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THE BOTTOM HALF

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Looking back

* Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, above, must have been thinking “Dude, where’s the ball?” on Friday night when Franklin Gutierrez of Cleveland hit a second-inning bouncer that found its way inside Zimmerman’s jersey. Zimmerman had to reach between the buttons to retrieve it. “I was more upset because I didn’t get the guy out, but it was kind of funny,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t know how it got in there, but it got in there somehow.”

Looking ahead

* Today at AT&T; Park in San Francisco, the New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants will have a ceremony commemorating the 1962 World Series between the teams. This is the first series since ’62 that the Yankees have played an official game in San Francisco. Approximately 20 players from that game, including Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Ralph Terry and Bobby Richardson, are scheduled to be in attendance. The Yankees and Giants will wear replicas of 1962 uniforms during the game.

It’s a fact

* On Friday night when the Cincinnati Reds visited the Seattle Mariners, Ken Griffey Jr. played in Seattle for the first time since the Mariners traded him after the 1999 season. The Mariners honored him before the game and presented him with a framed photo of Safeco Field with the words “The House that Griffey Built” across the top. He received a 3 1/2 -minute standing ovation from the fans. “I didn’t know how much I missed being in Seattle,” he said.

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MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

ANGELS IN THE MINORS

CHRIS PETTIT, OF Rancho Cucamonga; Class A

Pettit, 22, a 19th-round draft pick from Loyola Marymount in 2006, was recently promoted to Rancho Cucamonga after earning the Angels organization’s minor league player of the month while at Cedar Rapids. He batted .373 in May and had a 15-game hitting streak as he was Midwest League player of the month. He was named a Midwest League All-Star after batting a league-best .346 with nine home runs, 41 RBIs, 24 doubles and 17 stolen bases in 21 attempts. He was 0 for 8 with three strikeouts in his first two games at Rancho Cucamonga, but history indicates he will snap out of it. He batted .336 in a half-season of rookie ball after the draft last year and was a career .304 hitter at LMU.

DOUG BRANDT, P Cedar Rapids, Class A

Brandt, a 6-foot left-hander, was drafted in the 43rd round from Cal State San Bernardino last year, but has impressed enough to earn a spot in the starting rotation and on the Midwest League All-Star team. The 22-year-old is 2-2 with a 2.76 earned-run average in nine starts and opponents are batting only .233 against him. Overall, he is 3-2 with a 2.35 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings. He was the Angels’ minor league pitcher of the month in May after going 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA in five starts. In 27 1/3 innings during May, he gave up only 26 hits, five earned runs and had 29 strikeouts while walking only three. June hasn’t been as kind: He’s 0-1 with a 5.87 ERA in five appearances.

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