Source: Florida Marlins to offer Bobby Valentine four-year deal; meeting set for Friday  —  Former Texas Rangers and New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine has confirmed he will fly to Florida on Friday night to meet with Marlins executives, including owner Jeffrey Loria, and discuss the club's managerial job.

Garza goes eight effective innings in Rays' win vs. Padres  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Matt Garza (FSY) pitched eight effective innings, Kelly Shoppach (FSY) came within a triple of hitting for the cycle and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Thursday.

Gaston shuffles things up with Lind, Hill  —  Manager drops both struggling hitters in batting order  —  TORONTO — After nearly three months of watching sluggers Aaron Hill and Adam Lind struggle, Toronto manager Cito Gaston has finally seen enough.  —  Heading into Thursday night's contest …

Pedroia's 3rd HR lifts Red Sox over Rockies in 10  —  DENVER—Dustin Pedroia was hitting the ball all over the place.  Most of all out of the yard.  —  Pedroia went 5 for 5 with three home runs, including a tiebreaking shot off Huston Street in the 10th inning, to lift the Boston Red Sox …

Dusty Baker not inspiring faith as Reds go toe-to-toe with Cardinals … Coming off a sweep of the A's in Oakland, the Reds look more and more like serious challengers to the Cardinals in the NL Central.  While it was their pitching that got the job done in Oakland — three quality starts …

Rangers GM loses bet with streak at 10 … Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said on an ESPNDallas.com chat Thursday that he will honor his bet with shortstop Elvis Andrus and dye his hair now that the team's win streak has reached 10 games.  —  “I was hoping he'd forget, but no such luck,” Daniels said.

Santana Admitted Sex With Accuser  —  Cops: Star claimed act was consensual, portrayed woman as aggressor  —  As Florida police investigated a woman's claim that Johan Santana raped her last October on a golf course, the baseball star admitted to cops that he engaged in consensual sex with the woman …

Inbox: Is it time for big move from D-backs?  —  Beat reporter Gilbert answers fans' questions  —  What do you think about trading Dan Haren?  He is our most valuable player in my opinion and is under contract for a few more years.  —  For me, Carl, that depends on the answer to the question …

South Carolina sinks Oklahoma 3-2 in 12 innings at CWS  —  OMAHA (AP) — Brady Thomas singled in the winning run in the 12th inning and South Carolina eliminated Oklahoma from the College World Series with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.  —  The Gamecocks (50-16) were down to their last strike …

Gallardo perfect after five vs. Twins  —  MILWAUKEE — Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo's bid for a perfect game was broken up with one out in the sixth inning by Twins catcher Drew Butera's opposite-field single to right on Thursday afternoon at Miller Park.

Pagan forced to leave Mets victory early  —  NEW YORK — New York Mets center fielder Angel Pagan was forced to leave Wednesday night's game in the seventh inning.  —  After the game, Mets manager Jerry Manuel said Pagan had muscle spasms in his right side.  Manuel said he is “optimistic” it is not a long-term problem.