Veteran Aubrey Huff will likely be reinstated from the DL Saturday when rosters can be expanded to 40 players.

Huff knows that he probably won't have a prominent role in the stretch drive, but he shares Giants manager Bruce Bochy's hope that he can contribute as a pinch-hitter or late-inning replacement.

"It's a tough time of the year to go out there and try to find some timing," the first baseman said Thursday. "But, in the end, if you get the adrenaline going, none of that is going to matter."

Cardinals shortstop Rafael Furcal may return home from the team's road trip for further testing after straining his right elbow on Thursday night, according to an ESPN.com report.

Furcal was asked whether he was concerned the injury might end his season.

"Sort of," Furcal said. "It's bad."

Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley received an injection of platelet-rich plasma in his right elbow Thursday, a therapy that could be his last hope of pitching again in 2012.

He went on the DL Saturday with inflammation in his elbow, his second stint on the DL for the injury this season.

"This is the next step to see if he's going to be able to pitch again this year," manager Don Mattingly said. "Then we'll go from there."

The Twins have placed center fielder Denard Span on the 15-day disabled list with an injured collarbone, according to an ESPN.com report on Thursday.

Alex Rodriguez will face live pitching on Friday for the first time since breaking his left hand on July 24th.

Brian Cashman ruled out the possibility of Rodriguez returning for this weekend's series against the Baltimore Orioles.

"We'll be traveling down to him, so I'm certainly not ruling it out," Cashman said. "But let's see what we see this weekend."

Rodriguez was hitting .276 with 15 homers when he was injured. Eric Chavez has been playing very well in his absence.

Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten is worried that injured starting pitcher Chad Billingsley will not return this season, according to the LA Times.

Kasten's concern is "not based on medical evidence." He also said that the teams' ongoing search for another starting pitcher is not related to Billingsley's elbow injury.

"There has never been a team in the history of baseball that has not been looking for pitching," Kasten told the Times.

Billingsley was placed on the DL Saturday after an MRI revealed inflammation in his elbow.

The Dodgers may have to finish the season without closer Kenley Jansen, according to a report.

Jansen was unavailable to close out the Dodgers' win over the Rockies on Wednesday because of issues related to a heart problem that sidelined him for nearly a month last year, manager Don Mattingly said.

The Dodgers are deciding what to do with Jansen, who refused to speak to reporters or allow the medical staff to explain his condition.

Jose Bautista has decided to have season-ending surgery to stabilize a tendon in his left wrist.

The recovery period is three to four months, meaning he'll be ready when the Blue Jays assemble for spring training.

"There's just too much instability in that tendon and it got to the point where risking injuring the tendon was not worth it," Bautista said. "That's why we're opting to do it now."

Bautista originally suffered the injury an at-bat against the Yankees on July 16. The surgery will be performed next week in Cleveland.

The Yankees may be without Mark Teixeira for as long as two weeks after he suffered a Grade 1 strain of his left calf.

Teixeira suffered the injury on Monday night against the Blue Jays. It initially occurred when Teixeira ran out of the box on a foul ball in the fourth inning. He stayed in the game and the muscle tightened up on the bases.

Derek Jeter suffered a Grade 1 calf strain last season and spent nearly three weeks on the disabled list.

With Teixeira sidelined, the Yankees will play Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez at first.

David Ortiz returned to the disabled list because of his troublesome right Achilles, but isn't ready to call it a season.

Ortiz was scheduled to receive a platelet-rich plasma injection on Monday.

"If everyone felt, if he had that desire and the medical staff thought that it was the best thing for his career, that would definitely be done," manager Bobby Valentine said of shutting Ortiz down.

"But with the meeting of the minds, with David wanting to get back in uniform and the medical staff believing that there's a chance that he could, we figured that's the best way to go."