Shaky fielding dooms Nats in opener  —  Defensive miscues lead to a five-run Rockies eighth inning  —  DENVER — This time, the Washington Nationals have nobody to blame but themselves.  —  Back in mid-June, when the Nationals were on a nice roll and within four games of .500 …

Padres-Giants Preview  —  The San Diego Padres continue their pursuit of first place in the NL West by trying to fend off a couple of teams pursuing them.  —  Boasting a five-game winning streak, the Padres begin perhaps their most important stretch of the regular season's final month Friday …

Royals head to Fenway  —  Kansas City (52-89) at Boston (75-65), Friday, 6:05 p.m. CT  —  It's back to Fenway Park on Friday for the Royals.  Things didn't go very well there in July when the Royals lost three one-run decisions, 5-4, 1-0, 1-0.  —  Matter of fact, in the last four years …

Buehrle can't find handle against Tribe  —  Starter leaves in fifth inning; White Sox bats largely silent  —  CHICAGO — In watching Ozzie Guillen walk from the U.S. Cellular Field Conference and Learning Center back to the White Sox clubhouse following Thursday's 9-1 loss to Cleveland …

Halos stifle Jays, win sixth straight  —  Rookie hurler Saunders tosses gem as Angels roll  —  ANAHEIM — Joe Saunders started the Angels' current winning streak and on Friday he gave the Angels exactly what they're going to need to catch the A's.  —  The left-hander tossed …

Rangers recall reliever who once threw chair  —  SEATTLE (AP) — The Texas Rangers on Friday recalled right-hander Frank Francisco, who pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault for throwing a chair that broke the nose of an Oakland Athletics female fan two years ago.

Mets Make Dodgers Blue  —  Mets 7 - Dodgers 0  —  Tom Glavine gave the Mets a strong 6+ shutout innings, and Jose Reyes had the first inside-the-park home run of his career as the Mets pummeled Brad Penny and the Dodgers.  —  The Mets jumped on Penny quickly in the first, with the first 4 Mets batters getting hits.

Padres try to sneak into hunt for Zito  —  Imagine a 2007 Padres' rotation featuring twin aces, right-hander Jake Peavy and left-hander Barry Zito.  —  The Padres can.  —  The consensus around baseball is that Zito will land with either one of the New York teams or the Dodgers as a free agent.

ESPN GETS A RE-PHIL  —  STEVE INKS NEW FIVE-YEAR DEAL  —  In a move that will push Steve Phillips even more into the forefront of ESPN baseball coverage, the network has signed the former Met GM to a new five-year contract.  —  Phillips, who is in his second full year on ESPN …

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There's plenty to play for  —  Brewers out of race, have goals to chase  —  thaudricourt@journalsentinel.com  —  As a result of their recent 10-game losing streak, the Milwaukee Brewers no longer are in the National League playoff picture.  Any real shot at their first winning season since 1992 …

DAN LEBATARD ON JOE GIRARDI  —  With the end of the season fast approaching and the Dusty Era (hopefully) coming to a close, Cub fans far and wide have been looking toward next season.  One big question on everyone's mind is, "who will the Cubs' manager be in 2007"?