Phillies demote Zac Curtis, going with right-handed pitchers only  —  PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies have demoted their only left-handed pitcher, optioning reliever Zac Curtis to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and recalling right-hander Jake Thompson.  —  The move Thursday left the Phillies with 13 right-handed pitchers on the 25-man roster.

Baseball notebook: Piscotty's return an emotional night  —  Wherever he went on the field, Stephen Piscotty felt his mother's presence.  —  Two days after Gretchen Piscotty died from Lou Gehrig's disease, her son was back at work for the Oakland Athletics.  Full of sadness, but enveloped in love.

Pham returns to the lineup, but former Padre Gyorko does not  —  SAN DIEGO  • If there was one bat, one hitter, one Cardinal that the San Diego Padres were braced to see early and often during this four-day visit to Petco Park, it was the one they knew best.

Are the Dodgers more likely to rebound or miss the playoffs?  —  Not to speak for fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it was a bitter World Series defeat last fall.  The best Dodgers team of the Clayton Kershaw era finally reached the World Series and for all the lamenting about Dave Roberts' managing …

Reds Promote Nick Krall To General Manager  —  The Reds announced this afternoon that assistant general manager Nick Krall has been named the club's new general manager.  President of baseball operations Dick Williams will continue to oversee the club's entire baseball operations department, per the announcement.

Column: Sorry White Sox fans, but there's no guarantee your rebuild will turn out like the Cubs'  —  Cubs' Anthony Rizzo on upcoming series vs. the White Sox: “You can't take them for granted.”  (Mark Gonzales/Chicago Tribune)  —  Chicago Tribune  —  As James Shields looked around …

MLB hires former pitcher Chris Young for executive role  —  NEW YORK — Former pitcher Chris Young has been hired by Major League Baseball as an executive.  —  Young's title will be Vice President, On-Field Operations, Initiatives & Strategy.  The move was announced Thursday, and Young will begin Monday.

Mariners aim to stymie Blue Jays' sudden surge  —  TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays have had trouble scoring recently.  —  And for the longest time Wednesday night, it appeared they were on their way to another loss and would be trying to avoid being swept in their three-game series …

Cards-Cubs marathon was tough on TV ratings  —  The Cardinals-Cubs endurance race that stated Sunday night and ended just before 1 a.m. Monday was rough on television ratings as well as those fans in attendance who had to get up in the morning.  —  Nationally, Nielsen reported that ESPN's telecast …

Rafael Palmeiro, 53, singles in first action with independent team  —  CLEBURNE, Texas — Rafael Palmeiro isn't playing for a minor league team at age 53 just so he can be teammates with his son.  —  Palmeiro said he knows there are people who think he has lost his mind …

Evan Longoria: Does anyone want to play in front of 10,000 a night?  —  Giants infielder Evan Longoria, who left Tampa Bay in a trade to San Francisco in December, says the Rays would probably be better off leaving Tampa Bay, too.  —  Longoria, 32, was the longest-tenured player in Rays history …

Iowan Tony Watson on Giants: ‘I thought it was a special group and something I wanted to be a part of.’  —  Iowan Tony Watson saw what kind of team the San Francisco Giants were putting together during the offseason and realized he wanted to be a part of it.

Orioles notes: O'Day lands on DL with freak injury in bullpen; Vielma's injury draws Showalter's ire  —  Reliever Darren O'Day hyperextended his right elbow in a freak accident while stretching in the Orioles' bullpen during Tuesday's game, and while both the club and O'Day are optimistic …