Thorne says he was wrong about sock  —  Orioles announcer had claimed Schilling had paint on foot  —  BALTIMORE — Every journalist's nightmare was played out Thursday for broadcaster Gary Thorne, who awoke to find out that he had become the story he had been trying to cover.

Cleveland 9, Texas 4  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — Sammy Sosa is "Slammin' Sammy" once again.  —  Sosa hit two homers to reach 594 for his career, but Paul Byrd and the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers 9-4 Thursday for their fifth straight win.  —  Sosa's 439-foot drive leading off …

Smoltz agrees to extension with Braves (AP)  —  ATLANTA (AP) — John Smoltz is likely to spend his entire major league career with the Atlanta Braves after agreeing to a contract extension Thursday.  —  Smoltz, who turns 40 next month, will return for a 20th season in 2008 with a deal that will guarantee him about $14 million.

Wagner wants to work  —  Billy Wagner developed a new pitch in spring training, says his left index finger is fine and the velocity on his fastball is zipping along at a satisfactory 96 mph.  —  There's only one problem.  The Mets haven't had much need for Wagner this early in the season …

Kearns Shows Promise After Power Outage  —  Last April, when he was a Cincinnati Red, Austin Kearns hit five homers and drove in 18 runs, a fine start to a season in which he would establish career highs in both categories.  But this April, in his first full season as a Washington National …

Hermida eager to rejoin Marlins  —  Injured outfielder to see game action this weekend  —  JUPITER, Fla. — An encouraging first step to returning came about 10 days ago for Jeremy Hermida.  —  Out of action with a deep bone bruise to his right kneecap, Hermida opened the season on the disabled list.

House approves $60 million tax break for new Marlins stadium in Miami  —  · The Florida Marlins scored a crucial run in the Legislature on Thursday as the state House overwhelmingly endorsed a $60 million tax break to help build a new home for the team.

Notes: Igawa's turn to be skipped  —  Lefty may pitch out of the bullpen as he works out the kinks  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees want to see Kei Igawa work more on his placement.  Accordingly, his place for the weekend series against the Red Sox will be in the bullpen.

Notes: Slow going for Schmidt  —  Betemit moved up to seventh; Ethier wary of right-field fence  —  LOS ANGELES — Jason Schmidt rejoined the club after attending the birth of his third child, but he's still a long way from pitching in a game.  —  Schmidt was disabled retroactively …

Mench makes do in Milwaukee  —  Outfielder settles in after struggling to adjust to being traded  —  MILWAUKEE — Kevin Mench was picking out granite countertops when he got the news.  Perhaps something a little less permanent would have been better.  —  Mench was happy in Texas.

Slinging it with best of them  —  NEW YORK — He found a place to throw.  Like he always does.  —  I went to Yankee Stadium last night.  Like Daisuke Matsuzaka, I was in New York a day early to get extra rest for tonight's big game with the Yankees.  And sure enough, there he was.  Throwing.

Selig: Miller should be in Hall  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Marvin Miller received a surprise backer in his quest to make baseball's Hall of Fame: commissioner Bud Selig.  —  Miller, who led players to free agency that has produced multimillion-dollar contracts, fell short of election from the Veterans Committee in 2003 and again this year.

Think A-Rod won't opt out?  Think again … This week's bulletin from the Alex Rodriguez Opt-Out Watch was this save-for-future-reference quotation:  —  "I want to stay in New York, no matter what."  —  OK, let's hold that laugh track for a minute.  No matter what.  That's what he said.