Cubs' Little is forced to change distracting glove

Chicago Cubs reliever Luke Little said he had to change his glove before he entered Wednesday night's 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros because of an American flag patch.

Manager Craig Counsell went to insert Little with one out in the seventh inning. But as the 6-foot-8 left-hander went through the usual check by umpires for pitchers coming into the game, he was told he had to swap out his glove.

“The issue was the American flag was on his glove,” Counsell said. “Pitchers' gloves, they're pretty strict about not having white on the pitchers' gloves. Apparently the flag had what could be a distraction to the hitter.”

As Little went to the mound to warm up for his ninth appearance of the season and No. 16 for his career, a clubhouse attendant went to his locker to find a replacement. The first glove he brought to Little also had an American flag patch, so he went back to get another one — which hadn't been broken in.

A's Gelof goes on IL with strain of left oblique

Oakland A's second baseman Zack Gelof was put on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a strained left oblique. Gelof was a late scratch from Wednesday's game after feeling pain during his pregame routine and an MRI showed the low-grade strain.

• The Kansas City Royals placed right-hander Alec Marsh on the injured list Thursday after he took a 91 mph liner off his pitching elbow the previous night against the Blue Jays. Marsh is 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA.

• Leadoff-hitting shortstop J.P. Crawford was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a right oblique strain. The move came a day after Crawford was a late scratch from the Mariners' lineup before their 5-1 loss at Texas. He felt his oblique tweak during batting practice.