Torre on home run call: “He just missed it”  —  Major League Baseball acknowledged that umpires muffed the home run call in the Yankees' 5-4 loss to the Royals Wednesday night, but given that Joe Girardi opted not to file a protest, there's nothing that can be done about it.

Red Sox place Youkilis on DL  —  Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a back injury.  —  Youkilis has been hampered by discomfort in his lower back and will take a couple weeks to rest.  The All-Star has just four hits in his last 32 at-bats with one homer and two RBI.

Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers end Brewers' 5-game win streak  —  MILWAUKEE — Clayton Kershaw throttled the streaking Brewers with eight scoreless innings and Rod Barajas homered Thursday, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-1 win over Milwaukee.  —  The NL Central-leading Brewers came …

Masterson goes six strong; Indians top White Sox to win series  —  CHICAGO — Justin Masterson pitched six effective innings, Kosuke Fukudome had a tiebreaking RBI triple and the Cleveland Indians inched closer to the top of the AL Central with a 4-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.

Harper injures hamstring, likely headed to DL  —  WASHINGTON — Nationals top prospect Bryce Harper had to leave Thursday's game against Double-A Akron because of a right hamstring injury.  He will be re-evaluated on Friday.  —  The injury occurred in the eighth inning, according to reports.

Sabathia snaps skid, Yankees hit three homers to beat Twins  —  MINNEAPOLIS — CC Sabathia stopped his two-start losing streak with nine strikeouts over seven innings, and the New York Yankees hit three home runs to support him in an 8-4 victory over the depleted Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Mets Won't Trade Izzy, Byrdak, Hairston  —  Relievers Jason Isringhausen and Tim Byrdak, and outfielder Scott Hairston will remain with the Mets for season's balance, a source tells Adam Rubin of ESPNNewYork.com.  The players were placed on waivers, claimed and pulled back by the Mets …

MLBPA files grievance on behalf of Zambrano  —  Players Union seeks lesser penalty for Cubs starter on DQ'd list  —  CHICAGO — The Major League Baseball Players Association has filed a grievance on behalf of Carlos Zambrano, who was placed on the disqualified list after he cleaned …

Former Met Is First Player to Test Positive for H.G.H.  —  Mike Jacobs, a first baseman in the Colorado Rockies' organization who has played more than 500 games in the major leagues, including dozens with the Mets, is the first professional baseball player to test positive for human growth hormone, a banned performance-enhancing drug.

Tying a Century-Old Record  —  Baseball is dependent on its numbers and has legions fascinated with its statistics, but it turns out some of those numbers were written in pencil.  One hundred-plus years ago.  —  Such was the case with Bill Bergen's epic hitless streak in 1909.

Royals Sign Francoeur To Two-Year Extension  —  12:36pm: The two-year deal is worth $13.5MM, according to Bob Dutton of the Kansas City (via Twitter).  —  10:18am: The Royals have signed outfielder Jeff Francoeur to a two-year extension, according to Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).