Atlanta Braves cut 305-game winner Tom Glavine … ATLANTA — In a stunning move, the Atlanta Braves released 305-game winner Tom Glavine on Wednesday, just when it seemed he was ready to return to the big leagues.  —  The move was first reported by ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney.

Game 53: Rangers at Yankees (updates with Wang returning to rotation and Teixeira scratched)  —  YANKEES (31-21)  —  New lineup  —  Pitching: LHP Andy Pettitte (5-1, 4.10).  —  RANGERS (30-21)  —  Kinsler 2B  —  Young 3B  —  Jones DH  —  Cruz RF  —  Murphy LF  —  Byrd CF  —  Davis 1B

Randy Johnson's solitary road to 300  —  Buzz up!  —  LOS ANGELES - As soon as Wednesday night in D.C. (and if not, maybe Monday in Florida), Randy Johnson  —  will pitch long enough and well enough to win again, and so will join 23 others with 300 career victories.

Braves acquire McLouth from Pirates  —  Outfielder dealt to Atlanta for three top prospects  —  ATLANTA — The Braves have acquired All-Star outfielder Nate McLouth from the Pirates in exchange for three highly regarded Minor League prospects.  —  The clubs announced that the Pirates …

Farm report: Holt to Binghamton  —  Mets officials say Brad Holt is on a similar trajectory to Mike Pelfrey.  So Holt, the 33rd overall pick in the draft one year ago and the fastest-rising pitching prospect in the organization, was promoted to Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday.

Beckett takes no-hitter into seventh as Red Sox tame Tigers  —  DETROIT — Boston Red Sox starter Josh Beckett, who grew up idolizing Nolan Ryan, nearly joined him in the record books Wednesday.  —  Beckett flirted with a no-hitter for 6 2/3 innings vs. the Detroit Tigers in Boston's 10-5 rout at Comerica Park.

Baseball's Lebron … One rainy February day in Las Vegas, home to a fake pyramid, a phony volcano, a faux Eiffel Tower, an ersatz New York skyline, a pirated copy of a pirate ship and the clever sleights-of-hand of magicians and plastic surgeons, Sam Thomas watched two men stretching …

Notes from Newman (Mitre, Russo, McAllister, Vazquez...)  —  A phone call with Yankees vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman touched on any number of subjects.  Let's tackle them one at a time, shall we?  —  Sergio Mitre  —  Probably the most immediately newsworthy information …

Nobody's perfect: The early line on trade needs for the contenders … No team looks perfect with nearly two months to go before the trade deadline ... well, no team except the Dodgers, that is.  Whomever they use performs.  At least that's the way it looks now.

Sammy Sosa planning to announce formal retirement  —  SANTO DOMINGO — Former Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa said Wednesday that he will soon announce his formal retirement from baseball and that he will not allow his legacy to be stained by steroid-use accusations.

Howard leads Phils to 6th straight win; Romero returns to the mound  —  SAN DIEGO (AP) — After Ryan Howard and J.A. Happ did their thing, J.C Romero finally made his season debut for the Philadelphia Phillies.  —  Howard hit a two-run homer and Happ threw seven scoreless innings …

Rangers Start Trade Talks; Place Vicente Padilla On Outright Waivers  —  UPDATED: 3:35 with correct waiver process information  —  NEW YORK - The Rangers have started the search for more parts for a playoff run in earnest, but will likely have to move some salary in order to acommodate a major trade.

Roy Halladay would like you to wait before voting for Cy Young  —  Not that anyone would ever jump the gun around here, but can someone call the Cy Young engraver and tell him to suspend the Zack Greinke  —  order?  —  Oh, he can hold onto it for safekeeping.  —  And if he's already finished with the ‘Z’ and ‘A’?

Coonelly fields questions in chat  —  Pirates president interacts with fans in monthly online forum  —  Frank Coonelly: Good afternoon, Bucco fans, and thanks for joining me today.  Let's get started.  —  jm_bucsfan: Which prospects might we see in Pittsburgh soon - Andrew McCutchen, Brad Lincoln, Neil Walker?