Diamondbacks: Managing partner Ken Kendrick tells Arizona Republic he wants D’Backs to rely more on data. Like the Cubs? … Reliever J.J. Putz (tightness in his forearm) was placed on the 15-day DL. Putz is 1-0 in 13 appearances this season. The right-hander last pitched May 3 going one-third of an inning against San Diego, giving up two hits and two runs. Manager Kirk Gibson said Putz started to feel pain during the team’s weekend series in San Diego. “We waited … to see how he was,” Gibson said. “He came in and wasn’t very good.”
Rockies: Troy Tulowitzki is early leader for National League MVP. Leading in average, slugging percentage and runs on May 5. … Right-hander Nick Masset was called up from Triple-A Colorado Springs. The 31-year-old Masset had not pitched in the major leagues since 2011 when he was with Cincinnati. He has dealt with an injured right shoulder for the past two seasons. The Rockies signed Masset to a minor league contract Feb. 1.
Dodgers: Zack Greinke was on an impressive stat-geek run, one that had been unmatched for a century. The ended last week when he lost to the Nationals. The game snapped Greinke’s parade of 18 consecutive regular-season starts in which he pitched at least five innings while allowing two runs or fewer — the longest such streak in the majors since 1914. “It’s not really like it’s an important streak; no one really cares about it anyway,” Greinke said. “If it was like a consecutive win streak or something more important than that, it would mean a little more.” Greinke had been unbeaten in his previous 13 starts (9-0) vs. NL East teams. … Left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder inflammation) was cleared to start a throwing program.
Padres: RF Lorenzo Cain (left groin strain) was activated from 15-day DL and INF/OF Jimmy Paredes was optioned to Triple-A Omaha. … Infielder/outfielder Kyle Blanks was recalled from Triple-A El Paso on in an attempt to help revive their struggling offense. Blanks, who has played parts of the last five seasons with San Diego, hit nine homers in 83 at-bats for El Paso and is expected to add punch to a Padres lineup that ranked last in the majors in several offensive categories. Blanks, who nearly made the team out of spring training, has shown flashes of power with 28 home runs in 705 career major-league at-bats.
Giants: Backup catcher Hector Sanchez had four hits and three RBIs in a game last week, while Buster Posey, who got a day off from catching and played first base, had three hits, three runs scored and two RBIs. … The Giants are 15-1 when they score first this year.
