Rocco's Return

Tampa Bay welcomed Rocco Baldelli back to the active roster Sunday for the first time since May of last year, but made room for him by sending Carl Crawford to the disabled list with a right hand injury. Crawford said that he felt a "pop" in his hand during his final at-bat Saturday, but also expressed optimism about returning following the minimum 15-day stay on the DL. He's slated to undergo further testing this week and could be done for the season if ligament damage is found.

Meanwhile, the injury clears the path for Baldelli to grab regular playing time after the Rays said initially that he'd likely be limited to a part-time role. Baldelli made his season debut by starting in right field Sunday, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single as the Rays' cleanup hitter before taking the final three innings off. He remains a huge injury risk and won't play every day, but Baldelli hit .297/.409/.568 in 13 games at Double-A and is definitely worth grabbing in AL-only leagues.

While Baldelli goes 250 games between RBI, here are some other notes from around baseball .

* Carlos Lee went 4-for-5 with a homer Friday, upping his NL-best RBI total to 100 while reaching the century mark for the fourth straight season. Unfortunately, he may be stuck on that number for the remainder of the year after suffering a broken left pinkie finger from a Bronson Arroyo pitch Saturday. Lee is expected to miss 6-8 weeks following surgery, making it unlikely that he'll have enough time to return this season even if the Astros are somehow in the playoff hunt.

Losing the league leader in RBIs is obviously a huge blow to a lineup that ranks just 11th among NL teams in runs per game, and to make matters worse it sounds like Darin Erstad will be Lee's primary replacement in left field. Erstad has hit .284/.319/.373 as a part-time player this year and hasn't topped a .700 OPS since 2004, and his taking over for in left field would also leave Michael Bourn playing every day in center field despite a .232/.286/.309 line. El Caballo will be missed.

* Proving that even knuckleballers get sore arms, a stiff shoulder has Tim Wakefield headed for the disabled list. Shoulder problems caused Wakefield to post an 8.76 ERA last September and left him off the World Series roster, so the Red Sox have plenty of reason to be concerned for the 42-year-old with a 3.67 ERA in 23 starts. Fellow knuckleballer Charlie Zink may be called up to fill in for Wakefield temporarily and Bartolo Colon tossed three shutout innings Sunday at Triple-A.

Meanwhile, Clay Buchholz turned in another ugly outing Sunday against the White Sox, serving up three homers while falling to 0-5 with a 7.42 ERA in six starts since returning from Triple-A last month. If not for Wakefield's injury Buchholz would be in serious danger of getting bumped from the rotation and that may still be an option. Zink is 13-4 with a 2.89 ERA and 94-to-43 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 152.1 innings at Triple-A and Colon looked solid prior to his latest injury.

* Jose Contreras' up-and-down season came to an end Saturday when he ruptured his Achilles' tendon while trying to cover first base. Contreras began the year 6-3 with a 2.76 ERA through 12 starts, but went 1-3 with an 8.24 ERA over his next eight outings while mixing in a stint on the disabled list with an elbow injury. Facing a very lengthy recovery process for an ugly injury, the 36-year-old right-hander is now a question mark for the start of next season.

* Making his third start since returning from Tommy John elbow surgery, Chris Carpenter exited Sunday's game in the sixth inning with what is being called a right triceps strain. When Carpenter called for the trainers to meet him on the found following his 66th pitch of the game it looked ugly, but it's possible that he'll avoid the disabled list if the strain is deemed minor. He has a 1.88 ERA in three starts, so the Cardinals will be holding their collective breath.

AL Quick Hits:Vernon Wells came off the disabled list Sunday, going 0-for-4 as the Blue Jays' designated hitter . Meanwhile, Scott Rolen (shoulder) is headed back to the DL after going just 17-for-99 (.172) with one homer since July 1 . Carlos Quentin hit his AL-leading 32nd homer Sunday, giving him 10 in 22 games since the break . Going 7-0 with a 1.89 ERA at Double-A earned David Price a promotion to Triple-A and may have him on the verge of a call-up to Tampa Bay . After entering a three-run game in the eighth inning Sunday, Fernando Rodney recorded a four-out save . Ian Kinsler notched a career-high five hits Sunday as part of the Rangers' 20-hit attack . Nate Robertson held the A's to one run in 7.2 innings Sunday, winning for the first time since June 21 . A poor outing Friday earned Ian Kennedy a trip back to the minors Sunday . Starting because of Evan Longoria's sore wrist, Willy Aybar broke a slump with two homers Sunday . After eight shutout, one-hit innings in his major-league debut, Chris Waters predictably came crashing back down to earth Sunday with an ugly start against the Rangers.

NL Quick Hits:Brandon Webb allowed one run over six innings and smacked a two-run double Sunday, picking up his MLB-leading 17th win . One day after Jonathan Broxton blew a save, the Dodgers turned to Hong-Chih Kuo and he coughed up a one-run lead Sunday . Ryan Dempster won his 13th game Sunday, topping his combined total from 2003-2007 . Transferred to the 60-day disabled list Sunday, Todd Helton (back) is no longer eligible to return this month . Gabe Kapler's first homer in two months was a walk-off blast in the 13th inning Sunday and wiped away six hitless at-bats . Rushed back from the DL after one minor-league rehab start, Aaron Harang (forearm) allowed a career-high eight runs Sunday . Livan Hernandez made his Rockies debut Sunday and predictably got rocked for nine runs at Coors Field . Brian Giles totaled five homers through 101 games, but after going 4-for-6 with a bomb Sunday he's homered three times in the past week . After going 0-6 with a 7.36 ERA in eight starts, Homer Bailey was sent back to the minors Sunday . With Brad Lidge (shoulder) hurting, Ryan Madson picked up a save Sunday.

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