Kuzul

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been without starting pitcher Zack Greinke for over a month with a broken collarbone, but the 29-year-old ace will return to the mound on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals. The team's official Twitter account confirmed the news on Tuesday afternoon:Greinke hasn't pitched since April 11, when he and San Diego Padres outfielder Carlos Quentin grabbed headlines in the sixth inning. Pitching to Quentin on a 3-2 count, Greinke plunked Quentin in the right shoulder, and the outfielder charged the mound in what led to a bench-clearing brawl between the two clubs. Greinke broke his collarbone in the process, taking on the charging Quentin with his left (non-throwing) shoulder. The news couldn't come at a better time for Dodgers fans.   L.A. was 6-3 at the completion of the April 11 win over San Diego, but since then injuries and poor play have started to mount. The Dodgers are just 9-19 since ...

The Washington Nationals are chasing the Atlanta Braves at the top of the National League East, but it looks like they'll have to continue their climb for the next couple of weeks without starting outfielder Jayson Werth. Nationals beat writer Dan Kolko reported on Twitter that Werth is likely headed to the disabled list soon with a hamstring issue that has bugged him for the majority of the month of May:Werth hasn't played since May 2, when he left Washington's game against Atlanta after five innings with hamstring tightness. Washington Times reporter Amanda Comak helped confirm the news (via Twitter) and had a look at some of the prospects the Nats might use to fill Werth's spot while he fully recovers from the leg ailment on the DL:An initial MRI scan proved to be negative earlier in the week (h/t Washington Post), but the news on Werth on Friday did not give ...

MLB admitted on Friday that the umpiring crew botched a call in Thursday night's Los Angeles Angels-Houston Astros game, but more news from the league office came later in the afternoon. This time in the form of a suspension and fine for the crew responsible for the mishap. Crew chief Fieldin Culbreth, the man in charge of the decision that allowed Astros manager Bo Porter to change pitchers twice before the original reliever threw a single pitch, has been suspended for two games (h/t Jon Heyman of CBS Sports):MLB on Twitter also confirmed the news:In the seventh inning on Thursday night, Porter summoned Wesley Wright to the mound in relief. Angels manager Mike Scioscia countered with pinch hitter Luis Jimenez.Porter then immediately changed pitchers again, without a single pitch thrown by Wright, this time bringing Hector Ambriz to the mound. After a lengthy meeting between the managers and umpiring crew, and the ire of both broadcasting ...

 The St. Louis Cardinals will not have reigning National League saves king Jason Motte as their closer at any point during the 2013 season. According to a report on Twitter from Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Motte will not pitch this season following the decision by team officials to proceed with Tommy John surgery to his right arm:Motte, who led the NL in saves last year with 42, has done everything he could in rehab to avoid a trip to the operating table. He felt good in late April after throwing from 60 feet (h/t Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com), but his latest throwing session revealed that the problem would not fix itself. According to general manager John Mozeliak, Motte will have the surgery early next week (h/t Brian Stull of 101ESPN.com). The Cardinals are also not seeking bullpen help through a trade as of now:The 30-year-old closer has 54 saves, ...

New information has emerged in the South Florida performance-enhancing-drug scandal that has implicated MLB stars Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera and Nelson Cruz.According to an ESPN report from Mike Fish and T.J. Quinn, the Miami clinic in question used forged documents and prescription slips to buy PEDs and then avoid a paper trail, unbeknownst to the doctors and medical professionals whose names were on the forms:Anthony Bosch, the self-described biochemist who operated a series of wellness clinics, used prescription forms that contained forged signatures, stamped with the names and license numbers of legitimate physicians who apparently were unaware of the scheme, sources and documents indicate. Those drugs were prescribed to Bosch's friends and associates and then delivered to professional athletes in order to avoid a paper trail, sources said.As Quinn notes on Twitter when linking to the story, the latest information surrounding this three-month-long saga ...

The Detroit Tigers chose not to bring Jose Valverde back to the team after the 2012 season, but fate has a strange way of bringing two sides together. Valverde will sign a one-year deal to return to Detroit, as confirmed by the Tigers' Twitter account, and he will take over as the team's closer when he gets to town:After a 2012 season that included 35 saves and a 3.78 ERA, the two sides were not close to a deal this offseason. In fact, there weren't many teams interested in the 35-year-old closer, and he took a minor league deal with the Tigers after the 2013 season began in an attempt to work his way back to the bigs. That strategy paid off handsomely. After a shutout inning for the Single-A Lakeland Tigers on Friday night (h/t MLB.com), the plan was for Valverde to continue to stomp through minor leaguers until Detroit felt comfortable ...

When a tragedy on the scale of the Boston Marathon bombings strikes a nation, the aftermath of the situation transcends the luxuries of life—including sports. Prior to Saturday afternoon's game between the Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals, fans in attendance were offered a chance to reminisce, reflect and hopefully start the healing process in the wake of the second bombing suspect's capture.  As the Red Sox got back on the field to take on the Royals just one day after a scheduled game between the two was postponed due to the Watertown manhunt, it was clear that the Sox were playing for more than just a "W" in the win column. They were playing for Boston, and, in some respects, the Sox were supported by the entire country. Before the game began, the team honored the fallen, the injured and the city of Boston with a touching ceremony not soon forgotten by ...

Prepare yourself—you've never seen a baserunning adventure in Major League Baseball quite like this. Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Jean Segura found himself in the middle of one of the oddest plays you'll ever see on Friday night against the Chicago Cubs, stealing second base in the first part of the eighth inning only to get thrown out trying to accomplish the same feat—in the same inning. With nobody out and Ryan Braun at the plate, Segura took off for second. He beat the throw of Cubs catcher Welington Castillo to put a runner in scoring position with a power bat at the plate. Simple enough, right?Braun then walked, and with two runners on, Segura got picked off in between second and third base as Cubs pitcher Shawn Camp stepped off the mound. Segura made it back to the bag, but Braun was already there. The Cubs tagged Braun out as both men were on ...

The Cleveland Indians' biggest 2013 offseason acquisition is headed to the disabled list for the first time while with the team. Center fielder Michael Bourn will be taking a 15-day leave of absence from the top of Cleveland's lineup after lacerating his finger and receiving five stitches after Sunday's game against the Chicago White Sox (h/t Matt Snyder of CBS Sports). Jordan Bastian, the team's beat writer for MLB.com, reported the news on Twitter:Later confirmed by Snyder, the Indians will wait to make the move official in the next couple of days as pitcher Scott Kazmir (the expected addition to the roster) rehabs with Triple-A affiliate Columbus. Drew Stubbs is expected to take over duties in center field with Bourn sidelined. Bourn sustained the injury in the eighth inning of Sunday's game against the White Sox, sliding into first base in an attempt to beat out an infield single. He did just that, but ...

Milwaukee Brewers star outfielder Ryan Braun was scratched from the lineup prior to his team's game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night.The club's official Twitter account reported the scratch before game time, citing neck spasms as the culprit:Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel also reported that Braun was scratched from the fourth Milwaukee game of the season, opening the door for another Brewer to get his first career start on Friday night:The news is both disappointing for Milwaukee fans and fortuitous for Arizona starting pitcher Wade Miley, who Braun has had some considerable success against so far in their pitcher-batter battles. The Brewer Nation had the tweet:The 2011 National League MVP has a .313 career batting average and just hit his 203rd career home run against the Colorado Rockies in the opening series of the 2013 MLB season. So far, Braun has four hits, four RBI and the ...