Yankees' Giambi makes early exit  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jason Giambi told Joe Torre before the game that his battered body felt well enough to play first base.  —  But after going 1 for 2 with a two-run double, Giambi left the game in the seventh inning with body-wide cramps, the result of dehydration and being tired.

Phils bolster bench, acquire Conine  —  Orioles to receive player to be named later in return  —  NEW YORK — Jeff Conine's final at-bat with the Orioles is precisely what the Phillies hope he'll provide for them.  —  The veteran outfielder smacked a game-tying double in the bottom …

Call-ups could rotate Rangers' Volquez out  —  Addition of other pitchers in September may sideline rookie  —  ARLINGTON - The Rangers will push rookie right-hander Edinson Volquez as far back in the starting rotation as possible.  —  That is, if they keep him in the rotation at all.

Win streak reaches six with 30,017 looking on  —  MIAMI GARDENS — The overachieving Marlins inched closer to a winning record Saturday night by winning their sixth straight game in front of 30,017, their fourth-largest crowd of the year at Dolphin Stadium.  —  Catcher Matt Treanor …

Notes: Vazquez won't rock the boat  —  Owens recalled from Minors; Thome could be a few days away  —  CHICAGO — Javier Vazquez has absolutely no intention of creating any sort of trouble on the White Sox team or putting the focus on anything but his crew's day-to-day playoff battle.

Mets see things they like in Perez  —  Lefty shows flashes of dominance in erratic outing  —  NEW YORK — For weeks, the Mets had guarded against looking too far ahead.  They had dealt successfully with the temptation to think about October before finishing August.

Snyder aims to snap skid  —  Boston (71-58) at Seattle (60-69), 4:05 p.m. PT  —  After losing the first two games of this series to the Mariners, all the Red Sox can hope for is to go sweepless in Seattle.  —  The Red Sox suffered an agonizing 4-3 setback on Saturday, a game they led with six outs to go.

Dodgers Finally Catch Break on Kent's Homer  —  His ninth-inning blast is the difference in a 4-3 win over Diamondbacks.  Lowe is forced to leave early.  —  PHOENIX — This is what Jeff Kent is supposed to do, isn't it?  Hoist the Dodgers on his shoulders with one swing …

Reliever Speier returning to mound  —  With a new crop of prospects moving front and center in the Rockies organization, it might be difficult to remember pitcher Ryan Speier.  —  But three seasons ago, Speier was at the top of the futures list as he compiled a season of 37 saves for the Tulsa Drillers in the Double-A Texas League.

Howard making strong case for MVP  —  The race for the National League Most Valuable Player award isn't simply between Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran and Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols.  —  Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard, the NL leader in home runs and RBIs …

Pitching With No Pain, Glavine Is Feeling Giddy  —  Tom Glavine pitched a bullpen session without pain yesterday and said he was on target to start Friday against the Astros in Houston.  —  "I feel great," Glavine said last night before the Mets faced the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium.

Kendall, A's remain red-hot in Texas  —  Sizzling Oakland has won 18 of 23 games in August  —  ARLINGTON — Jason Kendall has so many superstitions that he can't for the life of him come up with the most bizarre of them all.  In fact, he wouldn't detail it anyway, because he's got a "Fight Club" mentality.

THEO  —  When I first sat down to write this article, I tried a systematic, reasoned evaluation of our GM.  I opened up transaction reports, Cot's Baseball Contracts, espn.com's stats page, baseball prospectus PECOTA cards... every resource I could think of to make my point.