MLB notebook

MIAMI -Reeling from a calamitous ninth inning Saturday, the Florida Marlins also find themselves shorthanded at shortstop heading into the last two weeks of the playoff chase.

Damion Easley is likely to miss the rest of the regular season with a severe sprain in his right ankle suffered Friday. He was filling in for Alex Gonzalez, sidelined two weeks ago by a bone bruise on his throwing elbow that will likely leave him unavailable down the stretch.

In their absence, untested rookie Robert Andino made his first major league start Saturday.

He walked and doubled for his first career hit, but expectations for him are so low that manager Jack McKeon batted him ninth, behind the pitcher Dontrelle Willis.

"He's probably a pretty good fielder," McKeon said. "But you've got to allow for some rookie mistakes."

Another rookie, Josh Wilson, is the only other option at shortstop.

HEADACHE: A batting practice home run came crashing into the Atlana Braves' bullpen Friday afternoon and hit pitching coach Leo Mazzone squarely in the head.

Reliever Blaine Boyer described a pretty gruesome scene, but said Mazzone recovered quickly and took the bump in style.

The Braves' medical personnel rushed down to the bullpen, where Mazzone reassured everyone he was all right.

"There was blood everywhere, gushing and everything," Boyer said. "But he wore it and went on."

DESIGNATED ASSIGNMENT: The New York Mets purchased infielder Anderson Hernandez's contract from Triple-A Norfolk and designated left-hander Dae-Sung Koo for assignment.

With the fading Mets all but out of contention in the NL wild card race, Hernandez figures to get some playing time at second base the rest of the way and a chance to impress the team heading into next season.