Last Updated on May 29, 2007 9:24 pm by admin
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Indians-Red Sox
CLEVELAND: Casey Blake was named the AL player of the week for the period ending May 27. Blake batted .348 with eight extra-base hits, including four homers. … The Indians signed LHP Mark Rodrigues, a fifth-year senior from the University of Hawaii.
BOSTON: DH David Ortiz was out for the third consecutive game. Ortiz has been resting a “barking” hamstring that he attributed to dehydration. … 1B Kevin Youkilis doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 21 games. … RHP Josh Beckett was activated from the 15-day DL and got the start against the Indians.
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Yankees-Blue Jays
ling better Tuesday and was available, Torre said. … Torre said C Jorge Posada is feeling the effects of a sore tendon in his knee. “It’s just growling a little bit,” Torre said. … RHP Carl Pavano tentatively is scheduled to have reconstructive elbow surgery on June 8 in Pensacola, Fla., with Dr. James Andrews operating.
TORONTO: 3B Troy Glaus (tight hamstring) was a late scratch. He was replaced by John McDonald. … RHP Brandon League (sore shoulder) has been transferred from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. League has resumed pitching at extended spring training in Florida. General manager J.P. Ricciardi said League could be ready to return by the end of June. … LHP Gustavo Chacin (sore shoulder) will undergo a second MRI exam sometime in the next few days. Chacin has not pitched since April 28. … By transferring League, Toronto opened up a spot on its 40-man roster for RHP Brian Wolfe, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Syracuse on Monday. Wolfe joined the team in Toronto before Tuesday’s game against New York.
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Tigers-Devil Rays
the ball in like he did last year. I think he understands it.” … DH Gary Sheffield homered for the second straight game Tuesday. Leyland said the fact that Sheffield is only playing occasionally in the outfield could help him stay fresh. “He’s always been a good all-around player,” Leyland said. “He always plays hard.” Sheffield also stole two bases in Monday’s game.
TAMPA BAY: Manager Joe Maddon said CF Rocco Baldelli (strained left hamstring) is making progress. “No setbacks, no timetable,” Maddon said. … RHP Edwin Jackson, who was hit on the jaw by an errant throw Monday, remains scheduled to make his next scheduled start Saturday. “He’s sore, but fine,” Maddon said. “He should be fine for Saturday.” … INF Ty Wigginton was rested. He will play first Wednesday against Detroit LHP Nate Robertson.
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Orioles-Royals
Ramon Hernandez’s grand slam Monday night was the third of the year for Baltimore, and all three have come against the Royals.
KANSAS CITY: The Royals, losers of five straight entering Tuesday night’s game, held a players-only meeting. “It was about winning,” right fielder Mark Teahen said. “It’s not about mechanics, just doing the little things you need to do to win.” … Manager Buddy Bell shook up his lineup, dropping David DeJesus from the top to the middle of the order, putting Shane Costa in the leadoff position and starting Angel Berroa at shortstop instead of Tony Pena Jr., who had a career-high eight-game hitting streak. … In the five-game skid, every starter in the rotation absorbed a loss.
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White Sox-Twins
piked in that area, you can get hurt,” Guillen said. “A.J. plays hard, but I don’t think A.J. is a dirty player.” … Utility player Craig Wilson signed a minor league contract on Monday and went 1-for-4 in his debut with Triple-A Charlotte. Wilson is a career .262 hitter and was released by Atlanta on May 17. He has played for Pittsburgh, the Yankees and Atlanta during his seven-year career.
