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 …

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.

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.

Church's slow return clouding Mets' plans  —  CINCINNATI - Ryan Church won't be activated Tuesday, when he's eligible to return from the DL, muddying the Mets' trading-deadline plans.  Mets officials insisted Church didn't have a setback with what they have concluded was migraine-related dizziness and fatigue.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …