Rockies (6-16) Sound Alarm and Fire Bell

Buddy Bell was fired as manager of the Colorado Rockies on Friday with the team off to the worst start in club history.

Clint Hurdle, the Rockies’ hitting coach for the last six years, replaced Bell.

“I am disappointed that this has not worked out the way I wanted it to,” Bell said in a statement. “I wanted to see this thing through.”

General Manager Dan O’Dowd said the change was not about assigning blame but about trying to turn around the team’s 6-16 start under Bell.

“Quite honestly, we need to start playing the game with more joy and more confidence than we’ve played already this year,” O’Dowd said. “We really need to start building some positive momentum. This is about a new step forward.”

O’Dowd said Hurdle, 44, is the “manager of the Rockies--not interim manager--for the remainder of the season. Clint brings passion, he brings enthusiasm, he brings a charisma I think this ballclub needs.”

The Rockies have the worst record in the National League and the second-worst record in the majors, ahead of Detroit, and are eight games behind first-place Arizona in the NL West.

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Omar Vizquel uncorked some of those old stories about Albert Belle’s infamous bats and Belle isn’t happy about it.

In his new autobiography, “Omar! My Life On and Off The Field,” Vizquel, the Indians’ Gold Glove shortstop, reveals that Belle, his Cleveland teammate from 1994-96, used corked bats.

Belle, who lives in Arizona, went on Jim Rome’s nationally syndicated radio talk show on Thursday to counter Vizquel’s claims and insist that he was innocent.

“No, I never used a corked bat,” Belle said. “ ... And if I was using cork, don’t you think I would have hit 60 or 70 homers in a season? If all my bats were corked, how come they haven’t surfaced? A lot of my bats were lifted from my locker.”

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The Seattle Mariners are temporarily moving third starter Paul Abbott to the bullpen and replacing him in the rotation with Ryan Franklin.

Franklin, who won his first career start 1-0 Tuesday night against the Angels, will take Abbott’s starting assignment Tuesday in Chicago against the White Sox.

Abbott lasted only 22/3 innings and saw his earned-run average climb to 10.97 in a 10-6 loss to the Angels on Wednesday.

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Texas slugger Juan Gonzalez is still more than a week away from being able to swing a bat.

Ranger Manager Jerry Narron said that it would be another seven to 10 days before Gonzalez, who has torn muscle fiber between the thumb and index finger on his right hand, would be able to resume batting practice.

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The Oakland Athletics activated outfielder Jermaine Dye from the 15-day disabled list and optioned infielder Mark Ellis to triple-A Sacramento. Dye was in the lineup as the A’s right fielder for the first time this season for Friday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox.... The San Diego Padres put right-hander Kevin Jarvis and outfielder Ron Gant on the 15-day disabled list. Jarvis, put on the DL retroactive to April 18, has a strain in his right elbow. The move with Gant, who has a fractured right pinky, is retroactive to April 24.... The Detroit Tigers put first baseman Dmitri Young, who has a hernia, on the disabled list and activated pitcher Seth Greisinger for the first time in over three years.