Braves' Jones sidelined with slight injury to thigh  —  ATLANTA — Braves third baseman Chipper Jones wasn't going to play Sunday due to a small tear in his right quadriceps and may miss one or two more games.  —  Jones, leading the majors with a .420 batting average, injured the muscle …

Cuban prospect defects to U.S. … MIAMI (AP) — One of Cuba's top baseball prospects has defected and settled in South Florida in hopes of playing in the major leagues.  —  Dayan Viciedo arrived in the United States at the end of May and is now living with friends and family, his agent, Jaime Torres, said Sunday.

Clark's homer gives Padres sweep of Mets  —  SAN DIEGO (AP)—Pinch-hitter Tony Clark connected for a go-ahead, three-run homer off Billy Wagner with two outs in the eighth inning to lift the San Diego Padres over the New York Mets 8-6 Sunday for a four-game sweep.

Ellis' slam in 12th lifts A's by Angels  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Mark Ellis hit a grand slam with two outs in the 12th inning Sunday, giving the Oakland Athletics a 7-3 victory that snapped the Los Angeles Angels' season-best seven-game winning streak.  —  Ellis hit the first pitch …

Bay's double lifts Pirates over Arizona  —  PITTSBURGH (AP)—Doug Davis didn't look the way Arizona pitchers Brandon Webb and Dan Haren did the two previous days.  Not surprisingly, the Diamondbacks didn't resemble the first-place team that finally appeared to be breaking out of a slide.

Cash: Hank's behind me  —  Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed yesterday that Hank Steinbrenner has officially expressed an interest in retaining his services beyond 2008, when his current contract expires.  There have been no official negotiations, but Cashman stressed that he isn't looking to leave the Bronx.

White Sox rip Twins, win sixth straight  —  CHICAGO (AP)—Ozzie Guillen took his shots, and now, his hitters are taking theirs.  —  Nick Swisher and Alexei Ramirez homered, and Joe Crede had another big day at the plate as the Chicago White Sox routed the Minnesota Twins again, 12-2 on Sunday for their sixth straight win.

Chamberlain improves in second start for Yankees  —  NEW YORK - Joba Chamberlain mixed in some curveballs and changeups and moved one step closer to getting past the pitch-count limits that have held him back in his first two starts.  —  All Dan Giese got Sunday was the lineup card and a souvenir ball from a game he'll never forget.

Ailing Young extends hitting streak to 22 games  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  ARLINGTON - Playing despite a broken left ring finger, shortstop Michael Young wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 22 games Saturday by lining a single to left in his first at-bat.  —  But how long Young can keep it up is uncertain.

Q & A with Austin Jackson  —  Last week in Norwich, Conn., while reporting a feature on the Class AA Trenton reliever Mark Melancon, I caught up with outfielder Austin Jackson.  —  In January, Baseball America rated Jackson the second-best prospect in the Yankees' organization, behind only Joba Chamberlain.

Rays' pitcher, catcher scuffle in dugout after fourth  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Tampa Bay starting pitcher Matt Garza and catcher Dioner Navarro had to be separated after arguing in the dugout during Sunday's game at Texas.  —  Television cameras caught the pitcher and catcher face-to-face …