First-Round Pick Gerrit Cole Opts for College Over Yankees  —  When the Yankees drafted pitcher Gerrit Cole in the first round of the June draft, they believed that Cole would sign with them and forego a college scholarship.  It turns out that Cole has changed his mind and will go to U.C.L.A. instead.

Breaking News: Chris Russo has left WFAN  —  Two weeks shy of its 19th anniversary, the “Mike and the Mad Dog” show is no more.  —  WFAN announced early Thursday evening that Chris Russo is leaving the company, making Mike Francesa the sole host of the popular afternoon drive time show.

Newfound consistency makes Perez a key Met  —  If you were to rank the top reasons why these Mets have gone from doomed to (maybe) destined in the last two months, where would you place the surge of Oliver Perez?  —  Easily among the top five, right?  How about the top four …

Yanks set to place Giese on DL  —  Righty first injured in sixth inning vs. Twins on Wednesday  —  NEW YORK — Yankees right-hander Dan Giese has been diagnosed with rotator cuff tendinitis and will be placed on the 15-day disabled list, the club announced on Thursday.

Huff clears waivers  —  Move enables possible deal; Sherrill to stay  —  CLEVELAND - Orioles designated hitter Aubrey Huff could still be traded to a contender this month, but All-Star closer George Sherrill can't be.  —  According to two baseball sources, Huff, who is having a resurgent season …

Ibanez, Washburn to remain with M's … Time expired on Thursday afternoon on waiver claims made on Raul Ibanez and Jarrod Washburn, and both players will be remaining with the Mariners.  SI.com has learned that the Tigers won the claim on Ibanez and the Twins won the claim on Washburn.

Kent thriving batting ahead of Manny  —  Second baseman, left fielder form run-producing tandem  —  LOS ANGELES — Jeff Kent believes seven games is too small a sample to draw any conclusions.  —  But since he's moved into the third spot of the Dodgers' batting order …

White Sox belt four straight homers, ruffle Royals in sweep  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alexei Ramirez and Juan Uribe hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning Thursday to tie a major league record and the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 9-2 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

Here they go again  —  The Red Sox' inexorable scoring spree against the pitch-poor Rangers is under way.  With two outs, David Ortiz punctuates a 9-0 second inning (so far), punching out a three-run homer, his 17th HR of the season.  Kevin Youkilis follows with a double to center field, and comes home on Jason Bay's single to left.

Mets take over 1st place, beat Nats 9-3  —  WASHINGTON (AP)— The Washington Nationals have the worst record in baseball, but the New York Mets played them with the kind of intensity reserved for the best clubs.  —  Brian Schneider homered against his former team and Carlos Delgado …

Hiroki Kuroda is sharp again as Dodgers sweep Phillies  —  Matt Kemp homers and L.A. remains tied for first with Arizona.  —  Manny Ramirez showed up at Dodger Stadium with his dreadlocks trimmed by an inch or so like Manager Joe Torre asked, and, sure enough, he didn't get a hit.

Paying Manny $100M would set a dangerous precedent … Life sure is beautiful these days on Planet Manny.  Uhhh, a little too beautiful.  —  Hey, we couldn't be happier for those Los Angeles Dodgers, who are selling about 30,000 tickets a day now that they've moved their home games to Planet Manny.

Cubs sweep Braves  —  ATLANTA — A brief benches-clearing skirmish and only the second cycle in Atlanta history couldn't stop the Chicago Cubs from completing their first season sweep of the Braves.  —  Aramis Ramirez and Alfonso Soriano hit home runs and the Cubs beat Atlanta 11-7 on Thursday night …