LaRoche has surgery, expected back in spring  —  WASHINGTON — Nationals first baseman Adam LaRoche underwent left shoulder surgery Thursday morning at Washington Hospital Center.  The surgery was performed by Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, who performed a shoulder SLAP repair, which means major work was done inside the shoulder.

Rangers catcher accuses Yanks of stealing signs  —  NEW YORK — Yankees outfielder Andruw Jones was accused by Texas Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba of stealing signs and giving pitch locations to hitters from second base during the fifth inning of Wednesday night's 12-4 New York win.

Angels aren't likely to find trade magic  —  For those who think highly of the 2011 Los Angeles Angels, there is good news: They're probably not going to change much.  —  Even as the Angels have scratched in the dirt for runs and struggled to stay relevant in the AL West since mid-May, they've found options are scarce.

Tampa Bay Rays' plunking of Kevin Youkilis was necessary  —  ST. PETERSBURG — The result mattered.  No reason to pretend otherwise.  —  The Red Sox won the game, won the series and expanded their lead on the Rays in the American League East.  If you are a bottom-line person, that's as clear-cut as it gets.

Holliday homers to answer Nats' two blasts  —  WASHINGTON — Let Home Run Derby begin.  —  Technically two innings after stringing back-to-back home runs for the first time this season, the Washington Nationals repeated the stunt to open Thursday's series finale against the Cardinals.

Nelson: Phillips a hit on Twitter  —  Cincinnati Reds second baseman using Twitter to connect with fans — and on the field  —  GLENDALE, Ariz. — It's a Friday afternoon in late March, and Rachel and Dave Zahniser sit nervously in a hotel lobby, their eyes darting, looking to the door constantly.

Saturday's game pushed back to 7:10 p.m.  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Two weeks ago, the Red Sox changed a Saturday game from night to day so that fans could watch the Bruins play in the Stanley Cup Final.  Now that the Bruins have won the Cup, the Sox are making another change this Saturday.

Minor League Transactions: June 8-14  —  Players listed with an asterisk (*) signed minor league contracts, replacing major league pacts with the same organization.  That's a fancy way of saying the player has been optioned or outrighted to the minors.  —  Number in parentheses indicate draft round.

The Mag: Ultimate Standings 2011  —  Welcome to ESPN The Magazine's ninth-annual Ultimate Standings, in which we measure how much MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises give back to the fans in exchange for all the time, money and emotion the fans invest in them.  —  The Super Bowl champion Green …

MLB goes back to end McCutchen's streak  —  HOUSTON — For a few minutes Thursday, Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen had a 15-game hitting streak.  —  McCutchen singled in the sixth inning of a 5-4 win against the Houston Astros.  A little while later, though, Major League Baseball announced …