Sports: Baseball briefs

Baseball briefs

Compiled from Times wires

Hamstring strain puts Gwynn back on DL

LOS ANGELES -- Tony Gwynn was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday because of a strained right hamstring.

This is the 10th time the Padres rightfielder has gone on the disabled list. He played in 36 games last season after surgery on his left knee.

"It is tough for him. It was something he wanted avoid all year," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We felt like it was going to be at least 10 days, so we didn't want to be that short-handed. We probably could have taken a chance not putting him on the DL, and I don't think he wanted to go on. But it makes sense. We're definitely going to miss him."

The injury occurred in the sixth inning Friday. Gwynn felt the hamstring pull while rounding first on a hit down the leftfield line. He tried to stretch it into a double and was thrown out by the Dodgers' Gary Sheffield.

"Right when I hit the bag, it grabbed a little bit. Then, a couple of steps past the bag, it grabbed a lot and I knew I pulled it," Gwynn said after Friday night's game. "The way this business works, they'll probably put me on the DL."

ANGELS: All three of outfielder Garret Anderson's homers this season have come against the Mariners.

ASTROS: Right-handed reliever Doug Brocail will not seek a second opinion as planned and will have surgery on his right elbow. Brocail has a full tear of the medial collateral ligament and a partial tear of the flexor tendon and is expected to miss the season.

CARDINALS: Rookie Albert Pujols' 13-game hitting streak was snapped.

GIANTS: Leftfielder Barry Bonds was out of the starting lineup by design. Manager Dusty Baker informed him of the decision a few days ago. "I'm willing to play, but it's up to him," Bonds said. "You've got to get Eric (Davis) and Shawon (Dunston) into the game. They were key ingredients in St. Louis and we want them to be key ingredients here. You have to keep them sharp."

INDIANS: Right-hander Tim Drew allowed four hits and two unearned runs in seven innings against the Tigers. In his big-league debut May 24 in Detroit, he yielded seven hits and four runs and made an error in one inning.

MARINERS: With Cincinnati's Barry Larkin hitting a grand slam Friday, Mark McLemore leads active players with 4,914 at-bats without one.

METS: Left-hander Al Leiter flew to New York to have an MRI on his pitching elbow at New York University Medical Center. Team trainer Fred Hina said Leiter has flexor tendinitis. Leiter, who lasted three innings in a 9-5 loss to the Reds on Friday, said he did not expect the MRI to show serious damage.

REDS: Centerfielder Ken Griffey, slowed by a hamstring injury, flied out as a pinch-hitter in the ninth. He is 0-for-9 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch this season.

RED SOX: Shortstop Craig Grebeck accidentally rubbed a sticky-grip substance in his left eye. He was replaced by Lou Merloni.

WHITE SOX: Right-hander James Baldwin was activated from the disabled list, and right-handed reliever Antonio Osuna was placed on the disabled list retroactive to April 12 with a sore shoulder.

YANKEES: Rightfielder Paul O'Neill has six homers. His high for a month is seven, in June 1993.