MINNESOTA: C Joe Mauer showed up sore on Tuesday after a strenuous workout, still bothered by a deep bruise and some bleeding in his strained left quadriceps, manager Ron Gardenhire said. The team is still counting on him to be back this weekend, but Mauer might have a second MRI test on the muscle to make sure everything is OK. “Our doctors are doing everything they can do,” Gardenhire said. … The easy smile on RHP Ramon Ortiz’s face did not disappear with his demotion to the bullpen. Exhibiting the same upbeat and positive manner, Ortiz said he wasn’t disappointed to be removed from the rotation and expressed his desire to continue to help the team. “When they give me the ball, I’m going to be ready,” he said. “I don’t worry about nothing. I worry about winning games.” … Reliever Jesse Crain had his season-ending shoulder surgery Tuesday as planned. His rotator cuff was completely torn, but Crain is on track to be ready for spring training in February, Gardenhire said.
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Rangers-Athletics
TEXAS: OF Brad Wilkerson, on the DL since May 16 with a pulled right hamstring, reported to Triple-A Oklahoma and likely will start Wednesday. Manager Ron Washington expects Wilkerson to stay on the rehab assignment at least five days and maybe up to 10. … Frank Catalanotto, who had his first road hit of the year Monday night, will return to the OF on Wednesday after recovering from tendinitis in his right biceps. Having Catalanotto back in the field will allow Sammy Sosa to return to his full-time position as DH. … Washington is eager for his pitching staff to cut down on its walks, which the skipper considers the responsibility of each individual to do so. “All I can say is we just need to throw the ball over the plate more,” he said. “You stop walks by putting the ball over the plate. I’d rather put hits around the yard than put guys on base.”
going on the DL May 15 with an irritated nerve in his throwing elbow. If everything goes well in the next couple of days, he may begin playing some light catch Friday. … OF Milton Bradley, set to be activated from the DL on Wednesday, is working much harder on his preparation and stretching in order to prevent further hamstring problems. This has been his second DL stint this season after also having two during 2006. Bradley has some alignment problems with his right hip that likely have been throwing his legs off – but he has found that popping his hip in and out helps him loosen up. “The positive thing is it’s only May,” he said. “Last year it seemed like the injuries kept happening for the whole first half. I still have four solid months. I need to be good the rest of the way.” … RHP reliever Justin Duchscherer is scheduled to get a second opinion on his strained right hip Friday in Tennessee from Titans Dr. J. Thomas Byrd, who performed a surgery on Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen.
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Mariners-Angels
“I wasn’t fatiguing by any means as the pitch count escalated. Everything was good throughout, from the windup and the stretch.” … RHP Jon Huber was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma to make room for LHP Ryan Feierabend, who was called up to make his third major league start in place of injured LHP Horacio Ramirez.
LOS ANGELES: RHP Justin Speier returned to the Angels clubhouse to prepare for a minor league rehab stint beginning Thursday with Class-A Rancho Cucamonga. The 33-year-old reliever has been sidelined since April 30 because of an intestinal virus that affected his eating and sleeping habits, resulting in persistent nausea and a loss of about 10 pounds. “I just thought it was the flu. And since I was still pitching well, I just kept dealing with it and figured it would just go away. But it didn’t,” said Speier, who has stranded all 13 of his inherited baserunners and has a 1.69 ERA. “I knew I had to take a step back and evaluate things. I’m not totally out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but things are headed in the right direction. I’ve gained back five pounds and my sleeping habits are getting back to normal. I definitely feel relieved, but I’m not going to come back to soon and then have this start up again. So there’s no timetable.”
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Padres-Pirates
SAN DIEGO: The Padres will bump ace RHP Jake Peavy up in the rotation. Peavy will start Friday in Washington while rookie Justin Germano will start Saturday. “Jake has pitched a lot with an extra day over the course of the year,” manager Bud Black said. “We just like to get him on regular rest.” Peavy has pitched on more than the regular four days’ rest four times this season. Germano, meanwhile, has thrived in his past two starts when having extra rest. There’s also the matter of a series next week against the team the Padres are tied with in the NL West, the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now Peavy is scheduled to pitch in that series. … RHP Clay Hensley will make a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Portland on Tuesday. The starter, who has been on the DL with a strained right groin since May 3, will be given the chance to throw about 90 pitches or six innings. He has gone four innings in his two previous rehabilitation starts. … Monday was the second of five consecutive Mondays the Padres will enjoy off days.
iday’s game with dizziness after being hit in the head by a bat on a backswing. … Tuesday night the Pirates began a stretch of 31 consecutive games played outside of NL Central Division opposition. Pittsburgh, which is 17-19 within the division and 5-9 outside of it, doesn’t play another NL Central opponent until July 2.
