Mets GM wise to wait as Beltran suitors start to call  —  Mets on Twitter  —  LOS ANGELES — The Mets are finally starting to make sense as an organization.  —  Simply Amazin'.  —  All indications are that the Mets are moving forward, trying to initiate talks to get Jose Reyes signed …

Hall of Fame baseball manager Dick Williams dies  —  Dick Williams, the fiercely competitive, sharp-tongued Hall of Fame manager who led the Oakland Athletics to World Series titles in 1972 and 1973, died today at his Las Vegas home from what was believed to be a brain aneurysm.  He was 82.

Barney's Double Gives Cubs Wild 10-9 Win Over Nats  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Darwin Barney's tiebreaking ninth-inning double, capped off a wild comeback and the Chicago Cubs rebounded from an eight-run deficit to beat the Washington Nationals 10-9 on Thursday night.

Jeter Gets Hit No. 2,998, but Rays Beat Yanks 5-1  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Jeff Niemann gave up Derek Jeter's 2,998th hit but little else, B.J. Upton homered and drove in three runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-1 on Thursday night to start strong in a long stretch of games against their biggest division rivals.

Midseason Top 50 Prospects List  —  Here's a listing of our midseason Top 50 prospects.  Prospects have to have not used up their rookie eligibility or currently be in the big leagues to be eligible.  Also, 2011 draftees are not yet eligible. 1 Bryce Harper, of, Nationals 2 Mike Trout, of, Angels 3 Matt Moore, lhp, Rays

Red Sox Hit 6 Homers to Top Birds, Reclaim First  —  BOSTON (AP) — Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run homer and Boston added three consecutive home runs in the seventh as the Red Sox beat the struggling Baltimore Orioles 10-4 on Thursday night.  —  Six different Boston players homered …

Braves collect rare four-game sweep of Rockies  —  ATLANTA (AP) — The Braves' youngest stars are some of the biggest reasons the team is putting pressure on Philadelphia in the NL East.  —  Rookie Craig Kimbrel , only 23, took the major league lead with his 27th save and two 21-year-old sluggers …

Clemens jurors critical of Congress … WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospective jurors screened Thursday for the Roger Clemens perjury trial were more critical of Congress for spending time investigating drugs in baseball than they were of the star pitcher on trial for lying to lawmakers about ever using them.

Curt Schilling: 'There isn't a team in the last 20 years that has won clean'  —  LAST UPDATED 9 hours and 42 minutes ago  —  Staff report

Stanton hits 18th homer as Marlins shutout Astros  —  MIAMI — Mike Stanton homered and Brad Hand allowed two hits over seven innings for his first victory in the major leagues as the Florida Marlins beat the Houston Astros 5-0 on Thursday night.  —  Logan Morrison drove in two runs and Emilio Bonifacio had three hits for the Marlins.

Hafner's Slam Gives Indians 5-4 Win Over Blue Jays  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — Travis Hafner hit a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap the Cleveland's five-run rally and give the Indians a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night.  —  Hafner hit the first pitch from Luis Perez …

Mariano Rivera will skip All-Star Game  —  NEW YORK — New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera seemed to tense up while talking about his sore right triceps over the past three days.  —  But on Thursday afternoon, Rivera did something different when asked about the injury: He smiled.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Derek Holland rebounded from his shortest outing ever with a four-hitter for his third career shutout and Josh Hamilton had four RBIs for the Texas Rangers in a 6-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.  —  Holland (7-4) struck out seven and walked two while allowing only four singles.

Pujols shows promise in return  —  Everything was in place for a storybook ending.  —  Albert Pujols, playing in his first game since June 19, stood at the plate with one out and a runner on first base in the ninth inning.  —  The Cardinals had rallied from an 8- deficit to tie the score …