Phillies Notes: Mayberry is dealt to Toronto

NEW YORK - The Phillies traded outfielder-first baseman John Mayberry Jr. to the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday for minor-league third baseman Gustavo Pierre.

All players traded by Sunday are eligible for the postseason.

Mayberry has been on the disabled list since July 22 because of inflammation in his left wrist. He appeared in nine rehab games for triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Mayberry, 30, is a former first-round draft choice of the Texas Rangers. The Phillies acquired him from the Rangers in November 2008 for Greg Golson.

The Stanford product batted .242 with 52 home runs and 169 RBIs in parts of six seasons with the Phillies. This year he batted .213 with six homers and 21 RBIs in 138 plate appearances.

Pierre, 22, spent most of this season at high-A Dunedin, where he hit .263 with seven home runs and 40 RBIs in 407 plate appearances. He was recently promoted to double-A New Hampshire, where he appeared in nine games, batting .213 with a home run and three RBIs. He totaled 112 strikeouts and 13 walks for the season.

The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Pierre was signed by Toronto as an undrafted free agent in July 2008.

A.J. Burnett remained positive despite continuing his post-all-star-break swoon. The Phillies righthander allowed five earned runs in six innings Sunday in the 6-5 loss to the New York Mets at Citi Field.

It was his major-league-high seventh loss after the all-star break. In nine starts since the break, he has a 5.85 ERA.

Burnett thought he was done in by one mistake, a hanging curve ball that Anthony Recker leveled for a three-run homer in the sixth inning.

Control-wise, this was one of his better outings. Burnett walked just one while striking out eight.

It was the second straight game in which he allowed one walk. He was coming off a 3-2 win Monday over Washington.

Over the weekend manager Ryne Sandberg said that third baseman Cody Asche wouldn't be working at a new position when the roster expands for September.

This is no surprise to Asche.

"As far as I am concerned, until somebody approaches me, I am a third baseman," he said before Sunday's loss. "I think the media is the one that has driven that talk."

Asche insists it isn't something he has dwelled on.

"Until I have a conversation with someone in the organization I will continue to work at third base and continue to be the best third baseman I can be," he said.

After the last two injured-plagued seasons in which he appeared in a total of 151 games, Ryan Howard is looking to finish the final month strong. He has appeared in 129 games this season.

"I am trying make it through an entire season, first and foremost," said Howard, who hit his 20th home run Sunday. "And the body has been holding up well, and that's been the key, trying to go out there and finish the season and do what I can to help get some wins on the board."

The Phillies released righthander Jason Marquis, who was attempting to get back to the majors while pitching at Lehigh Valley. Marquis underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2013. He signed a minor-league deal with the Phils in June.

The 36-year-old Marquis, who made 309 career starts in the majors, was 3-1 with a 4.63 ERA in 462/3 innings for the IronPigs.

Marquis was slowed for a few weeks with an oblique injury. He last pitched for the IronPigs on Friday in a 6-5 win over Scranton. He allowed eight hits and five earned runs in six innings to earn the win.

Marquis was one experiment that didn't work, but so far the signing of Jerome Williams has proven beneficial. After Saturday's 7-2 win over the Mets, Williams is 3-0 with a 2.02 ERA in four starts with the Phillies.