SAN FRANCICO -- Jack Taschner is going from watching "The Mask of Zorro" to staring in at the mask of Mike Matheny or Yorvit Torrealba.

The 26-year-old lefty was in a Salt Lake City hotel room watching Catherine Zeta-Jones and Antonio Banderas emote through that Hollywood remake in the wee hours of Saturday morning when the Giants called to tell him they had purchased his contract from Triple-A Fresno.

To make room for Taschner, San Francisco designated right-hander Al Levine for assignment.

Taschner, the Giants' second-round pick in the 1999 First-Year Player Draft, joins a Major League roster for the first time. His progress from stardom at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh to SBC Park has been delayed by a litany of injuries.

In 1999, he suffered a torn labrum. Two years later, he had surgery to repair ulnar nerve damage. Then in 2002, it was Tommy John surgery keeping him out for the entire season.

"Especially in 2003 coming off surgery, at that point I was questioning if I had any future in this game," Taschner said.

His numbers that year at Double-A Norwich (0-6, 5.71 ERA) and the next split between Norwich and Fresno (a combined 5-8, 5.74 ERA) make that a valid question.

But the Giants still extended an invitation to Spring Training this year, and manager Felipe Alou was very impressed.

"I saw a slider that never stopped breaking," Alou said. "With that kind of pitch from a lefty, sooner or later, he'll get big-league hitters out with that pitch."

That slider, plus a low 90s fastball and a changeup, certainly worked against Triple-A batters this year. Taschner, generally working no more than an inning each game, went 2-0 with three saves and an 0.95 ERA.

He held opponents scoreless in 24 of his 26 outings and struck out 35 while walking 13.

"The biggest thing is my command is coming along," Taschner said of his success this year. "I've been able to put the ball where I want to put it and for the most part, most of my velocity is coming back. Everything just feels a little sharper."

As for Levine, if no team claims him off waivers, the Giants have 10 days to try to trade him, release him or assign him to the Minor Leagues. Levine as a veteran has a right to refuse that assignment and become a free agent.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," said Levine, who was winless in nine appearances with the Giants and leaves with an ERA of 9.58 after giving up five runs on six hits while getting just two outs Friday night. "I'll just pack my bags and see what happens."

More coming? A look at the Pacific Coast League leaderboard suggests the callup of Taschner won't be the Giants' last.

Through 60 games, outfielder Todd Linden leads that circuit in homers (18), RBIs (56), extra-base hits (40) and runs (54) and sports a .319 batting average.

"He'll be here," Alou said.

The questions remain when and where?

Linden is a corner outfielder, but the Giants think pretty highly of their current right fielder (Moises Alou) and the left fielder they're waiting to bring off the disabled list (Barry Bonds).

"The talk we had with him in Spring Training ... we told him, 'We don't want you to be on the team because we don't want you to be a utility outfielder,'" manager Alou said. "He's too good for that.

"When he comes up, he's going to play."

Bonds update: Once again, the injured slugger (knee) was on the SBC Park field before batting practice, going through a few agility drills.

Barry Bonds  /   LF
		Born: 07/24/64 Height: 6'2" Weight: 230 lbs Bats: L / Throws: L More info: Player page Stats | Splits Gallery Team Site | Shop

Giants trainer Stan Conte said he's "99 percent certain" Bonds will not hit the road with the Giants when they visit Minnesota and Detroit next week.

Alou said he doesn't think Bonds will be healthy enough to DH when the Giants play in Oakland the last weekend of this month, and that the idea hadn't even been discussed in the team offices.

"Until I see him taking batting practice the way he was in Scottsdale, then I'll say I'm encouraged," Alou said.

The lineup shuffle: Alou had Pedro Feliz playing third base in place of Edgardo Alfonzo, and Torrealba catching in lieu of Matheny.

Alfonzo was getting a routine day off, Alou said, and the switch at catcher was made to see if it might help starter Jason Schmidt, who has surrendered at least six runs in each of his previous two starts while not making it through the fifth inning either time.

Looking ahead: Kirk Rueter (2-4, 4.65 ERA) gets the start on the 12th annual Until There's a Cure Day on Sunday.

The event, a team tradition that promotes AIDS awareness and raises funds for AIDS education, features the creation of a human red ribbon in center field and a pregame ceremony at home plate.

The first 10,000 in attendance will receive a commemorative pin sponsored by Esurance, McRoskey Mattress and the Giants Community Fund.