Reeling Red Sox fall to lowly Orioles  —  BALTIMORE - Rookie Brian Matusz won his third consecutive start, and the Baltimore Orioles beat Josh Beckett [stats] and the fading Boston Red Sox [team stats] 5-2 on Tuesday night to cap a memorable first month under manager Buck Showalter.

Rangers eye Jeff Francoeur  —  There's a chance Jeff Francoeur could be spending his last day as a New York Met.  —  Two MLB sources told ESPNNewYork.com that the Texas Rangers are looking for a right-handed-hitting outfielder for the bench and are considering Francoeur.

Sudden shift for Niemann leads to loss  —  Rays fall one game back of Yankees for lead in AL East  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Tuesday night's game had real potential for the Rays.  —  But that was only at the beginning, long before the Blue Jays strung together a 10-run inning and ruined all the fun.

New York Mets willing to talk extension with pitcher R.A. Dickey in offseason: source  —  ATLANTA - R.A. Dickey's professional career began with a loss of more than $700,000.  Fourteen years later, the pitcher might finally have earned a multi-year contract.

Tracy's single in 10th lifts Marlins over Nats  —  used both his offensive and defensive skills to help the Florida Marlins get a much needed win.  —  singled home Ramirez with the winning run in the 10th inning to help the Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 1-0 on Tuesday night and break a three-game losing streak.

Diamondbacks hand Padres 6th straight loss, 7-4  —  PHOENIX (AP)—The Arizona Diamondbacks are having fun on the field and its translating to wins.  —  drove in the go-ahead runs with a ground-rule double, Gerardo Parra  —  made two critical defensive plays and hit a two-run single …

Final Score: Braves 9 Mets 2  —  The Mets (65-67) lost to the Braves (77-55) by the score of 9-2 tonight.  — In 4.2 innings of work, Jon Niese let up 8 runs and 10 hits, including a grand slam to David Ross during a seven-run inning.  — The Mets were did not reach base in their final 14 at bats.

Royals beat Rangers in bottom of the 9th  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Willie Bloomquist scored on Alexi Ogando's wild pitch with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Alex Gordon drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals beat the Texas Rangers 10-9 on Tuesday night.

Giants looking to tighten up defense  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Despite being one of the best defensive teams in the National League for most of the season, the Giants now are suddenly struggling with the fundamentals.  —  In their past five games, the Giants have committed 11 errors, giving San Francisco 22 in the month of August.

Manny's Hollywood start in L.A. ends with a whimper  —  Expert  —  Tell Scott your opinion!  —  LOS ANGELES — In the end, Manny Ramirez couldn't even pass the smell test here, either.  Which is really hard to do, in a laid-back city whose motto is, “Whatever.”

Miami Dolphins notes: Tony Sparano says team ‘stunk’ against Atlanta (with video of Kendall Langford looking for his diamond earring)  —  For the third day in a row, Tony Sparano was asked for his thoughts on the Dolphins' performance in Friday's preseason game against Atlanta …

Change in mechanics has paid dividends for Yankees pitcher Javier Vazquez  —  NEW YORK — The adjustment in Javier Vazquez's pitching motion was subtle.  But over his last two outings — both relief appearances — it has paid a world of dividends.  —  Throughout his struggles …