Padres acquire Ian Kennedy from Diamondbacks Struggling right-hander Ian Kennedy will get a chance for a fresh start with the San Diego Padres, thanks to a general manager who is familiar with his work. The Padres acquired Kennedy from the Arizona Diamondbacks just before Wednesday's trade deadline for left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher, a minor league player and a draft pick. Kennedy, 21-4 two seasons ago, is 3-8 with a 5.23 earned-run average this season and hasn't won a game in two months. He is expected to start Sunday at Petco Park against the New York Yankees, the team that selected him in the first round of the June 2006 draft. "He's the first guy I have ever traded for twice," said Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes, who was in the same job with the Diamondbacks when he obtained Kennedy in a three-way deal with the Yankees and Detroit Tigers on Dec. 8, 2009. He's not too different than the first time - a first-round pick, a pedigree guy. In Arizona he won a lot of games and pitched a lot of innings and we got to know him well as a pitcher there. He is a very legitimate starting pitcher, something we need to take another step forward. Obviously, in his best year he almost won a Cy Young Award, so we're happy to have him. Another factor that makes Kennedy attractive to the Padres is that he is under club control through 2015. Kennedy is 49-38 with a 3.99 ERA in 133 games, all but two as a starter. He was Arizona's opening-day pitcher the last two seasons. Arizona General Manager Kevin Towers, a former general manager of the Padres, has said the team needed a situational left-hander in the bullpen and he got one in Thatcher, who is 3-1 with a 2.10 ERA in 50 games this season. The Diamondbacks also got 23-year-old right-hander Matt Stites, who is 2-2 with a 2.08 ERA and 14 saves in 46 games with double-A San Antonio. Cardinals put Yadier Molina on the disabled list St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina's sprained right knee needs rest but not surgery. Manager Mike Matheny said that Molina is dealing with inflammation in the knee but called the results of an MRI test encouraging. The Cardinals put the All-Star on the 15-day disabled list less than 24 hours after Molina left in the third inning of St. Louis' 6-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday. Molina, third in the National League with a .330 batting average, has felt soreness in the knee for weeks. "I've been playing through that since June," he said. Like anybody else, I'm a guy who wants to be on the field playing ... but right now I need time. Tony Cruz will do most of the catching while Molina recuperates. The Cardinals also put Shane Robinson on the 15-day disabled list because of a sprained shoulder and recalled outfielder Adron Chambers and utility player Brock Peterson from triple-A Memphis. Astros trade Bud Norris to Orioles Bud Norris walked down the hall to his new team, the Baltimore Orioles, and stepped right into the middle of a pennant race. Norris was dealt from the Houston Astros to the Orioles, a move that enables Baltimore to fortify a rotation that will be without injured Jason Hammel for at least the next two weeks.