BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Red Sox Get Billy Hatcher

The Boston Red Sox traded pitcher Tom Bolton for Cincinnati Reds’ outfielder Billy Hatcher on Thursday in a trade Boston General Manager Lou Gorman said he hopes will “jump-start the ball club.”

Hatcher, a right-handed batter, has a .265 career average, including 41 home runs and 288 runs batted in, plus 192 stolen bases in nine seasons.

Hatcher came to the Reds in a trade with Pittsburgh before the 1990 season. He hit .750 (nine for 12) in the 1990 World Series, setting the major league record for the highest average in a four-game series as the Reds swept Oakland.

Bolton, 30, is 1-2 with a 3.41 earned-run average in 21 games, all but one in relief.

Cincinnati reliever Rob Dibble dropped the appeal of his latest suspension and will sit out the Reds’ four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Both Dibble and outfielder Glenn Braggs were suspended for four games for charging onto the field to fight the Houston Astros on June 24. Braggs’ suspension is on hold pending his appeal to National League President Bill White.

Dibble goes into the All-Star break with an 0-4 record, a 4.46 ERA and four blown saves in 16 opportunities.

The New York Mets put relief pitcher John Franco (6-1, 11 saves) on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to June 29 because of an inflamed tendon in his left elbow. . . . The Texas Rangers put 1991 American League batting champion Julio Franco (.234) on the 15-day disabled list because of a bone bruise on his right knee. . . . The Baltimore Orioles obtained left-handed relief pitcher Pat Clements (2-1, .266 ERA) from the San Diego Padres on a waiver claim.