Peavy's agent comments on Philly  —  Axelrod says Padres ace hasn't talked about trade to Phillies  —  PHILADELPHIA — If the Phillies decide they need starting pitching help before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the hottest name available would be San Diego Padres right-hander Jake Peavy.

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

Jeter, Longoria vie for most votes in American League All-Star Balloting  —  wo Rangers, two Red Sox are among A.L. leaders; Ichiro, Griffey compete for OF spot  —  New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria are in a closely contested race …

Zambrano loses his cool after ejection  —  Big Z argues theatrically after run scores on wild pitch  —  CHICAGO — At this rate, the Gatorade dispenser in the Cubs dugout will not last the entire season.  —  Carlos Zambrano attacked it with a bat on Wednesday after he was ejected …

The Manny candidacy gains steam  —  A few years back, American Idol had a contestant named Sanjaya Malakar, and when he sang it was evident that he probably was not the most qualified candidate.  But he was different and he was quirky and liked unusual hair styles and he got a lot of attention week to week.

Myers injures hip in loss to Marlins  —  Right-hander expects to make next start, but isn't certain  —  PHILADELPHIA — The unknown gnawed at Brett Myers late Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.  —  He has been healthy for most of his eight-year Phillies career, but he suddenly finds himself wondering …

Fran Tarkenton Responds to the Brett Favre Stir He Created, Destroys Marcellus Wiley  —  Fran Tarkenton appeared on 790 the Zone Tuesday and was asked about Brett Favre coming back to the Vikings.  He called it “despicable” and got freaking blasted yesterday.  (For whatever it's worth, I freaking agree; go 'way, Brett!)

Braves' GM won't comment on Francoeur-Red Sox rumors  —  SAN FRANCISCO -  —  Braves general manager Frank Wren would not comment on a report that the Boston Red Sox have recently scouted Jeff Francoeur and might have trade interest in the Braves right fielder.

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 …

Indians recall reliever Okha … CLEVELAND (AP) — Right-hander Tomo Ohka was recalled by the Cleveland Indians on Thursday and left-hander Zach Jackson was optioned to Triple-A Columbus.  —  Ohka spent parts of nine seasons in the major leagues with Boston, Montreal, Washington, Milwaukee …

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.

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

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.

PitchF/X Detective: Has Bradley's Strike Zone Been Widened  —  Last weekend Milton Bradley claimed that his strike zone had been expanded in retaliation for his early season run-in with umpire Larry Vanover. … This claim was brought to my attention in Craig Calcaterra's ShysterBall blog …

REPLAY-AIDED HR PROPELS METS TO SWEEP  —  Any minute now, instant replay is going to determine the Mets actually made the playoffs the last two seasons.  —  The Mets love technology — last night it even helped make previously slumping Daniel Murphy into a savior.

Time for Astros to fire Cooper may be now  —  So now Cecil Cooper wants accountability.  Funny that he chose to start with someone other than himself.  —  This is the kind of thing a manager does when he's trying to get fired.  Could that be what's going on here?

Yankees sign RHP Paul Bush  —  A big thank you to Mike Ashmore who forwarded a press release to make sure I heard about this one.  It helps having a friend who spends some time covering the Atlantic League.  This is Ashmore's breaking news, I'm just the guy posting it...