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St. Louis Cardinals: Outfielder Larry Walker had an MRI exam of his ailing neck and left shoulder on Thursday that showed his condition is unchanged.

Walker, 38, has been bothered by a herniated disc and received a cortisone injection earlier this season.

"I might go and take another needle to relieve it," Walker said. "They say the second or the third one usually works better than the first. I've also heard nothing is the way to make it work. This is all speculative stuff.

"I've been playing with it. It's not something that's got me confined to a wheelchair. It limits me in some things. I don't think it's something serious."

Cardinals physician Dr. George Paleta said the exam showed "essentially the same findings" as Walker's MRI earlier in the season.

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates placed left-handed reliever Mike Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

Gonzalez (0-3, 3.21 ERA) appeared in 31 games and pitched 28 innings. He recorded one save.

To replace Gonzalez, the Pirates recalled left-hander Mike Johnston from Triple-A Indianapolis before Thursday's game with the St. Louis Cardinals.

"Johnston is a young man who has been with us before," Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He's a left-hander who throws 92 to 95 and he's got a good breaking ball. He'll pitch out of the bullpen and we'll see what he's got."

Gonzalez, who has been bothered by the knee for some time, pitched one inning Wednesday in a 5-4 loss to the Washington Nationals. He walked two and allowed a hit and a run.

Florida Marlins: The Marlins purchased the contract of Scott Olsen, and the left-hander will start Saturday's game at Tampa Bay.

The Marlins also recalled catcher Josh Willingham from Triple-A Albuquerque and optioned pitcher Travis Smith and infielder Joe Dillon to Albuquerque.

Smith had been considered a possible starter for Saturday's game. He had a 7.20 ERA in 11 games with the Marlins.

Olsen was 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 14 starts at Double-A Carolina. Willingham was hitting .337 with 19 homers and 54 RBI at Albuquerque.

The moves were announced after the Marlins' 8-0 win over Atlanta.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays: The Devil Rays purchased the contract of infielder Eric Munson from Triple-A Durham and designated outfielder Reggie Taylor for assignment.

The 27-year-old Munson was batting .289 with 16 homers and 46 RBI in 66 games for Durham before being called up for Tampa Bay's game against the New York Yankees. He was the designated hitter Thursday and batted sixth.

Munson played parts of five seasons for the Detroit Tigers, hitting 19 homers in 109 games in 2004. But the Tigers didn't offer their first-round pick from the 1999 draft (third overall) a contract after he hit just .212 last season and he signed with Minnesota.

After being released by the Twins during spring training, Munson signed with the Devil Rays.

Taylor was called up by the Devil Rays on June 7 and was hitting .184 (4-for-22) with one RBI in his first big league action since 2003, when he played for Cincinnati.

The Devil Rays have 10 days to trade Taylor, place him on waivers or assign him outright to the minors.

Cincinnati Reds: Outfielder Kenny Kelly had arthroscopic knee surgery to repair the torn meniscus he damaged this week in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

He is expected to begin running in about three weeks, said team medical director Dr. Timothy Kremchek, who performed the 30-minute procedure.

Kelly is expected to go on the 15-day disabled list Friday.

Also Thursday, interim manager Jerry Narron promoted John Moses to bench coach. Moses had been the Reds' minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press