Padres Activate Outfielder Finley

The San Diego Padres activated two-time Gold Glove center fielder Steve Finley from the 15-day disabled list Tuesday and optioned right-handed reliever Marc Kroon to Las Vegas of the Pacific Coast League.

Finley sat out 14 games because of a sore left elbow. He is batting .220 with nine runs batted in, playing in 12 games. He had 30 homers last year but has yet to hit one this season.

Finley made rehabilitation appearances at double-A Mobile, with a homer and two RBIs in one game, and at Class-A Rancho Cucamonga, where he hit .286 with two homers and three RBIs in four games.

The Padres had considered having Finley make some rehabilitation appearances with Las Vegas but decided he was healthy.

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Police now suspect the case of a 5-year-old girl reported missing at a San Francisco Giants game was a hoax.

Police thought they solved the mystery when Frank Loverdi, a man who claimed to be her uncle, called police Monday morning and said he had found his niece minutes after reporting her lost at the game. He refused to give his phone number and address, and detectives traced the call and found it was made from a pay phone south of San Francisco.

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St. Louis Cardinal outfielder Brian Jordan visited a specialist in Los Angeles to get a second opinion on a back injury that might force him to go on the disabled list. . . . Cardinal pitcher Rick Honeycutt is scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder today and said he would not return for two to three months. . . . The Chicago Cubs put rookie third baseman Kevin Orie on the 15-day disabled list because of inflammation in his right shoulder and activated pitcher Larry Casian.