Texas vs. Tampa Bay  —  Rangers earn victory against squabbling Rays  —  CBSSports.com wire reports  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — David Murphy filled in aptly in the No. 3 spot of the Texas lineup with an early home run before German Duran and Ramon Vazquez also homered in the Rangers' 6-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Sunday.

Braves' Jones sidelined with slight injury to thigh  —  ATLANTA — Braves third baseman Chipper Jones wasn't going to play Sunday due to a small tear in his right quadriceps and may miss one or two more games.  —  Jones, leading the majors with a .420 batting average, injured the muscle …

Cuban prospect defects to U.S. … MIAMI (AP) — One of Cuba's top baseball prospects has defected and settled in South Florida in hopes of playing in the major leagues.  —  Dayan Viciedo arrived in the United States at the end of May and is now living with friends and family, his agent, Jaime Torres, said Sunday.

Clark's homer gives Padres sweep of Mets  —  SAN DIEGO (AP)—Tony Clark took a smooth swing and let Billy Wagner supply the power.  —  Clark connected for a pinch-hit, three-run homer off Wagner with two outs in the eighth inning Sunday, sending the San Diego Padres to an 8-6 victory and a four-game sweep of the New York Mets.

Ellis' slam in 12th lifts A's by Angels  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Mark Ellis figured his 12th-inning drive would stay fair, then thought again as it took a sharp hook to the left.  Everything turned out just fine for Oakland, though.  —  Ellis hit a two-out grand slam Sunday …

Bay's double lifts Pirates over Arizona  —  PITTSBURGH (AP)—Doug Davis didn't look the way Arizona pitchers Brandon Webb and Dan Haren did the two previous days.  Not surprisingly, the Diamondbacks didn't resemble the first-place team that finally appeared to be breaking out of a slide.

Pitcher Analysis: Justin Duchscherer  —  Before I start the analysis of Justin Duchscherer (hereafter called “The Duke"), I want to confess that The Duke is my favorite pitcher of all time.  He gets it done at the major league level without a 90+ mph fastball and throws five pitches for strikes …

Cash: Hank's behind me  —  Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed yesterday that Hank Steinbrenner has officially expressed an interest in retaining his services beyond 2008, when his current contract expires.  There have been no official negotiations, but Cashman stressed that he isn't looking to leave the Bronx.

White Sox rip Twins, win sixth straight  —  CHICAGO (AP)—Ozzie Guillen took his shots, and now, his hitters are taking theirs.  —  Nick Swisher and Alexei Ramirez homered, and Joe Crede had another big day at the plate as the Chicago White Sox routed the Minnesota Twins again, 12-2 on Sunday for their sixth straight win.

Chamberlain improves in second start for Yankees  —  NEW YORK - Joba Chamberlain mixed in some curveballs and changeups and moved one step closer to getting past the pitch-count limits that have held him back in his first two starts.  —  All Dan Giese got Sunday was the lineup card and a souvenir ball from a game he'll never forget.

Ailing Young extends hitting streak to 22 games  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  ARLINGTON - Playing despite a broken left ring finger, shortstop Michael Young wasted no time extending his hitting streak to 22 games Saturday by lining a single to left in his first at-bat.  —  But how long Young can keep it up is uncertain.