West Notes: Zito, Flores, Wood

With Aaron Brooks headed to Triple-A Nashville, the Athletics will need a starter sometime in the next few days. That could be A’s veteran Barry Zito, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The 2002 AL Cy Young winner and three-time All-Star hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2013, but he’s pitched 137 innings for Triple-A Nashville this year, posting a 3.48 ERA, 5.9 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. Zito had been scheduled to start for the Sounds on Saturday, but Sean Nolin will take the ball instead, and Zito is no longer listed among the Sounds’ upcoming probable pitchers. Zito has also briefly missed time recently with a shoulder injury, althoug Slusser characterizes that issue as “extremely minor.” Here’s more from the West divisions.

• Mariners outfielder Ramon Flores has a compound fracture in his ankle and will miss the rest of the season, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. As Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto tweets, Flores left yesterday’s game on a cart after falling while trying to make a play in the field. The Mariners acquired Flores with Jose Ramirez late last month when they traded Dustin Ackley to the Yankees. The 23-year-old Flores was off to a terrific start with Tacoma, batting .423/.524/.654 with eight extra-base hits and 11 walks in 63 plate appearances.
• The Dodgers lost their first two games with new trade acquisition Alex Wood on the hill, but he picked up his first win with them yesterday against the Reds, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. Mat Latos, the Dodgers’ other starting pitching acquisition in that trade, had also struggled, so Wood’s victory likely came as a welcome sign for the Dodgers. Wood says his outlook hasn’t changed significantly since arriving from Atlanta, however. “For me, and I can probably speak for the other guys too, the expectations everywhere you go are high,” he says. “[Y]ou’ve got to come in and you have to perform … Not just to be a contributor or make trades look good or bad but to stay here and be a part of it, you know?“