THT Daily: Transactions Galore

Major League News for September 1

Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Game of the Day
Top Minor League Performances
Player News
Stats

Yesterday’s Results

American League
BOS     2  TOR     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYA     8  MIN     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
TB      2  SEA     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
DET     9  LAA     0    (Recap and Boxscore)
KC      7  CHA     5    (Recap and Boxscore)
OAK     5  BAL     4    (Recap and Boxscore)
CLE     7  TEX     2    (Recap and Boxscore)

National League
CHN     6  SF      2    (Recap and Boxscore)
NYN     8  HOU     7    (Recap and Boxscore)
FLA     3  MIL     2    (Recap and Boxscore)
STL     3  PIT     1    (Recap and Boxscore)
LAN     6  COL     3    (Recap and Boxscore)
CIN     6  SD      2    (Recap and Boxscore)

Today’s Games

Visitors                           Home                           Starts
TOR - Burnett A. (6-6, 4.53)       BOS - Jarvis K. (0-0, -)         1:05
MIN - Baker S. (3-7, 6.93)         NYY - Karstens J. (1-0, 4.63)    1:05
ATL - Villarreal O. (9-1, 4.17)    PHI - Lieber J. (6-9, 5.09)      1:05
ARI - Batista M. (10-5, 4.46)      WAS - Traber B.* (3-3, 7.14)     1:05
SF - Cain M. (10-9, 4.32)          CHC - Marshall S.* (5-8, 4.98    2:20
BAL - Loewen A.* (4-4, 5.56)       OAK - Haren D. (12-10, 3.80)     4:05
FLA - Johnson J. (12-6, 2.87)      MIL - Sheets B. (4-6, 4.62)      7:05
LAA - Saunders J.* (4-2, 4.78)     DET - Verlander J. (15-7, 3.4    7:05
NYM - Maine J. (4-3, 3.50)         HOU - Hirsh J. (2-2, 8.53)       7:05
ATL - Davies K. (2-3, 6.12)        PHI - Mathieson S. (1-4, 7.23    7:05
ARI - Hernandez L. (10-11, 5.27)   WAS - Bergmann J. (0-1, 6.64)    7:05
CWS - Buehrle M.* (11-11, 4.71)    KC - Perez O.* (1-2, 5.73)       7:10
SEA - Baek C. (1-0, 4.22)          TB - Howell J.* (0-1, 7.53)      7:15
PIT - Chacon S. (1-2, 7.88)        STL - Weaver J. (2-3, 5.92)      7:15
CLE - Lee C.* (10-10, 4.72)        TEX - Volquez E. (1-3, 4.58)     8:05
CIN - Lohse K. (1-1, 2.78)         SD - Peavy J. (7-13, 4.51)      10:05
COL - Cook A. (9-12, 3.97)         LAD - Penny B. (14-7, 3.88)     10:10

Standings

The graphics next to each team are called “sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each “up” bar is a victory and a “down” bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. “PWins” is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.

American League East        Pwins  Diff
NYA     80  53 .602    0.0   78      2      
BOS     73  62 .541    8.0   69      4      
TOR     69  66 .511   12.0   70     -1      
BAL     60  74 .448   20.5   59      1      
TB      54  81 .400   27.0   55     -1      
American League Central
DET     84  51 .622    0.0   82      2      
CHA     78  56 .582    5.5   76      2      
MIN     77  56 .579    6.0   74      3      
CLE     64  69 .481   19.0   73     -9      
KC      50  86 .368   34.5   51     -1      
American League West
OAK     78  56 .582    0.0   72      6      
LAA     70  65 .519    8.5   69      1      
TEX     69  67 .507   10.0   71     -2      
SEA     63  71 .470   15.0   64     -1      

National League East         Pwins Diff
NYN     83  50 .624    0.0   78      5      
PHI     67  66 .504   16.0   68     -1      
FLA     66  68 .493   17.5   66      0      
ATL     63  69 .477   19.5   69     -6      
WAS     56  77 .421   27.0   56      0      
National League Central
STL     72  61 .541    0.0   68      4      
CIN     68  67 .504    5.0   65      3      
HOU     66  69 .489    7.0   68     -2      
MIL     62  73 .459   11.0   59      3      
CHN     55  79 .410   17.5   55      0      
PIT     53  82 .393   20.0   58     -5      
National League West
LAN     72  62 .537    0.0   73     -1      
SD      68  66 .507    4.0   67      1      
SF      66  69 .489    6.5   68     -2      
ARI     64  69 .481    7.5   64      0      
COL     62  72 .463   10.0   67     -5      

Wildcard Standings
American League
CHA     78  56 .582    0.0
MIN     77  56 .579    0.5
BOS     73  62 .541    5.5
LAA     70  65 .519    8.5
TOR     69  66 .511    9.5
National League
SD      68  66 .507    0.0
PHI     67  66 .504    0.5
CIN     68  67 .504    0.5
FLA     66  68 .493    2.0
HOU     66  69 .489    2.5

Game of the Day

Florida beat Milwaukee last night, 3-2, behind seven strong innings from Anibal Sanchez. Sanchez is 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in his last five starts. It was the fifth straigt Marlin win over the Brewers.

In fact, the Marlins are on the rise and the Brewers aren’t. Just a week ago, it appeared that Milwaukee might contend for the wildcard lead, but they’ve lost eight straight since and are now tenth in the wildcard race. Florida has won ten of their last twelve and are fourth in the wildcard race, just two games back of leader San Diego.

FLORIDA (3) VS MILWAUKEE (2) - FINAL

FLORIDA                ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
H Ramirez ss            4  0  1  0   0  0   1  .279
D Uggla 2b              3  1  0  0   1  2   0  .292
M Cabrera 3b            4  0  0  0   0  2   1  .335
J Willingham lf         4  0  1  0   0  2   0  .277
W Helms 1b              3  1  1  1   0  0   1  .307
M Olivo c               3  0  0  0   0  1   2  .274
C Ross rf               3  1  2  2   0  1   0  .233
A Amezaga cf            3  0  0  0   0  0   1  .272
A Sanchez p             2  0  1  0   0  0   0  .095
 a-J Borchard ph        1  0  0  0   0  0   0  .218
 T Tankersley p         0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 J Borowski p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000

Totals                 30  3  6  3   1  8   6

a-flied out to left for A Sanchez in the 8th.

BATTING: 2B - C Ross (9, C Capuano); J Willingham (24, C Capuano); W Helms (10, 
C Capuano). HR - C Ross (9, 7th inning off C Capuano 1 on, 2 Out). SF - W 
Helms. RBI - W Helms (34), C Ross 2 (34). 2-out RBI - C Ross 2. Runners left in 
scoring position, 2 out - M Olivo 1, H Ramirez 1. Team LOB - 2. 
 
BASERUNNING: CS - H Ramirez (11, 2nd base by J Capellan/D Miller). Picked Off 
- A Sanchez (1st base, C Capuano). 
 
FIELDING: E - M Olivo (5, throw). 

MILWAUKEE              ab  r  h rbi bb so lob   avg
C Hart rf               4  1  1  0   0  2   2  .279
T Graffanino 2b         4  0  1  1   0  0   0  .279
P Fielder 1b            4  0  1  0   0  1   1  .274
B Hall ss               3  0  0  0   1  2   1  .266
L Nix cf                4  1  1  1   0  0   2  .258
K Mench lf              4  0  0  0   0  0   0  .218
D Bell 3b               4  0  1  0   0  2   0  .269
D Miller c              2  0  0  0   1  1   1  .248
 b-J Cirillo ph         1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .341
C Capuano p             2  0  0  0   0  1   0  .121
 a-G Jenkins ph         1  0  1  0   0  0   0  .251
 J Capellan p           0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 F Cordero p            0  0  0  0   0  0   0  .000
 c-V Rottino ph         1  0  0  0   0  1   1  .000

Totals                 34  2  7  2   2 10   8

a-singled to right for C Capuano in the 7th;  b-singled to center for D Miller 
in the 9th;  c-struck out looking for F Cordero in the 9th.

BATTING: 2B - C Hart (7, A Sanchez). 3B - T Graffanino (2, A Sanchez). HR - L 
Nix (1, 9th inning off J Borowski 0 on, 0 Out). RBI - T Graffanino (13), L Nix 
(6). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - L Nix 1, C Hart 1. Team LOB - 7. 

----------------------------------------------------
    FLORIDA         - 000 100 200   --   3
    MILWAUKEE       - 000 001 001   --   2
----------------------------------------------------

FLORIDA                      ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
A Sanchez (W, 6-2)            7       5   1   1   2   7   0   3.22
T Tankersley (H, 17)          1       0   0   0   0   2   0   2.76
J Borowski (S, 32)            1       2   1   1   0   1   1   3.32

MILWAUKEE                    ip       h   r  er  bb  so  hr    era
C Capuano (L, 11-9)           7       5   3   3   1   7   1   3.55
J Capellan                    1       1   0   0   0   0   0   3.82
F Cordero                     1       0   0   0   0   1   0   0.00

WP - C Capuano. Pitches-strikes: A Sanchez 110-72; T Tankersley 9-7; J 
Borowski 15-12; C Capuano 86-58; J Capellan 8-6; F Cordero 7-5. Ground 
balls-fly balls: A Sanchez 6-8; T Tankersley 0-1; J Borowski 1-1; C Capuano 
5-8; J Capellan 1-1; F Cordero 1-1. Batters faced: A Sanchez 28; T Tankersley 
3; J Borowski 5; C Capuano 26; J Capellan 3; F Cordero 3. 
 
UMPIRES: HP--Joe West. 1B--Ed Rapuano. 2B--Tony Randazzo. 3B--Jim Wolf. 

T--2:19. Att--33,334. 
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, left to right.

The following graph tracks the game’s Win Probability, courtesy of Fan Graphs.

Top Minor League Games

The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday.

ORG LVL PLAYER            POS AB  H 2B 3B HR BB SO  Notes
ARI A+  Cesar Nicolas      1B  5  3  0  0  2  0  0  5 RBI
ATL A   Cody Clark          C  4  3  2  0  1  0  0   
CHW A   Aaron Cunningham   LF  4  4  3  0  0  1  0   
COL AAA Jeff Baker         RF  4  3  1  0  2  0  0  Hit 4 HR over past three days
COL AAA Jason Smith        1B  4  3  1  0  1  0  0  .536 OBP during past week
DET AA  Danilo Sanchez      C  5  3  0  0  2  0  0  4 RBI
LAA AA  Sean Rodriguez     SS  4  3  1  0  1  1  0   
LAA A+  Ben Johnson         C  5  4  1  0  1  0  0  4 runs scored
MIL A   Lorenzo Cain       RF  5  5  3  0  0  1  0  3 runs scored
MIN AAA Glenn Williams     2B  4  3  1  0  1  0  1   
 
ORG LVL PLAYER             IP   H  R ER SO BB HR  Notes
ATL AA  Dan Curtis         6.0  3  0  0  9  1  0   
CHC A+  Donald Veal        6.1  2  0  0 12  3  0  41 K over last 34 IP
CHC A   Mitch Atkins       7.2  5  0  0  7  2  0   
CHW AAA Tim Redding        9.0  3  1  0  8  0  0   
CHW A+  Derek Rodriguez    6.0  2  0  0  8  2  0   
CIN A   Rafael Gonzalez    6.0  1  0  0  6  2  0   
HOU AA  Ronnie Martinez    8.0  5  1  1  8  0  1   
LA  A   James McDonald     9.0  3  0  0 10  2  0   
MIL AAA Carlos Villanueva  8.0  2  2  2 10  0  1   
PHI AAA Justin Germano     8.0  4  1  1  4  0  1   

Player News

Player news items are provided by CBS SportsLine.com.

Boston Red Sox rookie left-hander Jon Lester has a form of lymphoma and will start treatment in the coming week, the team announced Friday. Enlarged lymph nodes were identified when Lester, 22, was tested to determine the cause of back pain that sent him to the disabled list last Monday. The club said Friday he has a treatable form of anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon ran into trouble in the ninth against Toronto Friday, leaving with runners at second and third and one out after injuring himself. Papelbon shook his right hand after throwing a pitch that Lyle Overbay fouled off and was replaced by lefty Craig Breslow, who was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket earlier Friday. According to MLB.com, the injury that forced Papelbon to leave was a shoulder strain. “Basically, I felt it a couple of pitches before I actually felt the larger strain,” Papelbon said. “Right now, we don’t really know what’s going on. It’s just basically some sort of strain in my shoulder. That’s basically what we’re going to go on right now.”

