Cubs manager Piniella criticizes baseball analyst  —  CHICAGO—Cubs manager Lou Piniella criticized longtime Chicago baseball analyst Steve Stone for questioning how he's handling prized rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin.  —  Piniella took exception Friday to recent comments Stone …

Diamondbacks brass keeping options open to turn team around … The Diamondbacks' honchos met much of Thursday, and they are meeting at length again today.  So far, they all can agree on one thing: there's a lot to talk about.  —  Hard as it is for Arizona's baseball leaders or anyone else to believe …

Gill defends treatment of Ellsbury  —  Red Sox medical director Dr. Thomas Gill defended the team's handling of Jacoby Ellsbury, using the forum of a conference call with reporters to address what he called “misconceptions.”  —  According to Gill, Ellsbury was “given the absolute standard …

Ozzie, Ken in spite club  —  It became obvious Thursday that there won't be a pretty ending.  —  After the White Sox' 3-0 victory over the Detroit Tigers, the Sun-Times was told by a team source that general manager Ken Williams and manager Ozzie Guillen “almost came to blows in a heated shouting match” …

Keeping Score: One Game Says Little About Strasburg  —  It did not take long for declarations of greatness to start after Stephen Strasburg's debut for the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.  —  He had some impressive numbers in his 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates: 7 innings, 14 strikeouts, 4 hits, 2 earned runs and no walks.

Cleveland Indians call up star catching prospect Carlos Santana  —  CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Indians have recalled top prospect Carlos Santos from Triple-A Columbus.  —  Santana  —  Santana is a switch-hitting catcher, who was batting .316 with 13 homers and 51 RBIs in 57 games for the Clippers.

Suppan on way back to Cardinals  —  Jeff Suppan is coming back to the St. Louis Cardinals.  —  He will be joining the team in Phoenix and hopes to be active early next week.  He will be signing for the pro-rated minimum, his agent Scott Leventhal said.  —  Suppan has not officially signed yet …

A-Rod's numbers, early exit troubling  —  Slugger invokes name of hip surgeon after leaving game early with right groin ‘cramp’ … BALTIMORE — On this date a year ago, Alex Rodriguez was hitting .234, with eight home runs, 25 RBIs, an on-base percentage of .393 and a slugging percentage of .495.

Darvish's Workload & Elbow  —  I didn't post anything beyond a tweet about this at the time, but Yu Darvish missed his scheduled start last week with discomfort in his throwing elbow.  Darvish is apparently ok, and he's due to make his next start on June 12th against Chunichi.

GOODEN ‘IMPRESSED’ BY PHENOM  —  Niese's fastball ran about three to four mph faster than Santana's, and his curve ball was devastating.  —  Chris Denorfia played the role of Jimmy Qualls, the journeyman who broke up Seaver's 1969 perfect game bid in the ninth inning.

Angels shouldn't chase first baseman  —  Morales' injury has some wondering if a move should be made, but L.A.'s not in position  —  OAKLAND — The question that seems to be hanging over the Los Angeles Angels ever since Kendry Morales went down with a grimace on top of home plate …