Top News:
Jayson Stark / MLB:
Stark: The road to October — AL East race is meaningless, future of wild-card expansion and realignment uncertain — It ought to be the best race in baseball. Ought to be. — It's Red Sox and Yankees — two teams you might have heard about — separated by one game in the standings, with 46 games to play.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors, HardballTalk and THE BOOK
Mark Townsend / Yahoo! Sports:
Defensive miscues lead to heated exchange in Indians dugout — Rather than subject his young catcher to 130 tough days behind home plate, Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta decided it would be wise to move Carlos Santana(notes) around a little bit this season.
Discussion:
Getting Blanked and HardballTalk
RELATED:
Associated Press:
Verlander beats Indians for 17th — CLEVELAND (AP) — Someone changed the number plate over Justin Verlander 's locker from 35 to 100, and there was an iced champagne bottle sitting on a shelf next to his duffel bag. — On a night the Detroit Tigers desperately needed a win, Verlander notched a special one of his own.
Discussion:
Let's Go Tribe
Gene Cherry / Reuters:
Burnett or Hughes Could Lose Starting Role With Yankees — NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees have decided six pitchers in their starting rotation is one too many, manager Joe Girardi said on Thursday. — “We feel we need to get it down to a five-man rotation and go with it,” …
Discussion:
Pinstripe Alley
RELATED:
Ben Nicholson-Smith / MLB Rumors:
Pirates Designate Tim Wood For Assignment — The Pirates announced that they designated right-hander Tim Wood for assignment to create space for Ross Ohlendorf on the 40-man roster. The Pirates recalled Ohlendorf from rehab, reinstated him from the 60-day DL and optioned him to Triple-A.
Steve Dilbeck / Dodgers Blog:
Do not adjust your Internet: Mike Marshall and Tony Phillips fight — And they said there was no fight in Mike Marshall. — Marshall, the former Dodgers outfielder now managing the Chico Outlaws of the independent North American Baseball League, was suspended three games for fighting Monday with Tony Phillips.
Discussion:
Mike Silva's …, Chico Enterprise-Record, HardballTalk and BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Adarowski / Beyond the Box Score:
World Series Win Probability Added Leaders — When I was working on the Hall of wWAR project a few months back, I felt a little guilty that postseason performance was not factored into the scores at all. After all, there's no “Postseason WAR”, nor should there be.
Discussion:
River Avenue Blues
Matthew Cerrone / MetsBlog.com:
Twitter Q&A: Is there a chance the Mets sign Fielder? — I have daydreamed about this as well, even wondering what Reyes, Ike in right and Prince at first base would be like. The word is the Mets want a big bat in the outfield, someone who can clear the bases and give quick runs with one swing.
Discussion:
Mets Merized Online
AJ Cassavell / MLB.com:
Source: Dodgers agree with top pick Reed — The Dodgers have agreed to terms with first-round Draft choice Chris Reed, a team source confirmed Thursday. The club has not made any official announcement. — Reed, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound left-handed pitcher out of Stanford, was the 16th overall selection in June's Draft.
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Associated Press:
Pujols powers Cardinals past Brewers — ST. LOUIS (AP) — Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals sorely needed this one, so the slugger picked a perfect time for a breakout game against the surging Milwaukee Brewers . — Pujols kicked off a 4-for-4 night with a solo homer and the Cardinals beat …
Discussion:
Purple Row
Derrick Goold / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
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.
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish, Viva El Birdos, MLB Rumors, Yahoo! Sports, BBTF's Baseball Primer … and Baseball Nation
Associated Press:
Shin-Soo Choo back from DL with Indians — CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians have activated outfielder Shin-Soo Choo from the 15-day disabled list after he missed more than six weeks with a broken thumb. — Choo had been on the DL since June 25, one day after he was struck with a pitch by San Francisco's Jonathan Sanchez.
Discussion:
Associated Press
Todd Zolecki / The Zo Zone:
Phillies Agree to Terms with Cust — The Phillies have agreed to terms on a Minor League contract with Jack Cust, pending a physical. — He will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, assuming he passes. — Cust, who hits lefthanded, hit .213 with three homers and 23 RBIs in 225 at-bats this season with Seattle.
Discussion:
MLB Daily Dish and MLB Rumors
Associated Press:
Rivera struggles again, but Yanks hold off Angels — NEW YORK (AP) — Mariano Rivera stunned a raucous crowd still buzzing after Robinson Cano 's grand slam. Mr. Automatic faltered for the third straight game, the rarest of slumps for the dominant closer.
Discussion:
TSN.ca
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