Pittsburgh Pirates: Former Gold Glove second baseman Pokey Reese will be out until at least mid-July with a torn ligament in his left thumb.

Reese was injured sliding Tuesday night against Houston -- coincidentally, as a pinch runner after not starting the game because of a lengthy slump. Reese is hitting .215 with one homer and 12 RBI in 37 games.

Reese will have surgery Thursday at Pittsburgh's Allegheny General Hospital to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament and will be out nine-to-12 weeks. He was placed on the disabled list Wednesday, but the Pirates did not immediately replace him on their 25-man roster.

"It's a tremendous blow to us, but the fact is we have to get it done," manager Lloyd McClendon said Wednesday. "We can't cry in our beer, so to speak, but losing him is tough."

McClendon said the light-hitting Abraham Nunez, who is batting .217, will get most of the playing time until Reese returns.

Reese's left hand will be in a cast for four weeks and in a splint for a few weeks after that. He had the same injury in his right thumb in 1998 and missed the final two months of the season.

"It's going to be a long process. It's real disappointing," Reese said. "We're playing bad right now, I'm playing bad and then this happens."

St. Louis Cardinals: The club found out that valuable-but-vulnerable utilityman Eli Marrero will be sidelined from eight-to-12 weeks after undergoing surgery on his injured right ankle Tuesday morning.

Orthopedic surgeon Dr. George Paletta, who performed the surgery, inserted a 3-inch screw across the two bones of Marrero's ankle, the tibia and the fibula. The screw will have to stay in place for at least six weeks, during which Marrero can do no weight-bearing exercise.

Marrero was batting .227 with two homers and 15 RBI at the time of his injury. Paletta told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch it is conceivable Marrero could return to playing in the outfield before he is ready to resume duties as a backup catcher.

"He probably plays the worst position (catcher) that he could for this type of injury, given the fact that in the catching position, he needs to be down squatting on that ankle," Paletta said.

Cincinnati Reds: Shortstop Barry Larkin felt much better Wednesday, a day after leaving a game when he aggravated a strained left calf.

Larkin was unavailable for Wednesday night's game against St. Louis, but hoped to be available for spot duty on Thursday. His absence left the Reds with only four healthy infielders.

"I don't think I'm DL bound," Larkin said. "But I'm not playing tonight."

Team doctors believe Larkin tore some scar tissue in the calf. Still, manager Bob Boone said Larkin needed to play, and soon.

"It's better," Boone said. "But we're not going to wait too long to see what it is. Hopefully it was just a little twinge and we'll go on our merry way in a couple of days."

Minnesota Twins: Designated hitter Matthew LeCroy left Wednesday night's game against Kansas City with a broken nose after he was hit in the face by a pitch from Royals starter Runelvys Hernandez.

LeCroy was taken to the hospital to have his nose reset.

He was leading off the fourth inning with the Twins leading 1-0 when he fell behind 0-2 in the count. The next pitch was a fastball that glanced off LeCroy's helmet, then hit him in the nose.

LeCroy staggered a few steps toward the third-base dugout, then dropped to his knees. He was replaced by pinch-runner Bobby Kielty.

Hernandez seemed to get rattled. He walked Torii Hunter on four pitches, then walked Todd Sears to load the bases with none out. The Twins went on to score three runs in the inning.

New York Mets: Shortstop Rey Sanchez was placed on the 15-day disabled list with an injured left thumb.

The move was made retroactive to May 10. Sanchez was injured while sliding into second base Saturday against San Diego. The Mets used Joe McEwing at shortstop during a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies.

"Rey has had a lot of bad breaks," New York manager Art Howe said. "He took batting practice and groundballs here in Denver on Monday, but it was still bothering him."

The Mets recalled Marco Scutaro from Triple-A Norfolk. Scutaro, 27, was hitting .289 with three home runs and 11 RBI in 30 games.

New York Yankees: Right-hander Antonio Osuna was activated from the disabled list and left-hander Randy Choate was optioned to Triple-A Columbus.

Osuna was 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 11 1/3 innings over nine games. He went on the disabled list April 23 because of a strained right groin.

Choate pitched 3 2/3 innings over five games, compiling a 7.36 ERA with no decisions.

Philadelphia Phillies: Infielder Tyler Houston was placed on the disabled list because of a broken middle finger on his left hand.

Phillies manager Larry Bowa said Houston will have surgery on the finger Thursday and is expected to miss at least six weeks.

Infielder Nick Punto was called up from Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre to replace Houston, who led all pinch hitters in the NL with a .438 average (7-for-16). Houston was injured while trying to bunt in a pinch hit appearance Tuesday night. He stayed in and hit a single.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.