Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano to shore up bullpen

Lou Piniella made a bold move Wednesday, sending temperamental ace Carlos Zambrano to a shaky bullpen that threatened to derail the Chicago Cubs’ season.

“You look at these box scores every day around baseball and these games, especially in the National League, they’re won in the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth innings,” said Piniella, in his fourth season as Cubs manager. “There are few blowouts early. There’s some obviously but not [a lot].

“Look, this makes all the sense in the world.”

Chicago’s bullpen was 1-6 with a 6.15 earned-run average and three saves in seven opportunities before Wednesday night’s game against the New York Mets.

Ellis is put on DL

Oakland Athletics second baseman Mark Ellis was put on the 15-day disabled list because of tendinitis in his left hamstring.

Ellis had returned to the lineup Tuesday after sitting out the previous seven games because of the problem.

Lee is almost ready

Seattle Mariners left-hander Cliff Lee will make a minor league rehab start Sunday for triple-A Tacoma and Manager Don Wakamatsu said that if all goes well, the Mariners will start Lee on April 30 against the Texas Rangers.

Lee has been on the disabled list since March 26 because of a lower abdominal strain.

Morgan to work for Reds

ESPN baseball analyst and Hall of Fame second baseman Joe Morgan signed on to help the Cincinnati Reds as a special advisor, working primarily with its community outreach and diversity programs with a focus in helping to increase the participation of African Americans in the sport.

Morgan, 66, was the catalyst of the Big Red Machine’s offense, winning consecutive most-valuable-player awards while leading Cincinnati to World Series championships in 1975 and 1976. He retired in 1984, ran some businesses in California and became an ESPN baseball analyst.

Morgan said his work with the Reds won’t affect his job at ESPN, which has given him permission to be a guest occasionally on the team’s broadcasts.

Umpire sidelined

Ed Rapuano is sitting out the rest of the series between the New York Yankees and Athletics after being hit in the facemask by a foul ball in Tuesday’s game.

Rapuano was the plate umpire when he was hit in the chin by a foul by Oakland’s Kevin Kouzmanoff. Rapuano stayed in the game for another batter, then walked off the field.