Injuries, moves, rumors and newsmakers...

A former foe of hitters becomes a foe of pitchers in St. Louis; the Phillies and Braves will duke it out for second place; a few minor swaps on Thursday; Boomer gets the axe in San Diego; rumors swarm the Cubs; and more...

  RICK RETURNS

Remember all those Halloween movies where Michael Myers would die at the end but then come back bigger and stronger in the next movie? The Cardinals may now have their own version of a killer coming back from the dead.

Rick Ankiel used to mow down hitters as a pitcher, but now he's back to mow down pitchers as a hitter. Three years after the often wild and occasionally dominant southpaw last pitched in the major leagues, he's back as an outfielder, recalled on Thursday.

He was inserted directly into the starting lineup as the right-fielder and his first hit as a full-time hitter was a three-run home run to help the Cards to a 5-0 victory over the Padres.

The 28-year-old has shown a huge power bat with Triple-A Memphis this year, with 32 homers (second best in the minors) and 89 RBIs, but the one caveat to any potential sustained big-league success is his shoddy 25:90 walks-strikeouts ratio (if only he could have had that as a pitcher).

Ankiel took the roster spot of veteran utility man Scott Spiezio, who was placed on the restricted list for unspecified reasons believed to have to do with substances he was ingesting.

---

  BATTLE FOR SECOND

Both duking it out to catch up to the first-place Mets in the NL East, the Phillies and Braves begin a weekend series in Philly Friday night that could leave one of those clubs in the dust and the other in prime pouncing position when the dust settles Sunday night.

The Braves are on a high after taking two of three in New York to move to within 3.5 games of the Mets. Mark Teixeira continues to give the offense a big boost, with four home runs in 35 at-bats as a Brave, while long-time third baseman Chipper Jones has been flaming-hot lately, going 9-for-17 with three doubles, a triple, two homers and seven RBIs in his last four games.

The Phillies, sitting 4.0 games back, are just 4-4 in August but have won three of their last four. Like the Braves, they made some key changes to keep pace with the Mets and new second baseman Tadahito Iguchi has found a new gear with a contender, batting .388 and scoring eight runs in his 12 games with Philly, doing his best to keep the lineup pumping minus all-star Chase Utley.

---

BREWERS 
Seeming to have rediscovered his swing in the minors, young second baseman Rickie Weeks was called back up to the big club on Thursday. Unfortunately, his good fortune comes at the expense of veteran infielder Tony Graffanino, who was placed on the disabled list with a torn ACL, taking him out for the rest of the season. Weeks will probably get a shot at re-earning his everyday job at second, though veteran Craig Counsell figures to continue to get some starts.

CUBS 
Reportedly, the Cubs have continued to claim quality outfielders placed on waivers in the hopes of working out a trade to replace injured left-fielder Alfonso Soriano. On Wednesday, news came that they claimed A's outfielder Shannon Stewart, and the latest reports have them claiming Casey Blake of the Indians and Scott Podsednik of the cross-town White Sox. The latter would be a more likely trade possibility than Blake, though, considering Blake is playing for a contender.

DIAMONDBACKS 
Thursday night Eric Byrnes became only the second Diamondbacks player ever to hit the 30-steal mark in a season. Recently signed to a three-year extension, his swipe of second against the Pirates put him in an exclusive club with Tony Womack, who stole 72 in 1999 and 45 in 2000.

DODGERS 
The Dodgers' arch-rivals helped them out Thursday when the Giants sent them pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney for future considerations..

INDIANS 
In the midst of enjoying an excellent season off the bench in Baltimore, veteran infielder Chris Gomez was claimed off waivers by the Indians on Thursday. His ability to play good defense all over the infield makes him valuable for the contending Tribe.

MARINERS 
They added a little depth to their bullpen in Seattle by landing lefty John Parrish from the Orioles for a minor prospect on Thursday...

ORIOLES 
Maybe over a month on the shelf with a wrist injury was what star shortstop Miguel Tejada needed to get back on track. Throughout the first half, it looked like the 2002 AL MVP had lost his power swing, with just seven homers in 275 at-bats. But since returning from the DL he has three longballs in 50 at-bats, including a grand slam Thursday night.

PADRES 
As expected, the axe fell on veteran lefty David Wells on Thursday, as he was designated for assignment. The portly 44-year-old has clearly lost his way on the mound in recent starts and may well be looking at the end of his career. He finishes this stint with the Padres at 5-8 with a 5.53 ERA in 22 starts. The Padres hope Wil Ledezma or Clay Hensley can do a better job in the rotation, while righty Chris Young returned from the DL to take Boomer's roster spot. Young was a Cy Young contender before going down with an oblique strain in late July and had mixed results in Thursday's return, allowing just three hits in 6.0 innings but walking five and allowing four runs en route to a loss.
 
PHILLIES 
In a deal for cash, the Phillies landed veteran slugger Russell Branyan from the Indians...

ROCKIES 
Colorado finally decided they had no choice but to place rookie righty Jason Hirsh on the DL on Thursday. He suffered a broken leg during Tuesday's start and is probably done for the year. The big freshman had been giving the Rockies some good starts of late, so it's a tough blow for a suddenly-contending team. The club also sent inexperienced backstop Alvin Colina back to the minors after one day on the roster, replacing him with veteran Geronimo Gil to serve as backup. And infielder Clint Barmes was recalled to take Hirsh's roster spot.

YANKEES 
In light of his retaliatory beaning of Alex Rios Tuesday night in Toronto, Roger Clemens was handed the typical, meaningless five-game suspension often dished out to starting pitchers. The "punishment" simply gives the Rocket one extra day of rest.