Trevor Bauer paid leave extended through July 15 by MLB

NEW YORK (AP) — Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave was extended by seven days through July 15 by Major League Baseball and the players’ association on Thursday while the sport’s investigators check into allegations of sexual misconduct against the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher.

Bauer was placed on seven days’ paid leave on July 2 under the joint domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy adopted by MLB and the players’ union in 2015. The paid leave has been repeatedly extended for players in the past while investigations proceed.

Police in Pasadena, California, and MLB are investigating the allegations made against Bauer by a Southern California woman who says the pitcher choked her to the point where she lost consciousness and punched her during two sexual encounters earlier this year. The woman obtained a protection order against Bauer last month under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act.

According to the woman’s declaration attached to the request for the protection order, she suffered injuries as a result of the second encounter, including two black eyes, a bloodied swollen lip, significant bruising and scratching to one side of her face.

“We continue to refute (the woman’s) allegations in the strongest possible terms and Mr. Bauer vehemently denies her account of their two meetings,” the pitcher’s agents, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, said in a statement. “Again, administrative leave is neither a disciplinary action nor does it in any way reflect a finding in the league’s investigation.”

Fetterolf has said his client’s interactions with the woman were wholly consensual. A hearing related to the protection order is scheduled for July 23 and Bauer’s lawyers plan to refute the allegations..

Bauer agreed to a $102 million, three-year contract to join his hometown Dodgers earlier this year after winning his first Cy Young with the Cincinnati Reds last season. Bauer is 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts this season.