Atlanta Braves: Shortstop Rafael Furcal was scratched from the Braves' lineup 15 minutes before their game against Oakland.

Furcal, who started all 63 previous games, left with a sore right wrist and forearm.

Mark De Rosa was moved to the leadoff position, becoming just the second player to hit at the top of the order this year.

Chipper Jones was also out of the lineup for a second straight day. He was scratched before Wednesday's game with a sore left wrist.

Cincinnati Reds: Right-handed reliever Todd Van Poppel accepted a nonguaranteed minor league deal with the Reds.

The Texas Rangers released Van Poppel last week after he went 1-0 with an 8.52 ERA in seven appearances.

Van Poppel was Oakland's first-round draft pick in 1990 but has never won consistently in the majors. He has pitched for Oakland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, the Cubs and the Rangers, who signed him as a free agent after the 2001 season.

Van Poppel went 3-2 with a 5.45 ERA and one save in 50 relief appearances last year. He has not started a game since 2000.

New York Mets: Reliever Mike Stanton will have surgery Friday to repair a torn ligament in his left knee. He will be out at least three weeks and possibly six.

The tear was discovered Thursday after Stanton, recently off the disabled list, returned to New York to have his ailing knee examined.

New York manager Art Howe said Stanton had pain in his knee after pitching Tuesday night at Texas. The right-hander faced the final two Ranger batters, throwing just two of his eight pitches for strikes.

Stanton spent two weeks on the DL because of inflammation in the knee before being activated last Friday. A previous MRI didn't reveal any problems.

Stanton is 2-3 with a 4.71 ERA in 25 appearances this season.

Kansas City Royals: Pitcher Miguel Asencio had surgery to remove a bone chip from his pitching elbow.

The right-hander went on the DL a month ago after going 2-1 with a 5.21 ERA in eight starts. He was operated on in Los Angeles by Dr. Lewis Yocum, Anaheim's team physician.

"The surgery went real well," Royals trainer Nick Swartz said. "Basically, what was found on the back end of the elbow was a bone chip that had come off the tip of the elbow. That was removed.

"They just went in and cleaned that end of it up. Other than that, nothing else was done. Dr. Yocum felt very good about the procedure."

Swartz said the earliest Asencio could return to the major leagues would be Sept. 1.