Mulder masters meek Mets  —  With help from Izzy in 9th, Cards lefthander wins duel with Trachsel  —  ST. LOUIS — For eight innings, Mark Mulder toyed with the Mets as if he were controlling them by puppet strings.  They fished for his floating changeup, bounced into double plays …

Closure For The Cowboy  —  Millar Homers, Sox Streak Ends  —  BALTIMORE — The cord has been finally cut, perhaps. ...  OK, maybe.  —  Sooner or later, the Orioles were going to beat the Red Sox and Kevin Millar would contribute - which is what he did Wednesday night in a 4-3 victory …

Nats held to one hit by Cubs pitchers  —  Washington blanked for the second straight night  —  CHICAGO — After getting shut out the night before, the Nationals were hoping to avoid a repeat, but after the first two innings, it appeared that Washington was not going to win Wednesday's ball game against the Cubs.

Hamstring tightness limits Bannister's outing  —  ST. LOUIS — New York Mets rookie pitcher Brian Bannister abandoned a rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk after only five pitches on Thursday due to tightness in his right hamstring, altering the team's plans for him to return to the rotation.

Rangers, injury bug bite Yanks  —  Offense held to just five hits; Crosby strains hamstring  —  NEW YORK — With two big series against the Mets and Red Sox looming over the next six days, the Yankees were hoping to finish off their four-game series on a positive note …

Under The Knife  —  Comes a Little Chaos, and a Little Rain  —  Rain sucks.  I've been under clouds here in Indianapolis for what seems like the entire month and in May, that's a problem.  We'll try and get 33 cars qualified on Saturday in what should be a mad dash while Joe …

RANGERS NOTES  —  Blalock swinging hot bat  —  NEW YORK — Third baseman Hank Blalock continues to have one of the best seasons of any major leaguer.  He entered Wednesday batting .345 (seventh in the American League) with 33 RBI (tied for sixth in the AL), and nearly as many walks (16) as strikeouts (18).

Nationals sale gets owners' approval  —  NEW YORK — The sale of the Washington Nationals to a group headed by Ted Lerner and his son Mark Lerner was approved unanimously at Thursday morning's quarterly owners' meeting, ending Major League Baseball's four-year role in owning and operating the franchise …

Notes: Ramirez sits with mild strain  —  Cubs third baseman likely to return for weekend series  —  CHICAGO — Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez was sidelined on Thursday with a mild strain in his lower back, but he is expected to play this weekend in the Interleague series against the White Sox.

News: Bannister Hurt Again  —  Hope its something minor.  We really need him in our rotation now.  —  Re: News: Bannister Hurt Again  —  This is unbelievable.  I realize that this horse has probably been beaten to death several times over, but still... the presumption during Spring Training …

Notes: Big Hurt returns to action  —  Oakland lineup beginning to get back to full strength  —  OAKLAND — The A's have an injury list longer than a grocery list for a soccer mom on her way to Super Wal-Mart.  —  But slowly the A's are getting, well, a quarter of the way back to full strength.

Thursday's MLB Transactions  —  MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL-Announced the unanimous approval of the sale of the Washington Nationals to a group led by Theodore N. Lerner.  —  American League  —  CLEVELAND INDIANS-Sent RHP Danny Graves outright to Buffalo of the IL.