David Ortiz will wear a heart monitor for the next few days and he will be examined next week to determine when he can start playing again. The Red Sox designated hitter had a normal examination after returning from Seattle on Tuesday, one day after experiencing heart palpitations for the second time in August, the team said in a statement Friday.

The Atlanta Braves acquired first baseman Daryle Ward from the Washington Nationals for a minor league pitcher late Thursday night. Ward, who was hitting .311 with six homers, will serve as a left-handed pinch-hitter. “He’s one of the real accomplished pinch-hitters in the game right now,” said Braves general manager John Schuerholz. “Our bench was made stronger.”

The NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers picked up a left-handed bat for the stretch drive late Thursday, acquiring infielder-outfielder Marlon Anderson from the Washington Nationals and cash for pitching prospect Jhonny Nunez. Anderson was dealt about an hour after scoring the winning run on a wild pitch in Washington’s 6-5, 10-inning victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. “As I told Marlon, You’ve got a chance to go to the World Series,” Nationals general manager Jim Bowden said. “They’ve got a good club, and when you look at the teams that are going to be in the playoffs in our league, the Dodgers and Mets have as good a shot of getting to play an American League team as anybody.”

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired first baseman Randall Simon from the Texas Rangers for cash on Friday. Simon, suspended for three games in 2003 after hitting one of the Milwaukee Brewers’ sausage mascots with his bat, last played in the major leagues on Sept. 7, 2004 with Tampa Bay. “We don’t have no hot dog mascots here,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said, laughing.

Twins pitcher Brad Radke has a stress fracture in his right shoulder, an injury Minnesota doesn’t necessarily think will end his season. His injury, to the glenoid area of the shoulder joint, is a rare condition and was not detected in previous exams, the Twins said Friday. Dr. Dan Buss recommended that he not throw for two to three weeks.

Pinch-hitter Ty Wigginton’s game-winning single with two outs in the ninth inning gave the Tampa Bay Devil Rays a 2-1 victory over Seattle on Friday night and handed the Mariners their 12th straight road loss. Tampa Bay starter James Shields allowed one run and five hits in seven innings against Seattle Friday. He struck out five and walked one, and he did not factor into the decision.

Kyle Snyder allowed two hits in seven innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. Snyder (4-3) struck out a career-high eight batters, allowed just two runners past first base and retired the last nine batters he faced before being replaced by Keith Foulke.

Kenny Rogers and two relievers combined on a five-hitter to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 9-0 Friday night.

Chris Capuano (11-9) pitched seven innings for the Brewers Friday vs. Florida and suffered his fifth loss in six decisions since he made the National League All-Star team. He gave up three runs and five hits, while striking out seven.

Tom Glavine made his first appearance in more than two weeks Friday at Houston after being diagnosed with a blood clot in his pitching shoulder. He remained stalled at 287 wins after leaving the game with the scored tied 6-6. Glavine threw 93 pitches, 52 for strikes and allowed seven hits and six runs while striking out five. “Right now my goals are simple, I just want to feel good and come out of the game feeling good and that happened tonight so that’s good,” Glavine said.

Bronson Arroyo kept San Diego off-balance for seven innings Friday. Arroyo allowed four hits in seven innings to win for only the second time since June 19. “I was hitting my spots with all my pitches,” he said. “These guys are pretty aggressive. They gave me some easy outs and they also hit some hard balls right at people.” He struck out four and walked three.

Derek Lowe came back from a rare relief appearance earlier in the week to earn his 13th victory Friday night in a 6-3 win over Colorado, Los Angeles’ sixth in a row. He also scored the Dodgers’ first run. “We’ve pressed him the last four or five days,” Los Angeles manager Grady Little said. “He knows he’s at the top of his game and he’s proving it by going out and getting wins for us.” Lowe (13-8) gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings, walking three and striking out one.

