Phils Are Early Favorites For Halladay  —  One source told Ed Price of MLB Fanhouse that “the Phillies are leaders at this point” in the Roy Halladay sweepstakes.  However, that doesn't mean the Jays ace will be dealt.  As another source points out, J.P. Ricciardi is not in a hurry to trade Halladay …

Bartolo Colon of Chicago White Sox missing with Triple-A start scheduled Thursday  —  Chicago White Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon is scheduled to make a minor league rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Thursday.  —  Problem is, the White Sox don't know where he is.  —  “I know where he is supposed to be right now.

Kershaw twirls more zeroes in Dodger romp  —  As they say in the news biz, “We have a developing story.”  And it's not about Manny Ramirez.  —  Clayton Kershaw pitched six shutout innings in the Dodgers' 8-0 blanking of the New York Mets.  — In his past five starts …

Game 83: Yankees at Twins (Updates: Aceves to start Thurs., Halladay talk and Girardi pre-game audio)  —  YANKEES (48-34)  —  Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (7-5, 3.85).  —  TWINS (43-40)  —  Span LF  —  Harris SS  —  Mayer C  —  Morneau 1B  —  Cuddyer RF  —  Crede 3B  —  Young DH

Embree earns ‘W’ without throwing pitch  —  Rockies reliever first hurler to accomplish feat since 2003  —  DENVER — Call Rockies left-hander Alan Embree the winning picker.  —  Embree entered Tuesday night's game against the Nationals with two out in the eighth, Austin Kearns the runner on first and the score tied at 4.

Ryan Dempster could miss month with broken toe  —  Chicago Cubs starter hurt it trying to run on field for celebration  —  A young fan in the crowd laughs as Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster tumbles over the dugout railing after Sunday's victory and breaks his toe.  (Nuccio DiNuzzo, Chicago Tribune / July 5, 2009)

How the Nats Lost Last Night  —  Yesterday evening, I wrote that one of the reasons you have to keep watching this baseball team every night is because of the chance “that you'll see something the universe has never seen before.”  That was well-timed.  —  “In a weird, out of body experience way …

Parra likely for Thursday  —  Updating my post from a few hours ago, it appears that Manny Parra will return to the Brewers' starting rotation on Thursday against the Cardinals.  Manager Ken Macha wouldn't confirm who will pitch that game, but he did lay out his rotation for the rest of the week:

Dykstra files for Chapter 11  —  NEW YORK — Lenny Dykstra, the former star center fielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, court records show.  —  Dykstra, 46, has no more than $50,000 in assets and between $10 million …

Win is in the stars for Sox  —  Josh Beckett, Jason Bay & Co. show way past A's  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  A night after a visitor (Nomahh) drew more cheers than the home starter (Smoltzie), the Red Sox [team stats] and their fans behaved much more like themselves last night.

Punchless David Wright takes crack at the Mets  —  After another awful loss in a season already full of them before the All-Star break, David Wright stood in the home clubhouse Tuesday night at Citi Field and blasted the Mets for the way they've been playing.  They were the best hacks Wright has taken all week.

Ross putting forth All-Star effort  —  Florida (43-42) at San Francisco (46-37), 3:45 p.m. ET  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Prior to the opener of the Marlins' series against the San Francisco Giants, manager Fredi Gonzalez was trying to figure out a scenario that would allow Cody Ross to make the National League All-Star team.

Reds recover, rally past Phillies 4-3  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Brandon Phillips already had a pair of homers when he came to the plate with the go-ahead run on second in the ninth inning.  The cleanup hitter had no problem sacrificing.  —  After losing the previous two games by a combined score of 32-2 …