St. Louis Cardinals: Eli Marrero, who provides manager Tony La Russa with necessary flexibility in the outfield and behind the plate, will undergo right ankle surgery Tuesday and is sidelined indefinitely.

Marrero will be lost for a minimum of six weeks, team and sources told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday night.

Marrero suffered the injury in the fourth inning of St. Louis' game against the Cubs on Sunday. He damaged the ligaments in the ankle trying to avoid center fielder Jim Edmonds on a fly ball in right-center.

Marrero entered the game in right field as a replacement when J.D. Drew left in the second inning with a stiff back.

Marrero, who had to be carried from the field, will have surgery Tuesday at Barnes West in St. Louis. Team physician George Paletta will perform the procedure and the team will make an announcement regarding Marrero's recovery time following the surgery.

The 29-year-old Marrero is hitting .227 with two homers and 15 RBI in 24 games. He has seen time at catcher, first base and all three outfield positions.

Drew will be available to play Tuesday against the Reds.

New York Mets: Forty-two-year-old reliever John Franco took a big step in his comeback from reconstructive elbow surgery, striking out two in a scoreless inning for Class-A St. Lucie, his first rehabilitation outing since undergoing "Tommy John" ligament replacement surgery last May 15.

"It felt good," Franco said. "(I was) nervous. It was the first game situation I've been in since September of 2001."

He threw 20 pitches against the Fort Myers Miracle, the Class-A Florida State League affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, and allowed two hits -- including an infield single.

"The movement was good, everything was down," Franco said. "I made one little bad pitch, an 0-2 pitch to one kid. I'll just work on that."

Franco, scheduled to throw again Thursday, said there was no strict timetable for how long he would be in Florida.

New York Yankees: Antonio Osuna didn't allow a hit over two scoreless innings in his first rehabilitation appearance for Class-A Tampa and might fly back to New York to rejoin the team as soon as Tuesday.

Osuna, a right-hander, is on the 15-day disabled list with a right groin strain.

"I'm ready to go back," Osuna said after throwing 22 of 31 pitches for strike.

Osuna, 30, started the Florida State League game against the Jupiter Hammerheads, a Florida Marlins minor league team. He struck out three -- all in the second inning -- and walked one.

His return would be a big boost to the Yankees, who have been without injured right-handed setup man Steve Karsay all season.

Osuna was hurt in the eighth inning of the Yankees' 8-3 win over Anaheim on April 22 while making a pitch to Jeff DaVanon. Osuna went on the DL the following day.

Texas Rangers: Rafael Palmeiro got a congratulatory call for hitting his 500th home run from a former Rangers co-owner, President Bush.

Bush called the first baseman from Air Force One while on the ground in Albuquerque, N.M., before flying to Omaha to promote his tax-cut plan, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

Bush told Palmeiro: "Your name is among the greats, and it deserves to be."

On Sunday, Palmeiro became the 19th player in major league history to hit 500 homers in the Rangers' 17-10 victory over Cleveland.