Covering the bases

Zambrano to miss one week

Chicago Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano has right rotator cuff tendinitis and inflammation, an MRI exam confirmed Thursday, a potential obstacle to Chicago's chances of winning the World Series for the first time in a century.

Zambrano received a shot of anti-inflammatory medication and hopes to return to the rotation next week.

General manager Jim Hendry said Zambrano hopes to start throwing again when the team begins a series in St. Louis on Sept. 10. If all goes well, Zambrano would start at Houston in the following series.

Zambrano, 13-5 this year, left his start Tuesday night against the Astros after five innings, saying he did not feel well. He was examined Wednesday by team orthopedist Dr. Stephen Gryzlo.

Sean Marshall will start in Zambrano's place this Sunday at Cincinnati. The Cubs began the day with a 4 1/2-game lead in the NL Central and have 22 games remaining, including 16 on the road.

Nationals to lower some ticket prices

The Washington Nationals, who rank in the bottom half of Major League Baseball in attendance despite a new ballpark, are lowering some of their season ticket prices for next season.

Prices will go down for 7,500 seats in the 41,888-seat Nationals Park, mostly in the outfield sections. Seats in most of the discounted sections will cost $5 to $10 less per game, lowering the stadium's average season ticket price for a non-premium seat to approximately $29.

The team opted not to lower the prices of the expensive seats behind home plate, where sparse attendance has sometimes created an embarrassing image on television. Those tickets sell for as much as $400 per game.

The Nationals, in last place in the NL East, are averaging 29,509 fans per game, 18th in the majors.

Mets offering Shea Stadium seats for sale

As a season-ticket holder, Darrell Buono spent 13 years rooting for the New York Mets in blue, loge-level seats at Shea Stadium. So he bought them.

The seats cost $869 for a pair and will have a place of honor in Buono's basement in New Hyde Park when they are shipped, sometime after the last game is played at Shea this fall and the Mets begin dismantling the stadium.

"My wife kind of gave me a strange look when I told her I was doing it," Buono admitted. "But she was OK with it."

The Mets and the Yankees each are finishing final seasons in their current stadiums and will open 2009 in new ballparks. Before they move in to their new homes, memorabilia buffs expect them to strip down the ballparks and auction off anything that will sell.

The Yankees say there will be a sale but haven't released the details yet, and so far the Mets have only put seats on the market. But some think that everything from lockers to strips of sod may go on the market by the time the teams begin taking down the stadiums.

SHORT HOPS: Todd Cruz, an infielder with the 1983 world champion Baltimore Orioles, has died. He was 52. Cruz died Tuesday while swimming at the apartment complex in which he lived in Bullhead City, Ariz. The cause of death is pending results of the coroner's office.

* Philadelphia Phillies third-base coach Steve Smith was suspended Thursday for two games and fined because of an argument with umpires during a game in Chicago last week.

* Cincinnati Reds right-hander Josh Fogg left after three innings Thursday because he strained his groin while scoring on a sacrifice fly.