Angels lineup could see mixing and matching while Hamilton is out. Collin Cowgill was in the lineup in left field and leading off, with Kole Calhoun dropped to sixth in the order and Howie Kendrick moved up to Hamiltons usual No. 5 slot. A five-time All-Star, Hamilton has struggled since signing a $125 million, five-year contract with the Angels before the 2013 season. He hit a career-low .250 last year with 21 homers and 79 RBIs, his poorest power numbers since 2009. He was batting .207 with 25 RBIs through June 23, then hit .289 with 54 RBIs during the rest of the season. Hamilton strained a calf muscle during a baserunning drill on Feb. 25 and didnt play in his first spring training game until March 17. He is hitting .444 with two homers and six RBIs in 27 at-bats this season. Hamilton believes he can still keep his timing down with his swing even while hes sidelined. "Disappointing in general that youve got to miss some time, because as a player you prepare the whole off-season to come in and do what you can to help contribute to your team winning ballgames," he said. "Thats the most disappointing part of the injury." The injury rekindled the debate about sliding into first base. Hamilton wasnt the only player to make that choice in Tuesdays game. Seattles Michael Saunders had an awkward slide into first base running out a ground ball. "Its just part of who I am. Ive done that a lot," Hamilton said. "Who knows if I will ever do that again?" Buffalo Sabres Shirts . But back-up Peter Budaj has put up two wins and an overtime loss while starting three games in four nights since Price went down with a suspected groin injury. Cheap Sabres Jerseys . 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The former Toronto FC designated player played three of his 15 professional seasons with the team.MILWAUKEE -- This was one sweet homecoming for Elgin Cook. The rest of the Oregon Ducks made themselves at home, too. Backed by a vocal group of family and friends, Cook scored a career-high 23 points to power the seventh-seeded Ducks to an 87-68 victory over No. 10 seed BYU in the NCAA tournament on Thursday. "Elgin Cook had a great game," Oregon coach Dana Altman said. "He finished everything down low." Joseph Young had 19 points for the Ducks (24-9), who had to stage a big comeback to beat the Cougars 100-96 in overtime in December. There was no comeback needed this time, with Oregon turning away every BYU charge in the second half. Torontos Richard Amardi had five points off the bench for the Ducks, and tied Cook with a game-high eight rebounds. Led by Cook, a Milwaukee native who starred at nearby Hamilton High School, the Ducks advanced to a third-round game against No. 2 seed Wisconsin on Saturday. The Badgers, playing just 80 miles from their Madison campus, beat American 75-35 in the days first game at the Bradley Center. "Its definitely special to me confidence-wise, but overall it means nothing," Cook said. "Were not satisfied, we havent won anything yet." Tyler Haws scored 19 points for BYU (23-12), which returned to the NCAA tournament after a one-year absence. Matt Carlino and Eric Mika had 15 points apiece. Carlino got the start in place of sophomore guard Kyle Collinsworth, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the West Coast Conference tournament final against Gonzaga. The 6-foot-6 Collinsworth averaged 14 points, 8.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists, and the Cougars clearly missed his playmaking abilities against the pressing Ducks. "Kyle, hes a guy that you cant replace," Haws said. "He brings so much to our team. But, even with him out, I thought we had chances to win this game. We cut it to three. I thought we had momentum. The guys stepped up." Carlino was 4 for 16 from the field, but he made a couple of big 3-pointers to help BYU close to 56-53 with 12:01 left. But Johnathan Loyd set up Cook for a three-point play on the other end, sparking an 11-2 run. "I just wanted to stay aggressive, get some defensive stops and rebound the ball," Cook saiid.dddddddddddd The Ducks then put away the Cougars with a 15-2 spurt that made it 86-61 with 3:29 to go. Cook started the surge with a layup and Jalil Abdul-Bassit finished it off with two free throws. "We just had to tell everybody to relax. We knew they were going to make a run," Oregon guard Jason Calliste said. "Just weather the storm, just get back to our principles, be aggressive." Oregon is making a second straight NCAA tournament appearance for only the third time in school history. It reached the Sweet 16 a year ago, when the 12th-seeded Ducks beat Oklahoma State and Saint Louis before losing to eventual champion Louisville in the Midwest Regional semifinals. Cook, the son of former NBA All-Star Alvin Robertson, was a JUCO player a year ago, but he stepped up repeatedly in his first March Madness experience. The reserve forward was 8 for 9 from the field and 7 for 10 at the free-throw line. "He was fired up right at the selection show. He saw it was in Milwaukee," Loyd said. "Hes been hyped up ever since then. I expected him to play inspired basketball. He has a homecoming, playing in front of friends and family. He was inspired." Wearing bright fluorescent yellow uniforms with green and yellow socks and shoes, Oregon used its superior athleticism to pick apart BYUs defence for much of the first half. Young made two free throws, Mike Moser and Dominic Artis each had a slick layup, and Calliste made two more free throws to help the Ducks open a 39-24 lead with 3:07 left. But Callistes free throws were the last points of the half for Oregon, which had two turnovers and missed a couple of jumpers as BYU went on a 7-0 run to make it an eight-point deficit at halftime. BYU shot 28 per cent (9 for 32) from the field in the first half and 33 per cent for the game. The Cougars were outscored 36-14 in the paint. Calliste added 14 points as Oregons reserves outscored their counterparts 49-10. The Ducks controlled the boards 37-32 after they were outrebounded by the Cougars in their December victory. "Our guys were just overwhelmed at times as far as being able to control their penetration," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "They just keep coming at you. I think thats what hurt us." ' ' '