Roger Clemens will have tests on his ailing groin Monday, and the Yankees hope he can make his first start of the season Saturday against Pittsburgh because of a fatigued right groin. “We’re tentatively looking at possibly next weekend,” manager Joe Torre said. “The only thing I know is he’s going to have an MRI (on Monday) and we’ll have more information. They’ll see if whatever he’s dealing with is old or new.” Matt DeSalvo was scheduled to come up from the minors and start in Clemens’ place Monday night against the White Sox. Kei Igawa pitched in a Triple-A game Sunday for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Torre said Igawa pitched well, but Scranton pitching coach said the left-hander needs another minor league outing.
The MRI won’t be the only factor that determines whether Clemens pitches on Saturday. Clemens had three minor league tuneup starts, the most recent last Monday when he gave up two hits and struck out six in six scoreless innings for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner felt pain in his groin during that outing. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said it was possible Clemens’ next appearance would be in the minors.
The Yankees placed Jason Giambi on the 15-day disabled list Friday with torn tissue in his left foot that is expected to sideline him at least three weeks, and perhaps much longer. Giambi tore the tissue while running out a home run Tuesday night at Toronto. He was examined in New York on Thursday by Dr. William Hamilton. Cashman said that surgery was not an option. The power-hitting DH is hitting .262 with seven homers and 23 RBIs. His foot began bothering him soon after he played the field for the first time on April 28, and he hit .117 in May with three homers and six RBIs.
Doug Mientkiewicz will be placed on the DL with a broken right wrist after he was hurt in a collision with Mike Lowell on Saturday. Torre said the bone that was fractured heals slowly. He expects Mientkiewicz to play again this season, but had no idea how long he would be out. “It’s still only the first few days of June. Even if it takes him six weeks or so, seven weeks, we’re still into July, so I’d be very surprised if he didn’t play again,” Torre said. With Giambi already out because of a foot injury, Torre said Josh Phelps will be the team’s regular first baseman for the foreseeable future, with Miguel Cairo as the backup. Center fielder Johnny Damon has been taking grounders at first but is expected to keep serving mostly as a designated hitter.
Lyle Overbay is expected to miss four to six weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand. Overbay was injured when he was hit by a pitch from John Danks in the third inning of Sunday’s game. Overbay stayed in the game to run, but was replaced at first base by Matt Stairs to start the fourth. “It’s always going to hurt right off the bat, but I just knew,” Overbay said. “It got worse as the day went on.” He was batting .256 with eight home runs and 27 RBI in 55 games this season. “It’s frustrating because I was feeling better and feeling like I had a chance out there and getting some consistency,” Overbay said. It’s the first trip to the shelf for the seven-year veteran. Stairs is expected to get the bulk of the playing time at first base in Overbay’s absence.
Takashi Saito was pulled from the ninth inning of Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh with a tight left hamstring, but the problem is not believed to be serious. After getting the Pirates’ Jose Bautista to swing and miss on a high fastball that made the count 2-2 with one out Saito walked off the back of the mound in apparent discomfort. Following a brief conversation with a trainer, Saito left and was replaced by Joe Beimel. The left-hander retired Bautista on a flyball before getting Jose Castillo to bounce out to the mound and complete the Dodgers’ 5-4 victory. “He’s mature enough to let us know as soon as something like that happens,” manager Grady Little said. “I don’t know how serious it is, but we feel like he informed us in time (to prevent a severe injury). We’ll look at it tomorrow and see how it is, but it’s a plus he told us that quickly.” Saito has been one of the NL’s top closers, converting all 16 save opportunities this season and 26 in a row dating to last season.
Akinori Iwamura is expected to miss four to five games with a left eye injury. The starting third baseman chased after a ball Saturday night in the bullpen down the third-base line in the eighth inning that bounced and hit him in the eye. He was checked by a team trainer and stayed in the game for the rest of the inning, but then left the game after the inning. Iwamura said it feels like he “got punched by a heavyweight.” He has a small cut above the eye, but no fractures. He was examined by an eye doctor late Saturday, who recommended Iwamura sit out for a few days. “It’s kind of a bruise on his eye,” manager Joe Maddon said. “I don’t think it’s going to exceed five days. I don’t know if it could be less, but it shouldn’t be much more than that. He got hit in a bad spot.” Iwamura is hitting .370 with one homer and six RBIs. He is 8-for-18 in five games since being activated from the DL in late May.
