Cody Ross joined the San Francisco Giants in August of 2010 after being waived by the Florida Marlins. He then somehow became an offensive powerhouse for the rest of the regular season and throughout the postseason. He brought in two of the team’s winning runs in the team’s three victories in the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves. He hammered two homers off of Roy Halladay in the first game of the NLCS against the Philadelphia Phillies and went on to be the MVP of that series, batting .350, as the Giants went on to win the World Series against the Texas Rangers.

That kind of offensive power didn’t stick with him for the 2011 season. He hit .240 with 14 homers and 25 doubles in 121 games for the Giants this past season. And now the 31-year-old veteran of five teams is looking for a new home.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the Atlanta Braves have some interest in Ross but “would want the price to keep coming down.” The word from the AJC is that Ross “wants something in the neighborhood of the two-year, $10 million deal that Dave DeJesus got” from the Chicago Cubs. But it’s hard to see that happening.

The paper also notes that Ross is said to be talking to the Oakland Athletics about a possible deal.

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Related: Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves are bringing back infielder Wes Helms, signing him to a minor league deal less than a week after he was released by the Florida Marlins.

The Braves said Wednesday that Helms will report to Triple-A Gwinnett this weekend and likely join the Braves when the rosters are expanded Sept. 1 to provide another right-handed bat off the bench.

The Marlins released Helms last Saturday. He was hitting just .191 with six RBI.

The 35-year-old is returning to his original team, playing with the Braves from 1998-2002.

Also, Atlanta activated right-hander Jair Jurrjens from the disabled list to start against the San Francisco Giants.

Right-hander Randall Delgado, who pitched six hitless innings Tuesday, was optioned to Gwinnett. Full Story

Rockies acquire prospect Pomeranz, deal final

When the Rockies sent Ubaldo Jimenez to the Indians July 30, they received a solid return of prospects, with left-handed pitcher Drew Pomeranz and right-handed pitcher Alex White being the two major names.

Pomeranz, 22, couldn’t immediately be announced, as he wasn’t eligible to be traded until this week due to only being a year out of the draft [he was the Indians' 2010 first-rounder].

So he wasn’t pitching in game action as he waited around for the formality to come to fruition.

Finally, the deal went through this week and Pomeranz took the mound for Double-A Tulsa in his Rockies organizational debut. He certainly didn’t perform like a pitcher who hadn’t thrown in game action in over two weeks. chise afloat.

Phillies catcher Ruiz sidelined with injury

If you saw the Phillies starting lineup for the game against the Diamondbacks and didn’t know why catcher Carlos Ruiz wasn’t included, consider yourself lucky.

But since I had to read it, I’ll make all the men reading out there cringe right along with me. Ruiz is out of the lineup with a left testicle contusion (Todd Zolecki via Twitter).

Um, ouch. And then some.

The man they call “Chooch” is listed day to day. He was struck in the area by a Roy Halladay pitch Tuesday night, but stayed in for the rest of the game. He was examined by doctors before being left out of the lineup.

Dodgers CFO comments on McCourt

WILMINGTON, Del. — The chief financial officer for the Los Angeles Dodgers says the organization made no payments or loans to team owner Frank McCourt in the two years before the club’s bankruptcy filing.

Peter Wilhelm also said Wednesday that McCourt contributed $23.5 million to the Dodgers in the 90 days prior to the bankruptcy.

Testifying at a creditors meeting, Wilhelm said the cash flow crunch that prompted the bankruptcy filing was not a surprise because the organization had known for some time that it would have to find tens of millions of dollars for deferred compensation contributions and other needs.

The Dodgers sought bankruptcy protection in Delaware in June, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled franchise afloat.

Marlins’ Choate has elbow checked

DENVER — Left-handed reliever Randy Choate has been sent to Miami by the Marlins to have his elbow examined by team doctors.

Choate has told team officials he felt tightness in the elbow after his last outing on Monday night. He faced one batter in the ninth inning and gave up a three-run homer to Jason Giambi in what became a 7-4 loss.

Manager Jack McKeon, speaking before the series finale at Colorado, said Choate was expected to undergo an MRI as part of the medical evaluation.

Choate is 1-1 with a 1.82 ERA in 54 appearances this season.

