Reds acquire LHP Guardado from Mariners  —  CINCINNATI (AP) — Trying to bolster their struggling bullpen, the Cincinnati Reds will turn to former All-Star closer Eddie Guardado.  —  The Reds obtained Guardado and cash from the Seattle Mariners for minor league pitcher Travis Chick on Thursday.

Padres-Phillies Preview  —  The San Diego Padres changed their luck against the Philadelphia Phillies with one swing.  —  One night after ending an 11-game losing streak to the Phillies with a ninth-inning homer, the Padres look to win a series against them for the first time in nearly four years …

Nomar, A.J. named Final Vote winners  —  Dodgers first baseman, White Sox catcher join All-Star squads  —  Nomar Garciaparra and A.J. Pierzynski were American League All-Star teammates in 2002, the year that the Final Vote was introduced by MLB.com.  They did not have to rely on it to be selected …

Ten Things I Didn't Know Last Week  —  Interleague play finished this past Sunday and the American League gave the National an old-fashioned whuppin': 154-98.  I'm not the biggest fan of interleague play, but I don't hate it either, and it certainly does give me good material for this column.

Break up the Phillies  —  Wagner says former team needs to make big changes  —  People who have spoken to Phillies general manager Pat Gillick believe he will not stand pat this trading season.  They say he desperately wants to improve the Phillies' current clubhouse atmosphere.

Marlins win with ample support system  —  Yusmeiro Petit won his first major-league start thanks to an outburst by Florida's offense, which produced 19 hits and tied a team record with an eight-run inning.  —  cspencer@MiamiHerald.com  —  WASHINGTON - It looked for the longest time that Wednesday wouldn't be Yusmeiro Petit's day.

Yankees' International Haul Sits At Eight  —  Yankees international scouting director Lin Garrett said the Yankees weren't trying to send a message to anybody.  —  Instead, the Yankees just tried to improve their farm system, which has produced some quality of late (Chien-Ming Wang …

Notes: Zimmerman on his own  —  Robinson using a different philosophy for third baseman  —  WASHINGTON — During his rookie season with the Reds, in 1956, Frank Robinson received a lot of advice from manager Birdie Tebbetts about the game of baseball.  Now a manager himself …

Jeff Weaver  —  A number three starter will look good in Cardinals red.  —  The flowing Thor locks?  Maybe not.  But this trade, on the surface, appears to be vintage Jocketty.  He bought low-as I posted yesterday, the Angels wanted Lastings Milledge a week and a half ago-and sold high …

METS 5, PIRATES 0  —  Slow-Pitch Baseball as Hernández Quells the Pirates Softly  —  Cliff Floyd scored one of the Mets' five runs in the first inning in a 5-0 win over Kip Wells and the Pirates.  Orlando Hernández earned the victory.  —  Orlando Hernández threw …

There is no cause for alarm  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — I suppose you want to know what's going on.  —  Baseball's going on.  The Big 162.  The ebb and the flow.  —  They go to Minnesota, drop three in a row, and you want someone to hijack their plane and drop them off in the middle of the Pacific Ocean somewhere.

Notes: Brewers shuffle roster  —  Eveland returns, Moeller designated for assignment  —  rbraun@journalsentinel.com  —  Circumstances and a season-long slump caused the Milwaukee Brewers to make a couple of roster moves after their 13-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday night.

Chacon could be on the way out  —  CLEVELAND - It appears unlikely that Shawn Chacon will make his scheduled start Sunday, but that could be the least of his concerns.  With Chacon failing to show any of the magic he had last season, his time with the Yankees could be coming to an end.

Sox looking to avert history  —  Boston (50-32) at Tampa Bay (38-47), 7:15 p.m. ET  —  If anyone can save Boston from being swept by the Rays for the first time in history, it's Tim Wakefield.  Boston's right-hander is 14-2 in 31 appearances against Tampa Bay and sports a 6-0 record with a 2.08 ERA in 16 games at Tropicana Field.

Notes: Sore Green sits one out  —  Tuesday's beaning keeps outfielder out of finale  —  LOS ANGELES — Shawn Green was scratched from the Diamondbacks lineup on Wednesday with a bruised hip bone, one night after he was drilled in the hip by a 95 mph fastball from Dodgers reliever Danys Baez.

What I would do  —  Is there anything less productive yet more fun than creating wildly unrealistic scenarios where we get to manage the rosters of our favorite teams?  The enjoyment-to-usefulness ratio is off the charts.  They're generally a gigantic waste of time, but there's something oddly interesting …

The Yankees Rebound, but Damon Falls to the Side  —  CLEVELAND, July 5 — A day after the second-worst loss in franchise history, the Yankees routed the Cleveland Indians, 11-3, at Jacobs Field on Wednesday night.  Many things went right, but a big one went wrong.

Dodgers ride Penny past D-Backs  —  Four-run third paves way to All-Star righty's 10th win  —  LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers, who at one point in Wednesday night's game with the Arizona Diamondbacks had six runs on the board, held on to win, 5-4.  —  Do the math.

Cardinal sins  —  The suddenly slipping Cardinals, Walt Jocketty said just the other day, weren't looking for a pitcher.  As bad as the Cardinals' pitching has been — and, for them, it's been historically bad lately — the team's longtime general manager said he was perfectly content to ride …