Wright, Santana lead Mets' 4-2 win over Braves  —  ATLANTA—David Wright homered, Johan Santana won for the first time in four starts and the New York Mets snapped the Atlanta Braves' five-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory Thursday night.  —  The Mets, who had dropped three straight …

Utley has six RBIs as Phillies tighten NL East race  —  DENVER (AP) — The blurry-eyed Philadelphia Phillies didn't mind that they wouldn't get a lot of shuteye after making their one-night stopover in Denver so worthwhile.  —  Chase Utley drove in six runs and hit a grand slam to cap …

Source: Scott Boras is out as A-Rod's agent  —  Alex Rodriguez has fired uber agent Scott Boras and is now being represented full time by Pittsburgh attorney Jay Reisinger.  —  Bob Nightengale of USA Today was the first one to run with this this morning, but for reasons that are unclear, the link disappeared as soon as it showed up.

Handicapping the major award races  —  With a month to go, it's Votto over Pujols in NL MVP and King Felix for AL Cy  —  It's September, and you know what that means.  —  Time to buy those 75 back-to-school notebooks.  Time to determine whether there's room on your fantasy football roster for Legedu Naanee.

Pedroia expected to have surgery  —  Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is expected to have surgery to insert a screw in his left foot sometime tomorrow at Massachusetts General Hospital according to a major league source.  —  Pedroia was examined last night by Massachusetts General …

Twins stumble late, fall to Tigers in 13 innings  —  Minnesota depletes bullpen in finale against Detroit  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said before Thursday's series finale against the Tigers that he would like to add at least another player through September callups due to the team's growing list of injuries.

Is it time to push back trading deadline?  —  A dozen GMs weigh in on possible change to system and, naturally, they don't all agree  —  Here's an idea whose time needs to come:  —  Move back the trading deadline.  —  Move it back to Aug. 31.  We'd even settle for Aug. 15.

Delgado diagnosed with tear in left hip  —  BALTIMORE — Carlos Delgado won't play for the Red Sox this season.  —  Delgado, who signed a minor-league contract last month with the hope of being a left-handed-hitting complement to fill-in first baseman Mike Lowell, has a small tear in his left hip, according to his agent David Sloane.

Elusive big bat key to big Dodgers offseason  —  Club hopes to address inconsistency in middle of lineup  —  LOS ANGELES — Whether or not the Dodgers can pull off some sort of miracle to reach the postseason, they'll be looking at another necessary miracle in the offseason to fix the roster.

Red Sox beat Orioles 6-4 to win 3-game series  —  BALTIMORE—The Boston Red Sox put a satisfactory finish on a potentially disastrous road trip.  —  Adrian Beltre homered to spark a five-run second inning, and the Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles 6-4 on Thursday night to win the three-game series.

With Jocketty at Controls, Red Machine Being Rebuilt  —  ST. LOUIS — Tony La Russa had just landed here Wednesday night after a dreary road trip that pushed his St. Louis Cardinals eight games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the standings.  It was a bitter disappointment for La Russa …

Inbox: What second baseman would fit?  —  Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers Nats fans' questions  —  Is there a pending free-agent second baseman that can fit the Nationals' needs — defensively and offensively?  If so, can they sign him?  —  A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted …