Yanks' Joba has ligament tear; year likely over  —  NEW YORK — Yankees setup man Joba Chamberlain has a torn ligament in his right elbow, manager Joe Girardi announced Thursday.  He is likely going to miss the remainder of the season.  —  “My guess is he probably is going to have to have surgery,” Girardi said.

Hairston feeling better  —  SAN DIEGO — Third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. didn't start on Thursday against the Padres because of lower back spasms, but was able to take batting practice and expects to play on Friday.  —  Hairston said he feels much better than he did the previous two days.

A's fire manager Geren amid nine-game skid  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — The Oakland Athletics have fired manager Bob Geren in the midst of a nine-game losing streak that has sent them tumbling to the bottom of the AL West standings.  —  Oakland general manager Billy Beane immediately announced Thursday …

Royals calling up 3B Mike Moustakas  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For three years Kansas City Royals fans have waited to see Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer, their heralded first-round picks of 2007 and '08, on the field together in Kauffman Stadium.  —  Now it's about to happen.

Red Sox wait to hear on Dustin Pedroia  —  NEW YORK — Dustin Pedroia's appointment with Dr. Tom Gill was at 4:30 p.m. today.  Terry Francona is waiting to hear the result.  —  Francona expressed confidence that Pedroia would be in the lineup tomorrow.  But a few seconds later admitted …

Berkman, Descalso lead Cardinals to victory over Astros  —  HOUSTON — Lance Berkman broke a tie with an RBI single and pinch-hitter Daniel Descalso had a two-run double in St. Louis' five-run sixth in the Cardinals' 9-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night.

Jurrjens leads Braves to rare sweep of Marlins  —  MIAMI — Jair Jurrjens threw seven solid innings and drove in a run as the Atlanta Braves handed the Florida Marlins their eighth straight loss with a 3-2 win Thursday night.  —  Alex Gonzalez also drove in a run with a double as the Braves completed …

Young homers as Diamondbacks shut out Pirates  —  PITTSBURGH — Chris Young hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, four Arizona pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout and the Diamondbacks snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Alex Avila, Justin Verlander lead Tigers past Mariners  —  DETROIT - Alex Avila hit two triples and Justin Verlander pitched eight strong innings as the Detroit Tigers beat the Seattle Mariners 4-1 on Thursday night.  —  Verlander (7-3) struck out a season-best 10 while allowing one run on five hits.

Casilla's single in ninth lifts Twins to win over Rangers  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Alexi Casilla laced a single to left field to drive in the winning run with two outs in the ninth and lift the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers on a windy, chilly Thursday night at Target Field.

Final Score: Mets 4 Brewers 1  —  The New York Mets (30-32) defeated the Milwaukee Brewers (35-28) tonight by a score of 4-1.  —  For a complete box score and recap, check out SNY.TV.  —  The Least You Should Know:  — Jon Niese (5-5) tossed 7.2 innings and held the Brewers to three hits …

Orioles, Nationals Interested In Bill Hall  —  For a player that hit .224/.272/.340 before being released by the Astros, Bill Hall is drawing quite a bit of interest.  Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports that both the Orioles and Nationals have interest in Hall, and he mentions that the Yankees could get in the mix as well.

Even rally can't get monkey off Angels' backs  —  Manager Mike Scioscia grows more frustrated after Angels waste chances and lose fifth in a row.  —  The longer the postgame interview went on, the more Mike Scioscia's voice filled with ire.  —  The Angels manager has stressed patience during …

Morgan didn't know he won game  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  Does it count as a walk-off if you don't know you won the game?  —  The answer is yes but Nyjer Morgan wasn't sure at first why his teammates were running onto the field to mob him.

Assessing the new managers … Wednesday night was a rough one for a trio of managers in one of the largest and best classes of managers in their first full year with new teams.  Terry Collins' Mets relief corps blew a 6-2 lead late in a 7-6 defeat to the Brewers, the Braves' Fredi Gonzalez …