Link-O-Rama: Blister delays Marquis' next start - MLB

* Jason Marquis’ next start has been pushed back from Friday to Tuesday because of a blister on his right middle finger. Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports
that Marquis has “battled the issue for the better part of a month,”
but it hasn’t stopped baseball’s only 12-game winner from going 3-1
with a 1.16 ERA in his last four starts.

* In other Colorado pitching news, 43-year-old Mike Timlin has been working out for the Rockies in the hopes of landing a minor-league contract.

* Michael S. Schmidt and Alan Schwarz of the New York Times wrote a lengthy article
examining how MLB “is conducting genetic testing on some promising
young players and their parents” in Latin American countries.

* Joe Crede rejoined the Twins’ lineup last night after missing two
games with a sore shoulder, went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, and is
now unavailable again while scheduling a visit with Dr. Lewis Yocum.

* Cameron Maybin is hitting .341 in 56 games at Triple-A, but Juan C. Rodriguez of the South Florida Sun Sentinel speculates
that the Marlins haven’t called him up because they’re suppressing his
service time to delay his eventual arbitration eligibility.

PITTSBURGH — The New York Mets will have to dig out of an early-season hole without star first baseman Pete Alonso.

The leading home run hitter in the majors will miss three-to-four weeks with a bone bruise and a sprain in his left wrist.

The Mets placed Alonso on the 10-day injured list Friday, retroactive to June 8. Alonso was hit in the wrist by a 96 mph fastball from Charlie Morton in the first inning of a 7-5 loss to Atlanta on Wednesday.

Alonso traveled to New York for testing on Thursday. X-rays revealed no broken bones, but the Mets will be missing one of the premier power hitters in the game as they try to work their way back into contention in the NL East.

“We got better news than it could have been,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “So we take that as a positive. It could have been worse.”

New York had lost six straight heading into a three-game series at Pittsburgh that began Friday. Mark Canha started at first for the Mets in the opener. Mark Vientos could also be an option, though Showalter said the coaching staff may have to use its “imagination” in thinking of ways to get by without Alonso.

“I’m not going to say someone has to step up and all that stuff,” Showalter said. “You’ve just got to be who you are.”

Even with Alonso in the lineup, the Mets have struggled to score consistently. New York is 16th in the majors in runs scored.

The team also said Friday that reliever Edwin Uceta had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. Uceta initially went on the IL in April with what the team called a sprained left ankle. He is expected to be out for at least an additional eight weeks.

New York recalled infielder Luis Guillorme and left-handed reliever Zach Muckenhirn from Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets sent catcher Tomás Nido to Triple-A and designated reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment.

Nogosek is 0-1 with a 5.63 ERA in 13 games this season.