Oakland acquires Denorfia from Reds
April 27th, 2007
Oakland, CA (Sports Network) - The Oakland Athletics acquired outfielder Chris Denorfia from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for two players to be named later and cash considerations on Friday.
Denorfia was batting .264 with one home run and six RBI in 20 games with Cincinnati this spring before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow on March 23 against Tampa Bay. He had "Tommy John" surgery on the elbow on April 3 and was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day DL on April 13. He will remain on the 60-day DL with Oakland.
Denorfia, 26, has a career .278 average in 67 games in two seasons with Cincinnati and has a .296 career average in 547 minor league games.
Seattle LHP Rhodes to undergo elbow surgery
Fri, Apr 27, 2007
By Associated Press
SEATTLE -- Seattle Mariners left-handed reliever Arthur Rhodes will miss the entire season after deciding to have surgery on his pitching elbow.
Rhodes will have Tommy John surgery on May 2 in California. Rhodes opted for surgery after meeting with Dr. Lewis Yocum last week when the Mariners were in Southern California playing the Angels. Yocum matched the earlier diagnosis of the Mariners' medical staff - a torn ligament in Rhodes' elbow.
The veteran reliever was a non-roster invitee to spring training and made the Mariners' 25-man roster despite missing time with soreness in the elbow. He was diagnosed with the torn ligament on April 11.
The 37-year-old Rhodes was 26-15 in his four seasons as Seattle's main setup man, including an 8-0 record with a 1.72 ERA when the Mariners won 116 games in 2001. But after stops in Oakland, Cleveland and Baltimore, he went 0-5 with a 5.32 ERA in 55 games for Philadelphia last year.
Griffey diagnosed with pleurisy, listed as day-to-day
Fri, Apr 27, 2007
By Associated Press
PITTSBURGH -- Ken Griffey Jr. remained out of the Cincinnati Reds' lineup for a second day Friday with pleurisy, an inflammation in the lining of a cavity surrounding the lungs.
Griffey was held out of Thursday's game in St. Louis with soreness in his chest. A chest X-ray on Friday revealed the problem, which is not expected to be a long-lasting condition. He is listed as day to day.
Griffey recently missed four games with a different type of inflammation, a colon condition called diverticulitis that was initially diagnosed six months ago. He returned from that problem Tuesday to hit his first home run of the season and the 564th of his career, moving him past Reggie Jackson for 10th place on the career list.
After missing most of spring training because of a broken hand, Griffey has a .254 average with nine RBIs in 18 games this season.
Baseball Today - April 28
Sat, Apr 28, 2007
By Associated Press
SCOREBOARD
Saturday, April 28
Florida at Philadelphia (7:05 p.m. EDT). Dontrelle Willis tries to join Boston's Josh Beckett as the only five-game winners in the major leagues.
STARS
Friday
-Jermaine Dye, White Sox, hit two home runs to lead Chicago to a 7-3 victory over the Angels.
-James Shields, Devil Rays, allowed one run on four hits and struck out nine in Tampa Bay''s 4-1 win over Oakland.
-Julio Lugo, Red Sox, went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs in Boston''s 11-4 victory over New York.
FIVE AWAY
Sammy Sosa hit his 595th career home run in the third inning of Texas'' 5-3 victory over Toronto on Friday night. Sosa can become the fifth player in major league history to hit 600 or more home runs.
BRONX BUMMER
Boston beat New York 11-4 on Friday night. The Yankees (8-13), have lost seven consecutive games for the first time since the final seven of the 2000 season. The last-place Yankees have fallen 6 1/2 games back of the division-leading Red Sox.
STREAKING
Cleveland beat Baltimore 5-4 on Friday night to extend its winning streak to six.
SNAPPED
Arizona beat San Francisco 3-2 on Friday night, snapping the Giants eight-game winning streak.
OUT
Ken Griffey Jr. remained out of Cincinnati''s lineup for a second day Friday with pleurisy, an inflammation in the lining of a cavity surrounding the lungs. Griffey was held out of Thursday's game in St. Louis with soreness in his chest. A chest X-ray on Friday revealed the problem, which is not expected to linger. After missing most of spring training because of a broken hand, Griffey has a .254 average with nine RBIs in 18 games this season.
SPEAKING
''It's as frustrating as you can get. It''s embarrassing is what it is. It''s a joke that I can''t go out there and get through six or seven innings right there when the team needs me to do that as bad as they do.'' - Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte after New York''s 11-4 loss to Boston on Friday night. Pettitte allowed five runs, six hits and five walks in 4 2-3 innings, making it 11 times in 21 games that New York''s starters failed to pitch five innings.
Twins Luis Castillo (quadriceps) could be available off the bench today, but he isn't expected to be in the starting lineup.
