Ramirez's late solo shot rallies Cubs past Phillies  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Aramis Ramirez homered with two outs in the bottom of the eighth Friday for his third hit of the game and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies .  —  Ramirez appears to be coming out of a season-long slump.

They have their work cut out now  —  Sitting in his box on Level 3 of Fenway Park, overlooking the field where his ball club got pounded, 7-2, by the Rangers last night, Red Sox owner John Henry pondered the immediate future of the local nine.  —  “We have to survive July and all these road games coming up,” said Henry.

What Do We Really Know About Defense?  —  Occasionally, I get asked—what's going on with my attempts to make a defensive metric?  I started off working on a Loess-based defensive metric, and then efforts just stalled.  —  It's a fair question, and one that's harder to answer …

Yankees Covet Dunn, Soria  —  The Yankees would love to have Adam Dunn and Joakim Soria, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter).  But the Yankees' interest in the two stars doesn't mean those players will be in pinstripes any time soon.  After all, many teams would love …

Sneeze lands Latos on disabled list  —  SAN DIEGO — Mat Latos said Thursday that he has learned a valuable lesson — the next time he has to sneeze, he'll go ahead and let it fly.  —  Latos, who is tied for third in the National League with 10 victories, will be placed on the 15-day disabled list …

New York Yankees say reports of a player bus being delayed en route to Bob Sheppard's funeral are false … NEW YORK — Reports that a bus carrying Yankees players to Bob Sheppard's funeral Thursday got stuck in traffic due to a fatal accident on a Long Island highway are false, according to a team spokesman.

With prize Lee gone, assessing the trade market for pitchers … With star left-hander Cliff Lee, the clear prize of this trading season, now off the board and a Texas Ranger, here are the best of the rest among the available, semi-available and perhaps available pitchers.

Prospect Hot Sheet: July 16  —  Team: high Class A Wilmington (Carolina)  —  Age: 20.  —  Why He's Here: 2-0, 0.00, 11 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 12 SO  —  The Scoop: John Lamb is no longer the most impressive teenage pitcher in the Carolina League.  Thanks to his July 10th birthday …

Giants ink Willis to Minor League deal  —  SAN FRANCISCO — In the midst of a year in which he had already been designated for assignment by two teams before the All-Star break, Dontrelle Willis was ready to sit out the remainder of the 2010 season.  —  Then, the Giants came calling …

Words don't hurt Ozzie  —  Guillen takes no offense to Williams' dig about fighting  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Leave it to White Sox general manager Ken Williams to turn a mundane pregame clubhouse into a Jerry Springer audience.  —  Appearing on ESPN's “Pardon the Interruption” on Thursday afternoon …

Why You Can Go for the Gold Ball and the Silver Trophy  —  Home Run Derbies have been around in some form for many years, but it officially became part of the All-Star Game festivities in 1985.  Since then, hitters have frequently blamed the Derby for messing up their swings.

Carpenter sharp, Cardinals beat Dodgers 7-1  —  ST. LOUIS—Chris Carpenter allowed four hits in eight innings to improve to 6-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the St. Louis Cardinals chased an off-kilter Clayton Kershaw in the fifth inning of a 7-1 victory Thursday night.

The Grandy man can?  —  Unlike some players who have noticeable trends towards being a first-half or second-half player, Curtis Granderson is almost dead even over his career.  His first-half OBP? .  342. Second-half? .  340. His first-half slugging? .  475. Second-half? .  480. His first-half batting average? .

Time running out for Joba Chamberlain as New York Yankees setup man  —  With trade deadline looming, struggling reliever needs to start producing in setup role … While this weekend will be a celebration of what George Steinbrenner accomplished, it very well could be a tipping point about what Joba Chamberlain hasn't.

Lincecum, Giants shut down Mets 2-0  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Tim Lincecum pitched a six-hitter for his fourth career shutout and Pablo Sandoval hit an RBI double to help the San Francisco Giants open the second half of the season with a 2-0 victory over the New York Mets on Thursday night.