Hoping to avoid surgery, Beckett begins throwing  —  LOS ANGELES — Dodgers pitcher Josh Beckett has begun a throwing program one month after being shut down with thoracic outlet syndrome, a pinched nerve that causes numbness and tingling in his pitching hand.

Source: A-Rod uncertain of return  —  NEW YORK — Alex Rodriguez expressed some uncertainty about his return to the New York Yankees this season during a conference call Wednesday afternoon with team officials, a source familiar with the conversation told ESPNNewYork.com.

Indians activate Perez from disabled list  —  Tribe gets All-Star closer back, options rookie left-hander House to Triple-A  —  BALTIMORE — The Indians have the back end of their bullpen in order again.  —  Prior to Thursday's game against the Orioles, Cleveland activated All-Star closer Chris Perez …

Deduno Pitches Twins to 3-1 Victory Over Royals  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Samuel Deduno pitched seven sharp innings and one of Justin Morneau's two doubles drove in Minnesota's first run, sending the Twins to a 3-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Wild fifth inning propels Orioles past Indians  —  BALTIMORE — Chris Davis drove in the tiebreaking run on a fielder's choice grounder in a wild five-run fifth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied for a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

D-backs won't rush to boost pitching  —  Brewers' Yovani Gallardo is on D'backs' radar, but ...  The Diamondbacks are the only NL West team that has not shown interest in Marlins right-hander Ricky Nolasco.  —  Why?  —  The D-Backs are not interested in “renting” a potential free agent …

DICKEY'S WEDNESDAY START ACE MATERIAL  —  BOSTON, Massachusetts - There are times over the course of a season when a team needs its ace starter to be a stopper.  —  For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey.  He stepped up.  —  “I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time,” said Dickey.

Nolasco handling trade speculation in stride  —  Right-hander understands the business side of the game and is not concerned  —  MIAMI — All Ricky Nolasco is focused on right now is his next start, which is Friday for Miami against the Padres at Marlins Park.

Byrd hits homer in eighth as Mets beat Rockies  —  DENVER — Marlon Byrd hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning and threw out a runner from right field in the ninth to lead the New York Mets past the Colorado Rockies 3-2 on Thursday in a makeup game for the one that was snowed out on April 17.

Derek Jeter runs at Yankees complex in Tampa, Curtis Granderson still unable to swing bat  —  Jeter already has been hitting, fielding, throwing and doing lateral-movement drills.  Running is seen as the last major hurdle before playing in rehab games.  On Thursday, he ran straight ahead.

Brian Roberts to start at second base this weekend for Orioles  —  The Baltimore Sun  —  Second baseman Brian Roberts is expected to play for the Orioles this weekend for the first time since April.  —  And when he returns to the team, he will regain his starting spot at second base.

Brewers Getting Calls On Relievers, Gallardo  —  The Brewers are receiving “a lot of calls” regarding the availability of John Axford, Francisco Rodriguez and Mike Gonzalez, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).  He adds that Yovani Gallardo is also drawing “some” interest.

Braves likely to seek additional help for 'pen  —  Success of Walden, Avilan as setup men has helped offset key injuries  —  KANSAS CITY — It appeared the Braves might be in trouble when Eric O'Flaherty and Jonny Venters both underwent Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery in May.

Cardinals remain part of Pujols  —  DETROIT  —  The more Albert Pujols talked about St. Louis, the more he smiled.  —  Next Tuesday at Anaheim, Pujols will play against the Cardinals for the first time — in the regular season, in spring training, in anything other than an intrasquad game.