Top News:
Joe McDonald / ESPN:
Boston Red Sox place Hideki Okajima on DL with left calf strain, recall Felix Doubront — NEW YORK — The Boston Red Sox on Friday put lefty reliever Hideki Okajima on the disabled list with a right hamstring strain and recalled lefty Felix Doubront to take his spot in the bullpen. — Okajima
Discussion:
Boston Globe
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Tom Krasovic / Fanhouse MLB Blog:
Owner: Battered Red Sox Need ‘Miracle’ — The Boston Red Sox are typically the last baseball club that West Coast Bias cares to write about, but the aversion today isn't driven by fatigue with one of Big Media's darlings. — Fear, rather, is at work, as FanHouse doesn't pay sportswriters idled …
Discussion:
NESN.com and Full Count
George A. King III / New York Post:
Yankees look to make battered Boston has-Beans
Yankees look to make battered Boston has-Beans
Discussion:
The Joy of Sox, NY Daily News and The Soxaholix
Steve Lombardi / Bats:
Keeping Score: An Ace, and Some Hope, Return for Red Sox
Keeping Score: An Ace, and Some Hope, Return for Red Sox
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports, Over the Monster, Boston Globe, baseballmusings.com, Pinstripe Alley and BronxBanterBlog.com
Steven Krasner / ESPN:
Boston Red Sox's Kevin Youkilis to have season-ending thumb surgery on Friday
Boston Red Sox's Kevin Youkilis to have season-ending thumb surgery on Friday
Discussion:
lenNY's Yankees, Yankeeist and USA Today
Doug Harrison / CBC News:
Arencibia set to realize dream with Blue Jays — Catching prospect expected to suit up for Friday's series opener against Rays — Blue Jays fans impressed with the development of pitchers Ricky Romero and Brett Cecil, along with outfielder Travis Snider, will get another glimpse of the team's future this weekend.
Discussion:
Bluebird Banter and Batter's Box Interactive …
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CBC News:
Jays' Cecil tops Garza in duel — Toronto starter Brett Cecil struck out nine batters and the Blue Jays took advantage of a pair of Tampa Bay errors to beat the Rays 2-1 on Friday night. — Tampa Bay has the second best record in baseball, but Cecil (9-5) has now beaten them three times this season.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Baker, Reds working toward extension — CHICAGO — The early groundwork toward a contract extension for Reds manager Dusty Baker appears under way. — “I've been approached in the last couple days,” Baker said on Friday. “There are some things starting.” — Baker's three-year contract with Cincinnati expires after the season.
Discussion:
Church of Baseball and Mark My Word
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Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
No movement on Grandal-Reds deal
No movement on Grandal-Reds deal
Discussion:
Cincinnati Reds and Mark My Word
NY Daily News:
Martino: Phils fight while Mets flop — The Mets sat in first place in the National League East when they made their initial visit to Philadelphia this year back in May. Reminded of that fact then, one prominent Phillie smirked, rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, we'll see about that.”
Discussion:
Phillies Nation, The Good Phight, MetsBlog.com, Tedquarters and Amazin' Avenue
David Ginsburg / Associated Press:
Orioles win again, top White Sox 2-1 in 10 innings — BALTIMORE—Adam Jones singled in the winning run with two outs in the 10th inning, and the Baltimore Orioles extended their unbeaten run under new manager Buck Showalter with a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.
Discussion:
Camden Chat
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David Ginsburg / Associated Press:
Orioles beat Angels 5-4 for three-game sweep
Orioles beat Angels 5-4 for three-game sweep
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Henry Schulman / SFGate:
Giants not awarded waiver claim on Dunn; It probably was the Dodgers — I have just learned that the Giants were not the team that was awarded the waiver claim on Nationals power man Adam Dunn. That's not much of a surprise. The Giants had the third-best record in the National League …
Discussion:
Dodgers Blog, MASNsports.com, True Blue LA, Federal Baseball and The Nationals Enquirer
daynperry.com:
Interview: Pedro Martinez — Photo by dbking, used with a Creative Commons license — Future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, who enjoyed one of the great peaks of any pitcher in baseball history, recently agreed to take a few questions from me. He did so as part of the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Summer Job program.
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley, Subway Squawkers and Over the Monster
Bobby Melok / NY Daily News:
Mets' Single-A team Savannah Sand Gnats to have fan light stuntman Ted Batchelor on fire after game — There are plenty of people Mets fans would probably jump at the chancee to light them on fire, with the season they've been having, like the Wilpons, Omar Minaya and Jerry Manuel.
Baseball America:
NOT-SO HOT SHEET — • Neftali Soto, 1b, Reds: Soto's return to high Class A was supposed to give him a chance to regain his confidence after a rough 2009 season. And he was working on catching as well, which would add to his prospect value. Soto hasn't picked up a catcher's mitt since June 1 …
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues, redsminorleagues.com and Talking Chop
Jason Beck / MLB.com:
Ilitch: Leyland, Dombrowski will return in '11 — DETROIT — Any lingering question about the futures of Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski and manager Jim Leyland seemed to find its answer Friday, when team owner Mike Ilitch said both will be back next year.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Andrew Seligman / Associated Press:
Reds beat Cubs 3-0, move 14 games over .500 — CHICAGO—Bronson Arroyo threw five-hit ball over seven innings in another dominant effort against the Cubs, and the Cincinnati Reds beat Chicago 3-0 Friday to move 14 games over .500 for the first time in 11 years.
Discussion:
Bleed Cubbie Blue
Joe Frisaro / MLB.com:
Foul call, then game, goes against Marlins — Inches from walk-off victory, Florida watches Phils prevail in 10 — MIAMI — Near-elation turned into more frustration for the Marlins on Thursday night. — Carlos Ruiz belted a homer off Will Ohman in the top of the 10th inning to lift …
Discussion:
HardballTalk
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