The D-backs placed closer J.J. Putz on the 15-day disabled list with an elbow strain and sent him back to Phoenix for further tests.

Rays manager Joe Maddon was ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Blue Jays at Tropicana Field. In doing so, Maddon only managed five of the 8 1/2 innings played in the game that gave him his 600th win as skipper of the Rays.

The Giants squandered a two-run, ninth-inning lead Wednesday but rebounded in the 10th inning on Andres Torres’ two-out RBI single to outlast the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3.

Heath Bell may be the D-backs’ new closer after J.J. Putz was sent to the 15-day disabled list, but the closing role is nothing new to Bell.

David Phelps batted eighth on Wednesday night, the first Yankees starting pitcher to do so since Don Larsen on Aug. 28, 1957, and the first AL starting pitcher since the Royals’ Zack Greinke on June 23, 2009.

Several Astros players have reached out to Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ, who was struck in the head by a line drive and taken to a hospital on Tuesday night. Happ, who pitched two years in Houston before being traded in July, was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

The Dodgers are sticking with Brandon League as their closer, although management has considered making a change after League took the loss in each of his past two appearances.

Capitalizing against a Cubs bullpen that has been nearly as unsettled as their own this season, the Cardinals escaped with a split of the brief two-game series on Wednesday. The victory capped a 5-1 road trip that was highlighted, in particular, by the emergence of a rookie pitcher and the return of an offensive catalyst.

The Red Sox sent the MRI results that reliever Joel Hanrahan had on his ailing right forearm to renowned specialists Dr. James Andrews and Dr. David Altchek.

A seventh-inning Jesus Montero homer was the difference as Felix Hernandez won a pitchers’ duel in the Mariners’ 2-1 victory over the Pirates on Wednesday. Hernandez struck out five in eight innings.

The Blue Jays have yet to make a decision on who will replace left-hander J.A. Happ in the rotation following Tuesday night’s scary scene at Tropicana Field.

In the aftermath of hitting a line drive off the left side of Toronto left-hander J.A. Happ’s head, a distraught Desmond Jennings chose not to talk to reporters Tuesday night after the game. The Rays center fielder broke his silence before Wednesday night’s game, describing the play in his soft voice.

Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts will undergo right hamstring surgery on Thursday in Dallas and is expected to be out about six more weeks, further delaying his comeback hopes this season.

The Braves brought their power stroke to Great American Ball Park on Wednesday, getting two home runs from Dan Uggla and a grand slam from Juan Francisco to beat the Reds, 7-2, and win the rubber match of a three-game series.

Phillies starter Roy Halladay will undergo surgery to repair a partially torn rotator cuff, frayed labrum and bone spurs in his right shoulder, but he is optimistic he can return to the mound this season.

Plans A and B are currently not options for the Red Sox in the ninth inning after they officially placed Joel Hanrahan on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a right forearm strain. With Andrew Bailey already on the DL with a right biceps strain, Junichi Tazawa will fill in at closer.

Ivan Nova is scheduled to pitch in an extended spring game Wednesday afternoon at the Yankees’ Minor League complex, where he’s working his way back from right triceps inflammation.