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Diamondbacks-Phillies
ARIZONA: Stephen Drew is hearing boos in Philly merely because he’s J.D. Drew’s brother. J.D. Drew has been vilified by fans since he spurned the Phillies and elected to re-enter the amateur draft after Philadelphia selected him with the second overall pick in 1997. … Randy Johnson (2-2) makes his first in 10 days Wednesday. The Big Unit missed his last turn with forearm tendinitis.
jeopardize his future, but at the same time I want to pitch him whenever I can.”
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Dodgers-Nationals
LOS ANGELES: RHP Jason Schmidt will make a rehabilitation start for Single-A Inland Empire on Wednesday night, part of his recovery from an inflamed right shoulder that forced him to the 15-day disabled list on April 17. “Everything is still very positive and moving forward,” manager Grady Little said. Instead of being on a pitch count, Schmidt will re-evaluate his condition after each inning, Little said. … Closer Takashi Saito asked to be off in the Dodgers’ 2-1 victory Sunday over the Cubs because of stiffness in his pitching shoulder. The Dodgers were off Monday, and Saito said he felt fine before Tuesday’s game at Washington.
WASHINGTON: RHP John Patterson, on the 15-day disabled list since May 6 with soreness in his right elbow and triceps, threw 25 pitches off a mound Tuesday afternoon and played long toss, reaching a throwing distance of 120 feet. “It felt good to be on the mound again,” Patterson said. “The arm wasn’t hurting at all.” … Manager Manny Acta has not decided if he’ll remove RHP Levale Speigner, whose next scheduled start is Friday, from the rotation. Speigner is 0-1 with a 14.80 ERA in three starts.
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Giants-Mets
SAN FRANCISCO: As expected, Barry Bonds was out of the starting lineup. Daniel Ortmeier instead started in left field. The Giants were off Monday, and manager Bruce Bochy liked the idea of getting Bonds two straight days off. “He’s been out there a lot,” Bochy said. “It might’ve caught up with him.” Bonds has 746 career home runs, none of them off Mets starter Oliver Perez. In fact, Bonds was just 1-for-9 with four walks and four strikeouts against the lefty. … 2B Ray Durham is showing improvement from a strained abdominal muscle and the Giants don’t think he will need to go on the disabled list.
NEW YORK: RHP Guillermo Mota served the 50th and final day of his suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. He is set to join the Mets on Wednesday – the reliever has been at Triple-A New Orleans getting ready. Mota wound up losing 59 days’ pay, or $580,328 of his $1.8 million salary. He agreed in December to a $5 million, two-year contract, and the Mets agreed to backload the deal, which pays Mota $3.2 million in 2008. … Tom Glavine tries for his 296th career victory Wednesday night when he starts against Barry Zito. The Mets were interested in signing Zito during the offseason, but dropped out when the free agent wanted a longer contract.
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Braves-Brewers
ATLANTA: RHP Lance Cormier will make his season debut in a start against Florida during a doubleheader June 5, manager Bobby Cox said. Cormier made his final rehab start Monday, pitching 6 2-3 scoreless innings in Triple-A Richmond’s 3-0 victory over Rochester. Cormier has made four rehab starts while recovering from a strained right biceps. He will be activated from the DL before the doubleheader, Cox said. Cormier was 4-5 with a 4.89 ERA last year. … 3B Chipper Jones won’t play until Friday at the earliest when the Braves open a three-game series at the Chicago Cubs, Cox said. Jones last played May 23, and is out with a sore right hand.
