Bonds hits No. 749, but Yankees win 7-3  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Barry Bonds' 749th home run wasn't nearly enough to overcome another big night from Alex Rodriguez.  —  Rodriguez went 4-for-4 with two RBIs and the New York Yankees beat the Giants 7-3 Friday night in their first meaningful …

Deal could be close for Cubs  —  Indications are the Cubs will step up their efforts to make another trade of a position player before Monday, when they plan to add a 12th pitcher to the staff.  —  That likely would mean moving Jacque Jones, who has gone from the Cubs' Opening Day starter …

Phils' Lieber out with ruptured tendon  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Phillies right-hander Jon Lieber, who left his last start after stumbling off the mound to cover home plate, is out indefinitely with a ruptured tendon in his foot.  —  Lieber said an MRI exam on Saturday revealed the damage.

Pirates Notebook: Phelps added to bolster sagging bench  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Pirates are trying to bolster the most anemic bench in Major League Baseball.  —  Less than a day after rewarding Brad Eldred for a power spurt at Class AAA Indianapolis, they claimed first baseman/catcher Josh Phelps …

Schill, just chill: No need to hasten return  —  SAN DIEGO - If you are the Red Sox [team stats] now, here is what you do: You tell Curt Schilling [stats] he was due for a vacation anyway.  You tell him to take his time.  You tell him to set his sights on the weekend of July 12-15 and not a moment earlier.

Teixeira, relievers on Yankees' radar  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The Texas Rangers are one of the few teams already in sell mode who have multiple players who both could be available and are attractive to contenders.  The Yankees have expressed an interest in several of those players …

Watson Comes Through For Nats  —  RFK Stadium was the setting of several firsts last night.  Center fielder Brandon Watson had the first multi-RBI game of his career, with the first of his two runs batted in coming on his first major league hit since April 2006.

Zimmerman loses ball in shirt  —  Nats third baseman involved in strange play  —  WASHINGTON — Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was involved in one of the weirdest plays of the 2007 season and it most likely will be seen on a blooper highlight show for years to come.

Chipper sits out with another injury  —  Chipper Jones once went eight years between stints on the disabled list.  Yes, eight years.  —  These days, the Braves would probably be thrilled if the third baseman went eight months without a stop on the DL.  Maybe even eight weeks.  —  But eight games?

Dukes off Rays' roster  —  The Rays have removed the Elijah Dukes distraction from their clubhouse, but have not cut ties with him entirely.  The Rays optioned Dukes to Durham and placed him on the temporarily inactive list.  —  Dustan Mohr has been brought up from Durham to take Dukes' place.

Willits, Angels keep it going  —  Rookie gets four hits, Cabrera drives in the winning run in 11th to beat the Pirates, 5-4.  —  Magglio Ordonez, Ichiro Suzuki, Reggie Willits, Derek Jeter and Placido Polanco.  OK, which one looks out of place?  —  Willits, the 25-year-old rookie from Oklahoma …

Rotation straightened out - Andrew Miller stays  —  The Tigers have made some decisions on their rotation.  Dave Dombrowski was on WXYT and said that Andrew Miller will remain in the starting rotation and Chad Durbin will move to the bullpen when Nate Robertson returns next week.