Jake Westbrook pitched seven strong innings to help the Indians beat the Texas Rangers 7-2 on Friday night. Westbrook (12-8) won his third straight start, giving up two runs and seven hits. He struck out six and walked two.

Royals right-hander Runelvys Hernandez, who shut out Toronto in his previous start, allowed one run on five hits over six innings Friday vs. the Chicago White Sox. He is 3-1 in his past four starts.

A day after breaking out of a slump, Alex Rodriguez homered twice and drove in three runs Friday night, earning a second call for the second straight game in New York’s 8-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. “He went through a tough time but it looks like he’s out of it, at least for the time being,” teammate Johnny Damon said. “But there’ll be microscopes out, regardless of what he does.”

Gil Meche, who was 0-4 in last eight starts, pitched eight strong innings against Tampa Bay Friday. He gave up one run and three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts.

Chris Carpenter pitched a three-hitter to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for the fourth time this season Friday. Carpenter (13-6) has dominated the Pirates in all four of his starts, allowing three runs in 30 innings. He struck out eight and walked none for his 23rd complete game and had such command that the first 18 batters saw only 16 balls.

Tampa Bay called up right-hander Edwin Jackson from Durham on Friday. He had five saves since being optioned on Aug. 7.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays left-hander Casey Fossum will likely miss the rest of the regular season because of a left shoulder injury. Fossum said doctors “saw something” on an MRI taken on his sore shoulder. He missed the first 5 1/2 weeks of the 2004 season after undergoing surgery on the shoulder the previous September. “It’s frustrating,” Fossum said. “I tried to go as long as I could go. I couldn’t go anymore.”

According to MLB.com, Curt Schilling will miss his next start on Monday against the White Sox with a mild strain in his right side. The Red Sox ace, who is tied with Josh Beckett for the team lead in wins with 14, felt his latissimus stiffen while warming up for his last start against Oakland on Wednesday. “Schill, when he was warming up in Oakland, felt his lat,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona announced after Friday’s 2-1 victory over the Blue Jays. “But because he was hot, you don’t feel something like that until you’re done. He showed up [Thursday] very, very stiff. He’s got a Grade 1 strain. He’s going to miss a turn.”

The Twins recalled RHP Scott Baker and C Chris Heintz from Rochester of the IL and purchased the contract of INF Alex Casilla from New Britain of the EL.

Minnesota transferred OF Shannon Stewart from the 15-day to the 60-day DL to make room for Phil Nevin on the 40-man roster.

The Red Sox called up LHP Craig Breslow and OF David Murphy from Triple-A Pawtucket Friday on the first day teams were allowed to expand their rosters beyond the 25-man limit.

Toronto purchased the contracts of OF Adam Lind and IF Kevin Barker from Triple-A Syracuse Friday.

Seattle manager Mike Hargrove said RHP Felix Hernandez will skip two starts in September to keep the 20-year old under 200 innings for the year.

RHP Josh Sharpless (right ankle sprain) was activated from the 15-day DL Friday, but the team will wait until Triple-A Indianapolis finishes its season before making roster call-ups.

In rehabilitation assignments for Triple-A Pawtucket against Ottawa, Boston RF Trot Nixon played nine innings as a designated hitter and went 0-for-4, while C Jason Varitek caught five innings and went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in the first inning. Pawtucket won 3-1. Nixon and Varitek are expected to play for Pawtucket again Saturday.

Los Angeles recalled OF Matt Kemp, INF James Loney from Triple-A Las Vegas and purchased the contract of C Elnar Diaz from Las Vegas on Friday.

The White Sox received reinforcements with four players promoted from Triple-A Charlotte. The Friday arrivals were OF Ryan Sweeney, RHP Charlie Haeger, LHP Boone Logan and C Chris Stewart. “We’re in a pennant race, so it is not call ups to see what you can do for us next year,” Ozzie Guillen said. “I told all these guys called up just be ready. They are here for a reason.”

Rookie Anthony Reyes will get the first shot at filling Mark Mulder’s spot in the St. Louis Cardinals’ rotation when he starts Sunday against the Pirates. Reyes, who won’t be added to the roster until Sunday, is projected as a full-time member of the rotation next year. He said he got away from relying on his fastball in his earlier stint with the Cardinals, but returned to power pitching while in the minors.

