Thome likely needs 600 homers to reach HOF  —  A few hours after Jim Thome hit his 499th home run, I happened to find myself sitting at a table with seven serious (or semi-serious) baseball fans.  So I asked each of them, "Is Thome a Hall of Famer?"  —  Five said yes, two said no. Five …

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.

Exorcising the Dodgers  —  50 years ago, the Dodgers left Ebbets Field for Los Angeles.  Isn't it time their ghosts left, too?  —  Pitcher Billy Loes winds up while pitching for the Dodgers, circa 1950.  —  T  —  he story of the Brooklyn Dodgers is very likely the most mythologized nostalgia bath …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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.