SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- Lim Chang-yong, an injured South Korean pitcher who signed with the Chicago Cubs last year, is eyeing a return to action later this summer, his agent said Thursday. Lim, 36, has been rehabbing his surgically repaired right elbow in Mesa, Arizona, since February, about two months after signing a deal with the Major League Baseball (MLB) club. According to his agent, Park Yoo-hyun, Lim is throwing between 50 and 70 pitches on the mound, though not at full strength. Park estimated that Lim could be ready for live action as early as mid-July.

Rangers avoid sweep with 3-1 win over A's ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers scored three runs in the first inning and avoided a three-game series sweep with a 3-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday afternoon. Texas (30-17) snapped a five-game winning streak by Oakland (25-23) and avoided its first home sweep since 2010 behind a strong start from Ross Wolf and a bullpen that allowed one hit in the final 3 2/3 innings.

1B Brett Pill is not a pitcher. That's the biggest head-scratcher about his promotion from Triple-A Fresno on Tuesday. The Giants were supposed to summon a starting pitcher from the minor leagues either to replace injured RHP Ryan Vogelsong in the rotation or fill in for RHP Chad Gaudin if manager Bruce Bochy chose to move his long reliever into Vogelsong's spot. But Bochy put off a decision on the rotation replacement, giving Pill as much as a week to prove the Giants need a fifth hitter on the bench more than a 13th pitcher.

CF Michael Saunders has gone 2-for-23 in his past six games while seeing his season batting average fall from .278 to .235. He's hitting .226 in the month of May after going 1-for-4 with two strikeouts Tuesday in the Mariners' 12-0 loss to the Angels. 1B Justin Smoak has reached base safely in 15 consecutive starts dating back to April 29. During that stretch, he raised his on-base percentage from .311 to .363. He went 0-for-3 with a walk Tuesday.