MLB Notebook | Versatile Blake goes to Dodgers in trade

CLEVELAND — Cleveland traded versatile third baseman Casey Blake and cash to the Los Angeles Dodgers for two minor leaguers on Saturday.

Blake, who has also played right and left field, is expected to play third for the Dodgers, who haven't gotten what they needed at the position from rookies Andy LaRoche or Blake DeWitt.

In exchange for Blake, the Indians got minor-league catcher Carlos Santana and right-hander Jonathan Meloan.

The Dodgers, struggling to stay in the National League West race, have been looking for a dependable bat for weeks.

Blake is batting .289 with 11 homers and 58 runs batted in, and he has been Cleveland's best clutch player, batting .398 with runners in scoring position.

"Casey Blake is a gamer," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said.

Notes

• St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter, the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner who has been out since opening day 2007 because of an elbow injury, is scheduled to return to the rotation Wednesday against Atlanta.

• Anthony Reyes, who won Game 1 of the 2006 World Series for St. Louis, was traded by the Cardinals to Cleveland for minor-league pitcher Luis Perdomo. Reyes, 26, has split this season between the Cardinals' bullpen and AAA Memphis.

• Outfielder Xavier Nady and reliever Damaso Marte joined the Yankees after a six-player trade with Pittsburgh was finalized. The Pirates made their final selections from a list of minor leaguers the Yankees offered, and took top outfield prospect Jose Tabata and right-handers Dan McCutchen, Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf.

• Minnesota center fielder Carlos Gomez will likely not play until Monday after crashing into the padded wall while making a spectacular catch Friday night.

• Texas put right-hander Kevin Millwood on the 15-day disabled list with a strained groin.

• White Sox right-hander Scott Linebrink went on the 15-day DL with inflammation in his right shoulder.

• Toronto right-hander Dustin McGowan will have season-ending surgery Thursday to repair fraying of the labrum in his shoulder. He has not pitched since July 8.

• A fan plunged about 25 feet off a Shea Stadium elevator and was seriously hurt during the Mets-Cardinals game in New York, less than four months after another spectator was killed in a similar fall there.

• Class A Peoria Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo was released from jail in Dayton, Ohio, one day after he was arraigned on a charge of felonious assault for hitting a fan in the head with a thrown baseball. The fan, Chris McCarthy, 44, was treated and released from a hospital Thursday night.

• Plate umpire Gerry Davis left the game between the Cubs and Marlins at Wrigley Field in Chicago after being struck near his throat by a pitch.

• Notre Dame football coach Charlie Weiss sang "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch at Wrigley Field and was booed when he was introduced.