Accident puts Tulowitzki back on the DL

Only three weeks after returning from a torn thigh tendon that cost him 46 games, Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki sliced his right palm when he pounded his maple bat into the ground in frustration and it shattered. The accident occurred Friday night after he was replaced by Omar Quintanilla in the seventh inning.

“Yeah, it’s tougher to take,” Tulowitzki said Saturday of his return to the 15-day disabled list. “The other injury was baseball-related. You’re out there on the field, going all out. And this one’s kind of a stupid injury that I could have prevented.”

Maple bats are the subject of a major league investigation because of their tendency to shatter when they break, unlike the softer ash bats, which usually just crack.

Tulowitzki required 16 stitches, but doctors told him the shards of wood that sliced into his right hand didn’t damage any tendons or nerves, he said.

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Oakland shortstop Bobby Crosby went on the 15-day disabled list because of a strained left hamstring, giving the Athletics seven players on the DL.

Crosby had started Oakland’s first 84 games this season before he was sidelined Thursday. His DL stint is retroactive to Thursday, meaning he won’t be back until after the All-Star break.

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The Cleveland Indians signed free-agent pitcher Jeff Weaver to a minor league contract, giving the veteran right-hander a shot at making his sixth major league team. He will report to triple-A Buffalo.

The 31-year-old Weaver is 93-114 with a 4.72 earned-run average in 284 appearances over nine seasons from 1999 to 2007.

He has pitched for Detroit, the New York Yankees, the Dodgers, Angels, St. Louis and Seattle.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates optioned Tom Gorzelanny to triple-A Indianapolis, a day after he gave up five runs in the fifth inning of a 9-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

“It’s something we’ve been looking at for quite some time,” Pittsburgh Manager John Russell said. “We’ve been trying to get him back on track the last few weeks and get him to be more like the pitcher he was all last year.”

Gorzelanny (6-7) has struggled all season after a breakout campaign last year when he was 14-10 with a 3.88 ERA.