Carlos Beltran and Luis Castillo explain skipping Walter Reed trip, Oliver Perez refuses to comment  —  WASHINGTON - Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and Carlos Beltran - three Mets who have already given management plenty of headaches this season - tried to explain Wednesday why they were the only Mets …

Long balls hurt Garland, Padres vs. Giants  —  Venable cracks homer; NL West lead shaved to one game  —  SAN DIEGO — This was neither the time nor the place to marvel at the feats of others, but Padres second baseman David Eckstein couldn't help but watch with astonishment Thursday …

Given early lead, Jurrjens unravels in loss  —  In rare home letdown, righty allows seven runs to Cards  —  ATLANTA — Looking to regroup after another rough road trip and regain their first-place status, the Braves returned home with the hope that Jair Jurrjens would right the ship …

Johnson, Astros Beat Dodgers 3-2  —  HOUSTON (AP) — Rookie Chris Johnson hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Houston Astros rallied to beat the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Thursday night.  —  Johnson, who struck out in his first two at-bats, drove a full-count pitch from Ted Lilly …

New York Yankees' Andy Pettitte began minor league rehabilitation start Thursday night by breezing through Double-A hitters as he works his way back from groin injury  —  TRENTON, N.J. — New York Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte began a minor league rehabilitation start Thursday night …

Arizona Diamondbacks' Chase Field could become pitchers' haven with humidor  —  The fine reputation Chase Field has enjoyed among major-league hitters could change with the flip of a climate-controlled switch.  —  The Diamondbacks are considering storing their baseballs in a humidor next season …

Lewis ends losing streak as Rangers beat Blue Jays  —  (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)  —  TORONTO—Colby Lewis won for the first time since mid-July, Mitch Moreland drove in three runs and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Thursday night.

Yankees top prospect Montero out with ankle injury  —  Yankees top prospect Jesus Montero will miss the remainder of Scranton/Wilkes Barre's playoff series against Columbus after undergoing a procedure on his ankle Wednesday night.  —  The heavily-hyped catcher suffered a bone bruise and decided to have the discoloring scraped out.

D-backs get Gorgen to complete Qualls deal  —  Right-handed reliever will be assigned to Triple-A Reno  —  PHOENIX — The D-backs acquired pitcher Matt Gorgen from the Rays on Thursday as the player to be named in the deal that sent reliever Chad Qualls to Tampa Bay just prior to the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline.

Twelve Thoughts: Rockies' Dynamic Hitting Duo, Next Dodgers Owner?  —  Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez is moving up my MVP ballot.  —  Yeah, he isn't hitting much on the road, but Gonzalez, a five-tool talent, is having a home season for the ages.  And on the road, he's an asset defensively and on the basepaths.

MLB On Pace to Have Lower Attendance Than Last Season  —  Major League Baseball is on pace to have attendance down slightly from last season's total of 73,418,529, the fifth highest attended season in MLB history, but down from record numbers the year prior.

Matsui's days with Halos may be numbered  —  ANAHEIM — Hideki Matsui wants to stay in the Majors next season, saying he has no intent to return to pro ball in Japan.  For reasons both in and out of his control, his current team might have no intention of bringing him back.

Dungy revisits Ryan comments, discusses Bush Heisman  —  NBC's Tony Dungy joined Dan in New Orleans to talk about the upcoming season.  Here are some of his takes ...  — Dungy revisited his issues with Rex Ryan's language on Hard Knocks.  “It wasn't personal,” Dungy said.

Washington Nationals' future lineup likely won't include Adam Dunn  —  Adam Dunn is done in Washington.  —  All season, the Nationals have had an internal debate over a classic question of baseball theory: Do the synergies a 40-homer cleanup hitter brings to a lineup outweigh the damage done …