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 …

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.

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.

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 …

Pavano picks up first win since break as Twins crush Angels  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. - Carl Pavano won for the first time in 10 starts since the All-Star break, Trevor Plouffe homered and the Minnesota Twins received four bases-loaded walks in a 13-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels 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).

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.

Kevin Millwood goes 7 as Rockies blank Padres 3-0  —  SAN DIEGO—Kevin Millwood is making his presence felt in different ways with the Colorado Rockies.  —  Millwood turned in another solid outing by throwing seven strong innings and Troy Tulowitzki drove in two runs, leading the Rockies …

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.”

Giants snap Diamondbacks' nine-game win streak  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Carlos Beltran hit a go-ahead two-run home run among his four hits, Matt Cain calmly recovered from a rough first inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the first-place Diamondbacks 6-2 on Friday night to snap Arizona's season-best nine-game winning streak.

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.

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.

Brewers score late, pound Astros  —  The Sports Network  —  Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Lucas Harrell and the Astros did a good job holding the Brewers off the scoreboard for six innings Friday.  —  Then Milwaukee's lineup came to life.  —  The Brewers exploded for eight runs …

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 …

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.

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.