New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox rivalry reaches waiver wire  —  The rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox burns strongly even when it comes to waiver claims.  —  When the New York Mets and Red Sox worked out a trade for left-handed reliever Billy Wagner earlier this week …

Madden: Yanks show no direction  —  It was a rather bittersweet matinee at the Stadium Thursday for the Yankees, who failed in their mission to become equal opportunity wild-card spoilers against the pesky Texas Rangers.  Actually, there was a whole lot more bitter (12 runners left on base …

Reyes might be next to have surgery  —  MIAMI - Jose Reyes may be the next Met in line for surgery, joining Johan Santana and Oliver Perez on operating tables in the coming days.  —  Reyes, who has not appeared in a major-league game since pulling himself from a May20 game at Dodger Stadium …

Four Brewers Clear Waivers  —  Jason Kendall, Craig Counsell, Mike Cameron and Braden Looper all cleared waivers yesterday, according to Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Now, the Brewers can trade those players to any team.  Interested clubs will want to complete deals by Monday …

Closer Mike MacDougal Saves the Day as Nats Hold Off Cubs  —  Broken Hand Ends Morgan's Season: Nationals 5, Cubs 4  —  Mike MacDougal is 6 feet 4, 190 pounds — maybe 175 if you give him a shave.  He is not a huffing, puffing, big burly closer.  He's the 2-D figure that kids draw …

Madoff Author Sees Sale Of N.Y. Mets Coming  —  NEW YORK — Fred Wilpon, the owner of the New York Mets, will be forced to sell the baseball franchise as soon as 2010 after incurring heavy Bernie Madoff-related investment losses.  —  So says Erin Arvedlund, author of “Too Good to Be True …

A's play spoiler, shrink Angels' West lead  —  Oakland rookie Cahill shuts down Halos in series opener  —  ANAHEIM — Known as “Obama” to teammates for his popularity with the media, Torii Hunter takes his campaign promises seriously.  —  “We'll get it going — I promise you,” Hunter said …

Chicago Cubs should cut Milton Bradley  —  There's no good solution to mess he created  —  On Baseball  —  Milton Bradley?  There are three possible solutions for the Cubs: continued patience and hope, endless headaches while hoping some team is silly enough to deal for him or pay him his money and send him home.

Cards, Franklin close to new contract  —  After spending last winter in a fruitless search for a closer, the Cardinals apparently have settled on one through 2011.  —  The club is expected to announce this weekend an agreement with Ryan Franklin on a contract extension that includes …

Pirates do a number on Happ, Phillies in 3-2 victory  —  PITTSBURGH (AP) — J.A. Happ (FSY) looked like a rookie on the key pitch of the game, and Garrett Jones (FSY) didn't.  The result was the National League's best first-year pitcher was beaten by arguably its best first-year hitter …

Keppinger hits clutch HR in ninth as Astros top Cards  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — One big swing from Jeff Keppinger (FSY), hardly a long-ball threat, eased the Houston Astros' frustrations after getting worked over by St. Louis Cardinals pitchers.  —  Keppinger hit a tiebreaking homer …

Steroid leaks were government's fault  —  Buzz up!  —  The federal appeals court ruling against the government Wednesday in the long running Major League Baseball drug-testing case has several far-reaching ramifications.  —  The decision means that leaking the names of steroid-tainted players …

Jays' ninth-inning win is wild one  —  Barajas' homer ties game; Scutaro scores on wild pitch  —  TORONTO — In a game in which both team's starters were locked in a scoreless battle for most of their time on the mound, the decisive pitch was a wild one.  —  With the bases loaded in the bottom …