Phils acquire Blanton, send 3 minor leaguers to A's … The Phillies have reached an agreement with the Oakland Athletics to acquire right-handed pitcher Joe Blanton.  Blanton is 5-12 this season after going 14-10 with a 3.95 ERA last season.  —  The Athletics get second baseman Adrian Cardenas …

Yankees have tentative deal with first baseman Sexson … The New York Yankees have reached a tentative agreement with Richie Sexson, who was released by the Seattle Mariners a week ago.  —  Sexson fits in New York because the Yankees needed a right-handed slugger to match up against left-handed pitching …

Diamondbacks, in need of bat, trade for Clark  —  First baseman Tony Clark has been traded from the San Diego Padres to the Arizona Diamondbacks, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney reported.  —  Under his contract with the Padres, Clark would have received $500,000 from the Padres if traded …

Clarification on Barry Bonds' ‘Talks’ with Yankees  —  The Bronx Bomber's report that former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds is in contract negotiations with Yankees general manager Brian Cashman comes from a source within the Yankees organization, though not through conventional channels.

postGame: Mets 10 Reds 8  —  The Mets (52-44) beat the Reds (46-51) by the score of 10 to 8 tonight in Cincinnati, increasing their winning streak to ten consecutive games.  —  For the first time since April 19th, the Mets are in first place, even if they do share it with the Phillies.

Jason Giambi Eschews Your Petty Shot Glasses  —  The 'Stache must be sated.  And sated ain't coming from a glass.  Seriously though, does Giambi not have a buddy with him to point out that a night never ends well that begins with swilling straight from the bottle of JD?  Guess not.

Jersey of the Week - All Star Yankee Hair  —  Okay, I really shouldn't have even titled this a Jersey of the Week post.  I was looking for a good All-Star related jersey and simply couldn't find one.  —  But it needed to be shared.  And since JotW is Home Run Derby's showcase …

Agent: Twins phenom Liriano frustrated over status  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on the FSN Baseball Report and MLB on FOX.

Foot injury knocks El Duque out of B-Mets game  —  Orlando Hernandez cited a foot injury as the reason he exited after just one inning Thursday in the Binghamton Mets game against Connecticut at NYSEG Stadium.  —  Hernandez, making his fourth minor-league rehab start and first with the B-Mets, gave up two runs in the first inning.

Tigers hit 3 homers, beat Orioles 6-5  —  BALTIMORE (AP)—A few words of advice went a long way for Gary Sheffield—say, around 750 feet.  —  Sheffield hit one home run and was robbed of another, and the Detroit Tigers also got homers from Brandon Inge and Marcus Thames in a 6-5 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night.

Japanese pitcher Hideo Nomo retires  —  TOKYO (AFP) — Japanese right-handed pitcher Hideo Nomo, who won National League Rookie of the Year honours in 1995, on Thursday announced his retirement from baseball.  —  The 39-year-old Nomo, who pitched two no-hitters in the US Major Leagues …

John Henry fires back at slugger's comments  —  Manny Ramirez might get his meeting with John Henry, but the Red Sox [team stats]' principal owner will have a hard time giving his slugger any sympathy.  —  Henry responded via e-mail to Ramirez' statement in The Herald yesterday saying …