Astros acquire Wigginton for Wheeler  —  HOUSTON (AP) — Hoping for more offensive production from their infield, the Houston Astros acquired Ty Wigginton from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Saturday for relief pitcher Dan Wheeler.  —  Wigginton was hitting .275 with 16 homers and 49 RBIs in 98 games this season.

Rays trade McClung to Brewers  —  ST. PETERSBURG - The Seth McClung era is over.  —  The Devil Rays traded the talented but inconsistent reliever to Milwaukee late Friday for RHP Grant Balfour, who joins their beleaguered bullpen today.  —  McClung spent parts of three seasons with the Rays …

Opponents Pay a Painful Price in Walking Bonds  —  Barry Bonds may not have had to overcome the obstacles that Hank Aaron did in trying to become baseball's career home run leader, but Aaron did enjoy one advantage Bonds would dearly appreciate: He rarely lacked for a pitch to hit.

Source: Cubs interested in Payton  —  O's, Chicago engage in trade talks; Baltimore would receive two mid-level prospects in return  —  An industry source confirmed today that the Orioles and Chicago Cubs have engaged in significant trade talks regarding outfielder Jay Payton as the non-waiver deadline approaches next week.

Tejada leads O's to sixth straight win  —  BALTIMORE (AP) — The plan was to give weary relievers Jamie Walker and Chad Bradford the night off, and with a six-run lead in the ninth inning, the Baltimore Orioles appeared poised to do just that.  —  That's when the slumbering offense of the New York Yankees finally stirred.

Yankees demote Igawa to Scranton  —  BALTIMORE - The Yankees cannot afford to spend any more time experimenting with Kei Igawa while they try to get into the postseason.  They optioned Igawa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Friday, calling up utility player Chris Basak.

Padres release Branyan, call up Hairston  —  HOUSTON — The San Diego Padres released utilityman Russell Branyan on Saturday to open a roster spot for outfielder Scott Hairston, acquired Friday from Arizona.  —  The 31-year-old Branyan batted .197 with a home run and 19 RBIs in 67 games for the Padres this season.

Ripken Jr., Gwynn lobby for others … COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — One fringe benefit to making the Baseball Hall of Fame is the opportunity to lobby for former teammates and peers to join the club.  Ted Williams believed strongly that Dom DiMaggio should be in Cooperstown, and Mike Schmidt spoke up for Pete Rose during his induction speech.

Johjima, Betancourt get homers; Ichiro gets a hug as M's top A's  —  Slumping Kenji Johjima and Yuniesky Betancourt both homered, taking advantage of the only mistakes Oakland starter Chad Gaudin made in Seattle's 4-3 win over the Athletics on Saturday.  —  Johjima hit a two-out …

Anderson's disputed homer lifts Angels  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — An 11-year-old fan helped Garret Anderson hit a big home run.  —  Garret Anderson hit a disputed three-run homer in the eighth inning to break open a tie game, Orlando Cabrera added a two-run homer to cap the seven-run inning …

Buehrle Tosses 8 Scoreless to Beat Jays  —  CHICAGO — Mark Buehrle pitched eight scoreless innings, Jerry Owens hit his first career home run and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0 Saturday night.  —  The White Sox have won five of its last six games and the Blue Jays lost …

BARRY: A-ROD NOT IN MY LEAGUE  —  For most of the last month, Barry Bonds has been tossing verbal bouquets toward Alex Rodriguez, but the praise stops at a point.  —  "Is he as good as me?  Hell, no," Bonds told The Post when asked if Rodriguez was the best player of this generation.