The Brewers put Rickie Weeks on the 15-day disabled list Thursday retroactive to Wednesday due to a sore right wrist that continues to hamper him because of scar tissue breaking up. They called up Jose Capellan to take his spot on the roster. "At this point of the season it's crazy having him battle," Yost said of Weeks, who is batting .243 with five homers and 16 RBIs. "Hopefully, he can go six weeks, eight weeks, before it starts getting sore again. We'll just have to see what happens. It's something that's going to be on and off all season long, probably." Weeks is scheduled to fly to Phoenix on Friday to be checked out by Dr. Don Sheridan, who performed season-ending surgery on Weeks' right wrist last year to fix a tendon that was snapping out of place. Weeks initially hurt himself wagging a bat in the dugout on July 25, but his swing also puts a lot of torque on his wrists and arms.
Manager Bobby Cox announced Friday that Chipper Jones was placed on the 15-day DL for the fourth time since the start of the 2006 season. The move is retroactive to May 24. "The only frustrating part of this is I have seen no improvement whatsoever," Jones said of his injured right hand. "I think there's something else. I've got pain on the outside of both my hammock bones. I've got pain radiating in both my wrists." Jones has been great when in the lineup this season with 12 homers and 27 RBI.
The Braves activated Lance Cormier from the 15-day disabled list before Sunday’s start against the Cubs and optioned infielder Marin Prado to Triple-A Richmond. John Smoltz had his scheduled start pushed to Tuesday because of discomfort in his right shoulder and an injured right pinkie finger. So Cormier, who was 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in four minor league rehab starts, made his regular-season debut. The Cubbies roughed him up for nine hits and eight runs in four innings, while dropping his record to 0-1.
The Cubs recalled Felix Pie from Triple-A Iowa and placed Daryle Ward on the 15-day DL with a strain in his left hip on Sunday. It’s the second stint this season with the Cubs for Pie, who started in center field and batted second against the Braves. He batted .224 in 18 games for Chicago from April 17 to May 9 before being sent back to Iowa, where he began the season. Ward, used mainly as a pinch hitter, is batting .270. The hip started bothering him a few weeks ago. Pie went 2-for-5 with a couple runs in the Cubs 10-1 victory Sunday.
Darin Erstad fell awkwardly after swinging and missing on a cut-fastball from Roy Halladay in the seventh inning of a 2-0 loss to Toronto on Thursday, and landed on the disabled list because of it. “I feel like I caught a break,” Erstad said. “From what I felt and what I heard, it didn’t look good. It was such a freak thing. You do that a million times and nothing happens. You just chalk it up as another weird one.” Erstad was worried that he had broken the ankle, but X-rays were negative. The White Sox put Erstad on the 15-day disabled list Friday and recalled outfielder Jerry Owens from Triple-A Charlotte. Erstad has a walking boot, not crutches, and was limping through the clubhouse without either before Saturday’s game. He said straight ahead movement is fine, but lateral movement remains painful. Teammate Scott Podsednik is expected to have an MRI when the White Sox return to Chicago Monday and could soon begin a minor league rehab assignment.
Mark Kotsay was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday and in the starting lineup for the first time this season after recovering from an operation on his lower back March 8. “I feel better than before the surgery,” said Kotsay. “I don’t have any pain. I have general soreness from playing every day (in minor league rehab stint).” Kotsay’s goal was to be back June 1, and he did it exactly. The initial diagnosis for his recovery time was up to three months, though Kotsay used that as a conservative estimate. He said he will have to work hard to maintain his core strength for the rest of his life. He went 1-for-11 in this weekend’s series against Minnesota.
The Dodgers recalled Eric Hull from Triple-A Las Vegas on Friday to replace Yhency Brazoban, who went on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder. Hull was 2-2 with two saves and a 3.60 ERA at Las Vegas, striking out 27 while allowing only one homer. He also spent last season at Las Vegas, going 2-4 with two saves in 44 games. Brazoban had pitched only 1 2/3 innings, giving up three earned runs and four hits since his May 23 callup. He didn't retire any of the three hitters he faced Thursday night in Washington, allowing a bases-loaded single, walking a batter and committing a throwing error.
Yadier Molina will be sidelined four to six weeks with a fractured left wrist. The Cardinals placed Molina on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday and purchased the contract of rookie catcher Brian Esposito from Triple-A Memphis. The team's medical staff described Molina's injury as a non-displaced fracture that will be splinted and immobilized. Molina left Tuesday's game against the Rockies in Denver in the fourth inning after being hit by a foul tip an inning earlier. Molina, the youngest of three catching brothers in the major leagues, was batting .273 with one homer and 12 RBIs. Backup catcher Gary Bennett will receive most of the work. He's batting .227 in 44 at-bats with two RBIs.