Miller hits first two career homers as Mariners top Astros  —  HOUSTON — Rookie Brad Miller hit his first two major league homers and drove in five runs, and the Seattle Mariners overcame rookie Brandon Barnes' cycle for the Astros in a 10-7 win over Houston on Friday night.

Final Score: Phillies 13 Mets 8  —  The Least You Should Know:  —  Jeremy Hefner was rocked for 8 runs on 10 hits and was knocked out of the game with no outs in the the third.  The defense did him no favors, but he wasn't fooling the Phillies at all.  —  Burke and Edgin combined …

Dodgers' Yasiel Puig faces $12-million lawsuit filed by man in Cuba  —  Dodgers rookie Yasiel Puig is being sued by a man who alleges the outfielder made false accusations against him.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times / July 14, 2013)  —  WASHINGTON - Yasiel Puig is being sued …

Trade Deadline looming, Morneau, Perkins want to stay  —  MINNEAPOLIS — With the All-Star Game in the rearview mirror, the July 31 Trade Deadline looms for the Twins, who are expected to be sellers after losing 12 of 15 entering the break.  —  First baseman Justin Morneau and closer Glen Perkins …

Garza Trade From Cubs To Rangers No Longer Imminent  —  For a while earlier today, it looked like the top available starting pitcher on the trade market could pack his bags for Texas.  The Cubs and Rangers reached the point of exchanging medical information on six players who were apparently ready …

Westbrook's Pitching, Hitting Lead Cardinals  —  ST. LOUIS — Jake Westbrook pitched 6 1-3 innings of two-run ball and contributed three hits, All-Star Matt Carpenter continued his strong season with three hits and three RBIs, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres 9-6 on Friday night.

Francisco and Gomez go deep as Brewers blank Marlins  —  MILWAUKEE — Juan Francisco and Carlos Gomez each hit home runs and Kyle Lohse blanked Miami for six innings as the Milwaukee Brewers started the second half of the season with a 2-0 victory over the Marlins on Friday night.

Checkup looks good for Dodgers  —  With top players back and performing as expected, surging Dodgers look like favorites to capture the weak NL West.  —  The Dodgers look to lock up the National League West after the All-Star break in part thanks to the return of Hanley Ramirez, right …

Plenty of prospects could be moved by Deadline  —  Here's a look at who contending teams could offer to swing a trade to get help now  —  As play resumes in Major League Baseball following the All-Star break, there were 16 teams at or above .500.  All of them, if not more, are at least somewhat in contention for a postseason spot.

Brandon Phillips Is the Most Entertaining Player in Baseball  —  And he's got a nice smile, too.  —  Because someone has to be.  —  “Baseball is boring.”  —  Brandon Phillips is serious.  He professes this with a smirk, arching his eyebrows ever so slightly as he speaks, but the man means what he says.

Red Sox Made Extension Offer To Pedroia  —  10:07pm: The Red Sox made a formal extension offer to Pedroia over the All-Star break, tweets Gordon Edes of ESPNBoston.com.  He quotes the source as saying that the “ball is in their court,” apparently referring to Pedroia and his advisers.

Ethier, Ramirez homer as Dodgers beat Nationals  —  WASHINGTON — Andre Ethier homered off Rafael Soriano to lead off the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers resumed play after the All-Star break Friday night with a 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals.