Top News:
Associated Press:
Buehrle completes perfect game to throttle Rays — CHICAGO — Mark Buehrle pitched the first perfect game in the major leagues in five years Thursday and Chicago White Sox center fielder DeWayne Wise got the assist. — Buehrle (11-3) got a great catch from center fielder Wise leading off …
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Andrew Seligman / Yahoo! Sports:
Perfection: Sox' Mark Buehrle pitches perfect game — Buzz up! — CHICAGO (AP)—Mark Buehrle — pitched the 18th perfect game in major league history, and Chicago White Sox center fielder DeWayne Wise — got the assist. — Just into the game as a defensive replacement, Wise robbed Gabe Kapler
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Fox Sports
Scott Merkin / MLB.com:
Anderson seeks trade, everyday opportunity — Outfielder looking for change of scenery to prove himself — CHICAGO — Brian Anderson wants to be traded. — Almost immediately after reading this sentence, one can imagine the collective rolling of the eyes or snickers coming from the general White Sox fan base.
Troy Renck / All Things Rockies:
Rockies acquire Betancourt for Class-A pitcher Graham — DENVER — The Rockies have acquired reliever Rafael Betancourt to the Rockies for Class-A pitcher Connor Graham, according to a major league source. — Graham had been pitching well for Modesto, but the Rockies need big-league relief help.
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Hardball Times, Baseball America, Bottom9 Baseball, Mike Silva's …, Fox Sports, Yahoo! Sports and MLB Daily Dish
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Anthony Castrovince / CastroTurf:
Betancourt traded to Rockies for Class A pitcher — Setup man Rafael Betancourt returned to the Indians' bullpen just in time to become trade bait. And on Thursday, the Rockies bit. — The Indians have traded Betancourt, a fixture in their 'pen since 2003, to the Rockies in exchange for Class A right-hander Connor Graham.
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Rockies trade for Cleveland pitcher Betancourt — The Cleveland Indians will hold a conference call after today's game in Toronto to announce they have traded Rafael Betancourt to the Rockies for Class A pitcher Connor Graham, according to a major-league source.
Buster Olney / MLB:
MLB trade: St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics talking Matt Holliday trade — The St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland Athletics have been talking about a possible swap of All-Star outfielder Matt Holliday and top prospect Brett Wallace, according to sources, and one person familiar with the talks places the odds of a deal at 50-50.
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NESN.com, Cardinal Beat, MLB Daily Dish, MLB Rumors, MetsBlog.com and Cardinals Diaspora
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Jordan Bastian / MLB.com:
Halladay not interested in extension — Blue Jays ace plans to test open market after 2010 season — TORONTO — Before this season began, general manager J.P. Ricciardi made it known that the Blue Jays had no plans to trade Roy Halladay. If anything, the team was going to try to work …
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Chicago Sun Times:
Former Sox pitcher Jim Parque confesses: Why I juiced — Former Sox pitcher Jim Parque says he's sorry he juiced, but he wants to ask you one question: What would you have done? — I'm Jim Parque, former major-league pitcher, and I took human growth hormone.
Discussion:
MOUTHPIECE, Deadspin, SPORTSbyBROOKS, Midwest Sports Fans, Bats, ESPN, Jorge Says No! and MLB FanHouse
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
This sets the stage for something big — Admit it. With the Red Sox interested in acquiring a hitter, you had visions of Victor Martinez, Adrian Gonzalez, or Nick Johnson. General manager Theo Epstein probably did as well. — Adam LaRoche probably wasn't on your radar.
Discussion:
Sox vs. Stripes, Baseball Analysts, Can't Stop The Bleeding, Surviving Grady and Hardball Times
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Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
If Yanks do make a deal, it's for a hurler — Rotation thinned out by emergence of Aceves, Hughes — NEW YORK — The Yankees made a calculated gamble in poaching starting pitchers Alfredo Aceves and Phil Hughes for their bullpen, one that has helped them become a first-place club while also leaving a lack of depth.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Bryan Hoch / MLB.com:
Wang's right shoulder not improving — Yanks to discuss results of righty's visit with doctor — NEW YORK — Chien-Ming Wang is concerned that his 2009 season may be over, having sought a second opinion as he continues to feel discomfort in his right shoulder.
Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Jocketty focused on improving Reds — No deals close, Bakers says club is ‘looking’ — LOS ANGELES — The Reds haven't exactly flipped the switch after the All-Star break for a second-half surge, but that hasn't encouraged management to move into selling mode as the Trade Deadline approaches.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
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Juan C. Rodriguez / Sun-Sentinel:
Marlins lineup erratic, especially at top — SAN DIEGO - Until Chris Coghlan's two-run homer in the ninth inning Wednesday it appeared the Marlins were headed for their third consecutive game of scoring three runs. This after getting shut out in two of three against the Phillies last weekend.
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FishStripes
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Tom D'Angelo / Palm Beach Post:Marlins notes: Offense seeks consistency, Nolasco whiffs, Cantu sits
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FishStripes
Maury Brown / The Biz of Baseball:
10 Marketing Issues for Major League Baseball — Leave the television on long enough, and at some point, you'll see a star athlete plugging products. Whether it's Dwayne Wade, Tiger Woods, the Williams sisters, Danica Patrick, or Brett Favre, you'll bump into them on the dial.
Discussion:
Hardball Times
Dave van Dyck / Chicago Tribune:
Chicago Cubs still looking to shake-and-stir the team — But don't expect any big deals before trading deadline — When Lou Piniella practically pleaded for a “couple more hitters at this trading deadline” Tuesday, it was probably more the irritability of an impatient manager than anything based in reality.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
ESPN:
Mets not giving up yet! — Stunning news from Shea, via MLBTradeRumors: — “Right now we do not envision [being a seller],” [Omar] Minaya said. “If we're 6 ½ [back] in the wild card with a couple of teams in front of us, we are still kind of trying to find out how we can improve this team …
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Jayson Stark / MLB:
Biggest myths about the trade deadline — Plus the latest on Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and other potential trade chips — If it's the third week of July, you know what that means: — Your air conditioner is about to break down in the next 30 seconds, of course. — But that's not all it means.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
