MLB NOTEBOOK: Red Sox trade for Paul Byrd
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Boston acquired pitcher Paul Byrd from Cleveland, hoping to boost a rotation hurt by an injury to Tim Wakefield and the struggles of Clay Buchholz. The Red Sox will send either a player to be named or cash to the Indians. The 37-year-old Byrd is 7-10 with a 4.53 ERA this season. But he has won all four of his starts since the All-Star break with a 1.24 ERA. Byrd is scheduled to start Friday night at home against Toronto. He pitched his only complete game of the season last Saturday against the Blue Jays.
METS: Here’s what qualifies as a bargain in New York — $495 for a seat at a ballgame. Hoping the price is right, the New York Mets set that figure as the average cost for the best seats next year during Citi Field’s first season. While that’s a 79 percent increase over this year, it’s a small fraction of the $2,500 for the top tickets at the new Yankee Stadium. The priciest tickets at Citi Field are the 76 Sterling Club Platinum seats behind the plate, which include food and nonalcoholic drinks. The price is up from $276 for the comparable seats at Shea Stadium this year, a 73-seat section called Home Plate Club Gold. All of the most expensive tickets for next year have been sold.
TWINS: All-Star catcher Joe Mauer sat out against the New York Yankees with a stiff neck, leaving the Minnesota Twins to face Mike Mussina without one of their best hitters. Mauer, fifth in the AL in batting (.316) and third in on-base percentage (.409), said he has had stiffness for the past three days, but didn’t think it would become an ongoing issue.
DIAMONDBACKS: Adam Dunn went from the cellar of the NL Central to the top of the West, and he’s going to get every opportunity to help the Arizona Diamondbacks secure a spot in the postseason. Dunn was in the lineup for Arizona’s game at Colorado, batting cleanup and playing right field, just one day after he was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds for minor league right-hander Dallas Buck and two players to be named. Dunn has never played in the postseason.
YANKEES: Hank Steinbrenner blames injuries for New York’s slide from contention. The Yankees are in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993.
“I’m not writing off this season,” the team’s co-chairman said Tuesday. “They’re trying hard to win. There’s only so much you can do. They’re not supermen.
“I think it’s very simple, we’ve been devastated by injuries. No team I’ve ever seen in baseball has been decimated like this. It would kill any team,” Steinbrenner said. “Imagine the Red Sox without (Josh) Beckett and (Jon) Lester. Pitching is 70 percent of the game. Chien-Ming Wang won 19 games two straight years. Joba Chamberlain became the most dominating pitcher in baseball. You can’t lose two guys like that.”
New York also is missing catcher Jorge Posada, out for the year after shoulder surgery, and left fielder Hideki Matsui, out since June 22 because of a knee injury.
TIGERS: Detroit will give Freddy Garcia a chance to prove he can still pitch. Out of the majors since June 2007, the two-time All-Star agreed to a minor league contract with the Tigers. Garcia had season-ending surgery on his right shoulder last August while with Philadelphia. The Tigers also promoted lefty Dontrelle Willis to Class AAA Toledo. Acquired with Miguel Cabrera in an offseason trade with Florida, Willis has struggled all year. In five major league games and 111/3 innings this season, he is 0-1 with a 10.32 ERA.
DODGERS: Los Angeles activated infielder Nomar Garciaparra from the disabled list and placed center fielder Andruw Jones on the 15-day DL, retroactive to Aug. 10. Garciaparra missed 14 games because of a strained medial collateral ligament in his left knee, which he injured while making a tag play covering third base against Washington. It was the third time he was on the DL this year, the sixth time in three seasons with the Dodgers and the 12th time in his 13-year career. Jones, laboring through the worst season of his 13-year career, has soreness in his left knee.
ATHLETICS: Oakland purchased the contract of Cliff Pennington and the infielder made his major league debut against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Pennington, drafted by the A’s in the first round of the 2005 First-Year Player Draft, leads all of minor league baseball with 93 walks and is tied for sixth in runs scored. He made his Class AAA debut in Sacramento earlier in the year. The A’s optioned left-handed pitcher Lenny DiNardo to Sacramento to make room on the major league roster, and designated infielder Brooks Conrad for assignment to clear room for Pennington on the 40-man roster.
WHITE SOX: Chicago outfielder Carlos Quentin was scratched from Tuesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals after he was struck on the left forearm by a pitch from Josh Beckett. Quentin was plunked by Beckett in the eighth inning of Chicago’s 5-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Monday, and has been hit by a pitch in five straight games — the first player since 1920 with that long of a streak, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He has been hit 19 times overall — most in the majors.
MLB: Kansas City minor leaguer Victor Jorge and two players in the Arizona organization were suspended for 50 games each after testing positive under baseball’s minor league drug program. Jorge, a 21-year-old righty, is 0-2 with an 8.54 ERA for Burlington of the rookie Appalachian League. He tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol. The Diamondbacks’ Winfild De La Rosa and Ramon Mariano, who play in the Dominican Summer League, tested positive for a metabolite of Boldenone. De La Rosa is a pitcher and Mariano is a first baseman.
GIANTS: San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum left in the fifth inning against Houston after he was struck in the right knee by a line drive. Lincecum allowed only one hit and struck out seven through 41/3 innings. He left after Brad Ausmus drove a 3-1 pitch straight back to the mound. Lincecum tried to dodge it, but the ball hit him on the side of his knee. The 24-year-old Lincecum fell to the ground as manager Bruce Bochy and the team’s medical staff rushed to check on him. Lincecum limped off the field and was replaced by right-hander Keiichi Yabu.
CARDINALS: Chris Carpenter will miss his scheduled start Friday for the St. Louis Cardinals after an MRI exam showed a muscle strain in the back of his pitching shoulder. Carpenter was examined Tuesday in St. Louis and will rejoin his teammates in Florida, where he will receive treatment from the team’s medical staff.
PADRES: San Diego placed right-hander Bryan Corey on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Corey is 1-3 with a 6.23 ERA in 39 appearances with San Diego since being acquired in a trade with Boston in May. The move is retroactive to Sunday. San Diego purchased the contract of infielder Sean Kazmar from Class AA San Antonio to take Corey’s spot. Kazmar, who is on a major league roster for the first time, was hitting .264 with three home runs and 39 RBIs at San Antonio.
REDS: Cincinnati called up outfielder Chris Dickerson from Class AAA Louisville to fill Adam Dunn’s spot on the roster. The 26-year-old Dickerson was hitting .287 with 11 home runs, 53 RBI and 26 stolen bases for Louisville.
Associated Press
