Astros-Padres Preview  —  The Houston Astros are slowly moving into contention for a third straight NL wild card berth.  —  The Astros look to complete their first three-game sweep at San Diego in nearly 24 years when the meet the Padres on Thursday afternoon.

Mulder may pitch soon  —  Mulder may pitch soon  —  Barring complications from a side session set for today, lefthander Mark Mulder will begin a rehab assignment Sunday in Davenport, Iowa, for Class A Quad Cities.  —  Mulder reported no problems Wednesday after working a three-inning simulation Tuesday against several teammates.

Heat exhaustion  —  Trachsel gets win, but bullpen lets it get too close for comfort  —  MIAMI - Winning pitcher Steve Trachsel was waiting to open the door to the clubhouse for Billy Wagner last night, an appropriately symbolic gesture after Wagner had just slammed the door on the Marlins in dramatic …

Armas Falters, Stanton Rises  —  Nats' Rally Can't Trump Poor Start: Giants 8, Nationals 6  —  A week ago, Mike Stanton wore a cap with a script "W" above the brim and tutored the young men in the Washington Nationals' bullpen, some of them more than 15 years his junior.

Wang wallops Jays with eight shutout innings, earns fifth win in row  —  CBS SportsLine.com wire reports  —  NEW YORK — Whether it's Toronto's big bats or punchless Tampa Bay, Chien-Ming Wang is overpowering everybody lately.  —  That's a momentous development for the surging New York Yankees …

Mark of a winner  —  Loretta double ends it for Sox in wild ninth  —  Wily Mo Peña, fresh off his near-maiming of a man in the front row of the Monster seats, sat in the Red Sox dugout, looking at the few fans leaving the park with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Dunn nominated for Hank Aaron Award  —  Left fielder has been the Reds' most productive hitter  —  CINCINNATI — It hasn't mattered where Adam Dunn has hit in the batting order this season.  —  The Reds left fielder has batted second, fourth, fifth and sixth in the lineup …

Wood opts for rehab, not knife  —  Cubs rained out; Doubleheader Thursday  —  Kerry Wood felt all along he would decline the option of surgery on his torn rotator cuff, opting instead to rehab it and hopefully be ready for spring training.  —  After consulting with several pitchers …

Fasano & Lidle keep cool, warm up for hot forecast  —  Sal Fasano is a man with a three-part plan.  The first part is eating a good meal this morning.  The second is drinking an enormous amount of water.  The third aspect is having prepared a solution of ammonia and water so he can pour it on his head from time to time.

Cuban star Gourriel has no interest in deserting … At 22 and already with an impressive résumé in local and international events.  Cuban infielder Yulieski Gourriel is considered one of the world's best baseball players.  —  And as with other Cuban greats since Fidel Castro …

Larry Legend vs. Big Papi  —  Four years ago, back when David Ortiz was just The Fat Guy on the Twins, I tackled "Pacino or DeNiro?" and called it the most important mailbag question in Sports Guy history.  Now I'm wondering if that question has been surpassed by "Big Papi or Larry Legend? …

Notes: Catching duties shift  —  Blalock plays at DH in finale; Loe set for rehab start  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Rangers catcher Rod Barajas was able to joke about throwing out two basestealers in one inning on Tuesday.  —  "When you have three days off, your arm feels fresh," Barajas said.

Sanchez's best save  —  Met reliever feared for career after crash  —  By CHRISTIAN RED in Miami and MICHAEL O'KEEFFE in New York  —  Duaner Sanchez was chatting with his cousin and a friend in the back of a cab early Monday when another car suddenly slammed into the side of the taxi on a Miami highway.

Diamonds in the rough  —  COMPTON, Calif. - Cy Wiggs does not realize he is caught in the middle of a fight, and because he is 12 years old, he does not worry about that kinda stuff, either.  Right now, the only thing on his mind is pizza.  —  It's what's for lunch today at the Urban Youth Academy …

Kim shuts down Brewers as Rockies roll  —  Box score  —  Byung-Hyun Kim allowed one run in eight innings and Todd Helton homered and drove in three runs to lead the Colorado Rockies over the Milwaukee Brewers 8-2 Wednesday night.  —  Kim (7-6) yielded seven hits, struck out five and didn't walk …