PITTSBURGH -- Languishing near the bottom of the NL Central a year after making the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Pirates couldnt wait any longer for struggling left-handed starter Wandy Rodriguez to get it together. The Pirates designated the 35-year-old veteran for assignment Thursday, less than 24 hours after Rodriguez gave up six runs in 1 2-3 innings in a 9-8 victory over Baltimore. "In our mind we felt best served to cut ties because in my mind Im thinking, You know what? Ive seen guys of his ilk pitch backwards and recreate themselves. ... We didnt feel that was our best option," manager Clint Hurdle said. "Hes healthy his arm is healthy. He said it best, Sometimes you give everything you got and its not good enough." Rodriguez was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in six starts this season. He spent time on the disabled list earlier in the year with a right knee inflammation. Though he insisted the knee was "OK" after his poor outing on Wednesday, Rodriguez allowed he was frustrated by his ineffectiveness. The Pirates plan to fill Rodriguezs spot in the rotation with either right-hander Brandon Cumpton or left-hander Jeff Locke, an unlikely All-Star a year ago. Cumpton is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA in two starts with Pittsburgh this season and has been dominant at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he is 4-1 with a 1.35 ERA. Locke is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA at Triple-A. "Weve got a really good, real challenging decision," general manager Neal Huntington said. "Weve got the ability to make a change if it doesnt work or have another option come up if we face another injury while we probably will." Cutting Rodriguez will be costly for a team with one of baseballs lowest payrolls. Acquired in a trade with Houston in 2012, Rodriguez is scheduled to make $13 million this season, with the Pirates picking up $7 million of the tab. Rodriguez went 11-10 with a 4.16 ERA in 30 starts with the Pirates. Huntington acknowledged the move will certainly raise eyebrows in a clubhouse that began Thursday at just 19-26 and well back of front-running Milwaukee in the NL Central. Yet Huntington felt its one the team had to make. Pittsburghs starting rotation -- a major strength while the team pushed to its first playoff berth in more than two decades last fall -- has regressed significantly. The four starters not named Gerrit Cole are a combined 1-17 this season. Pittsburgh replaced Rodriguez on the roster Thursday by activating catcher Russell Martin from the disabled list. Martin hasnt played since straining his left hamstring against St. Louis on April 25. He will have to serve a one-game suspension for his role in a brawl against the Milwaukee Brewers last month and is expected to return to the lineup on Friday against Washington. Corey Seager Jersey . The injury could land Machado on the 15-day disabled list, but its not as serious as it looked on Monday night, when the third baseman crumpled in a heap at the plate after taking an awkward swing in a game against the New York Yankees. Kirk Gibson Jersey .The Los Angeles Lakers star passed Michael Jordan for third on the NBAs career scoring list Sunday night in a 100-94 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. http://www.ladodgersprostore.us/Cody-Bel...dodgers-jersey/. -- Having already fallen behind because of the NFL lockout, Blaine Gabbert couldnt afford a lengthy holdout. Justin Turner Jersey . In question is whether 26-year-old Matt Frattin will be on it. A a€?mediocrea€? training camp, as Carlyle put it earlier this week, has Frattin lingering nervously on the bubble at the end of the exhibition season, pushed out of a likely job by Brandon Kozun, the small, but feisty winger determined to make the NHL for the first time. Custom Los Angeles Dodgers Jerseys . On Monday night, many fans in this city placed the blame squarely on the captain for his role in the James Neal overtime winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins.ORLANDO, Fla. -- Arron Afflalos career-best scoring night will be memorable for a lot more than the 36 points he scored to help the Orlando Magic rally past the Milwaukee Bucks 94-91. Afflalo scored 29 of his 36 in the second half, including 11 straight Magic points from the seven-minute mark down to the final seconds when he slipped a pass through a crowd of defenders to Nikola Vucevic for a layup that gave the Magic the final 94-91 lead. Afflalo then finished his night by stealing by the ball from O.J. Mayo as the Bucks scrambled to get off a game-tying 3-pointer before the final buzzer. For the game, he hit 11 of 15 shots, including 8 of 11 on 3-pointers, and had eight rebounds and six assists. "Arron was extremely efficient tonight," Magic coach Jacque Vaughn said. "It was just old-school drive-and-kick basketball. Sometimes the game is just that simple." Afflalo and the Magic were stumbling all over themselves against the outmanned and injury-ravaged Bucks, trailing by 19 points in the middle of the second quarter and looking so lifeless that Vaughn had played every player in uniform by halftime. Then Afflalo started the second half with three straight 3-pointers, had five 3s in the period and seven in the second half to keep the Magic from what would have been an embarrassing defeat. "I was a little disappointed with our energy in the first half," said Afflalo, who noticed that the Bucks defence sagged every time the ball went inside. "So I had a lot of open looks. I was fortunate my 3-ball was going down." Milwaukee played the entire game without injured starters Brandon Knight and Zaza Pachulia and top reserve Gary Neal. The Bucks played the last two minutes of the game without starter Caron Butler, who injured his shoulder and didnt return after scoring 20 points. Mayo led the Bucks with 25 points. Khris Middleton had 19 points and eight rebounds. John Henson added 10 points and nine boards. "We did wear down, you could tell," Milwaukee Coach Larry Drew said. "When youre missing seven guys, and you come in and give that kind of effort, me as a coach, I have to be grateful. As short-handed as we were, we still put ourselves in great position. We just didnt mmake plays down the stretch.dddddddddddd" Mayo, who was triple-teamed as he tried to manoeuvr for a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds, gave the Magic and Afflalo credit. "It was a very winnable game, but you have to give credit where credit is due," Mayo said. "The Magic kept fighting and probably wanted it a little more than we did. (Afflalo) was teeing off on those 3s. He hit eight 3s and we needed to make adjustments." Afflalo, who had 15 points in the third quarter, scored another 14 in the fourth. His 3-pointer with 7:50 left put Orlando up 79-76, its first lead of the game. He hit another trey a minute later to push the Magic lead to 84-78, but had a hard time finding a partner to share the load. The Magic guard was the only offence his team had until the final seconds, when he drove to the basket and dished to Vucevic at the last moment for a layup that gave Magic their final margin. "I knew late in the game that I would draw a lot of attention," Afflalo said. "When I saw defenders come over, I knew Nik would be wide open. Afflalo hit three straight 3-pointers to start the second half and get Orlando within 57-54 with 9:05 left in the third quarter, but Mayo scored five straight points for Milwaukee and weathered the storm, if only briefly. The Bucks pushed their lead back to 70-59 before Oladipo scored five straight and Afflalo nailed two more 3-pointers to finish an 11-0 run that tied the game at 70 with 2:50 left in the quarter. Butler had 12 and Mayo 10 in the first period when the Bucks ran out to a 36-23 lead. NOTES: Afflalos five 3-pointers in the third quarter tied the team record for most in one period. . Bucks C Zaza Pachulia sat out the game with a foot injury. ... The Magic were second in the NBA in field goal percentage defence before allowing Boston to shoot a league-best 60 per cent last Monday, dropping Orlando dropped to fifth. ... Milwaukee has not won a game in Orlando since 2004. ... Magic F Glen Davis, who hasnt played this season because of a broken foot, was fined by the team for an incident last Saturday at a local motel. Davis threw a computer keyboard against the lobby wall when he was told there were no rooms available at the Travelodge hotel in downtown Orlando. ' ' '