MILWAUKEE: Manager Ned Yost said he had no plans to bench CF Bill Hall despite his struggles. Hall is batting .171 (7-for-41) in his last 11 games, and .256 for the season. “He’s got the talent and the ability to do it, but you’ve just got to go out and let it happen,” he said. “You can’t go out and make it happen. You go out and hit 35 home runs without trying (in 2006) and then you think, `Boy I’m going to hit 50 this year because I’m going to really try’ and you end up with 15.” … OF Corey Hart likely will get more playing time, Yost said. Hart, platooning in a crowded outfield, is batting .269 with one homer.
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Marlins-Cubs
play and has done well.” Abercrombie started the season with Triple-A Albuquerque and hit .282 with four home runs. He was recalled to the Marlins on May 9. In 2006, he played in 111 games with the Marlins. Gonzalez is impressed with the improvements that Abercrombie has made since spring training. “I think everything. I think the way he handles himself, No. 1, is the biggest thing. I think he is serious about being up here and having success up here and that’s one of the things that we talked about before he got sent down to the minor league camp.” … RHP Josh Johnson threw 62 pitches in extended spring training in Jupiter, Fla. RHP Carlos Martinez (right elbow) coming back from Tommy John surgery, relieved Johnson and threw two innings. Gonzalez said the reports were positive.
done, they want to get it done. There is a lot of baseball left to play, but at the same time one of the things that we’ve been missing – we got to get better at.”
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Reds-Astros
s he faced in Cincinnati’s 14-10 loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday. Narron said possible replacements include LHP Bobby Livingston, who was called up on Monday from Triple-A Louisville, and RHP Victor Santos, who’s made 20 appearances out of the bullpen this season.
HOUSTON: The Astros came into Tuesday’s game with their first eight-game losing streak since 2001, but manager Phil Garner isn’t ready to panic. “Every team that wins the pennant this year will probably have a six- to 10-game losing streak, probably more than once,” Garner said. “The teams that win have a bunch of long win streaks after those losing streaks. We need to throw together a bunch of six- or seven-game winning streaks. We can do that, we’re capable.” Luckily for the Astros, no team in the NL Central has a winning record in its last 10 games. Last season, St. Louis won the division with an 83-78 mark. “Our battle is to get back to .500 first,” Garner said. “You fight to get back to .500 and then you go from there.” … Lance Berkman was hitting .254 with only five home runs this season, but Garner won’t be benching the All-Star slugger any time soon. “I don’t know when it’s going to be when he breaks out of it,” Garner said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be tonight or next month. You also know he can whip off some serious numbers in a half-season, too.”
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Cardinals-Rockies
ST. LOUIS: Back spasms kept SS David Eckstein out of the lineup for the third straight game. … RHP Todd Wellemeyer will make his first major league start Wednesday. He had been a starter in 96 of 106 appearances in the minor leagues, but has been used strictly as a reliever since his first call-up in 2003. … Heavy rains and hail – which blanketed the field – kept the Cardinals from taking batting practice. … OF Chris Duncan was unavailable for Tuesday’s game due to an infection and inflammation in his left knee. He’ll be evaluated on a day-to-day basis.
COLORADO: OF Willy Taveras was held out Tuesday, a day after being hit on the right index finger on a bunt attempt. Taveras said he’d probably lose the nail. However, Taveras said he’d try gluing the nail to play Wednesday. “(Being held out) is just a precaution,” Taveras said. … Taveras has 12 steals this season, more than any Rockies player had all of 2006. … Although SS Troy Tulowitzki leads major league rookies in runs, hits and walks this season, manager Clint Hurdle isn’t ready to hand him the rookie of the year award just yet. “It’s not even June,” Hurdle said. “We’ve got a long way to go. I think we’ll let this play out.” … LHP Jeff Francis finished May with a 2.23 ERA, the ninth-lowest figure in the majors in the month.