Oswalt Sharp in 1st Start of the Season  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Roy Oswalt pitched efficiently into the seventh inning in his first start of the season and the Texas Rangers won their seventh straight, beating the slumping Colorado Rockies 4-1 on Friday night.

Greinke, Brewers Beat White Sox 1-0 in 10  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Zack Greinke pitched three-hit ball over nine innings, Rickie Weeks drove in the lone run with a single in the 10th and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Friday night.  —  The Brewers finally pulled …

Mets closer Francisco eggs on Subway rival by calling Yankees ‘chickens’  —  Mets on Twitter  —  At least somebody isn't afraid to talk trash about a cross-town rival.  —  “I can't wait to face those chickens,” Mets closer Frank Francisco told The Post when asked about playing the Yankees …

Two groups push to buy Padres, sale could be agreed to by All-Star break  —  Owner John Moores' asking price for the Padres is in the neighborhood of $800 million.  (US Presswire)  —  Is the O'Malley family close to returning to baseball ownership, a couple of hundred miles south …

Burnett, Pirates shut down Tigers 4-1  —  PITTSBURGH—A.J. Burnett pitched six shutout innings to win his seventh consecutive start and the Pittsburgh Pirates won for the fifth time in six games, 4-1 over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.  —  Burnett (8-2) allowed two hits and three walks …

Twins Ink Bard For $1,227,000  —  The Twins signed supplemental first-round pick Luke Bard for $1,227,000.  His bonus matches the assigned value for his No. 42 overall selection.  —  A righthander like his brother Daniel (Red Sox), Bard missed much of his junior season at Georgia Tech after tearing a lat muscle in late March.

Mets activate Cedeno, option Elvin to Triple-A  —  NEW YORK — Ronny Cedeno owes Andy Pettitte a thank you.  —  The shortstop, who has been on the disabled list since May 30 with a strained left calf, rejoined the Mets on Friday, and manager Terry Collins wasted no time getting him back in the starting lineup.

A big blast from Ortiz  —  Angry DH rips media scrutiny  —  David Ortiz is having one of the best seasons of his career and is sure to be an All-Star again.  But he's not having fun, and the media is to blame.  —  It's even to a point, the designated hitter said, where he is unsure about returning next season.

Former Brewer Hall tweets Livan deal with Crew  —  MILWAUKEE — It's a brave, new, social media-dominated world when a former Brewers player breaks news about the newest member of the team via Twitter.  —  Bill Hall, a onetime Milwaukee utility man who is currently playing for the Orioles' Triple …

Moreland lands on DL with strained hamstring  —  ARLINGTON — Rangers first baseman Mitch Moreland was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Friday due to a strained left hamstring, and an MRI exam indicated that he will be out four to six weeks.  —  Moreland suffered the injury while running …

Paulino likely headed for Tommy John surgery  —  KANSAS CITY — Right-hander Felipe Paulino could be the fourth Royals pitchers to have Tommy John surgery this year.  —  Team doctors have diagnosed Paulino with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, which usually leads to reconstructive elbow surgery.

Mike Trout and the AL MVP  —  Despite playing just 48 games and only just recently qualifying for the FanGraphs leaderboards under standard search filters, Mike Trout has been one of the most valuable players in all of baseball.  And at his current pace, his +3.5 wins above replacement …