Nationals fire pitching coach St. Claire

WASHINGTON, June 2 (UPI) -- The Washington Nationals fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire Tuesday and promoted Steve McCatty from Class AAA Syracuse to fill the post.

St. Claire was in charge of a staff that has 13 blown saves and compiled a league-worst 5.69 earned-run average this season. He had spent the last six-plus seasons with the Nationals/Montreal Expos franchise.

McCatty, a pitcher with Oakland from 1977-85, has been the Nationals' Triple-A pitching coach since 2005.

Also Tuesday, Washington activated outfielder Elijah Dukes from the 15-day disabled list. Dukes, who had a strained hamstring, is batting .277 with four home runs and 24 RBI in 34 games this season.