Tribune staff: Is Thome a Hall of Famer?  —  Phil Rogers: Jim Thome's got my vote for the Hall of Fame, and not just because he has 500 home runs.  He has approached the game the right way, doing almost everything a player can do.  He's taken the gifts he was given and maximized them with hard work and an impeccable approach.

It's about timely plate power  —  The Padres sacrificed footspeed and bat control when they assembled their offense.  They emphasized home run power, even if meant suffering a high total of strikeouts.  CEO Sandy Alderson wanted sluggers, particularly right-handers who could pop home runs at Petco Park.

Young has 7 RBIs as Rangers, A's brawl  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Michael Young drove in a career-high seven runs, including a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 11-9 on Sunday in a game featuring a bench-clearing brawl.

Brandon Jones added to Braves starting lineup, making 3 Jones on card  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Outfielder Brandon Jones was added to the Atlanta Braves' starting lineup against the Washington Nationals on Sunday after he was brought up from Triple-A Richmond.  —  He joined Chipper Jones …

Run differential isn't everything  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  Run differential is overrated.  —  All right, maybe that's overstated.  But those crazy Diamondbacks are merely the latest club to outperform its estimated won-loss record based on its runs scored and runs allowed.

Cubs beat Cards, maintain division lead  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jason Marquis has come back to haunt his former team.  —  Matt Murton hit a three-run homer, and Marquis allowed just one run while pitching into the seventh inning to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 4-2 win over the slumping St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Wright becomes third Met in 30-30 club  —  Third baseman hit 30th homer on Sunday to go with 31 steals  —  NEW YORK — David Wright often refers to hitting coach Howard Johnson as his "baseball father," his greatest role model in the game.  So when Johnson approached Wright this spring …

Phillies show Mets they mean business  —  Dobbs' grand slam helps cut NL East deficit to 3 1/2 games  —  NEW YORK — Here they go again.  —  Leave it to the Phillies to storm back into National League East contention with three pronounced stomps on the neck of the team directly ahead of them.

Reds could make Cubs blue  —  Revived club plays NL Central leaders 6 times down stretch  —  Things change over the course of a 162-game season.  Unfortunately for the Cubs, one change this year is that playing six of their last 12 games against the Cincinnati Reds isn't as soft a finish as it seemed in April and May.

Yankee's prank strikes out  —  Talk about sore winners.  —  Griffin Whitman, a 10-year-old Red Sox [team stats] fan from Swampscott, was excited to attend his first Yankees vs. Red Sox game Friday night.  The young autograph -collector was even more thrilled to score Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan's signature before the game.

Pirates Notebook: Sanchez, Capps targeted for contract extensions  —  HOUSTON — The Pirates plan to approach two of their top performers, second baseman Freddy Sanchez and closer Matt Capps, with multiyear contract proposals this offseason.  —  The new front office will wait until team …

Advantage: Beckett  —  Chien-Ming Wang hung with Josh Beckett for five innings, but he ran into trouble in the sixth, leaving after two outs and setting the stage for a loss that dropped the Yankees back to 5 1/2 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East and 2 1/2 games ahead of the Tigers in the Wild Card.

Astros remove Williams from rotation  —  Rookie Paulino to make start Tuesday vs. Brewers  —  HOUSTON — With a slew of young pitchers to look at and only so many spots available in the rotation, veteran right-hander Woody Williams was bumped from the rotation on Sunday …

Thome is a 500 clubber  —  White Sox DH makes his 500th home run memorable, a two-run walk-off shot in the ninth that hands Angels an improbable loss in a game they led, 7-1.  —  CHICAGO — The Angels found themselves on the wrong side of history Sunday afternoon, but even they had to admit, it was pretty impressive.

CENTER STAGE: As the Tigers face Cleveland, we ask who's better: Grady or Grandy?  —  In the 1950s, any New York baseball fan could argue that his favorite centerfielder was the best in town.  The Dodgers had Duke Snider.  The Giants had Willie Mays.  The Yankees had Mickey Mantle.