Miguel Tejada was placed on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a broken left wrist, ending his streak of consecutive games played at 1,152, the fifth-longest in big league history.
"I think this is better for me and for the team to have somebody in there who can help the team," Tejada. "Right now, I can't help the team. I'm really proud of myself to be playing so many games in a row.” Tejada, who is hitting .306 with seven homers and 41 RBIs in 72 games, fell 1,480 games short of former Oriole Cal Ripken's record streak of 2,632, which ended in 1998.
"It makes you realize how special Cal Ripken was, and how no one will ever even come close to touching that," interim manager Dave Trembley said. Tejada was hit on the wrist by a pitch from San Diego's Doug Brocail on Wednesday night (Incidentally, Brocail also went on the DL Friday with a strained left gluteus muscle). In what Trembley called a show of respect, he put Tejada in lineup Thursday at San Diego just long enough to extend his streak. Trembley lifted Tejada for a pinch runner after he reached on a fielder's choice in the first inning. Tejada last missed a game on May 31, 2000.
"My last day off, I don't really remember it," Tejada said. The durable veteran is expected to return to Baltimore early next week to see team doctors. He said he expects to return to the lineup when he's eligible to come off the disabled list July 7.
Other News Around the League
Curt Schilling was placed on the shelf on Friday because of soreness in his right shoulder. Manager Terry Francona said Schilling had stretching treatment at Fenway Park on Friday and didn't know if Schilling would do any throwing this weekend. "I need to get more information. He hasn't thrown yet. I don't know what the next couple of days will entail," Francona said. He will announce the starter on Monday.
Jason Schmidt had season-ending shoulder surgery on Wednesday and is not expected to return until spring training next year. Schmidt, who signed a $47 million, three-year contract as a free agent during the offseason, went 1-4 with a 6.31 ERA in six starts. Dodgers trainer Stan Conte said Schmidt had surgery to repair an inflamed bursa, a torn labrum and a frayed biceps tendon in his right shoulder. Both the labrum tear and the frayed tendon were unexpected. Conte said the torn labrum is the most serious aspect of the surgery, performed in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening. Chad Billingsley (4-0) will start in Schmidt's place against Toronto on Thursday. He’s worth taking a flyer on in mixed leagues.
Making his first start of the season after a blood clot was removed from his pitching shoulder in the spring, Kenny Rogers allowed only two hits in six over Atlanta Friday night. "This surpasses what I would have expected," Rogers said. "I don't ever go into a game saying, 'I'm going to shut a team out.' I've always been willing to give up a run here and there to minimize the damage." The Gambler is officially back – get him starting in all leagues. Counting last year’s postseason, Rogers hasn’t allowed a run in his past four starts.
David Dellucci will require surgery for his injured hamstring and will be sidelined about eight weeks. Dellucci was hurt while running out a grounder Tuesday. An MRI exam revealed a high-grade tear in his left hamstring. He will undergo surgery Thursday at the Cleveland Clinic. "This is not career-ending; this is not career-threatening," trainer Lonnie Soloff said. "He will return to 100 percent at some point this year." Indians recalled Ben Francisco, who was batting .329 with six homers, 34 RBIs and 15 stolen bases at Buffalo
The Cubs activated Aramis Ramirez from the DL before Friday's game against the White Sox. Ramirez, who leads the Cubs with 13 homers, went on the DL with tendinitis in his left knee on June 11 after injuring it running to first against Milwaukee five days earlier. He will also wear a knee brace the rest of the year. "I'm not 100 percent," said Ramirez, who was batting .299 and tied for the team lead with 39 RBI entering Friday's game.
Anibal Sanchez will miss the rest of the season after undergoing an operation Thursday that repaired a torn labrum in his pitching shoulder. The injury was discovered during exploratory arthroscopic surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Sanchez will wait three to four months before he can resume throwing. As a rookie last season, he pitched the first no-hitter in the major leagues in 2 1/2 years when he beat the Diamondbacks 2-0 on Sept. 6. He went 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA in 2006, including a 5-1 record in September. But Sanchez nursed a sore shoulder during the offseason and made only six starts this year, going 2-1 with a 4.80 ERA while allowing 43 hits and 19 walks in 30 innings. He was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque on May 4 and then said his shoulder had been bothering him. He hasn't pitched since.
The Indians activated Jake Westbrook (abdominal) from the 15-day disabled list Sunday to start against the Nationals. He entered with a 1-2 record with a 7.90 ERA in six starts with the Indians this season. Westbrook pitched well against Washington allowing three runs and seven hits in seven innings, but got the loss. His a strong AL-only option for his scheduled start against Tampa Bay.
Justin Morneau is scheduled to undergo another round of X-rays and blood tests as a precaution Sunday before being released from the hospital following treatment for a bruised right lung. He might rejoin the lineup next week after a collision left him dazed on the ground, and when he reached the dugout he coughed up blood and struggled to breathe. He left the stadium on a stretcher wearing an oxygen mask and was taken to the hospital by ambulance. A CT scan was normal, and X-rays were negative. "When you see Morneau down on the field, obviously he doesn't stay down very often," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He's a big, strong hockey guy. So when he was hurting like that and couldn't catch his breath, we were a little concerned."
Jon Lieber, who left his last start after stumbling off the mound to cover home plate, is out indefinitely with a ruptured tendon in his foot. Lieber said an MRI exam on Saturday revealed the damage. Team medical personnel will examine Lieber on Monday in Philadelphia and decide whether surgery is required. The 37-year-old Lieber is 3-6 with a 4.73 ERA in 14 games, 12 of them starts. He was the Phillies' opening-day starter in 2005 and '06. "I put high expectations on myself to help this ballclub," Lieber said. "I definitely wasn't doing a very good job this past month. I don't know what else to say."
Kansas City DH Mike Sweeney, hampered by a right knee injury, was placed on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday. The move was retroactive to Monday, Sweeney is batting .245 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs in 57 games. In his place, KC recalled Billy Butler, the team's first-round pick in the 2004 amateur draft, from Triple-A Omaha. The 21-year-old is making his second appearance with the Royals this season, after hitting .243 with two doubles and four RBIs the first two weeks of May. Butler batted .291 in 57 games at Omaha with 13 homers and 46 RBIs. He could very well have just played his final minor league game.
The White Sox put center fielder Darin Erstad back on the 15-day disabled list Saturday and activated Scott Podsednik from the DL. Erstad re-injured his left ankle Friday, the same day he ended a stay on the DL that began June 1. He made a diving catch in the first inning and then was unable to hit in the bottom half. Podsednik, on the DL since April 16 with a right adductor strain, had been on a rehab assignment at Triple-A Charlotte. He went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and also scored a run in a 2-1 loss to the Cubs on Saturday.
Chicago also was considering putting Jermaine Dye on the DL because of a sore quadriceps muscle that forced him to leave a game earlier in the week and has slowed him on the bases. Podsednik was initially slated to rejoin the team Monday, but got the call Friday with Erstad and Dye uncertain. "I'm feeling better. I'm feeling stronger. I'm running a lot better and ready to get going," Podsednik said before Saturday's game. Podsednik's 169 stolen bases from 2004-2006 were the most in the majors during that stretch.