News and notes: Brandon McCarthy, Mark Lowe, Ryan Jackson

News and notes from this Friday afternoon:

• The Athletics activated starter Brandon McCarthy from the disabled list Friday and placed infielder Eric Sogard on the disabled list with a strained back, Jane Lee of MLB.com reported. McCarthy, owner of a 2.54 ERA in 12 starts this season, has dealt with shoulder injuries all season. The most recent placed him on the DL on June 24.

• The Rangers activated reliever Mark Lowe from the disabled list and designated infielder Alberto Gonzalez for assignment, the club announced. Lowe owns a 2.30 ERA and a 3.13 K/BB in 31.1 innings this season. Gonzalez mustered just a .556 OPS in 24 games as a bench infielder. 

• The Cardinals purchased the contract of infielder Ryan Jackson from Triple-A Memphis, the club announced. The 24-year-old Jackson owns a .269/.331/.398 line for the Redbirds in 113 games this season. 

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the latest rumors from bloggers Chris Cwik, Jack Moore and Navin Vaswani, follow @MLBRumorsCBS.