Top News:
Associated Press:
Tigers INF Perez suspended for 80 games — DETROIT (AP) — Tigers infielder Neifi Perez was suspended for 80 games Friday after testing positive for a third time for a banned stimulant, a penalty that finishes his season. — Perez was suspended for 25 games on July 6 when he tested positive for a second time.
Discussion:
Hardball Times
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Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
Tigers' Perez Suspended 80 Games for 3rd Drug Violation — The Detroit Tigers' Neifi Perez created history less than a month ago by being the first player to be suspended for using a banned stimulant in Major League Baseball.Now, he's created history, again.The Office of the Commissioner …
Will Carroll / Baseball Prospectus:
Triple Shot! — Neifi Perez becomes the first player to test positive not twice, but three times, for a banned substance. In this case, Perez's 80 game suspension is a dead giveaway that he was caught again for using a substance under the "Amphetamine" portion of the Drug Agreement.
Discussion:
Mack Avenue Tigers
Sports Illustrated:
Scully rises to occasion — Legend gives vintage treatment to milestone chases — Two outfielders. Two milestones. One Vin Scully. — Yes, the famed Dodgers announcer has been conducting the orchestra for some time now. On Thursday night, he presented a movement of Barry Bonds …
Discussion:
Dodger Thoughts
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Adam McCalvy / MLB.com:
Tempers flare as Brewers drop finale — Capuano's difficult outing includes minor scuffle in dugout — MILWAUKEE — A dugout scuffle in early June seemed to spark the Chicago Cubs. Could the same happen in early August to the team that now narrowly trails them?
Discussion:
Brewers Bar
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Alex McPhillips / MLB.com:
Lester, Sox take on Mariners in Seattle — Boston (66-42) at Seattle (59-47), Friday, 10:05 p.m. ET — Once again, the scheduling gods have denied Jon Lester a hero's welcome. — Or, rather, a hero's welcome in Boston, Lester's adopted home. There will certainly be no shortage …
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Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
No safety in Safeco — It's overcast and a little drizzly here in Seattle, where the Sox have come to play the Mariners to open a three-city, nine-game trip that also includes stops in Anaheim and Baltimore. The Sox will be spending a lot of time living out of suitcases this month.
Discussion:
The Joy of Sox
Cliff Corcoran / Sports Illustrated:
Wild Card: Low on Rocket Fuel? — On May 6, when Roger Clemens announced to a sold-out Yankee Stadium crowd that he had just signed a deal to return to the Yankees, the team was 13-15 (.464), five-and-a-half games behind the Red Sox in the American League East and in eighth place in the Wild Card race.
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ESPN:
Dukes in trouble again after violating court order — Elijah Dukes faces the prospect of jail time after being charged Thursday with a single count of violating a domestic violence injunction. — Dukes, optioned to the minor leagues in June by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and placed …
Ben Bolch / Los Angeles Times:
Guerrero plugs into power grid — Right fielder hits his first home run since June 23, then hits another one, a three-run shot that looms large in two-run victory. — OAKLAND — The first one was a high-arc shot that barely cleared the left-field fence. The second was a towering blast …
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Jay Posner / San Diego Union-Tribune:
Voices of Padres dread Bonds call — If Barry Bonds were, well, anyone but Barry Bonds, this weekend could have been special for many people, including the men who broadcast Padres games. — But because Bonds is who he is and has done, well, whatever he's done, the local announcers …
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
Contreras: Start me or trade me in 2008 — Jose Contreras has accepted his demotion to the bullpen. — But if he starts next spring as a reliever, the White Sox's struggling right-hander would rather play elsewhere. — "If they don't want me as a starter next year, I want to be out of here," Contreras said Thursday.
Discussion:
Foul Balls
Associated Press:
After year out of majors, Cubs' Wood activated — CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood was activated from the 60-day disabled list Friday after recovering from a sore shoulder that kept him out of the majors for more than a year. — Wood, the 1998 NL rookie of the year …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Jenny Vrentas / NJ.com:
Chamberlain to pitch tomorrow — Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees' rising right-handed pitching prospect, said he will make his next appearance at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre tomorrow. — It will be another step in transforming him from a starter to a reliever.
Discussion:
River Ave. Blues
Hank Worrell / Winning the Turnover Battle:
Sports Hotties You Don't Know...Yet — If you ask me, I think that the world of sports ladies needs an infusion of new talent. I am personally a little tired of hearing about Natalie Gulbis, Danica Patrick, and Maria Sharapova all of the time. So today is the day to diversify …
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Our Book of Scrap