Astros Ask Oswalt to Approve Trade to Phillies  —  HOUSTON - Major League baseball sources told FOX 26 Sports the Houston Astros have a deal in place to trade pitcher Roy Oswalt to the Philadelphia Phillies if Oswalt agrees to waive his no-trade clause.  —  Sources told FOX 26 the Astros have approached Oswalt.

Mets Win Series, Keeping Heads Above .500  —  The Mets have said all year that their goal is to win the National League East.  But in the last month they have harnessed a shorter-term aspiration: to win a series.  —  Before Thursday, the last time that had happened was late June, when the Mets won two of three against Minnesota.

Time is gaining, Red Sox are not  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. - No pain, no gain for the Red Sox [team stats].  —  The fact that nobody cracked a rib, tore a muscle - J.D. Drew [stats]'s mild hamstring issue does not count …

Orioles hire Showalter  —  The Baltimore Orioles have hired ESPN analyst Buck Showalter as their next manager, the team announced Thursday.  —  Showalter's first game as manager will be Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Angels, the first game of a seven-game homestand.

Source: Dodgers to get Podsednik  —  The Dodgers have agreed to a deal that will bring Kansas City Royals outfielder Scott Podsednik to Los Angeles, a baseball source told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark on Wednesday.  —  The Royals would receive two minor leaguers.

Riggleman: Strasburg likely to be shut down for 10 days  —  On an appearance this morning on MLB Network Radio on Sirius/XM, Nationals Manager Jim Riggleman said Stephen Strasburg would not make his scheduled start Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies, and will likely be shut down for 10 days …

Angels seem to be at end of line  —  Though the season is far from over, L.A. is a tired team and virtually out of contention … ANAHEIM, Calif. — Torii Hunter sat at his locker dressed in a gray T-shirt, red shorts and brown slippers, slowly sipping coffee from a green Styrofoam cup.

Jays not pursuing Bautista extension  —  Jose Bautista is having a career year, leading the majors with 30 home runs.  —  PRINT RSS  —  Updated Jul 28, 2010 10:57 PM ET  —  Toronto's Jose Bautista leads the major leagues with 30 home runs.  But the Blue Jays aren't currently discussing a contract extension with him.

Staying clean may be costing Fred McGriff in his bid for Hall of Fame  —  On the weekend he might have been inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame, an extraordinary achievement, Fred McGriff had the most ordinary of weekends.  —  He visited his mother.  He watched his daughter, Ericka, play volleyball.

Top prospect Domonic Brown shines in debut for surging Phillies  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roy Halladay (FSY) threw a six-hitter and top prospect Domonic Brown (FSY) had two hits and two RBI in his major league debut to lead the streaking Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-1 victory over the slumping Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.

Plenty of posturing before deal due date  —  Pessimism about making deals always rules leading up to the trade deadline.  —  It is one part strategy: Teams hope that by making it sound as if there is no way they would meet the current prices then those prices will go down.

Source: Rangers' Ian Kinsler headed to DL  —  Second baseman Ian Kinsler will be placed on the 15-day disabled list today with an injury to his left leg that isn't considered serious but needs to be rested and treated for the stretch run and possible run into the postseason, a major-league source said.

Rodriguez objects to bankruptcy auction  —  Former Texas Rangers and current New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez filed an objection to the Rangers' bankruptcy plan Wednesday over concerns about whether he would receive the $24.9 million he's owed in deferred compensation.