Veteran lefty Rhodes set to join Cardinals  —  ST. LOUIS — Veteran lefty Arthur Rhodes has elected to sign with the Cardinals and could be activated as early as Friday for the opener of the series against Colorado.  —  Rhodes' agent Dan Horwits confirmed Thursday afternoon that the lefty had accepted the Cardinals offer.

Cano, Granderson power Yankees  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Robinson Cano hit a grand slam after Maicer Izturis ' two-out error in the seventh inning and the New York Yankees overcame another shaky performance by Mariano Rivera to beat the Los Angeles Angels 6-5 Thursday.

Power outage for Adrian Gonzalez  —  MINNEAPOLIS — When Adrian Gonzalez agreed to compete in the Home Run Derby, he shrugged off the notion that his swing might be adversely affected.  —  But he has only one homer since the All-Star break.  —  Coincidence?

Arizona Diamondbacks defeat Houston Astros to take NL West lead  —  Opportunity knocked for Josh Collmenter and the Diamondbacks on Wednesday night.  —  Then they opened the door, grabbed it and slammed it shut on the Houston Astros in the form of a 6-3 victory at Chase Field.

Will Alfonso Soriano be a fit with the Cubs in 2012?  —  Alfonso Soriano runs out a sixth inning home run during the Cubs 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals Wednesday August 10, 2011 at Wrigley Field.  Tom Cruze~Sun-Times  —  Hack Wilson.  Andre Dawson. .    .  .

Cameron Maybin homers, Padres rally past Mets 3-2  —  NEW YORK - Cameron Maybin homered and stole two bases before scoring the tiebreaking run on an error by substitute shortstop Ruben Tejada, rallying the San Diego Padres past the New York Mets 3-2 on Thursday for a split of their four-game series.

Pirates Re-Sign Michael Crotta  —  The Pirates re-signed Michael Crotta to a minor league contract, according to Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter).  Pittsburgh designated the right-hander for assignment at the end of July and appear to have released him since.

Florida Marlins place Hanley Ramirez on disabled list  —  At least in the short term, the Marlins ended the speculation about when Hanley Ramirez might suit up again.  The answer now is no earlier than Aug. 18.  That's when Ramirez will be eligible to come off the disabled list.

Niemann wins sixth straight decision, Royals sweep Rays  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays have momentum heading into a week of important division games.  —  Jeff Niemann won his sixth consecutive decision, Ben Zobrist had a two-run triple and the Rays completed a four-game sweep …

Wolf, Brewers beat Cards for 13th win in 14 games  —  ST. LOUIS (AP)—The Milwaukee Brewers showed no sense of satisfaction in the clubhouse, even though they'd just won for the 13th time in 14 games and appeared to be pulling away in the NL Central.  —  Far from it.

Under The Knife: Cards need more than threats to protect Pujols … The Moneyball movie is coming out soon and with a trailer that makes the story seem like a cross between Seabiscuit and Hoosiers, a whole population of people who haven't read the book, seen the term used and misused …