Dickey Shuts Down Punchless Padres  —  NEW YORK (AP) — R.A. Dickey struck out 10 and reached double digits for strikeouts in consecutive games for the first time in his career and the New York Mets held the punchless San Diego Padres scoreless for the second straight day, 2-0 Sunday.

For starters, Rays at Red Sox, in the sunshine  —  UPDATE, 12:34: Maddon said the lineup was a result of wanting to get Rhymes into a game, and wanting to give Elliot Johnson a day off, and, thirdly, to give Sean Rodriguez a game at shortstop as he's been playing third and second. ...

Angels win as Pujols HR streak up to 3 games  —  SEATTLE (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a home run in his third straight game and pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo came through with a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

Ryan Dempster wouldn't mind staying with Cubs  —  Pirates second baseman Neil Walker steals second ahead of the tag by Darwin Barney in the second inning Saturday in Pittsburgh.  Gene J. Puskar~AP  —  PITTSBURGH — Just because Ryan Dempster knows the Cubs will look to trade …

Chien-Ming Wang replaces Ross Detwiler in the Nationals' rotation  —  (Kevin C. Cox - GETTY IMAGES) Chien-Ming Wang will replace Ross Detwiler in the Nationals' rotation, Manager Davey Johnson said, a decision Johnson based on Wang's track record and Detwiler being better suited to pitch in relief.

Phillies blank Cardinals 4-0 behind Kendrick  —  ST. LOUIS—Kyle Kendrick threw a seven-hitter for his first career shutout, winning his first game of the season and putting the Philadelphia Phillies on the verge of their first four-game sweep in St. Louis in 26 years with a 4-0 victory on Saturday night.

Nationals want bullpen help in trade for John Lannan  —  Buster Olney of ESPN says the Nationals are looking for relief pitching, and they're willing to deal LHP John Lannan in order to acquire such help.  —  Lannan is 3-5 with a 6.12 ERA in nine starts with Triple-A Syracuse this season.

McDonald's HR helps D-backs beat Greinke, Brewers  —  PHOENIX—John McDonald hit a three-homer and Milwaukee's Zack Greinke had his worst outing of the season in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 8-5 victory over the Brewers on Saturday night.  —  Greinke (5-2), who had allowed one run total …

Injury epidemic a pain in the neck for MLB  —  Jacoby Ellsbury proved that you don't have to play to make a lot of money.  In the offseason after he made $490,000 and played in 18 games, his salary rose to $2.9 million.  —  The number of players on the disabled list is actually down a tad this season …

AJ Ellis 3-run HR in 9th leads LA over Astros 6-3  —  LOS ANGELES—A.J. Ellis hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 6-3 victory over the Houston Astros on Saturday night.  —  The Dodgers' 11th victory in 15 games improved the best record in the majors …

Mets' good start not being reflected at Citi Field's gates  —  I'll admit I was first in line among the legion of doubters about the Mets, who should've been lost in the ash heap by now.  There wasn't enough pitching, not enough leadership and, didn't we all know, not enough money to keep …

Reds hit 3 homers in 10-3 win over Rockies  —  CINCINNATI—Chris Heisey gave Cincinnati the lead with his first home run of the season, and four relievers made it stand up as the Reds overcame a poor start by Mike Leake for a 10-3 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.