Mets' Francisco Rodriguez arrested after allegedly punching father-in-law, charged with assault  —  Francisco Rodriguez is arrested after allegedly punching his father-in-law Wednesday night.  After the tussle, an unidentified family member is taken from Citi Field (below) in an ambulance.

Burrell's homer lifts Giants over Cubs  —  The Sports Network  —  San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Pat Burrell hit the tie-breaking solo homer off Jason Berg leading off the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting San Francisco to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Cueto, Baker, La Russa hit with suspensions  —  Reds starter gets seven games, skippers two games apiece  —  Major League Baseball handed Reds starter Johnny Cueto a seven-game suspension and also suspended Reds manager Dusty Baker and Cardinals skipper Tony La Russa for two games each …

Harper is “begging to play”  —  With less than a week remaining until the August 16 deadline, Tim Chambers, Bryce Harper's college coach, remains confident that Harper will sign with the Washington Nationals before midnight Monday and said it would be “silly” if both sides don't figure it out in time.

Chipper Jones has torn ACL  —  The Atlanta Braves confirmed third baseman Chipper Jones has torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.  —  Jones' agent, BB Abbott, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the third baseman will need surgery and is likely done for the season, a major setback for the first-place Braves.

Correia, Hairston Jr. lead Padres to 8-5 win  —  SAN DIEGO—Kevin Correia took a one-hit shutout into the seventh inning and Jerry Hairston Jr. hit a two-run home run to lead the San Diego Padres to an 8-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.

Notes, Stats, and Trends … ARLINGTON, Texas — Once Marcus Thames finally put the New York Yankees ahead, there was no way Mariano Rivera was going to have a repeat performance.  —  One loss in Texas was enough for the longtime Yankees closer.  —  Thames hit a long homer in the eighth inning …

Rays have a shot and they better take it  —  DETROIT  —  Jeremy Hellickson carved up the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday.  It was his second big-league start.  He allowed three hits in seven shutout innings.  He threw 86 pitches.  —  And he's 23 years old.  —  A pitcher like that is the reason …

WAR and the Rule 5 Draft  —  The Rule 5 Draft dates back over a century, and Retrosheet has a fair chunk of Rule 5 data.  The Rule 5 draft as we know it began somewhere around 1965, so I took all drafted players since then and their WAR in the following years.

Is Javier Vazquez's fastball gone for good?  —  ARLINGTON, Tex. — When asked following the Yankees' 7-6 win over the Rangers what pitch Michael Young smashed for a first-inning solo homer, starting pitcher Javier Vazquez said it was a fastball.  But Pitch F/X, the computer system which records …

Marcum, Blue Jays take another shot at solving Red Sox  —  The Sports Network  —  (Sports Network) - The Boston Red Sox try to continue their recent mastery of the Toronto Blue Jays when the teams resume their three-game series this evening at Rogers Centre.