DIAMONDBACKS
Goldschmidt fractures hand
PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks' dismal season got worse Saturday with the news that All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has a fractured left hand.
Goldschmidt, runnerup in National League MVP voting last season, was hurt when he was hit by a pitch from Ernesto Frieri in the ninth inning of Friday night's 9-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Diamondbacks have placed Goldschmidt on the 15-day DL and there was no word on how long he is expected to be sidelined.
Despite his team's overall woes, Goldschmidt is among the NL leaders in several hitting categories.
He leads the league in doubles and extra-base hits, is tied for first in runs scored, is second in total bases and is third in RBI and walks.
Voted a starter by fans in this year's All-Star Game, Goldschmidt is batting .300 with 19 home runs. He has 75 runs scored, 220 total bases, 39 doubles, a triple, 64 walks and nine stolen bases.
A Gold Glove winner last year, Goldschmidt has seven errors in 109 games.
Arizona recalled outfielder Alfredo Marte from Class AAA Reno to take Goldschmidt's roster spot.
MARINERS
Hart back on DL
BALTIMORE -- Seattle Mariners designated hitter Corey Hart is back on the disabled list, this time with a bruised right knee.
Hart was placed on the 15-day DL Saturday at the same time Seattle activated left-hander James Paxton from the 60-day DL. Paxton was slated to start against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night.
Hart hurt his knee earlier in the week against Cleveland but played against the Orioles on Friday night. He's batting .203 with five home runs in 58 games this year.
"I think it's been going on for a little bit," Hart said Saturday. "My leg, when I play the field, the next day is really rough. It got to the point where I was tired of hitting balls and going nowhere because I don't have the legs."
Hart reluctantly told Manager Lloyd McClendon as much after Friday night's game.
"He's a proud guy and he probably figured that he just couldn't go any further," McClendon said Saturday.
The 32-year-old Hart missed the entire 2013 season after undergoing offseason surgery on his right knee. After being signed as a free agent by Seattle in December, Hart saw regular action until a strained left hamstring put him on the DL from May 19-July 3.
BRAVES
Broadcaster dies
ATLANTA -- Pete Van Wieren, the bespectacled broadcaster who was part of the landmark team that carried Atlanta Braves games throughout the nation on Ted Turner's "SuperStation," died Saturday after a battle with cancer, the team said. He was 69.
Affectionately known as "The Professor" for his encyclopedic knowledge of the game and long hours of research before each broadcast, Van Wieren spent 33 years with the Braves before retiring in 2008, shortly after the death of his longtime partner Skip Caray.
"The Atlanta Braves are deeply saddened by the passing of Pete Van Wieren," the team said in a statement. "He was such a large and important part of our organization. We and all of our fans across Braves country fondly remember his soothing voice calling our games for 33 years. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Elaine, his children and his grandchildren."
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Van Wieren had been calling games for the Class AAA Tidewater Tides when the Braves hired him before the 1976 season to join a new three-man broadcast team with Caray and Ernie Johnson.
The trio would soon become known to baseball fans around the nation thanks to Turner, the team's brash owner, who began beaming games via satellite on a once-obscure Atlanta television station. While the team didn't have much success through the 1970s and '80s, Johnson, Caray and Van Wieren were the faces and voices of the game in areas that didn't have their own local baseball broadcasts.
INDIANS
Thome statue unveiled
CLEVELAND -- Jim Thome's point-the-bat hitting stance, a powerful symbol of the most successful era in Cleveland Indians history, is now a permanent fixture at Progressive Field.
The Indians unveiled the statue Saturday to honor the franchise's leader in home runs. Thome hit 337 home runs for Cleveland, playing for the Indians from 1991-2002 and again in 2011.
Thome joins some select company. His statue stands in the team's Heritage Park behind center field and is adjacent to one honoring Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller.
With Thome in the lineup, the Indians won six AL Central titles, advanced to the World Series in 1995 and 1997 and played in front of 455 consecutive sellout crowds.
Thome had a most unique stance. He would point his bat toward the pitcher to get ready, then pull it back and prepare to swing.
ODDS & ENDS
The Boston Red Sox have put catcher David Ross on the 15-day disabled list because of a right foot injury. Boston also activated newly acquired right-hander Joe Kelly before Saturday's game against the New York Yankees. Ross is sidelined with plantar fasciitis, a lingering condition that flared up as he ran out a grounder in the sixth inning Friday night. ... The Los Angeles Angels activated left-hander C.J. Wilson from the 15-day disabled list. The Angels also announced Saturday they optioned outfielder J.B. Shuck to Class AAA Salt Lake. Wilson is 8-6 with a 4.33 ERA and last won June 24 against the Minnesota Twins.
Sports on 08/03/2014