Baseball notebook: Big Unit says he’ll be back

Randy Johnson believes he will pitch again this season for San Francisco, albeit as a reliever.

The 45-year-old Big Unit is on the 60-day disabled list and has been sidelined since July 6 with a strained left shoulder. He acknowledged pitching more than five innings and being effective would be tough at this stage.

Johnson is 8-6 this season and earned his 300th career victory. The Giants are in contention for the N.L. West championship and wild-card spot.

“Starting is out for me now, because I’ve been out for two months,” Johnson said Sunday. “It would be nice to come back in some capacity and help the team. Right now I’m just trying to get healthy.”

He was examined Sunday morning by team orthopedist Dr. Ken Akizuki and the club hopes Johnson will be able to throw off the mound by later in the week.

Dodgers get Belliard

The N.L. West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers added to their infield depth, getting Ronnie Belliard from the Washington Nationals for a minor leaguer and a player to be named.

The Dodgers sent Class A pitcher Luis Garcia to the Nationals.

Belliard, 34, batted .246 with five homers and 22 RBIs for Washington. He’ll join the Dodgers in Los Angeles before their game today against Arizona, making him eligible for postseason play.

Belliard started at second base for St. Louis during its 2006 World Series championship, batting .240 with four RBIs during the playoffs.

Clearing the bases

Oft-injured Astros lefty Mike Hampton won’t pitch again this season and is planning to have surgery on his pitching shoulder and both knees. Hampton, on the disabled list since Aug. 18 with a partially torn rotator cuff, will have MRI exams results on his shoulder and knees sent to Dr. David Altchek of the New York Mets. Hampton, 36, will be a free agent after this season. … Still waiting to make his first start for the White Sox, Jake Peavy left his minor league rehab outing after only 3 1/3 innings and 68 pitches Saturday night because he felt tightness in his pitching elbow. The right-hander, acquired from San Diego at the July 31 trade deadline, was hit on that elbow by a line drive in his previous start for Triple-A Charlotte. Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said Peavy will join the White Sox today, where he is expected to get X-rays and be evaluated by the club’s medical staff.