PITTSBURGH -- Languishing near the bottom of the NL Central a year after making the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Pirates couldnt wait any longer for struggling left-handed starter Wandy Rodriguez to get it together. The Pirates designated the 35-year-old veteran for assignment Thursday, less than 24 hours after Rodriguez gave up six runs in 1 2-3 innings in a 9-8 victory over Baltimore. "In our mind we felt best served to cut ties because in my mind Im thinking, You know what? Ive seen guys of his ilk pitch backwards and recreate themselves. ... We didnt feel that was our best option," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Hes healthy his arm is healthy. He said it best, Sometimes you give everything you got and its not good enough." Rodriguez was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts this season. He spent time on the disabled list earlier in the year with a right knee inflammation. Though he insisted the knee was "OK" after his poor outing on Wednesday, Rodriguez allowed he was frustrated by his ineffectiveness. The Pirates plan to fill Rodriguezs spot in the rotation with either right-hander Brandon Cumpton or left-hander Jeff Locke, an unlikely All-Star a year ago. Cumpton is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA in two starts with Pittsburgh this season and has been dominant at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he is 4-1 with a 1.35 ERA. Locke is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA at Triple-A. "Weve got a really good, real challenging decision," general manager Neal Huntington said. "Weve got the ability to make a change if it doesnt work or have another option come up if we face another injury while we probably will." Cutting Rodriguez will be costly for a team with one of baseballs lowest payrolls. Acquired in a trade with Houston in 2012, Rodriguez is scheduled to make $13 million this season, with the Pirates picking up $7 million of the tab. Rodriguez went 11-10 with a 4.16 ERA in 30 starts with the Pirates. Huntington acknowledged the move will certainly raise eyebrows in a clubhouse that began Thursday at just 19-26 and well back of front-running Milwaukee in the NL Central. Yet Huntington felt its one the team had to make. Pittsburghs starting rotation -- a major strength while the team pushed to its first playoff berth in more than two decades last fall -- has regressed significantly. The four starters not named Gerrit Cole are a combined 1-17 this season. Pittsburgh replaced Rodriguez on the roster Thursday by activating catcher Russell Martin from the disabled list. Martin hasnt played since straining his left hamstring against St. Louis on April 25. He will have to serve a one-game suspension for his role in a brawl against the Milwaukee Brewers last month and is expected to return to the lineup on Friday against Washington. Nike Air Force 1 Clearance . According the CSNBayArea.com, the 31-year-old suffered an ACL injury in his right knee on Friday when he collided with Anaheims Emerson Etem during a pre-season game. Cheap Air Force 1 Canada .J. Ellis have avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year contract. http://www.cheapairforce1canada.com/. Jeter doubled high off the left-field wall and scored on Jacoby Ellsburys first hit in pinstripes in the fifth. Hiroki Kuroda (1-1) pitched 6 1-3 sharp innings in the Yankees 112th opener in New York. In what manager Joe Girardi said would be a season-long lovefest for Jeter, the shortstop was cheered every step of the way by an adoring crowd of 48, 142 -- even when his double-play grounder back to Orioles starter Ubaldo Jimenez (0-2) scored Solarte in the third inning for the first run. Cheap Air Force 1 Shoes Wholesale . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. Air Force 1 Canada Online . Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five.BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Kenny Perry didnt have a double hit, miss many easy putts or do anything spectacularly good or bad. Perrys steady play at Shoal Creek was enough for his third Champions Tour major in the past year, a one-stroke victory over Mark Calcavecchia on Sunday in the Regions Tradition. Perry closed with an even-par 72 to finish at 7-under 281, while other contenders had up-and-down days and John Cook lost a share of the lead with a double hit. "I was leaderboard watching and nobody was really running, so I knew par was a good score," Perry said. "I was just trying to stay away from the bogeys. I bogeyed the first hole right out of the gate and then I birdied the third to get it back and then just kind of hung in there. "I plodded along, hit lots of fairways, lots of greens and just stayed patient." Perry got his sixth victory and became the second player to win in three consecutive Champions Tour major starts, joining Gary Player, who did it in 1987-88. Perry won the Senior Players Championship and U.S. Senior Open in consecutive tour starts last year, then skipped the Senior British Open. Jack Nicklaus is the only other player to win all three of those events. It was the highest score for a Tradition winner. Perry missed a short putt to make bogey on No. 15 but retook the lead with a 20-footer for birdie on the next hole and lined up an easy par putt with a nice drive on the closing hole. "It told me that I could hit the shots under extreme pressure, and great shots," he said. "I killed a drive on 18 and I hit the prettiest 9-iron. It came in on the flag and spun to the left when you needed to do it. "A lot of times you think, All Ive got to do is make par to win the tournament and youll make a five quicker than you can blink an eye." Calcavecchia finished with a 70. Two-time winner Tom Lehman closed with a 67 to tie Jay Haas at 5 under. Haas closed with a 71. Cooks closing 72 put him three strokes back. Fred Couples was disqualified Sunday after missing his tee time. He was 9 over after a 73 Saturday, his best round.dddddddddddd Couples also withdrew from the Senior PGA next week at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Cooks double bogey on No. 14 cost him a share of the lead. Cooks ball was buried deep in the right bunker just under the lip, and appeared to ricochet backward before winding up a couple of feet out of the sand. Tour officials reviewed the bunker shot using phone video shot by an event staffer and determined that Cook hit it again on his back swing. "Golf Channel didnt have a great view of it but there was someone with the event who was shooting social media video of it that had a face-on angle, and it was clear that he double hit it," said Brian Claar, the Champions Tours vice-president for competition. Cook declined a chance to review it himself and said he hadnt been sure what happened. "That was bizarre," he said. "I told Todd, my caddie, You better move that bag because if this ball hits the lip it could go anywhere. And thats what I thought it did. I didnt hear anything. All I felt was my club hitting the lip of the bunker and then the sand catching the club. "Evidently in all that, it hit my club head. Im good with that. If it shows on TV, I can honestly say I didnt feel anything but I dont want to take something that wasnt there." Cook returned a couple of weeks ago after a 10-week layoff because of a fractured rib in his back. "If someone would have said that Id have a one-shot lead with five to play this week, Id have said, Youre nuts," he said. Calcavecchia had another near-miss at Shoal Creek. He had bogeys on Nos. 9 and 13 after missing short putts, and said he missed five during the week of 3 feet or less. "Ive never won a tournament doing that and I dont think anybody has," Calcavecchia said He led after 36 and 54 holes at Shoal Creek in 2011 before a final-round 75 cost him a lead that had ballooned as high as six strokes. Calcavecchia was plagued by nagging rib problems that pained him after swings. "I was hurting all day," he said, adding that he wasnt sure if hed play in the Senior PGA. ' ' '