Giants shelve Ainsworth, dump Rivera

SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 (UPI) -- Kurt Ainsworth of San Francisco, who was slated to start Wednesday's interleague contest, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 31.

The righthander has a right shoulder strain.

Ainsworth, who is 5-4 with a 3.82 ERA this season, suffered the injury in a 6-2 win over Colorado on Friday. He yielded one run and seven hits while striking out a career-high eight batters in 6 2/3 frames in that outing.

In a related move, pitcher Jason Christiansen has been activated from

the DL. He has not pitched for the Giants since undergoing "Tommy John" surgery on his left elbow on May 30, 2002.

Also, Jerome Williams has been recalled from Triple-A Fresno of the Pacific Coast League. He was scheduled to make his second career start on Wednesday against Minnesota.

He surrendered five runs in four innings of a 10-2 loss at Philadelphia in his big league debut on April 26.

In order to make room on their roster, the Giants requested waivers on outfielder Ruben Rivera for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release.

Rivera, infamous for being cut from the New York Yankees after stealing Derek Jeter's glove in spring training last year, committed a series of baserunning blunders on the same play in the ninth frame of a 4-3, 13-inning win against Arizona last Tuesday. He was thrown out at home on the play, extending the game another four innings.

Rivera hit just .180 with two home runs and four RBI in 31 games with the Giants this season.