Britton Has 3rd Straight Solid Start  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Zach Britton had his third consecutive solid start, J.J. Hardy drove in two runs and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 on Friday night.  —  Britton (9-9) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings.

Hot bats to stick in White Sox lineup  —  DETROIT — Adam Dunn and Alex Rios were on the bench for Friday's series opener against the Tigers and American League Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander.  Meanwhile, A.J. Pierzynski returned from his first career stint on the disabled list to serve …

Dodgers Rally From 5-Run Deficit, Beat Braves 8-6  —  ATLANTA (AP) — James Loney's three-run double was the key hit in a five-run seventh inning for Los Angeles and the streaking Dodgers rallied after trailing by five runs to beat the Atlanta Braves 8-6 on Friday night.

Is Granderson good, bad or ugly in CF?  —  In the sixth inning Thursday night, Yankees center fielder Curtis Granderson made a sprawling catch to end a Red Sox threat.  —  There are certain plays that Granderson is very good at making.  This was one of them (as Chris Singleton details in the video above).

Judge Rules Clemens Will Face New Trial  —  WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Friday that Roger Clemens, one of baseball's greatest pitchers, will face a new trial on charges that he lied to Congress about using performance enhancing-drugs.  —  The judge, Reggie Walton of Federal District Court …

Mayberry helps Phils beat Marlins 5-3  —  MIAMI—John Mayberry drove in three runs with a homer and a sacrifice fly Friday, and the Philadelphia Phillies climbed 42 games above .500 for the first time in franchise's 129-year history by beating the Florida Marlins 5-3.

Phillies are clear favorites in ranking of likely playoff teams … The Phillies look like a prohibitive World Series favorite.  But that guarantees nothing, of course.  —  The Braves of the 1990s had the same sort of starting pitching that made folks assume they'd win many titles throughout the decade.

Francisco, Reds End Cardinals' Win Streak at 4  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Juan Francisco hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs, and the Cincinnati Reds beat St. Louis 11-8 on Friday night to end the Cardinals' four-game winning streak.  —  Yonder Alonso had a two-run homer and scored three runs for the Reds, who blew a 5-0 lead.

Brian Burres helps Pirates top Cubs 3-1  —  CHICAGO - Brian Burres pitched into the sixth in his first start of the season and Alex Presley had two triples, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Friday.  —  Presley reached four times and scored twice as Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak.

Greatness of Jeter yet to be fully appreciated  —  Yankees superstar the epitome of professionalism and excellence  —  All of a sudden, the talk about the greatness of Derek Jeter has intensified, and this is misguided.  —  He's actually greater than that.  —  It's a bunch of little-big things with Jeter.

Masterson, Cabrera Lift Indians Over Royals 5-4  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Justin Masterson worked seven strong innings, and Asdrubal Cabrera and Jason Donald both homered to lift the Cleveland Indians to a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Summer of Mailbag V: Passing the Buck  —  It's all MVP all the time in Week 5 of the Sports Guy's letter-answering binge.  (And yes, DiMaggio's record is officially in danger.)  —  When my friends Wildes and Jacoby came over for the 2011 NBA draft, we ordered Indian food and I mistakenly called …

BOSTON (AP) — Derek Holland keeps getting plenty of run support and tries to pitch as though he doesn't.  —  Ian Kinsler , David Murphy and Elvis Andrus homered to back Holland's two-hit performance over seven innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 10-0 on Friday night.

Ailing A-Rod, Teixeira not in Yankees lineup  —  NEW YORK — New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will sit out Friday night's game against the Toronto Blue Jays due to a lingering left thumb injury.  —  Rodriguez has missed six straight games due to the ailment and eight of the Yankees' past 11.

Jack McKeon disputes report that he and Marlins have agreed he will not return next season  —  Jack McKeon disputed a report that he and Marlins have agreed the 80-year-old manager would not return next season.  —  Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweeted that the two “have decided someone else will manage in 2012.”

SF Giants expect Angel Villalona to return to organization  —  Henry Schulman relayed this report to the Chronicle Sports Desk today:  —  In an odd twist to a story that has had so many bizarre turns, it appears that big first base prospect Angel Villalona will be back in the organization playing ball soon …

Furbush Struggles Early, Mariners Can't Recover  —  SEATTLE (AP) — Charlie Furbush admitted he was “a little out of whack” in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels.  —  Just enough to put the Seattle Mariners in a hole they couldn't climb out of Thursday night.