Pirates Xavier Nady (hamstring) is expected to remain out of the starting lineup for "a couple more days" according to manager Jim Tracy.
A's Nick Swisher (hamstring) is not expected to start today, but will take batting practice before the game.
White Sox Jim Thome (ribs) is most likely going to the 15-day DL according to the Chicago Tribune
Tigers Ivan Rodriguez is not in the starting lineup.
Twins Luis Castillo is not in the starting lineup
Devil Rays Rocco Baldelli (leg) is not expected to play today.
Glaus returns to Jays; Zambrano to starting rotation
Associated Press
TORONTO -- The Toronto Blue Jays activated third baseman Troy Glaus from the 15-day disabled list Saturday and put him into the starting lineup for their game against the Texas Rangers.
Glaus hasn't played since April 12, when he left a game against Detroit after two innings because of a bone spur in his left heel. He's batting .333 with two home runs and five RBI in eight games this season.
Infielder Ryan Roberts was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse to make room on the roster.
Toronto also demoted right-hander Josh Towers to the bullpen and moved Victor Zambrano into the starting rotation.
Towers (1-3) gave up three home runs in the third inning of Friday night's 5-3 loss to the Rangers. Opponents are batting .290 against Towers in 23 innings this season.
Zambrano (0-1) has made six relief appearances for the Blue Jays this year, pitching 5 1/3 innings and posting a 5.06 ERA. The Venezuelan-born righty missed most of last season after undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career.
Reds acquire minor leaguer, demote Cormier
Sat, Apr 28, 2007
By Associated Press
CINCINNATI --The Cincinnati Reds acquired minor league reliever Marcus McBeth from Oakland on Saturday as part of a trade made a day earlier, and designated left-handed reliever Rheal Cormier for assignment to the minors.
Cincinnati dealt outfielder Chris Denorfia to the Athletics on Friday for two players to be named. On Saturday, they received the 26-year-old McBeth, who went 3-3 with a 3.07 ERA and 32 saves last season with three of Oakland's minor league teams.
McBeth was the closer at Triple-A Sacramento this season. He will join Triple-A Louisville on Sunday.
The Reds will get one more player from the Athletics at some point.
Cincinnati also made a move with its wobbly bullpen on Saturday, recalling right-hander Brad Salmon from Louisville to replace Cormier. The left-hander gave up three runs in three innings over six appearances.
Another injured pitcher for Yankees: Karstens leaves after getting hit by line drive
Sat, Apr 28, 2007
By Associated Press
NEW YORK --The New York Yankees lost another starting pitcher Saturday, two batters into their game against Boston.
Jeff Karstens was hit in the knee by Julio Lugo's line drive on his first pitch, then came out after giving up a single to Kevin Youkilis. The right-hander was replaced by Kei Igawa, relegated to the bullpen after flopping in his most recent start Monday night against Tampa Bay.
It was the latest injury to New York's depleted staff. Already missing starters Mike Mussina (hamstring) and Carl Pavano (forearm), the struggling Yankees sent Karstens to the mound hoping he could help end a seven-game skid - their longest since the last week of the 2000 season.
He lasted only six pitches. Lugo's hard liner hit Karstens on the side of his right knee, and the rookie crumpled to the ground in pain as Lugo reached first with an infield single for the Red Sox.
A trainer and manager Joe Torre came out of the dugout to check on Karstens, who stayed down for several moments before getting up and trying to walk it off. He received a huge hand from the crowd, threw a few warmup pitches and remained in the game.
But Karstens, who began the season on the disabled list with tendinitis in his right elbow, fell behind 3-1 on Youkilis and gave up a sharp single to left. Torre popped out of the dugout again - with a trainer, again - and signaled for Igawa. Wearing sunglasses on a cloudy afternoon, the left-hander was given as much time as he needed to warm up.
Igawa escaped the first inning without any damage. On his second pitch, the rookie got slugger David Ortiz to ground into a double play. After a walk to Manny Ramirez, Igawa struck out J.D. Drew with runners at the corners.
Igawa got Ortiz to ground into another double play in the third, ending the inning.
The Yankees spent $46 million to bring Igawa over from Japan, but he has been inconsistent in four starts. He began the day 1-1 with a 7.84 ERA and nine walks in 20 2-3 innings.
Beset by injuries to its top pitchers, New York recently got Chien-Ming Wang back from the DL. Wang, a 19-game winner last season and runner-up for the AL Cy Young Award, is scheduled to make his second start of the season Sunday in the series finale against Boston.
Karstens (0-1), in the rotation mainly because of the injuries and ineffectiveness of other Yankees starters, limped off the field after he was removed. He was roughed up at Fenway Park in his first outing of the year last Saturday, allowing seven runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings.