Royals pound White Sox for 7th straight win  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—The surging Kansas City Royals are giving their fans a glimpse of a brighter future.  —  Mike Moustakas(notes) hit his third home run in four games and Jeff Francoeur(notes) hit a three-run homer and the Royals beat …

Rangers down M's 7-6, add ground over Angels  —  SEATTLE - The Texas Rangers haven't found themselves in many close games lately with only two this month being decided by less than four runs.  —  Texas manager Ron Washington expects that to change as the season winds down and the Rangers try …

Phillies Win, Clinch 5th Straight NL East Title  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roy Oswalt threw seven dominant innings, Raul Ibanez hit a grand slam and the Philadelphia Phillies clinched their fifth straight NL East title with a 9-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night.

Cards making moves for 2012  —  PHILADEPHIA  • The Cardinals admit they have no idea whether or not they will be able to retain pending free agent first baseman Albert Pujols.  They also recognize there will be ramifications regardless of outcome.  —  Rather than be held hostage …

Mets and Tim Byrdak Close to Extension  —  I have learned the Mets and Tim Byrdak are close to an extension for the 2012 season.  —  Byrdak was one of the value signings this past off season and he's turned out well.  —  He had big shoes to fill with the departure of Pedro Feliciano.

Zobrist blast keeps Rays playoff hopes alive  —  Ben Zobrist hit a two-run homer off Jon Lester on Saturday to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-3 victory over the Red Sox and trim Boston's lead in the AL wild-card race to three games.  —  Jeff Niemann (11-7) pitched five solid innings for Tampa Bay …

Gallardo Strikes Out 13 in Brewers Romp  —  CINCINNATI (AP) — Yovani Gallardo struck out a career-high 13 and Ryan Braun hit his third home run in two nights to help the Milwaukee Brewers inch closer to a Central Division championship with a 10-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday night.

Anthopoulos, Jays making huge gains  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  The Red Sox [team stats] have had their hands full with the Rays, and the Yankees are the Yankees, but very stealthily, an AL East neighbor to the north is attempting to make waves of its own.

NY Mets' David Wright admits losing, long injury-plagued year have weighed heavily on him  —  ATLANTA - David Wright is standing in front of his locker, holding his cap, and fiddling with the brim.  His voice is soft, and his eyes settle on the hat.  On most days, he chooses to reveal nothing …

Murphy homers in 13th to give Marlins win over Nats  —  WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg allowed one run and four hits over six innings in his third start after Tommy John surgery, but Donnie Murphy's two-run home run in the 13th inning helped give the Florida Marlins a 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night.

Harper: Save the Mo-ment for Bronx  —  TORONTO - It is set up now, perhaps anyway, to be another grand Yankee moment in the Bronx.  And indeed, in a season in which Derek Jeter enjoyed such a magical day at the Stadium in reaching 3,000 hits, it would be only fitting if Mariano Rivera gets his crowning achievement at home as well.