CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs placed left-hander José Quintana on the 10-day injured list on Thursday because of nerve damage to his pitching thumb he suffered before the start of summer camp.The 31-year-old Quintana wasn't expected to be ready for opening day after cutting himself washing dishes at his home in Miami last month. He underwent surgery July 2 and resumed throwing on flat ground after his stitches were removed last week.Quintana went 13-9 with a 4.68 ERA last year in his second full season with the Cubs. He was an All-Star for the crosstown White Sox in 2016.The Cubs also placed infielder Daniel Descalso on the 45-day injured list with a sprained left ankle and announced that outfielder Mark Zagunis opted out for the season.Chicago hosts the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener on Friday.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Cubs have activated Ben Zobrist from the restricted list to help with their postseason push.The 38-year-old Zobrist has been out since May 8 while going through a divorce. The 2016 World Series MVP is batting .241 with 10 RBIs in 26 games this year.Infielder David Bote was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Saturday night. Outfielder Mark Zagunis was designated for assignment to create a spot on the 40-man roster.Zobrist is a .266 career hitter with 166 homers and 761 RBIs in 1,630 games. He won the World Series in 2015 with Kansas City and 2016 with Chicago. He played 12 minor league rehab games, hitting .189 with two homers across four levels.___More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Bauer was pulled by manager Terry Francona after seven hitless innings and 117 pitches, and watched from the dugout as Toronto's Freddy Galvis broke up Cleveland's bid for a combined no-hitter with a leadoff single in the ninth inning of the Indians' 4-1 win Thursday night.Bauer was attempting to throw Cleveland's first no-hitter in 38 years — on the 25th anniversary of Progressive Field's opening — but was taken out as his pitch count increased."It was the right decision," Bauer said.Jon Edwards got two outs in the eighth before closer Brad Hand worked out of a bases-loaded jam. Hand, however, gave up a hard single to center by Galvis. Alen Hansen followed with Toronto's second hit and the Blue Jays scored before Hand struck out two for his third save.Bauer (1-0) walked six and struck out eight. The Indians haven't pitched a no-hitter since Len Barker's perfect game against Toronto in 1981.Aaron Sanchez (1-1) took the loss. This was the third time this season the... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Bauer was pulled by manager Terry Francona after seven hitless innings and 117 pitches, and watched from the dugout as Toronto's Freddy Galvis broke up Cleveland's bid for a combined no-hitter with a leadoff single in the ninth inning of the Indians' 4-1 win Thursday night.Bauer was attempting to throw Cleveland's first no-hitter in 38 years — on the 25th anniversary of Progressive Field's opening — but was taken out as his pitch count increased."It was the right decision," Bauer said.Jon Edwards got two outs in the eighth before closer Brad Hand worked out of a bases-loaded jam. Hand, however, gave up a hard single to center by Galvis. Alen Hansen followed with Toronto's second hit and the Blue Jays scored before Hand struck out two for his third save.Bauer (1-0) walked six and struck out eight. The Indians haven't pitched a no-hitter since Len Barker's perfect game against Toronto in 1981.Aaron Sanchez (1-1) took the loss. This was the third time this season the... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — David Price is set to be the No. 5 starter in the Boston Red Sox rotation, but the left-hander isn't ruling out a relief appearance during the season's opening weekend.Price pitched four innings Tuesday in Boston's final exhibition game, a 16-7 loss to the Chicago Cubs, then said he's interested in pitching an inning or two during a season-opening series at Seattle that begins Thursday.The 33-year-old Price was slowed this spring because of a norovirus, and Tuesday was his first game since March 12. Boston decided to slot Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez and Rick Porcello ahead of him in the rotation, with an eye on potentially getting Price some work during one of the first two regular season games."I don't know if he wants a tune-up, but we could do a cool thing in game one or two in Seattle just to get his feet wet," manager Alex Cora said."It's just another rep," Price said. "It's just getting out there in a real game, one that counts. You can kind of... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Chicago Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels has had a fun few days of firsts. Over the weekend, he recorded his first hole-in-one on a golf course, and on Monday night he hit a home run in his final spring training tuneup.Hamels has another first coming up when he faces the Texas Rangers in his initial start of the regular season. It'll be the first time the left-hander has pitched against a former team.Although Cubs manager Joe Maddon had not announced the rotation order, it is now lined up with Jon Lester starting on opening day Thursday against the Rangers, followed by Yu Darvish, Hamels, Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana."It's finally that time. I feel healthy, strong," Hamels said. "Now it's go time, get in front of the big crowds and big stadiums and everything starts to matter."Monday night was Hamels' fifth spring start. He faced the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox and did serve up Andrew Benintendi's home run with one out in the third, but led off the Cubs... [More]