Phillies call up RHP Schwimer

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies have called up right-hander Michael Schwimer from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace All-Star third baseman Placido Polanco on the roster.

Schwimer joined the Phillies before the NL East leaders played Arizona. Polanco was placed on the DL after Tuesday night’s loss. He has a sports hernia.

Schwimer was 9-1 with 10 saves and a 1.88 ERA in 46 appearances for Lehigh Valley, and made the International League All-Star team. To make room for Schwimer on the 40-man roster, pitcher Joe Blanton was transferred to the 60-day DL.

Polanco is hitting .275 with four home runs and 40 RBI in 89 games. He previously missed 19 games with a back injury.

ATLANTA (AP) — The Atlanta Braves are bringing back infielder Wes Helms, signing him to a minor league deal less than a week after he was released by the Florida Marlins.

The Braves said Wednesday that Helms will report to Triple-A Gwinnett this weekend and likely join the Braves when the rosters
are expanded Sept. 1 to provide another right-handed bat off the
bench. The Marlins released Helms last Saturday. He was hitting just
.191 with six RBIs.

The 35-year-old is returning to his original team, playing with the Braves from 1998-2002. Also, Atlanta activated right-hander Jair Jurrjens from the disabled list to start against the San Francisco Giants.

Right-hander Randall Delgado, who pitched six hitless innings
Tuesday, was optioned to Gwinnett.

ATLANTA — Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade says Carlos Zambrano cleaned out his locker and “walked out” on the team after giving up five homers in Friday night’s 10-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

“I’m really disappointed,” Quade said. “His locker is empty. He walked out on 24 guys … I don’t know where he’s gone or what he’s doing.

“He’s talking about retiring … but I can’t have a guy walking out on 24 guys.”

Zambrano (9-7) gave up eight runs and eight hits. The five homers set a career high.

Zambrano was ejected by plate umpire Tim Timmons in the fifth inning after throwing two inside pitches to Chipper Jones, the second going all the way to the backstop. The brush-back pitches followed homers by Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla.

Jones and Jose Constanza also hit homers off Zambrano.

Atlanta grabbed control with three runs in the third. Zambrano retired the first two batters before Freeman singled and Uggla was hit by a pitch. Jones then hit a drive to center for his 10th homer, making it 5-1.

Freeman and Uggla hit back-to-back homers in the fifth to give Atlanta an 8-1 lead. Zambrano then threw one pitch inside to Jones and was immediately tossed after the Atlanta star had to jump back to avoid another inside pitch.

As Jones stood at the plate, staring at Zambrano, the Braves came out of their dugout. Timmons rushed toward the dugout, cautioning the players not to come out any farther.

Zambrano looked back at Jones as he walked off the field, then was shown on TV smiling before leaving the dugout.

Zambrano dropped to 2-5 with a 6.08 ERA in 13 career starts against Atlanta. The right-hander has dropped his last five decisions against the Braves.

Uggla extended his hitting streak to an Atlanta-record 32 games.

“It’s crazy,” Uggla said following his second straight three-hit game. “It’s not one of the things I set for a goal when I came over here.”

Uggla passed Rico Carty’s 31-game streak in 1970 for the longest in Atlanta Braves history when he led off the second with his 25th homer.

Tommy Holmes holds the franchise record with a 37-game hitting streak as a member of the Boston Braves in 1945. Uggla said he wasn’t familiar with Carty or Holmes.

The second baseman, acquired from Florida in the offseason, had a rough first half in his first season with the Braves. He has raised his batting average from .173 to .229 and leads the team with 26 homers.

The Braves rolled to their fifth consecutive win.

Starlin Castro homered and Alfonso Soriano had two RBIs for the Cubs, who had won nine of 11.

MIAMI (AP) — Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla has extended his hitting streak to 31 games with a single in the first inning against the Florida Marlins.

Uggla’s streak, which began on July 5, is the longest in the majors this season and is tied for the longest in Atlanta Braves history. Rico Carty hit in 31 straight in 1970. Tommy Holmes holds the franchise record with 37 straight with the Boston Braves in 1945.

RIPKEN: Thoughts on Uggla’s recent tear

Facing Anibal Sanchez, Uggla hit a line drive to center field to drive in two runs.