Randolph said that Cliff Floyd, who is on the 15-day disabled list with an Achilles’ tendon injury, will join the team in Houston on Saturday.

The Yankees recalled C Wil Nieves and relievers T. J. Beam and Jose Veras from Triple-A Columbus of the International League on Friday.

Mariano Rivera was unavailable for the New York Yankees’ game against Minnesota on Friday night because his right elbow felt stiff.

The Kansas City Royals purchased the contract Friday of right-handed pitcher Ryan Braun from Triple-A Omaha.

The Detroit Tigers recalled right-handed pitcher Jordan Tata and infielder Ramon Santiago from Triple-A Toledo on Friday.

The Los Angeles Angels recalled first baseman Darin Erstad on Friday from his second stint on the disabled list this season. Los Angeles also recalled outfielder Curtis Pride, who had been on the DL because of lower back tightness. In addition, the Angels recalled right-handed pitcher Chris Bootcheck and catcher Jeff Mathis from Triple-A Salt Lake. Also, infielder Dallas McPherson was recalled from a rehabilitation assignment and optioned to Triple-A Salt Lake. He had been on the DL with lower back spasms.

Rich Hill allowed five hits in eight strong innings Friday as the Chicago Cubs ended a six-game losing streak by beating the San Francisco Giants 6-2. Hill (4-6), who pitched shutout ball for seven innings, walked one and struck out six.

Cincinnati activated right-handed reliever Gary Majewski off the 15-day disabled list Friday, one of three moves that added depth to the Reds’ bullpen before the start of a series at San Diego. The Reds also activated right-hander Jason Standridge off the disabled list and called up left-hander Brian Shackelford from Triple-A Louisville.

The Chicago Cubs activated left-handers Scott Eyre and Sean Marshall from the 15-day disabled list and right-hander Wade Miller from the 60-day disabled list Friday. They also recalled catcher Geovany Soto from Triple-A Iowa.

The Seattle Mariners recalled right-handed pitcher Emiliano Fruto from Triple-A Tacoma on Friday. In three previous stints for Seattle this season, the 22-year-old was 0-1 with a 5.68 ERA in 14 games. He earned a save in his major league debut May 14 at the Los Angeles Angels.

The Padres signed right-handed reliever Rudy Seanez Thursday, who’s making his fourth career stop in San Diego. He was designated for assignment by Boston on Aug. 19. The Padres recalled outfielder Terrmel Sledge from Triple-A Portland and optioned right-hander Mike Thompson to that Triple-A team Thursday.

The Kansas City Star reports that Reggie Sanders didn’t have a partial tear in the patellar tendon of his left knee after all. He underwent surgery Thursday, but the procedure was only to remove a cyst from under his kneecap after it was realized there was no tear in the tendon. “Everything came out great,” general manager Dayton Moore said, “better than expected.”

Kansas City reinstated LHP Bobby Madritsch (torn labrum) from the 60-day disabled list for the purpose of requesting unconditional release waivers.

The Marlins recalled RHPs Chris Resop and Yusmeiro Petit from Triple-A Albuquerque. Petit was a starter in the minor leagues, but both pitchers will be in the bullpen. “I have confidence in them,” Girardi said of his bullpen.

San Francisco called up seven minor leaguers before Friday’s game, including 1B Lance Niekro, OF Jason Ellison and RHP Brian Wilson. The Giants also recalled C Justin Knoedler, OF Fred Lewis, and LHP Jonathan Sanchez from Fresno of the PCL and RHP Scott Munter from Connecticut of the Eastern League.

Manager Ned Yost doesn’t like to use his closers in road games tied in the late innings and he’s stuck by his philosophy on the Brewers’ current road trip — Francisco Cordero hasn’t pitched since Aug. 22. The Brewers averaged fewer than three runs per game in the first seven games of the trip and lost all of them.

Manager Buck Showalter will give rookie OF Nelson Cruz an extended look in September. Cruz has been used primarily against left-handers since he joined the Rangers in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers on July 28, but Cruz got the start against RHP Jake Westbrook on Friday night. “You see the arm, the speed, the power,” Showalter said. “I’d like to get him enough at-bats to make him feel good as well as us.”

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