Chicago White Sox could shut down Jake Peavy  —  Manager Ozzie Guillen says it's a possibility  —  Jake Peavy smiles after being introduced as the latest member of the White Sox pitching staff.  (Charles Rex Arbogast, Associated Press / August 1, 2009)  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Jake Peavy's goal …

Senate hopeful of the day: Curt Schilling  —  Add another name to the growing list of pols and would-be pols eyeing a run for Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat: former Red Sox ace Curt Schilling.  —  That's right, Mr. Bloody Sock himself told NECN's Brad Puffer in an interview today that he has been …

Heroes abound in Sox's win over Rays  —  While Lester shines, Ellsbury, Papelbon steal show late  —  ST. PETERSBURG — It looked like it might have been slipping away, this game that the Red Sox once led by five runs.  At Tropicana Field, where manager Terry Francona and his team …

Ned Colletti wants to return to the Dodgers  —  The general manager, a day after acquiring Jim Thome and Jon Garland, says he'd love to be back next season.  —  Ned Colletti's contract as Dodgers' general manager includes a mutual option for 2010.  (Alex Gallardo / Los Angeles Times)  —  On The Dodgers

Brad Penny joins the Dodger haters  —  PHILADELPHIA — A reporter started to ask Brad Penny about pitching in front of 42,000 crazed, Dodger-hating fans when the Giants' new No. 5 starter interrupted him.  —  “42,001,” said Penny, grinning.  —  It remains to be seen how much Penny …

Bad blood bubbling in Baltimore  —  When A.J. Burnett allowed a home run by light-hitting Felix Pie in the first inning yesterday, he turned around and shouted some unkind words in the direction of the Baltimore outfielder.  —  The words weren't necessarily at Pie, they were more an expression of frustration.

Sternberg talks attendance, Kazmir  —  Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg addressed the media this afternoon, touching on the hot topics of the moment—primarily attendance and the team dealing away Scott Kazmir last week.  —  Sternberg didn't seem too interested in latching onto …

Toy plane takes off at Dodger Stadium  —  Remote-control flier stops play briefly in sixth inning  —  LOS ANGELES — It's not rare to see an occasional beach ball fall onto the field during a game at Dodger Stadium.  —  A remote-control airplane?  That definitely could be filed under unusual.

Giants will purchase Buster Posey's contract today  —  The Giants are calling up top catching prospect Buster Posey and he'll join the team today, sources confirmed to me.  —  Now it's clear why Posey wasn't in the lineup for Triple-A Fresno last night.  GM Brian Sabean had said repeatedly …

A-Rod's doctor optimistic about hip  —  Slugger may not need another surgery after season  —  Alex Rodriguez's recovery from a March right hip surgery has progressed so well that the doctor who performed the procedure is hopeful that the Yankees slugger won't need another surgery after the season.

Swisher baffled by homers on the road  —  New York (84-48) at Baltimore (54-79), 7:05 p.m. ET  —  BALTIMORE — Maybe Nick Swisher really just loves eating meals off a room-service tray?  It's as good an explanation as anyone has been able to come up with for his bizarre home run stats in 2009.

Lilly shines for Cubs, blanks Astros 2-0  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Ted Lilly (FSY) pitched eight shutout innings to reach the 10-win mark for the seventh consecutive season and Derrek Lee (FSY) hit a two-run homer Wednesday, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 2-0 victory over Aaron Boone (FSY) and the Houston Astros.

Old is the New New?  —  Tyler Kepner tossed out that Betances had a procedure similar to Mariano Rivera today, but with that aside, he outed something that I had never heard before.  Mark Newman of the Yankees told the press that Betances' procedure was an “overlay TJ,” …