Alfonso Soriano went on the 15-day disabled list Monday, a day after tearing his right quadriceps while running the bases against the Mets. The five-tool superstar is expected to 2-to-4 weeks, but could be sidelined as many as six weeks. He had an MRI exam Sunday night and did not travel with the Cubs to Houston. "The latest from the MRI was that there is a small tear in the quad," manager Lou Pinella said. "It's about one centimeter. We think he'll be out four to six weeks. We think it will be around Labor Day. We were expecting this. It could have been worse." Chicago purchased the contract of infielder Eric Patterson from Triple-A Iowa to fill Soriano's roster spot. Patterson was batting .299 with 23 doubles, six triples, 14 home runs and 62 RBI at Iowa. The left-handed hitter, a Pacific Coast League All-Star last season, is the brother of Corey Patterson, who played for the Cubs from 2000-05.
Eric Chavez was placed on the DL because of lower back spasms on Friday. Chavez has not played since July 26 and has appeared in three of the A's past 17 games. The move was retroactive to July 27. "When he first hurt it the plan was to go two days to see how things were going," manager Bob Geren said. "Now it's closer to the 15-day limit. I did not want to DL him if he was going to be better in five or six days. We wanted to wait." The former All-Star is hitting .240 with 15 home runs and 46 RBIs in 90 games. "It really hasn't gone as planned," Chavez said. "I've had back problems before and recovered from them pretty quickly. This one is a little puzzling." J.J. Furmaniak was recalled from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Chavez. He was hitting .291 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs in 101 games.
Kerry Wood was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday after recovering from a sore shoulder that kept him out of the majors for more than a year. Wood made eight rehab starts and is back in the Cubs bullpen as a short reliever. His last regular-season start in the majors was June 6, 2006. On the disabled list 11 times in his major league career, the 30-year-old Wood made only four starts last season. His comeback this spring was delayed by more discomfort. Wood has pitched out of the bullpen previously. He had 11 career relief appearances in 2005 when he was 0-1 with a 2.25 ERA before arthroscopic shoulder surgery on Aug. 31 of that year.
On Tuesday, the Reds activated Eddie Guardado and Gary Majewski. The Reds optioned rookie left-hander Jon Coutlangus (4-1, 3.93 ERA) to Triple-A Louisville and placed Ryan Freel on the shelf because of torn cartilage in his right knee. Also, infielder Juan Castro had season-ending surgery on his right elbow Tuesday, the Reds said. Guardado hadn't pitched yet this season. Majewski was plagued by shoulder problems. He began this season at Louisville, and was 0-1 with a 15.88 ERA for the Reds this season before being sent back to Louisville in June. With an ERA of 5.00, the Reds' relievers rank last in the National League.
Curt Schilling (6-5) gave up four runs and nine hits in six-plus innings and struck out five in his first start since June 18 in Atlanta. He went on the DL the following day with tendinitis in his shoulder. He made three rehab starts with Triple-A Pawtucket, pitching 15 scoreless innings with 18 strikeouts and no walks. "I could have very easily shut those guys out tonight if I had executed some pitches," Schilling said. "But I didn't do that, they took advantage of it and we lost. While I'm not throwing the ball 95 anymore, I didn't get beat by my fastball tonight. I got beat making some horrible off-speed pitches.”
Jason Giambi's rehab stint with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre ended with an 0-for-3 night Sunday. After the game, Giambi said he will join his New York Yankees teammates in Toronto against the Blue Jays. Officially, he was activated on Tuesday after hitting .227 in nine minor league rehab games. "It’s exciting for me to get the opportunity," Giambi said. "The injury healed a lot faster than we all thought. I'll just go up there, and the team's playing great, so the biggest thing is to just go up there and be a part of it." Giambi tore tissue in his foot May 30 and started his rehab last weekend at Class-A Tampa, where he played four games. He played four more with the Red Barons, going hitless after a solo home run in his first at-bat.
The Orioles activated Melvin Mora from the DL Sunday and optioned Luis Hernandez to Double-A Bowie. Mora had been out since July 13 with a mid-foot sprain. He went 2-for-7 in two minor league rehab games with the Gulf Coast League Orioles. "Mora would not have been activated today if he did not assure all of us that he's 100 percent," manager Dave Trembley said. Mora was hitting .265 with 12 homers and 41 RBIs in 79 games when he was injured. Hernandez hit .333 with four RBIs over 13 games. He was called up from Triple-A Norfolk on July 7 and made his major league-debut one day later.
Josh Johnson underwent elbow surgery on Friday and likely will sidelined through the 2008 season. Johnson underwent ligament replacement, known as Tommy John surgery. He is expected to be out 12 to 18 months. The surgery was performed by acclaimed physician Dr. James Andrews. "From what I've been told and what I've experienced, it seems the relievers can return in a year but starters need that extra three months or so," manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. "So you're looking at spring training '09 for Josh." Johnson pitched only 15 2/3 innings this season and went 0-3 with a 7.47 ERA. Johnson's arm first bothered him last September. His most recent attempt to come back ended when he complained of elbow stiffness the day after a three-inning rehabilitation start last week for Class-A Jupiter. Johnson went 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2006 and finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. He spent the first 2 1/2 months of this season on the disabled list because of an irritated ulnar nerve in his right elbow, then made only four starts before he was again sidelined by forearm stiffness. "I think he'll be fine once he gets that rehab stuff out of the way," Gonzalez said. "You see guys who underwent Tommy John surgery, they come back and pitch better.”
Giants placed infielder Rich Aurilia on the shelf Saturday night with a strained right hamstring that he hurt three nights earlier at Dodger Stadium. General manager Brian Sabean said he was still evaluating options and needed to see how Aurilia came out of his pregame on-field work. A couple of hours earlier, Aurilia had said he was "getting better every day." "As of right now, this is the cleanest for us," Sabean said. "We had to wait to see how he responded to what he did before the game. He hasn't played since Wednesday and wasn't sure about playing next week, and there's no time to fool around."
Rookie Andrew Miller was placed on the DL Saturday because of a left hamstring strain. He injured the hamstring on his last pitch of the fourth inning Friday against the Cubs, and couldn't warm up for the fifth. "The doctors say it is very mild and I should miss very little time," Miller said. Miller allowed six runs and seven hits and left with the Tigers trailing 6-3. The southpaw is 5-4 with a 4.42 ERA in 11 starts. Miller was Detroit's first-round draft pick out of North Carolina in 2006. To take Miller's spot on the roster, the Tigers recalled right-handed pitcher Fernando Rodney (1-5) from Triple-A Toledo and reinstated him from the DL. He has been sidelined since June 24 because of right shoulder tendinitis.
Edgar Renteria was put on the shelf by the Braves on Friday, one day after he sprained his right ankle while trying to field a hard grounder. Renteria, hitting .336 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs, was put on the 15-day DL with a high ankle sprain. Renteria had to be helped off the field Thursday night after he hurt the ankle in the eighth inning while trying to field a one-hopper off the bat of Houston's Ty Wigginton. "I try to play every day. If you can't do it, you can't do it," Renteria said. Renteria, 35-for-88 (.398) since the All-Star break, initially thought he had broken the ankle. The ball was coming at his face, he said, so he leaned back to protect his back, causing his ankle to twist. Braves manager Bobby Cox said Renteria could be on the DL for longer than two weeks. Right-handed reliever Joey Devine was recalled from Triple-A Richmond of the International League. He pitched three innings with the Braves this year, allowing one run. He was 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in 6 1-3 innings at Triple-A Richmond and 2-4 with a 2.06 ERA in 35 innings at Double-A Mississippi, striking out 51.
The Phillies placed Rod Barajas on the DL Friday with a groin strain. Barajas has served primarily as the backup to the younger Carlos Ruiz. Chris Coste, who was recalled from the minors in June, has seen increased playing time at catcher. Barajas has hit .214 in 43 games this season. The Phillies called up right-hander Clay Condrey from Triple-A Ottawa to replace Barajas on the roster and transferred right-hander Francisco Rosario to the 60-day disabled list.
The Royals placed OF Reggie Sanders on the shelf and recalled OF Joey Gathright from Triple-A Omaha on Wednesday. Kansas City also recalled reliever Ryan Braun and optioned right-hander Leo Nunez, who made another exceptional spot start only to be optioned back to the minors. Nunez was sent to Omaha to make room for starter Kyle Davies, who the Royals acquired from Atlanta on Tuesday. Sanders, who re-injured his left hamstring, played in eight games since returning from a 2 1/2 month stint on the disabled list two weeks ago. He's hitting .315 with two homers in 24 games. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. Gathright batted .315 in 25 games with the Royals before being sent back to Omaha on July 16 to make room for Sanders. He was 15-for-37 since his demotion.
The Mets placed Carlos Beltran on the DL Tuesday. Beltran, 30, was scratched from last Wednesday's 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates after straining his left abdominal muscle during batting practice. He missed six games before going on the DL, with the move retroactive to July 25. The center fielder, who is batting .263 with 19 homers and 62 RBIs, said he hurt the muscle on his left side taking a swing.
Outfielders Shane Victorino and Michael Bourn were put on the 15-day DL Tuesday. Victorino is out because of a strained right calf and Bourn is out with a sprained left ankle. The Phillies recalled outfielder Chris Roberson from Triple-A Ottawa before Tuesday's game and put him in the starting lineup. Outfielder Jayson Werth will be activated from the disabled list Thursday. Victorino is batting .284 with 11 home runs and 42 RBIs. An MRI exam on Tuesday showed a small tear. "I expected the worst. When we got the results, it wasn't as bad as we thought it was," Victorino said. Victorino and Bourn were injured in the Phillies' 4-1 win over the Cubs on Monday. Victorino hurt himself trying to beat out a double play in the fourth inning. Bourn, who replaced Victorino in right field, stumbled over the bullpen mound chasing Alfonso Soriano's foul ball. Bourn stayed in the game, but was taken out in the seventh inning with a left ankle sprain. X-rays on Bourn's ankle were negative Tuesday, but revealed ligament and soft tissue damage. The reserve outfielder is batting .284 with 18 stolen bases.
Mike Maroth, who has an 11.08 ERA since being acquired by the Cardinals, was placed on the DL Monday because of tendinitis in his left elbow. Maroth is 0-4 in eight games, including six starts. In his last start on Aug. 1, Maroth was shelled for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings in a loss at Pittsburgh. On Saturday he allowed five runs in two-thirds of an inning in relief at Washington. "Obviously, I was pitching with some discomfort," Maroth said. "It's hard enough getting hitters out feeling great."