OAKLAND: DH Frank Thomas has a strained right quadriceps and is day to day. He left in the eighth inning after sliding into third. ... RHP Justin Duchscherer said his elbow is feeling better. He hasn't pitched since last Saturday because of soreness. ... 3B Eric Chavez missed his third straight game due to illness. Manager Ken Macha had planned to give Chavez a day off against Toronto before he became ill, but he ended up missing all three games. ... C Jason Kendall will serve the last game of his four-game suspension on Friday in New York. Kendall was suspended and fined for charging Los Angeles Angels pitcher John Lackey in a game on May 2.
TORONTO: An MRI revealed LHP Gustavo Chacin has a mildly sprained ligament in his elbow and a strained forearm. He is day to day. Chacin left his start on Wednesday after just three innings. ``We'll see how it feels after I play catch,'' Chacin said. He said he would take a couple of days off before playing catch. ... OF Alex Rios extended his hitting streak to 12 games. ... The Blue Jays optioned RHP Dustin McGowan to Triple-A Syracuse and plan to have him start. McGowan has pitched out of the bullpen with Syracuse and Toronto. ``He needs to get some innings for us,'' Gibbons said. ``This way he can use all his pitches. You never know what happens up here anyways.'' With RHP A.J. Burnett and LHP Gustavo Chacin hurt, Toronto might need McGowan in the rotation at some point.
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BOSTON: RHP Matt Clement is to start Friday against Texas in his first outing since May 4. Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who pushed back Clement to set up his rotation for the next few weeks, said Clement threw twice on the side since his last start. ... LHP David Wells, who went on the DL on April 15 with a right knee injury, likely will make a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Pawtucket at Buffalo on May 18. ``Hopefully, their mound is better than Pawtucket,'' Wells said. ``Pawtucket, man, that was the worst.''
NEW YORK: RHP Scott Proctor has supplanted RHP Tanyon Sturtze as the team's primary seventh-inning reliever. ``Last year you admired his arm, and the year before you admired his arm, but there was always something that kept him from being able to get over the hump or put people away or just have that confidence to do it,'' manager Joe Torre said. ``This spring I've seen a different pitcher.'' Proctor entered Thursday with a 1.25 ERA to Sturtze's 7.84. ``As far as Sturtzy, I still have confidence in him,'' Torre said, ``but I think my confidence in him is more than his confidence in himself right now, and that's just because he has struggled. I think he'll be fine.''
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HOUSTON: The Astros earned their 300th regular-season win against the Dodgers. ... The Astros are doing their best to carry on without 1B Jeff Bagwell, who made an unsuccessful comeback attempt in spring training and went on the disabled list March 25 with shoulder arthritis. ``I think it's going to be hard for Jeff to play again, but I'm not the one who can answer that,'' manager Phil Garner said. ``If Jeff wants to go through the painful process of trying to come back, rehab would be the next step and trying to continue to strengthen the shoulder. I don't know if surgery would help, but what I sense from Jeff is that he's OK with himself right now. I think there's a big load off his shoulders. My next step would be to put him in the Hall of Fame.''
LOS ANGELES: The Dodgers begin a three-game series Friday night in San Francisco, trying to prevent Barry Bonds from tying and passing Babe Ruth on the career home run list. Bonds has hit 62 of his 713 career homers against Los Angeles, including his 500th on April 17, 2001, against RHP Terry Adams. ... 2B Jeff Kent has homered in three consecutive games after hitting only one in his first 30 contests. His longest home run streak was four games, in 2002. ... RHP Derek Lowe is 0-1 with a 1.57 ERA in his last five starts. ... 3B Bill Mueller committed two errors, raising his season total to eight. He tagged Houston's Eric Munson at the end of a five-throw rundown between second and third, only to have the ball pop out of his glove. Munson ended up at third and eventually scored on a throwing error by SS Rafael Furcal. A throwing error by Mueller led to another Houston run.
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MILWAUKEE: Geoff Jenkins struck out three times against Jake Peavy. ... Chad Moeller snapped an 0-for-15 skid with a double in the third inning. ... Carlos Lee extended his hitting streak to a season-high seven games. He has driven in nine runs and is batting .357 during the streak.
SAN DIEGO: Dave Roberts has a nine-game hitting streak. ... C Rob Bowen partially dislocated his left thumb when he was hit by Prince Fielder's foul tip with two outs in the fourth. Bowen caught the last two pitches of the inning, then made way for Josh Bard. Padres manager Bruce Bochy said the rookie is a candidate for the disabled list. Bowen and Bard are backups to Mike Piazza, who got Wednesday and Thursday off.
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CHICAGO: The Cubs managed only one victory on their nine-game road trip out West. The last time they won just one game on a nine-game road trip was May 1981. ... After two games in the No. 2 hole, leadoff hitter Juan Pierre will likely return to the top spot. ``It's no concern for me. It's all I know,'' he said. ``I'd rather take that pressure.''
SAN FRANCISCO: All three weekend games with the Dodgers are sold out except for 500 day-of-game seats. ... RHP Brian Wilson, on the disabled list since April 24 with a strained muscle in his left side, will make a rehab start Friday at Class-A San Jose and likely will need another minor league outing before rejoining the Giants. ... Hall of Fame broadcaster Lon Simmons has rejoined the Giants in a fill-in role and as a community ambassador. Simmons said he will not be returning to his usual play-by-play role when he announces. ``I quit because I didn't like how I was doing play-by-play,'' he said. ``And I didn't think I got better by playing golf.''
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ATLANTA: RHP Chris Reitsma suffered his second blown save last Friday at the Mets and allowed a season-high four runs while getting only two outs on Wednesday. ``He's not tipping his pitches,'' Braves manager Bobby Cox said. ``It's his location. He has to hit his spots.''. ... The Braves switched their pitching rotation for this weekend vs. Washington. RHP John Smoltz will pitch on Friday and RHP Jorge Sosa will go Saturday. RHP John Thomson will pitch Sunday as scheduled. ... Four Braves players will use pink bats this Sunday as part of the ``Strikeout Challenge'' for breast cancer awareness on Mother's Day. Andruw Jones, Marcus Giles, Brian Jordan, and Jeff Francoeur will use the pink bats made by Louisville Slugger.
FLORIDA: OF Joe Borchard went 2-for-5 with a home run and a career-high four RBI on Wednesday. ``He's a mature player and a switch-hitter,'' Marlins manager Joe Girardi said. ``He offers us a different look.'' Borchard was claimed off waivers from Seattle on May 3 and is filling in for Jeremy Hermida (right hip flexor strain) in right field. ... Alfredo Amezaga started in center field in Thursday's game against Atlanta. ``We want to keep him fresh and give (Reggie) Abercrombie a day off,'' Girardi said. It is Amezaga's second start in center this season. He hit a pinch-hit triple in Wednesday's game. ... Girardi is trying to get 1B Mike Jacobs to try to hit more line drives when they play at home. Jacobs hit his fourth home run of the season on Wednesday, his first since April 13 vs. San Diego. He is batting just .191 entering Thursday's game.
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NEW YORK: RHP Brian Bannister, on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring, had his simulated game pushed back a day to Saturday. ... Mets manager Willie Randolph moved LF Cliff Floyd (.191) to second in the batting order. ``I could care less where I hit,'' Floyd said. ``It's a spot.'' Randolph said the move wasn't necessarily permanent and he felt Floyd just needed ``a little break.'' ... The Mets are 10-2 in series openers.
PHILADELPHIA: Manager Charlie Manuel hasn't decided if rookie Carlos Ruiz or veteran Sal Fasano will catch top pitching prospect Cole Hamels' debut against the Reds on Friday. ``I'm anxious to see how he does,'' Manuel said. ... Manuel said he hasn't given up on Ryan Madson, who was bumped to the bullpen to make room for Hamels. ``I think he will get a chance to be a starter again,'' Manuel said. ... The Phillies nine-game winning streak that was snapped Wednesday was tied for the seventh longest in team history and longest since a 13-gamer in 1991.
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WASHINGTON: Matt LeCroy made his sixth start behind the plate, replacing Brian Schneider. Schneider left a game last Saturday with tightness in his left hamstring, and didn't get back into the lineup until Wednesday. ... RHP Zach Day had dozens of relatives and friends in the stands on Thursday. He grew up in Cincinnati and was one of its top prep pitchers. ... Day had an easy first inning, a rarity for him this season. He had given up nine runs in the first innings of his five previous starts, the most in any inning. Batters are hitting .481 off Day in the first inning.
CINCINNATI: CF Ken Griffey Jr. was activated off the DL after missing a month because of an inflamed tendon behind his right knee. OF Chris Denorfia was optioned to Triple-A Louisville. ... Bench coach Bucky Dent filled in as manager at the start of the game. Jerry Narron was attending his daughter's graduation from North Carolina-Greensboro. Narron made it back to the dugout in the fifth inning. ... SS Felipe Lopez stole his 16th base in the fifth inning, surpassing his total from last season. ... The Reds haven't had a pair of five-game winners so early in the season since 1970, when Gary Nolan and Jim Merritt did it. Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang have won five apiece already this season.
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ARIZONA: RHP Brandon Webb says he grew upset at times while giving up three runs in a 7-4 victory Wednesday at Pittsburgh that improved his record to 6-0. Manager Bob Melvin was glad his top starting pitcher didn't let that agitation get to him, as he once may have done. Melvin said, ``He was frustrated, you could see at times from pitch to pitch. But his frustrations were in-between pitches and not during them and that's the sign of maturing as a pitcher. He knows we need him out there and we look to him. If he's going to get frustrated - and I don't want to say give up, but get frustrated to the point where he gets in his own way - he's not doing his job.''
PITTSBURGH: LF Jason Bay hit third or fourth in the order during each of the Pirates' 162 games last season, and hasn't hit sixth since doing so 28 times in 2004. But manager Jim Tracy planned to drop him from third to sixth before Thursday's game against Arizona was rained out. Tracy said there are no plans to give Bay a day off or two, even though he has started all 197 games the last two seasons. Tracy said, ``There has been absolutely no discussion about that. That's something I would talk to him about.'' ... LHP Giovanni Carrara, once expected to make the opening day roster, asked for and was given his release from Triple-A Indianapolis. He had a 3.00 ERA in nine games. Carrara pitched for Tracy with the Dodgers for four of the previous five seasons, but was sent to the minors after being ineffective during spring training.
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Notes from Thursday's games
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