Gregg Zaun

GLENDALE ? The following is an update on locals in Major League Baseball. MOMENTUM SWING Gregg Zaun started the 2006 season on the disabled list after having a career year last year, but he didn't waste much time in returning to his usual form. Zaun, playing for the first time this year on Saturday, hit a two-run home run in Toronto's 8-4 victory against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Zaun's home run came in the fifth inning and gave the Blue Jays a 5-4 advantage, their first of the game.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan Freddy Sanchez (Glendale Community College, 1998), third baseman, Pittsburgh Pirates -- Entering the season, Sanchez was penciled in as a back-up shortstop. But the local star has impressed manager Lloyd McClendon to the point where the skipper moved the Pirates' "sparkplug" to the hot corner just to give him a starting spot. "As we speak right now, Freddy Sanchez will probably play third base most of the time," McClendon told Major League Baseball.

Edgar Melik-Stepanyan Mark Loretta (St. Francis, 1989), third baseman, San Diego Padres -- Loretta has done well in his first season with the Padres. He has a .288 batting average, keeping reserve third baseman Sean Burroughs, who is hitting just .167, on the bench. Loretta -- who signed a one-year contract with the Padres in the offseason after playing eight years with the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros -- has started 15 games and posted a .319 on-base percentage.

Charles Rich Mark Loretta (St. Francis High, 1989): With less than a week left in the 2003 season, Loretta is ranked in the top 10 in hitting in the National League. Entering Monday night's home contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Loretta was seventh in hitting with a batting average of .323. The versatile infielder, who recently signed a contract extension with the Padres through 2006, has 183 hits and 71 runs scored in 148 games. The 32-year-old Loretta has recorded 12 home runs and 71 runs batted in. He's hit in 11 consecutive games, and is batting .380 in September.

Charles Rich A look at local major league baseball players: IN THE PINCH It might not rank up there with the on-the-field celebration of winning the World Series, but Gregg Zaun created a World Series-like atmosphere Thursday. Zaun, a 1989 St. Francis High graduate, hit a walk-off, pinch-hit grand slam home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to carry the Houston Astros to a 7-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Minute Maid Park.

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL NAME: Mark Loretta TEAM: San Diego Padres LOCAL TIES: St. Francis, class of 1989 THIS SEASON: Entering Friday's game against the host Chicago White Sox, Loretta was batting .293 with five home runs and 22 runs batted in. Loretta, an infielder who previously played for the Milwaukee Brewers and Houston Astros, has scored 24 runs and recorded 65 hits this season. He's recorded 11 doubles and one triple. LATEST NEWS: Loretta registered a double in an 8-5 loss to the host Cleveland Indians on Tuesday.

GLENDALE ? St. Francis High graduate Gregg Zaun is back in the playoff hunt. Zaun, a Glendale native, was acquired Friday by the Tampa Bay Rays from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Zaun, who graduated from St. Francis in 1989, planned to join the Rays, who captured the American League championship last season for the first time in the franchise?s history, on their road trip that began Friday in Seattle. Tampa Bay entered Friday?

ANAHEIM — Now with the eighth team in his 15-year Major League Baseball career, Glendale native Gregg Zaun has seemingly become as accustomed to going from one team to the next as any old pro could. “It’s happened to me so many times,” he said shortly after his newest club, the Tampa Bay Rays, lost to the host Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Wednesday afternoon, 10-5. “I make friends pretty quick.” In the lockerroom after the game, decked out in jeans, a Western-style long-sleeve shirt and a pair of boots, the St. Francis High graduate shows off a thick, silver belt buckle to a new teammate, who chuckles and it’s clear he’s already started to, indeed, make friends.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players .   Mark Loretta (St. Francis High, 1989) Los Angeles Dodgers infielder: The two-time All-Star has gotten additional playing time with the Dodgers recently concluding a six-game stretch of interleague road games. For instance, Loretta had a two-run double in the third inning of the Dodgers’ 6-5 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Loretta, who started at first base, had two hits in six plate appearances.

GLENDALE — The following are updates on area Major League Baseball players . Gregg Zaun (St. Francis High, 1989) Milwaukee Brewers catcher: The Glendale native remains on the disabled list. However, he learned that his season might have come to an end after he was diagnosed with a torn labrum in the front of his right shoulder. Mlb.com reported that the injury might end Zaun's career. Mlb.com reported Zaun put his chances of playing this season at "50-50" and the team doctors have recommended treatment for the next two to four weeks.