01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, April 23, 2006

The Toronto Blue Jays placed starter A.J. Burnett on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with a right elbow injury.

Burnett left his start against the Red Sox on Friday night after four innings with soreness in his elbow. He will visit Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., tomorrow.

Andrews performed ligament replacement surgery on Burnett's elbow in 2003.

Burnett, who signed a five-year, $55-million deal with the Blue Jays in the offseason after spending seven seasons with the Florida Marlins, began the season on the DL after scar tissue broke off in his elbow March 18 during spring training.

The Blue Jays are hoping it's just scar tissue this time, too.

"They don't seem to think it's anything structurally wrong," manager John Gibbons said. "He'll go see the guy who did the surgery. Hopefully, he'll get some reassurance from him. Until he sees him we won't know."

Burnett was a key piece of Toronto's offseason overhaul. The Blue Jays also added closer B.J. Ryan for $47 million over five years, signed catcher Bengie Molina, and traded for slugger Troy Glaus and first baseman Lyle Overbay.

Pitching coach Brad Arnsberg noticed a drop in velocity in Friday's start.

"All of a sudden his velocity tapered," Arnsberg said. "I knew something wasn't right."

The Blue Jays recalled right-handed reliever Shaun Marcum from Triple-A Syracuse.

ROUNDUP

BONDS GETS NO. 709: Barry Bonds found his missing power stroke last night, when he homered for the first time this season. Bonds sent a 1-0 belt-high fastball the opposite way in the first inning as the Coors Field crowd was still settling in, giving the San Francisco Giants a 2-0 lead over the Colorado Rockies. Home run No. 709 pulled Bonds within five of Babe Ruth for the most by a left-handed hitter with 714. It came in his 31st at-bat and his 13th game.

HELTON HOSPITALIZED: The Colorado Rockies placed first baseman Todd Helton, a five-time All-Star, on the 15-day disabled list, one day after he was hospitalized with stomach discomfort. Helton will remain in the Rose Medical Center in Denver until all testing and diagnosis is complete, the team said in a statement. Helton is hitting .347 with one home run and nine runs batted in this season. He leads the National League with nine doubles. The 32-year-old won the 2000 N.L. batting title and came into this season with the highest career batting average among active players at .337.

NO DL FOR CROSBY: Shortstop Bobby Crosby is not expected to miss significant time for the Oakland Athletics with a strained right triceps muscle, an injury he sustained in batting practice Friday before the A's played the Los Angeles Angels. Crosby was examined yesterday by team orthopedist Jerrald Goldman, who was pleased with Crosby's improvement and didn't think the 2004 A.L. Rookie of the Year would need to spend time on the disabled list.

ANGEL'S RIBS HURTING: The Los Angeles Angels placed outfielder Juan Rivera on the 15-day disabled list with tightness in his rib cage. Rivera took batting practice Friday to test the injury but it had become worse. The Angels brought up speedy outfielder Reggie Willits from Triple-A Salt Lake to take Rivera's spot.

NATIONALS' ORTIZ UPSET: Nationals starter Ramon Ortiz wasn't shy about saying he didn't like the decision to skip his turn in the rotation when Washington's game against the Atlanta Braves was postponed yesterday because of rain. Instead of pushing back Ortiz one day to appear tonight -- as the Braves did with their scheduled starter, right-hander John Thomson -- Nationals manager Frank Robinson will send Ortiz to the bullpen until his spot comes up again. "I'm not happy about that. I know it's Frank's decision, but I'm not happy," Ortiz said. "I don't like that, because I'm not a rookie."

INDIANS RECALL RELIEVER: Reliever Jeremy Guthrie was recalled from the minors yesterday to help the ailing bullpen of the Cleveland Indians. The Indians have three relievers -- Fernando Cabrera, Matt Miller and Rafael Betancourt -- on the disabled list. Miller is expected to miss the remainder of the season with an elbow injury.