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.

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,” …

Postseason problems revisited  —  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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Blue Jays, Beede agree to disagree  —  According to a source familiar with the negotiations, it seems nearly certain that Blue Jays top pick (No. 21 overall) Tyler Beede will not join the organization and will honor his commitment to Vanderbilt University.  —  The right-hander from Massachusetts …

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.

Numbers game forces Miller to wait for another opportunity  —  SEATTLE — Andrew Miller has been through this before.  —  When the lefty broke camp with the Florida Marlins two years ago, he started the season not in the rotation but as the long man in the bullpen.