Fast start, Guthrie end O's losing streak at 9 … SAN DIEGO // Jeremy Guthrie stepped out of the dugout in the first inning last night and resisted the urge to pinch himself.  If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up.  Just go directly to the mound, with no sudden movements, and bask in a moment that didn't seem real.

Cubs deal Barrett to Padres  —  Chicago gets catcher Bowen, Minor Leaguer in return  —  ARLINGTON — Catcher Michael Barrett, in the headlines this month for dugout skirmishes, was traded by the Cubs to the Padres on Wednesday for catcher Rob Bowen and a Minor League player.

Notes: Henderson here to help  —  Special instructor on tap to work with Reyes, Gomez  —  NEW YORK — With the return of summer — actually, one day before its return — has come the return of a man who used to own summer in these parts, one Rickey Henley Henderson, also known as Jose Reyes' personal tutor.

An Interpretive Analysis of the Commissioner's Invitation to Jason Giambi to Speak to the Mitchell Commission  —  An Interpretive Analysis of the Commis...  06-20  —  Wrong Sox by Bryan Smith  —  06-18  —  The O's Are Baseball by Will Carroll  —  June 20, 2007, 10:49 PM ET

Braves Trade McBride  —  Posted on Wed Jun 20, 2007 at 04:49:56 PM EDT  —  The Atlanta Braves announced that they have traded left-handed reliever Macay McBride to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for left-handed reliever Wilfredo Ledezma.  —  Ledezma has primarily been a reliever …

Ludwick's homer is winner in 14th  —  The Cardinals committed four errors Wednesday night.  They left the bases loaded in the ninth inning after having scored the tying run with just one out, and failed to score in the 12th after again loading the bases with one out.

UNC tops Rice, stay alive  —  OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Robert Woodard and two relievers limited Rice to six singles and a double, Dustin Ackley broke open the game with a three-run homer and North Carolina beat the Owls 6-1 in the College World Series on Wednesday.

White Sox can't contain Marlins in loss  —  Manager Guillen expresses frustration after lead dissolves  —  CHICAGO — On the sliding scale of Ozzie Guillen tirades, ranging from the somewhat comical right on up to his irate verbal assault of Magglio Ordonez in Detroit two years ago …

Getting the Manager Right  —  The Orioles shuffled a deck chair or two Monday, firing manager Sam Perlozzo and replacing him with bench coach Dave Tremblay.  The move will have no impact at all on the Orioles' 2007 season, which is now all about positioning for the 2008 draft.

Twins take two of three from Mets  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer and Scott Baker pitched five effective innings to help the Minnesota Twins beat the New York Mets 6-2 on Wednesday night.  —  Joe Mauer also drove in two runs for Minnesota, which won two of three in its first series at Shea Stadium since 2002.

Schmidt's shoulder worse than thought  —  Pitcher out for rest of season after surgery repairs three areas  —  TORONTO — Dodgers right-hander Jason Schmidt is out for the season after surgery Wednesday to repair three separate areas of damage in his right shoulder.

As the Mets Flounder, Gómez Could Be a Catch  —  Carlos Gómez has few friends in New York, so he has been surprised when strangers have stopped him, acted as if they had known him forever and talked about the catch.  Five weeks into his major league career …

Throwin Heat - General Managers  —  A lot of general managers are operating with limited payrolls, but they're not all getting the same results.  Some teams make GM changes when they're not making progress, while others keep the same general manager for several years even when that GM has done …

Renteria gets extra spring vs. Red Sox  —  Edgar Renteria was hitting .330 with 10 homers before Tuesday, having an even better season in his second year away from Boston than he had in his first.  —  You should know he's enjoying every minute of it, especially while the Red Sox are in town to see him shine.

Sosa becomes fifth player to hit 600 HRs  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Sammy Sosa's 600th homer resembled so many that came before — except this time the Chicago Cubs were on the other side.  —  Playing for the Texas Rangers after a year out of baseball, Sosa became the fifth member …

M's break out of funk  —  Weaver deals complete-game, four-hit shutout  —  The last time we saw Jeff Weaver pitching like this, he was clinching the title for St. Louis in Game 5 of last year's World Series.  —  The last time we saw Jeff Weaver pitching in Safeco Field, he was getting booed left, right and center.