Mets' Wagner takes day off; Mets beat Dodgers, 4-3  —  Billy Wagner had his ruse all ready to go, only to be talked out of it at the last minute.  —  Standing in the trainer's room after sitting out the Mets' 4-3 win over the Dodgers, Wagner had his oh-so-valuable left arm in a sling.

Phils' Myers, reporter in shouting match  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies bullpen coughed up another lead.  Then, things really boiled over in the clubhouse after the game.  —  Kevin Kouzmanoff hit a go-ahead homer off Brett Myers in the ninth inning …

Heavy rains wring out the worst in Wrigley  —  Recent rainstorms have deluged Chicago's ballparks, but the results have been as different as north and south.  —  Water was being wrung out of Wrigley Field's turf, while the moisture at U.S. Cellular Field was whisked away with a modern pump system.

Pirates Notebook: Struggling Moskos taken out of game action  —  HOUSTON — The Pirates have taken reliever Danny Moskos, their first-round draft pick in June, out of game action in State College to address mechanical issues.  —  "It's not a big deal, and it's not a health issue at all," …

Showing no mercy  —  CHICAGO - It has almost become a ritual.  —  For four days straight Tim Wakefield [stats] sits in the corner of the Red Sox [team stats] clubhouse, legs crossed, zoning in on the day's crossword puzzle.  Every once in a while he might peer up to see what's going on …

Notes: Castillo's injury creates logjam  —  Second baseman's hurt knee delays Chavez's return from DL  —  NEW YORK — Luis Castillo — or more specifically, his bum right knee — has thrown a monkey wrench into the Mets' roster machinations.  —  The team is waiting for an opportunity …

Notes: La Russa defends defense  —  Skipper says pitchers must also shoulder some of the blame  —  ST. LOUIS — One day after he watched his team commit four errors for the second straight game, Cards manager Tony La Russa again aggressively defended his club's defense.

From Camp Moosilauke to Camden Yards  —  The Orioles' 30-3 trampling by the Rangers on Wednesday marked the most inauspicious debut for a man in charge since William Henry Harrison.  Dave Trembley, who hours before had been made Baltimore's manager — he had been the interim skipper …

Sarah's Take: Thinking positive  —  Fans, media need to remain optimistic for playoff push  —  After an extended dry spell, the Dodgers have performed better on this road trip.  The ill-timed losing spell might have put the Dodgers' quest for a playoff berth in jeopardy, but the players still believe they can go to the playoffs.

Wang goes 8, tired Yanks rip Tigers 7-2  —  DETROIT (AP) — The Yankees sure didn't look like a team suffering from a lack of sleep.  —  Johnny Damon homered and tripled, Melky Cabrera added a three-run triple and Chien-Ming Wang delivered eight effective innings, leading New York …

On the clock  —  For those of you still wondering about the decision to play last night, well, it's not totally the umpires' fault, either.  Supposedly all the umpiring crews received a memo from MLB on Friday that with the pennant races developing, they should try to get every game in that they possibly can.