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — Chicago Cubs pitcher Cole Hamels had had fun few days of firsts. Over the weekend, he recorded his first hole-in-one on a golf course, and on Monday night, he hit a home run in his final spring training tuneup.Hamels has another first coming up when he faces the Texas Rangers in his first start of the regular season. It'll be the first time the left-hander has pitched against a former team.Although Cubs manager Joe Maddon has not officially announced the rotation order, it is now lined up with Jon Lester starting on opening day Thursday against the Rangers, followed by Yu Darvish, Hamels, Kyle Hendricks and Jose Quintana."It's finally that time. I feel healthy, strong," Hamels said. "Now it's go time, get in front of the big crowds and big stadiums and everything starts to matter."Monday night was Hamels' fifth spring start. He faced the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox and did serve up Andrew Benintendi's home run with one out in the third, but led off... [More]

OF Mark Zagunis was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Saturday to make room on the roster for Ben Zobrist, who came off the disabled list. Zagunis went 0-for-14 since being selected from Iowa on June 22. He was a third-round draft choice by the Cubs in 2014.

OF Mark Zagunis, the Cubs' third-round pick out of Virginia Tech in 2014, was recalled from Triple-A Iowa and made his major league debut, starting in right field. He went 0-for-5 but got his first major league RBI. Zagunis, a New Jersey native, had an .873 OPS this year in 65 games at Iowa, slugging 13 doubles, one triple and 11 homers.

The Chicago Cubs demoted struggling outfielder Kyle Schwarber to Triple-A Iowa on Thursday and also placed outfielder Jason Heyward on the disabled list.The move with Schwarber was done so he can "clear his head," CSN Chicago's David Kaplan posted on Twitter.Schwarber is batting just .171 with 12 homers and 28 RBIs this season. The 24-year-old has struck out 75 times in 222 at-bats."There is no actual timetable," Cubs manager Joe Maddon told reporters in reference to how long Schwarber will be with Iowa. "I don't anticipate it to be long. We'll see how it plays out."Schwarber had a much better time of it last year when he played a key role in leading the Cubs to their first World Series title since 1908. Although his knee injury kept him from being cleared to play in the field, Schwarber batted .412 and drove in two runs in his team's World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians.Heyward is dealing with a cut hand suffered in Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The move was made retroactive to Monday.Heyward is batting .258 with six homers and 29 RBIs this season.The Cubs recalled outfielder Mark Zagunis and right-hander Dylan Floro from Iowa.

Zagunis (head) was activated from the 7-day DL at High-A Myrtle Beach.

He was placed on the DL after being hit in the helmet during an at-bat Aug. 7. Luckily it doesn't sound like this was a major concussion. Zagunis is hitting .275/.408/.415 with seven home runs and an impressive 72:71 K:BB ratio in 364 at-bats.

Zagunis was placed on the 7-day DL at High-A Myrtle Beach after being hit in the helmet during an at-bat Aug. 7.

Zagunis was hitting .275/.408/.415 with seven home runs and an impressive 72:71 K:BB ratio in 364 at-bats. If he suffered a concussion, it's possible his minor league season could be over for 2015.

Zagunis, 22, is slashing .275/.408/.415 with seven home runs and 11 steals in 451 plate appearances with High-A Myrtle Beach.

A former catcher turned right fielder, Zagunis is not the type of player who will impress scouts over a weekend series, but it's hard to argue with his approach. He has 71 walks and 72 strikeouts in 101 games this season, which is incredibly impressive. That excellent approach may not carry him to an everyday role with a team as loaded as the Cubs, but he is certainly a player worth monitoring.

Zagunis had four hits - including two home runs - for High-A Myrtle Beach on Friday. It was his third multi-hit performance in a row.

Zagunis, a third-round pick in 2014, may be shooting up the prospect rankings this year. Thanks to a .370 BABIP, he's slashing .324/.444/.489 for the Pelicans, and his 45:38 BB:K bodes well for continued success. Don't be surprised if he's in Double-A before the year is over.

Zagunis had three hits for High-A Myrtle Beach on Friday and is hitting .308 in 107 at-bats for the Pelicans this year.

Zagunis was a third-round pick in 2014 due to a top-notch batting eye, and he's been as advertised this year, drawing 25 walks en route to a .436 on-base percentage.