Notes: Little holds closed-door meeting  —  Manager looking for Dodgers to snap three-week slide  —  LOS ANGELES — Manager Grady Little held a team meeting prior to Monday night's game against the Houston Astros in an attempt to get his team out of a three-week funk in which the Dodgers …

Tigers to sign Porcello to record $7.3 million deal  —  DETROIT — First-round draft pick Rick Porcello has agreed to sign with the Tigers.  —  Porcello, the team's first-round draft pick in June, will get a record $7.3 million guaranteed over a four-year major-league contract.

Polanco sets error-less mark  —  DETROIT (AP) — Placido Polanco of the Detroit Tigers set a major league record for second baseman by playing his 144th straight game without an error in a 7-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.  —  "I have to really thank the organization …

Tigers agree to trade minor leaguer Hannahan to Oakland  —  The Tigers have agreed to trade Jack Hannahan, an infielder at Triple-A Toledo, to the Oakland Athletics, according to an individual with knowledge of the deal.  —  Hannahan is expected to fly to the West Coast with Oakland's big-league club …

Sexson blasts away at funk  —  9th-inning homer wins it for M's, caps 3-RBI night  —  It was a dream matchup between the Venezuelan superstar pitcher of today and the man who many expect to be the Venezuelan superstar pitcher of tomorrow.  —  In the end, however, neither was around when the game was decided.

No Wake  —  Tim Wakefield and James Shields are locked in a pitcher's duel in the fifth.  Shields allowed five hits and one run so far, but most of the attention goes to Wakefield.  Tim's allowed just one walk so far, not surprisingly to Iwamura.  He'll take a no-hitter into the sixth.

Are Baseball Umpires Racist?  —  Bad calls by the ump are as much a part of baseball as home run records, rabid fans and watery beer, but a new study shows that an umpire's decision may have a disturbing ulterior motive: racism.  —  According to the new study led by Daniel Hamermesh …

The Voice You Don't Hear on Fox Belongs to Joe Buck  —  Joe Buck ended his regular-season baseball schedule for Fox Sports on Aug. 4, having called eight games in 19 weeks and the All-Star Game, his lightest load since he was anointed the network's lead major league baseball voice in 1996.

Deadline Nears for Clubs to Sign Top Draft Picks  —  If the commissioner's office could, it would put a cap on bonuses paid to drafted players.  It can't, so it instead recommends bonuses for each slot of the first five rounds of the June draft.  —  If it could, the commissioner's office …

Prospect Hot Sheet: August 13  —  After missing a month—and an opportunity to play in his second straight Futures Game—with a shoulder injury, Maybin got back to being Maybin, raking for both average and power.  —  After hitting .304/.393/.486 in 296 at-bats, the Tigers called Maybin up to Double-A …

Under The Knife  —  Thanks and Faith Edition  —  I try to read and respond to all the email I get, but due to what's going on here, I was out of touch with what was really going on.  If you sent me an email asking for an immediate answer, you probably got a quick response at best, telling you that I was out of touch.

Traber optioned; Bacsik sent to 'pen  —  Righty Hill expected to be activated and start Tuesday  —  PHOENIX — Following Sunday's victory over the Diamondbacks, the Nationals optioned left-hander Billy Traber to Triple-A Columbus and are expected to reinstate right-hander Shawn Hill from the disabled list on Tuesday.