Uggla entered Wednesday night’s game batting .345 (41 of 119) with 12 homers and 27 RBIs during the streak.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Brett Hayes congratulates Leo Nunez (right) of the Florida Marlins after their 3-1 win over the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field on July 31, 2011 in Atlanta.

By Joe Capozzi

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

ATLANTA — The Marlins seemed to defy the laws of mathematics Sunday in their 3-1 win over the Braves.

Ricky Nolasco gave up 12 hits in less than seven innings. Emilio Bonifacio connected for his third home run in 1,168 career at-bats. It somehow added up to the final tally during a 17-10 July after a disastrous 5-23 June.

“If you allow 12 hits and still win, you’re all right. He was tough,’ manager Jack McKeon said after Nolasco helped the Marlins improve to 4-2 on their road trip.

Nolasco, who allowed the first batter to reach base in six of the seven innings he started, became the first Marlins pitcher since Livan Hernandez in 1999 to allow one run on at least 12 hits and still win.

“It happened,’ he said. “Don’t know how, but it did.’

On a 90-degree day at Turner Field, Nolasco survived Atlanta’s double-digit hit attack because he was able to pitch out of trouble and, more important, didn’t issue any walks.

“I kept getting singled to death. Everything just fell in the holes,’ he said after going 6 2/3 innings. “I’d rather give up 12 hits and no walks and than eight hits and four walks every time. If they’re going to go keep hitting ground balls and finding their way through in the infield, I’ll take my chances with that.’

Nolasco’s most impressive inning was in the sixth, after Atlanta’s first two batters singled to put runners at the corners. Nolasco got Alex Gonzalez to pop out to second. Then, he struck out both J.C. Boscan and pinch-hitter Chipper Jones, who was 15-for-35 (.429) in his career against Nolasco.

“I knew Fredi (Gonzalez, Atlanta’s manager) was going to pull that one out of his sleeve just because the history Chipper has had with me,’ Nolasco said. “I looked over when I was head in the count (against Boscan) and I had seen (Julio) Lugo (on-deck) and I said, ‘There’s no way he’s there. I guarantee Chipper’s gonna come up if I strike this guy out here.’ And as soon as I struck him out, I saw (Jones) walking up the steps.

“It was fun. It was good adrenaline builder. I’m just glad I was able to get him. For once.’

Nolasco’s day got off to an ominous start. Rookie Jose Constanza hit his first pitch of the game for a double in the first inning. He advanced to third on Martin Prado’s single and scored when Freddie Freeman bounced into a double play.

It turned out to be the only Atlanta run, even though the Braves threatened all afternoon.

In the fourth inning, the Braves had runners at first and third with one out but couldn’t score. Nolasco struck out Boscan and got pitcher Tommy Hanson to bounce out.

With a two-run lead, Nolasco put himself in a tough spot in the fifth inning when he fielded Constanza’s bunt and threw the ball past first base and into right field.

Constanza tried to advance to third but was gunned down by Omar Infante.

Catcher Brett Hayes also made a quick reaction and made a diving snag of a short pop up when Hanson tried to bunt with two on in the second inning.

Hanley Ramirez manufactured Florida’s first run when he led off the second inning with a walk. He stole second, tagged up on a fly out and scored on Mike Stanton’s single.

With slumping Logan Morrison on the bench for the day, Greg Dobbs got another start and doubled in the third inning to score Infante with Florida’s second run.

Bonifacio hooked his second homer of the year inside the right field foul pole in fifth inning. It was his just his second career home run to leave the park, including a shot in Cincinnati on May 1. (His first career homer was an inside-the-park grand slam on opening day 2009.)

“He’s got the power,’ McKeon said, laughing with sarcasm. “I’d just as soon see him go back and bunt.’

The Marlins are two-thirds of the way through the season as they head to New York to open a three-game series Monday against the Mets.

“We’re still in a position where we’re battling clubs that are far more superior and right now they’re ahead of us,’ McKeon said.

“We’ve got our hands full but it’s nice to be 17-10 (in July). Hopefully we’ll go 17-10 (in August) and we’ll be all right. It’s not an easy task. It’s an uphill battle.’