Moneyball still relevant for MLB today  —  The night the San Francisco Giants won the World Series, one of the team's senior advisers, Tony Siegle, told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, “we've shown Moneyball is a bunch of garbage.”  —  Not exactly.  —  The Giants, to an extent, were playing Moneyball, too.

Giants beat Dodgers 8-5 to stay in playoff race  —  LOS ANGELES — Justin Christian had three hits and drove in three runs — all with two outs — and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-5 Wednesday night to keep their slim NL West playoff hopes alive.

Reeling Red Sox give up another late lead in loss to Orioles  —  BOSTON — The reeling Boston Red Sox blew another late lead and lost for the 14th time in 18 games, booed by fans at Fenway Park after Vladimir Guerrero and the Baltimore Orioles rallied for a 6-4 win Wednesday night.

Royals Designate Kila Ka'aihue For Assignment  —  It wasn't long ago that Kila Ka'aihue seemed like a promising piece of the Royals' future.  But the Hawaiian first baseman doesn't appear to fit into their long-term plans any more, despite the career minor league on-base percentage of .390 …

Mariners Hand Twins 11th Straight Loss, 5-4  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki stopped Kevin Slowey's no-hitter with a two-out infield single in the sixth inning and added an RBI double in the seventh, spurring the Seattle Mariners to a 5-4 victory Wednesday night in Minnesota, the 11th straight defeat for the Twins.

Stark: MVP award isn't just for position players  —  That's right!  Why Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander deserves to win the AL award  —  ESPN.com  —  Justin Verlander (24-5, 2.29) is 16-3 after a Tigers loss this season.  —  He's been on the field for fewer games this year than Alfredo Amezaga.

Phillies drop 5th straight, 7-5 to Washington  —  PHILADELPHIA — Danny Espinosa and Wilson Ramos each hit two-run home runs to help the Washington Nationals beat Philadelphia 7-5 on Wednesday, sending the NL East-champion Phillies to their season-worst fifth straight loss.

Rays, GM Friedman deserve praise for another budgeted playoff push … Rays general manager Andrew Friedman is as unlikely a success story as his team.  He came directly to his GM job from the finance world, where he started out as an analyst at Bear Stearns, a big equities company that has since folded.

Transcript of Sandy Alderson's Interview on SNY  —  During the top of the third inning of the Mets' series-opener in St. Louis last night, Sandy Alderson joined Gary Cohen and Ron Darling in the SNY booth to talk about the organization's prospects, offseason plans, and potential changes to Citi Field.

Spinning Yarn  —  Removing the Mask  —  I Was Framed  —  Catchers play a central role in the game of baseball through their involvement with every pitch that their pitchers throw.  One of their key tasks is receiving borderline pitches without discouraging the umpire from calling strikes.

Quade believes he will return to manage Cubs in 2012  —  Before the final home game of the season Wednesday, Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade said he believes he will return in 2012.  —  “I haven't thought about, don't think about it, don't believe it,” Quade said when asked about this possibly …

Mark Buehrle pitches White Sox past Indians 8-4  —  CLEVELAND - Mark Buehrle bounced back from a poor outing and pitched six effective innings, leading the Chicago White Sox past the Cleveland Indians 8-4 Wednesday night.  —  Buehrle (12-9) gave up two runs and four hits.

Freese Drives in Five in Cardinals' Win  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — David Freese drove in five runs with a go-ahead three-run homer and a triple, and the surging St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Mets 6-5 Wednesday night.  —  The Cardinals have won four straight and 12 of 14 to move within 1½ games …

Haren leaves injured as Angels beat Blue Jays  —  (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)  —  TORONTO—Dan Haren's outing ended after he was hit by a line drive on the final out of the eighth inning, Peter Bourjos and Vernon Wells homered, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2 on Wednesday night.

Braves lose to Marlins 4-0  —  MIAMI - Struggling to secure a postseason berth, the Atlanta Braves were thwarted by a playoff-caliber pitching performance.  —  Javier Vazquez allowed only two hits in seven innings Wednesday against his former team, and the Florida Marlins played the spoiler's role by beating Atlanta 4-0.