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

The Athletics activate ace Brandon McCarthy, the Rangers activate reliever Mark Lowe, and the Cardinals purchase Ryan Jackson's contract.

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.