Beckett elbow exam results: “Awesome”  —  BOSTON — Josh Beckett had his valuable right elbow examined Friday morning by noted orthopedic surgeon James Andrews, and the results of those tests were “awesome,” said manager Terry Francona.  —  “Everything came out completely structurally sound,” Francona said Friday afternoon.

Journeyman Gives Yankees a Playoff Pulse  —  There is no game quite like baseball offering equal opportunity for the unsung.  To personalize this point, meet Cody Ransom, 32, who happened to grow up a Yankees fan in the Bronx suburb of Mesa, Ariz.  —  There is a generational explanation, a historical link.

Phillies, in need of left-handed bat, deal for Stairs … The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to send Matt Stairs to the Phillies for a minor leaguer to be named later.  —  The trade, first reported by FOXSports.com, gives the Phillies a left-handed bat off the bench to replace the injured Geoff Jenkins.

Hank has eyes on Sabathia, Burnett for offseason  —  A day after promising that the Yankees will be busy in the offseason addressing their needs, Hank Steinbrenner yesterday named two pitchers in whom the Yankees have interest.  —  “Everybody's looking at [CC] Sabathia and [A.J.] Burnett …

Guzman hits for cycle  —  Shortstop accomplishes rare feat against Dodgers  —  WASHINGTON — Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman hit for the cycle in an 11-2 victory over the Dodgers on Thursday night at Nationals Park.  —  Guzman is the second player in Nationals history to perform the feat.

Prospect Hot Sheet: Aug. 29  —  Is the season almost over already?  Brett Wallace may wish that it could go on a little longer.  Just a couple of months ago he was playing for Arizona State, now he's in Double-A and leading Springfield to a playoff spot.  It's an amazing run …

Royals' Olivo expresses frustration with playing time, Hillman  —  Miguel Olivo is ticked.  Not even the guy known in some circles as “Smiley” can ignore it any longer.  —  “It's only, what, (29) more games?” he said.  “I'm going to do my best during that and that's it.”

Yank fan's 7th-inning stretch from hell  —  A New York Yankees fan says he might sue after he was allegedly ejected for trying to use the Yankee Stadium men's room while a patriotic song was playing.  —  Bradford Campeau-Laurion told WCBS-TV in New York Thursday that the seventh-inning stretch seemed …

The Quirks of NPB Pitching  —  It's been another busy week and I haven't had much time for baseball, so let's take a break from the NPB current events and take a look at some pitching.  —  If you've read this blog more than once, you might have observed that it's very pitching-centric.

Prospectus Hit List: Days of Wonder by Jay Jaffe  —  Breaking Away: A six-game winning streak helps the Cubs open up their biggest division lead of the year, and their 193-run differential is now 120 runs ahead of the next-closest NL team.  Mark DeRosa homers in four straight games to continue …