New York Yankees: At last, there really is a Pride of the Yankees.

The Yankees purchased the contract of outfielder Curtis Pride from Triple-A Columbus on Friday and optioned left-hander Brandon Claussen to the minors.

In their long, storied history, the Yankees had never had a player with the last name of Pride. The 1942 film "Pride of the Yankees'' about Lou Gehrig remains one of the most beloved sports movies ever.

And this Pride got to join the Yankees on the Fourth of July, of all days, for a game against the Boston Red Sox. It was on July 4, 1939, at Yankee Stadium when Gehrig delivered his famous, "Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the Earth'' speech.

Pride, 34, has spent parts of seven major league seasons with Montreal, Detroit, Boston and Atlanta. He has a .256 career average with 18 home runs and 76 RBIs in 349 games.

Pride has excellent speed but is better known for his achievement of making it to the big leagues despite being almost totally deaf.

"He's another option, a 25th player who can play the outfield, pinch-hit and run for us,'' Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

Pride began this season playing for Nashua -- that team is called the Pride -- of the independent Atlantic League and hit .344 with five homers and 25 RBIs in 16 games.

He signed with Columbus in late May and hit .314 with two home runs and 16 RBIs in 25 games for the Clippers.

Pride's stay figures to be a short one. All-Star center fielder Bernie Williams began a rehabilitation assignment Friday night at Double-A Trenton as he recovers from an injured left knee, and hopes to rejoin the Yankees next week.

Williams had an infield single in five at-bats. He's expected to rejoin the Yankees next week.

In addition, outfielder Raul Mondesi aggravated his right hip flexor while making a catch and later left Friday's game. Manager Joe Torre said Mondesi would not play Saturday.

Montreal Expos: Montreal right-hander Dan Smith will have surgery on his pitching shoulder and likely will miss the rest of the season.

The Expos put Smith on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with right rotator-cuff inflammation, and they purchased the contract of right-hander Bryan Hebson from Triple-A Edmonton on Friday.

Smith was 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA in 32 games out of the bullpen.

Chicago Cubs: The Cubs activated right-hander Dave Veres on Friday and sent right-hander Juan Cruz to Triple-A Iowa.

Veres was placed on the disabled list April 15 with right shoulder tendinitis. He is 0-1 with a 7.94 ERA.

Veres was 0-1 with a 2.81 ERA in 16 innings in 11 rehab appearances for Iowa.

Cruz is 1-3 with a 6.92 ERA with the Cubs. He was recalled from Iowa on June 26.

Detroit Tigers: The Tigers put infielder Bobby Higginson on the 15-day disabled list with a pulled left hamstring Friday and recalled infielder Cody Ross from Triple-A Toledo.

Higginson's move was made retroactive to June 29. He is batting .235 with five home runs and 23 RBIs in 74 games.

Ross hit .258 with 10 home runs and 35 RBIs in 81 games for the Mud Hens.

Texas Rangers: Pitcher Jeff Zimmerman threw in the bullpen before Friday's game. That follows an abbreviated simulated game in Anaheim on Thursday night, when he experienced tightness in his right forearm.

Zimmerman, the team's former closer, shut down Thursday's session after 23 pitches. Team medical personnel said the forearm tightness had nothing to do with Zimmerman's surgically repaired right elbow.

Baltimore Orioles: Designated hitter-first baseman David Segui, who has started only one game since injuring his right knee June 24 in Toronto, met with team doctors but did not receive a cortisone injection.

Manager Mike Hargrove said it was too early to tell whether Segui was headed to the disabled list for a third time this season, but he's growing weary of having Segui available only as a pinch-hitter.

"I don't think anybody thought it would last this long," Hargrove said.

Kansas City Royals: Third baseman Joe Randa missed his third straight game Friday with a strained muscle on his right side.

Trainer Nick Swartz said the injury was in the same area but not as severe as the oblique strain that sidelined outfielder Carlos Beltran the last two weeks of spring training and the first two weeks of the regular season.

New York Mets: Shortstop Jose Reyes was scratched from the lineup Friday because of a tight hamstring. He also missed a game on Wednesday.

Reyes worked out before Friday's game, but didn't feel completely healthy.

"He's still feeling it," manager Art Howe said. "I'm not going to gamble with it."