DODGERS: Third baseman Nomar Garciaparra was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday for the second time this season, and Los Angeles recalled Blake DeWitt from Class AAA Las Vegas.
Garciaparra strained his left calf during Friday night’s 13-inning, 8-7 victory over Colorado. He felt some slight discomfort trying to beat out a double-play grounder in the seventh inning but didn’t think about it until he tried to reach a ball hit by Scott Podsednik inside the bag in the ninth, manager Joe Torre said.
Garciaparra, a two-time batting champ in the American League and a six-time All-Star, is going on the DL for the 11th time in his 13-year career and fifth time in three seasons with the Dodgers, including a two-week stint last season with the same injury. He opened the season on the DL with a broken right hand, which he injured when he was hit by a pitch on March 7.
He returned to the lineup on April 16, going 7-for-31 in nine games with a homer and five RBI.
Garciaparra has spent about 450 days on the DL during his injury-plagued career, but still has 219 homers, 898 RBI and a .315 career batting average.
DIAMONDBACKS: Starter Micah Owings left Saturday’s game against the San Diego Padres with a sprained ankle in the sixth inning.
Owings had doubled down the right-field line, his third hit of the game, and was pulling into second base when his right leg buckled as he stepped onto the base with his right foot. Owings fell off the bag before he retouched the base and called time. The Diamondbacks’ ace right-hander sat on the infield dirt for a couple of minutes before he limped off the field.
BRAVES: Chipper Jones sat out of the Atlanta Braves’ 4-3 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday after he was hampered by back spasms in the clubhouse before the game.
Jones said he was talking to a reporter when his back started bothering him.
“It’s crazy,” Jones said. “Seriously, it was feeling like somebody sledgehammered me in the back.”
Jones hadn’t missed a game this season before Saturday and was off to a fast start. The Braves slugger was hitting a major league-best .433 with seven homers and 20 RBI in 23 games. He also has a .310 average with 19 homers and 53 RBI in 84 career games at Shea Stadium.
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