Will's Mill  —  Saturday Love  —  Saturday, July 29, noon ET: The Astros and Angels have made their final offers on Miguel Tejada.  The Orioles now have to decide if it's enough to give up their star shortstop.  The Astros have a backup plan in Julio Lugo, but need to act quickly …

Nationals Trade Stanton, Then Get Routed by Dodgers  —  Alfonso Soriano showed up, put on his uniform, and started in left field Friday night.  By midway through the 13-1 shellacking the Los Angeles Dodgers dealt to the Washington Nationals, he was out of the game, relaxing in the visitors' dugout …

Source: Crisp in trade talks  —  In order to add another starter to the rotation for the remainder of this season and possibly beyond, the Red Sox are making two-thirds of their starting outfield - center fielder Coco Crisp and right fielder Trot Nixon - available to other teams while also making …

Dodgers Deal for Braves' Betemit  —  Baez and Aybar go to Atlanta for touted prospect, who is expected to play third.  —  When it was mentioned to reliever Danys Baez earlier this week that, in order to activate pitcher Brett Tomko, the Dodgers were going to have to put someone on the disabled list …

Stoneman's Bid for Tejada Undeterred  —  BOSTON — Bartolo Colon's elbow injury and Kelvim Escobar's balky elbow could put a crimp in the Angels' efforts to add an impact bat before Monday's trade deadline, but General Manager Bill Stoneman remains in serious negotiations with the Baltimore Orioles …

Padres-Rockies Preview  —  The Colorado Rockies have won two vastly different games to start their four-game set against the San Diego Padres .  —  They'll try to make it three straight over the NL West leaders Saturday when the teams meet at Coors Field.  —  Colorado (49-53) …

HEILMAN MAY BE TICKET TO LANDING ZITO  —  TRADE DEADLINE  —  CONFIDENTIAL  —  OMAR Minaya and his Oakland GM counterpart, Billy Beane, have not exchanged a phone call in nearly two months and have been far less active with one another than usual, even through e-mail.

Cards Notebook: Tempers flare over hit batters  —  CHICAGO  —  Friday afternoon's 6-5 Cardinals loss included a seventh-inning dust-up in which third baseman Scott Rolen and Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez were hit by pitches.  —  Rolen was hit high on the right shoulder by Cubs reliever Roberto Novoa in the top of the inning.

Weaver's Monster challenge  —  The chin-length, sun-bleached blond hair flipping out from under Jered Weaver's bright-red cap hints at the young pitcher's roots — born in Northridge, Calif., he went to Long Beach State University, and was the Angels' first pick (12th overall) in the 2004 draft.

Pedro's happy return  —  Baffles Braves after slow start  —  ATLANTA - Pedro Martinez surrendered four first-inning runs in his return from a one-month absence.  But by the end of the night, the Mets had their ace back, and an even cozier lead in the NL East standings.

Notes: Dunn hitting well in second half  —  Slugger leads the club with 31 homers and 71 RBIs  —  MILWAUKEE — Reds slugger Adam Dunn figured his consecutive hits streak would end in Milwaukee anyway, so he wasn't afraid to talk about it before Friday's game.