Jeter leads the way in early balloting  —  Yankees captain paces American League in first polls  —  The young gun at third base is catching up with a bullet, but the wise old Yankee remains the American League's headliner.  —  Once again, the first 2009 AL balloting update for Major League Baseball's …

Game 47: Yankees at Rangers (with updates on Bruney, Cabrera and Posada)  —  YANKEES (26-20)  —  Pitching: RHP A.J. Burnett (2-2, 5.28).  —  RANGERS (27-18)  —  Kinsler 2B  —  Young 3B  —  Hamilton CF  —  Jones DH  —  Cruz RF  —  Murphy LF  —  Davis 1B  —  Saltalamacchia C

Manny Ramirez's return to Los Angeles Dodgers goes through minors … DENVER — Suspended outfielder Manny Ramirez will be sent to the minor leagues for a week to 10 days as part of a rehabilitation assignment prior to rejoining the Los Angeles Dodgers.  —  Ramirez

Gonzalez's 18th home run leads Padres past D'backs  —  PHOENIX (AP) — One day after battling the flu, Adrian Gonzalez didn't need a note from his doctor to return to the San Diego Padres' lineup.  —  “He was a ‘go’ from the time that he walked into the clubhouse, poked his head in here and poked …

Zambrano ejected, Johnson's homer gives Cubs win  —  CHICAGO - Carlos Zambrano went wild in a ball-tossing, bat-swinging tirade after being ejected, and was gone when Reed Johnson hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning that sent the Chicago Cubs over the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 Wednesday.

Astros have come undone, and clock could be ticking on Coop  —  Now Cecil Cooper is publicly calling out Roy Oswalt, and the wheels have pretty much come off.  There were errors on Monday and baserunning mistakes on Tuesday.  In between, Cooper called a team meeting that did absolutely nothing.

Cabrera designated for assignment  —  Righty to become free agent; decision coming on MacDougal  —  NEW YORK — After Tuesday's 6-1 loss to the Mets, the Nationals designated right-hander Daniel Cabrera for assignment and recalled catcher Luke Montz from Double-A Harrisburg.

Reimold's homer in 11th caps Baltimore's rally past fading Toronto  —  BALTIMORE (AP) — Nolan Reimold hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to cap a second surprising comeback by the Baltimore Orioles, who beat Toronto 12-10 Wednesday to extend the Blue Jays' losing streak to nine games.

Porcello's historic run continues  —  Rookie wins fifth consecutive start as Tigers beat KC  —  KANSAS CITY — Rick Porcello wasn't born yet when Dwight Gooden dominated as a teenager.  For history's sake, that's good; if he was around then, he'd be too old to set the kind of standards he's reaching right now.

Red Sox-Twins: Updates  —  (10:51, bottom seventh, 4-2 Twins)Not a great night for George Kottaras.  He's boxed around six wild pitches, the last one here in the seventh by Justin Masterson kicked off his right leg into the dugout, scoring the runner from second.

Randy Johnson wins No. 299, Giants top Braves 6-3  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Randy Johnson earned his 299th victory with six impressive innings, yielding three hits and one run in the San Francisco Giants' 6-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.  —  Johnson (4-4) retired the Braves …

Rain won't be issue at Marlins' new park  —  Retractable roof will prevent delays, loss of attendance … PHILADELPHIA — Rainy weather has always played havoc with the Marlins' season.  —  Frequent storms have impacted attendance and the pace of games since the team's inaugural season in 1993.

Nix bros. earn place in baseball lore  —  Pair joins staunch list of siblings who homered on same day  —  ANAHEIM — Forgive Jayson Nix if he didn't have perfect recall following the White Sox 4-2 victory over the Angels on Tuesday night at Angel Stadium.  —  After finishing off …

Nationals are building for future  —  What do you get for the team that has nothing?  —  For the Nationals and Mike Rizzo, their vice president of baseball operations, the buzzword is “impact” players.  —  “Nick Johnson, or (Josh) Willingham, or (Austin) Kearns, anyone on our roster …