Finally! There's good news in Los Angeles for the Dodgers. Manager Joe Torre announced that both Nomar Garciaparra and Andruw Jones will be activated for their weekend series against San Francisco. All the injury news was not good for the Dodgers -- pitcher Brad Penny will miss his start on Saturday.
Torre's Dodgers are getting back Garciaparra and Jones earlier than expected which could be a huge boost for a team somehow still in contention in the NL West where no team had a winning record heading into Thursday's action. Both players are expected to be in the starting lineup on Friday with Jones in center field and Garciaparra at shortstop. Their activation will send two players to the Minors with Jason Repko, Angel Berroa, Andy LaRoche and Mark Sweeney the leading candidates for demotion.
Penny, on the other hand, will not return for the weekend series and instead will be replaced in the rotation by Chan Ho Park. Park is 4-2 with one save and a 2.45 ERA in 23 games this season and 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three spot starts.
LOS ANGELES DODGERS TEAM PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY
Reed Johnson returned to action for the Cubs today after missing the minimum amount of time on the 15-day disabled list. To make room for Johnson, outfielder Eric Patterson was sent down to Triple-A Iowa.
Johnson should return to his lefty-righty platoon with Jim Edmonds and the Cubs hope he will pick up where he left off -- Johnson hit .321 in his last 10 games before landing on the DL.
Patterson was 7-for-24 with one home run and five RBI in the eight games played while Johnson was on the mend. The Cubs were 6-8 without Johnson available.
The Cubs also will have Aramis Ramirez available after he missed three games due to family issues back in the Dominican Republic.
JOHNSON'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY PATTERSON'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY RAMIREZ'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY
The Red Sox activated reliever Mike Timlin for their four-game series with the New York Yankees. Reliever Chris Smith was sent down to Triple-A Pawtucket to clear a roster spot for the veteran.
Timlin returns from left knee tendinitis that shelved him on June 17 and was impressive in three rehab outings. Through three outings at Pawtucket, Timlin did not allow a hit. This season, he is 3-3 with a 7.06 ERA in 24 appearances.
Smith could not avoid demotion despite pitching well in three outings. He went 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA.
TIMLIN'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY SMITH'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY
The Houston Astros continued their trend of bad news when they announced ace Roy Oswalt would be skipped in the rotation on Saturday due to his injured hip and will be replaced by Chris Sampson.
Oswalt's start was re-scheduled for Tuesday in Pittsburgh to give him an additional three days to rest his injury. Oswalt will still get in two starts prior to the All-Star break should his hip not give him any additional problems. The Astros need Oswalt to bounce back -- he is 7-8 with a 4.60 ERA and in jeopardy of suffering the first losing season of his eight-year Major League career.
Sampson started the season in the rotation but struggled through 10 starts posting a 3-3 record with a 6.04 ERA. Since then, Sampson moved to the bullpen where he made 16 appearances with a 2.16 ERA without a decision.
OSWALT'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY SAMPSON'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY
The Mets will be without second baseman Luis Castillo for at least two weeks after he was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left hip flexor. New York promoted infielder Argenis Reyes from Triple-A New Orleans. The move was not the only one for the Mets on Thursday -- they brought up outfielder Chris Aguila from New Orleans and optioned reliever Carlos Muniz back down to Triple-A.
Castillo had been playing through injury with a strained quad and sore knees but the strained quad injury developed into what is now being classified as a strained left hip flexor. In 68 games, Castillo hit .261 with three home runs and 26 RBI.
At New Orleans, Reyes hit .290 with 38 runs scored and 13 steals in 79 games. It is his first stint on a Major League roster. Aguila heads to the Mets for the second time this season. In his first stop, he went 1-for-6 in three games.
Muniz was sent down after giving up a walk-off homer to Troy Glaus in their 8-7 loss to the Cardinals on Wednesday night.
CASTILLO'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY MUNIZ'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY
Fresh off a sweep of the Boston Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays moved shortstop Jason Bartlett to the 15-day disabled list. Shortstop Ben Zobrist was recalled from Triple-A Durham. The Rays also called up Reid Brignac and sent down pitcher Mitch Talbot on Thursday.
The owners of the best record in baseball lost Bartlett after he injured himself stealing third in a key situation in their six-run seventh inning of their 7-6 win over the Red Sox on Wednesday night. Bartlett stayed in the game and later in the inning had a two-run single as the Rays batted around.
Bartlett was officially diagnosed with a right knee sprain and will miss at least two weeks.
Zobrist is making his third trip to the Rays roster this season. He hit .292 with two home runs in nine games during the previous two stops. Brignac -- also a shortstop -- is making his first trip to the Majors. With Durham, Brignac hit .265 with seven home runs and 38 RBI in 78 games.
BARTLETT'S PLAYER PAGE ON BASEBALL DIGEST DAILY
According to an MLB.com report, 
The Colorado Rockies will have to avoid the NL West cellar without the services of starting pitcher Jeff Francis who was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday. Inconsistent all season, the team revealed that Francis was struggling with left shoulder inflammation and would be shut down for at least two weeks. The Rockies recalled Mark Redman from Triple-A Colorado Springs to take Francis' place in the rotation on Thursday night in their series opener against the Marlins.
The Pittsburgh Pirates suffered two staggering blows in their desperate battle to break a string of 15 consecutive losing seasons when they lost two-fifths of their starting rotation. On Wednesday, they were delivered a knock down blow when it was announced that closer Matt Capps would need to miss two months with bursitis in his right shoulder. Just five games below .500 going into Wednesday's action, the Pirates would most likely turn to Damaso Marte to fill in for Capps in the closer role although no official announcement was made.
It is back to the 15-day disabled list for six-time Gold Glove winner Eric Chavez. The A's third baseman returned to the team at the end of May but the shoulder he had surgery on in the offseason is not healed and the A's placed him on the DL on Wednesday. The A's brought up first baseman Wes Bankston from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Chavez.
Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Eric Byrnes will seek a second opinion after learning the torn hamstring that landed him on the 15-day disabled list on Monday needs surgical repair that would end his season. Byrnes is expected to miss four to six months if he were to have the surgery to repair his injured hamstring.
The Cincinnati Reds announced shortstop Alex Gonzalez would undergo season-ending surgery to repair his right knee on Monday. Gonzalez was diagnosed with a compression fracture in his right knee during the opening days of Spring Training in February and the 31-year-old veteran was on the 60-day disabled list but was expected to be able to rehab his injured knee.