Chicago Cubs: The Cubs made a pair of trades Tuesday,
getting outfielder Ben Grieve from the Milwaukee Brewers and
acquiring backup catcher Mike DiFelice from the Detroit Tigers.
The deals came on the final day for teams to obtain players and
have them be eligible for postseason rosters. The Cubs led the NL
wild-card race going into Tuesday night's game at Montreal.
Chicago sent a player to be named and cash to the Brewers for
Grieve. The Cubs gave up a player to be named for DiFelice.
Grieve, 28, hit .261 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs in 108
games for Milwaukee. He was 9-for-37 as a pinch-hitter.
DiFelice spent most the season with Triple-A Toledo, hitting
.270 with 36 RBIs in 64 games. He spent about a month with Detroit
and played 13 games, batting .136 with two RBIs in 22 at-bats.
Los Angeles Dodgers: A funeral service will be held Sept. 7 at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park for former Dodgers outfielder
Willie Crawford.
Crawford died Aug. 27 of kidney disease at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center, the Dodgers said. He was 57.
Crawford played 989 games for the Dodgers and played in the
majors from 1964-77, hitting .268 with 86 home runs and 419 RBI.
Crawford had a pinch-hit single at age 19 in Game 1 of the 1965
World Series, when the Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins. He also
homered in the 1974 World Series loss to Oakland.
Born in Los Angeles, Crawford spent his first 12 big-league
seasons with the Dodgers. He had his most productive year in 1973
when he hit .295 with 14 homers and 66 RBI.
Nomo ready to go: Dodgers' RHP Hideo Nomo who turned 36 on Tuesday, will make his
first start since June 30 on Wednesday, testing the rotator cuff
tendinitis that put him on the disabled list. Manager Jim Tracy said Nomo, who
was 3-10 with an 8.06 ERA before the injury, did well in four rehab
starts at Triple-A Las Vegas -- throwing 94 pitches with 10
strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings in his last outing.
"He had 13 pitches
that were in the 90s," Tracy said. "Throwing 88 to 89
consistently. That'll work. Is that what we'll see? I don't know."
Minnesota Twins: Veteran catcher Pat Borders was traded to the AL
Central-leading Twins by the Seattle Mariners for minor league outfielder B.J. Garbe.
The 41-year-old Borders, the MVP of the 1992 World Series with
the Toronto Blue Jays, hit .189 with one home run and five RBIs in
19 games with the Mariners this season. In 36 games with Triple-A
Tacoma, he hit .255 with five homers and 13 RBIs.
"If we could have gone with three catchers, he would have been
a guy I would have loved to have here all year," Seattle manager
Bob Melvin said. "Who is to say down the road that he doesn't come
back here, but given an opportunity to get into the playoffs, we
all feel very good about that."
Garbe was the Twins' first-round pick in 1999. He hit .201 with
three homers and 35 RBIs this season with Double-A New Britain. He
was assigned to Double-A San Antonio by the Mariners.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Devil Rays All-Star
outfielder Carl Crawford was out of the starting lineup for Tuesday
night's game against the Baltimore Orioles because of a sore right
shoulder.
Manager Lou Piniella said Crawford will undergo an MRI on
Wednesday.
"The shoulder is bothering him," Piniella said. "He'll be out
a few days. We'll know more tomorrow."
Crawford, the AL stolen base leader, bruised his shoulder diving
for two balls in a 5-0 loss to Oakland on Aug. 21. He has had
problems swinging the bat since the injury.
Piniella said center fielder Rocco Baldelli will be activated
from the 15-day disabled list when rosters are expanded Wednesday.
Baldelli has been out since Aug. 14 with a strained right
quadriceps.
Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox bought the contract of minor
league catcher Sandy Martinez from the Cleveland Indians.
Martinez batted .274 with 17 homers and 47 RBIs for Cleveland's
Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. The Red Sox assigned him to Triple-A
Pawtucket.
Martinez, 33, has batted .232 with six homers and 51 RBI in 215
major league games with the Blue Jays, Cubs, Marlins, Expos and
Indians over the past 10 seasons.
The Indians will receive an undisclosed amount of cash.
In other Sox news, third baseman Kevin Youkilis (right ankle) and first baseman Dave McCarty (right wrist) will be back from the disabled list as soon as Wednesday, when roster limits are expanded to 40.
Right-handed reliever Scott Williamson will resume throwing Wednesday at Fenway Park and remains optimistic about coming back from an injury to his right elbow.
New York Mets: Mets' right-handed pitcher Victor Zambrano visited Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., for a second opinion on his injured elbow. Andrews concurred with
Mets physician Dr. Andrew Rokito's diagnosis of a flexor muscle strain.
Zambrano was to return to Florida to resume his rehabilitation.
"Hopefully, we can get him back on the mound before the end of the season, but we'll have to see how he feels," general manager Jim Duquette said
Texas Rangers: Rangers' right-handed reliever Jeff Nelson, on the DL since Aug. 5 with tendinitis
in his right forearm, was en route to Minnesota on Tuesday and is
expected to be activated on Wednesday.
The right-hander showed
improvement during his rehab stint on Monday for Double-A Frisco,
according to manager Buck Showalter.
Philadelphia Phillies: Phillies' left-handed pitcher Randy Wolf was placed on the DL with
tendinitis in his left elbow. The Phillies recalled infielder Shawn
Wooten from Triple-A Scranton.
Wolf, who missed 16 games with tendinitis in the elbow in June, is 5-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 23 games this season.
Florida Marlins: Marlins' second baseman Luis Castillo missed his second consecutive start
Tuesday after he was hit on the right foot by a pitch Sunday.
"He's coming along. We'll give him another day," manager Jack McKeon said.
Damion Easley started at second base again.