MLB Notebook | Bryan Price no fan of Arizona's hire

Bryan Price, who served as Mariners pitching coach under Lou Piniella, Bob Melvin and Mike Hargrove before resigning in 2006 to join Melvin in Arizona, was part of the Diamondbacks' recent purge.

Actually, Price quit when close friend Melvin was fired, rather than go to work for his managerial replacement, A.J. Hinch.

"It had to be done," Price said of walking away from his six-figure contract.

Price, who is now doing special-assistant work for the Phillies, elaborated in a recent story by Jack Magruder in his hometown newspaper, the Marin (Calif.) Independent-Journal.

Price was offended when the Diamondbacks named Hinch — previously the director of player development — as Melvin's replacement. Hinch had no previous managing or coaching experience at any level.

"The hiring of A.J., I thought, was a poor decision," Price told Magruder. "A.J. has worked hard to get his credibility in the business in that side of the game, but he doesn't have any credibility between the lines as a manager. That, for me, just wasn't going to work."

Price has had managerial aspirations, interviewing for the position with the Mariners after Piniella stepped down. Also on the Arizona coaching staff, fired along with Melvin, were Chip Hale, a Mariners managerial candidate this past offseason, and Kirk Gibson.

"To me, it was a slap in the face not only to Bob, but to Chip and to Gibby and to anybody who has actually managed or coached in the past," Price said. "I thought it bypassed people who were more prepared to finish out the year."

Notes

• Kelvim Escobar, who has embarked on a rehab stint with Class A Rancho Cucamonga, thinks it would be best for his surgically repaired shoulder to return in the bullpen.

"I think it's a better deal for me physically and mentally to get ready as a reliever," Escobar told The Orange County Register. "They say in the long run maybe it would be better for me as a reliever. Maybe. I could pitch longer but if I get my strength back maybe I could pitch every fifth day [as a starter].

"I'll do anything. I'm just happy to be back pitching."

• Great news for the Cardinals: Chris Carpenter, who tore his left oblique muscle, returned with five shutout innings against the Cubs on Wednesday. He pitched without even throwing to a hitter since the injury on April 14.

"That's the nastiest pitcher I've faced all year," the Cubs' Derrek Lee said afterward.

It was Carpenter's 100th start for St. Louis since 2004. The team is 70-30 in those starts.

• When Barry Zito went the distance against the Padres on Tuesday, it ended a streak of 185 starts without a complete game. That's the second-longest such run in history. The big-league record belongs to ex-Giant Kirk Rueter, who did not complete any of his final 193 starts. Zito, by the way, lost the game, 2-1.

• The White Sox had good reason to go after Jake Peavy, who vetoed the trade.

At the time, the ERA by Chicago's starters was 5.21. And that's with Mark Buehrle ranking among the league leaders at 2.77. The White Sox are 7-1 in Buehrle's starts, 10-22 in other games. Take out Buehrle's numbers, and their starters' ERA is 5.98.

• Diamondbacks rookie outfielder Gerardo Parra had a hit and an RBI in each of his first five major-league games. The last person to do that was Mike Lansing with Montreal in 1993.

• Speaking of the Padres, it's only a matter of time before Peavy is dealt to a National League team. Starter Chris Young and outfielder Brian Giles will likely go soon as well. GM Kevin Towers says that manager Bud Black is safe. Speaking before the team ran off a seven-game winning streak, he blamed himself for its struggles.

"I'm embarrassed for myself," Towers told The San Diego Union-Tribune. "This is my ballclub. I'm as much to blame as anybody else. I don't want to see everything lost over what we've built over a long time."