• Lee to make rehab start Sunday: Cliff Lee’s long-awaited debut in Seattle is tentatively set for April 30. Seattle manager Don Wakamatsu said Wednesday that Lee will make a minor league rehab start on Sunday at Triple-A Tacoma versus Salt Lake City. If all goes well, the Mariners will start Lee on normal rest Friday, April 30 against Texas. Lee, the former AL Cy Young winner and Seattle’s big offseason acquisition, has been on the disabled list since March 26 with a lower abdominal strain.

• Cubs move ace to bullpen: Cubs manager Lou Piniella has decided to move ace right-hander Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen. Piniella talked to Zambrano about switching to an eighth-inning role before Chicago faced the New York Mets on Wednesday night. He says Zambrano was ready to do whatever was best for the team and the change “makes all the sense in the world.” Ted Lilly will be inserted into the rotation when he comes off the disabled list, probably this weekend.

• Ducks win again: The 18th-ranked Oregon baseball team hit four home runs Wednesday in a 19-10 win against Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash. Oregon (25-12) faced five Gonzaga pitchers, and tied a program single-game record with 25 hits. Senior Eddie Rodriguez was four for four at the plate with an RBI, a double and two runs scored. KC Serna, Steven Packard, Danny Pulfer and Dylan Gavin all homered for the Ducks. The game ended in the eighth due to a curfew placed on the game for Oregon’s travel. Oregon hosts USC in a three-game Pac-10 series starting on Friday.

• ASU announces baseball sanctions: Arizona State has announced it is vacating 44 of its 49 victories from the 2007 baseball season and will be reducing scholarships as part of self-imposed sanctions for violating NCAA rules. The NCAA has also begun its own investigation into the violations, which include approximately 500 impermissible telephone calls by the baseball coaching staff from January 2004 to June 2009 and the recruitment of a prospective student-athlete by an impermissible recruiter.