Brewers taking calls from teams interested in Greinke  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  A baseball person familiar with the situation said Wednesday the Milwaukee Brewers were taking calls from teams interested in trading for right-hander Zack Greinke.

Encarnacion, Johnson homer as Jays avoid sweep  —  Encarnacion, Johnson homer as Jays avoid sweep  —  Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson homered Thursday as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated Oakland 10-4 to end the Athletics' winning streak at seven games.  —  A three-game sweep …

Furcal, Cards win in 12th over Ramirez, Dodgers  —  (AP Photo/St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chris Lee)  —  ST. LOUIS—The Cardinals look for leadoff man Rafael Furcal to get on base.  He's also done a pretty good job of driving in runs from the top of the order.

Dodgers, Rangers join Angels in market for Rays righty Shields  —  James Shields (8-6, 4.39 ERA) has a $9 million team option for next season.  (Getty Images)  —  The rival Rangers and Dodgers have joined the Angels in the hunt for Big Game James Shields, sources told CBSSports.com.

Marlins' Jeffrey Loria and David Samson conned Miami, lined their pockets and held a fire sale  —  Here is how the con worked.  —  The Florida Marlins owners whined, and they brayed, and they swore up and down that they couldn't afford the new stadium necessary to raise their payroll from embarrassing levels and compete annually.

SOURCE: ‘NOTHING CLOSE’ ON BECKETT DEAL  —  According to a major league source, while the Red Sox have fielded some exploratory inquiries on right-hander Josh Beckett, such calls to this point have been little more than exercises in kicking the tires.  At this point, the source said, there is …

Byrdak, Thole exchange words; Mets swept by Nationals  —  Mets on Twitter  —  From feel-good story to train wreck in two weeks.  Even for the Mets, that's not easy.  —  But that's quickly what's happening, and yesterday was a new low for the team.  Tim Byrdak jawed at Josh Thole …

The third element  —  Cashman: Yanks won't overpay for A-Rod fill-in  —  At a time of injury crisis, general manager Brian Cashman follows a familiar script: He projects confidence the Yankees can weather the loss with internal solutions.  —  He does this to a) bolster the resolve …

Brewers Designate George Kottaras For Assignment  —  The Brewers announced that they designated catcher George Kottaras for assignment.  In related moves, Milwaukee activated catcher Jonathan Lucroy from the 15-day disabled list, optioned infielder Jeff Bianchi to Triple-A and selected the contract of right-hander Jim Henderson.

Orioles looking into Colon, Liriano, Headley and hitters who can get on base  —  The contending Orioles have broadened their pitching search to inquire about Bartolo Colon and Francisco Liriano since their chances at a high-end starter such as Zack Greinke may not be great.

Stubbs stars again in 9th-inning rally, Reds beat Astros  —  HOUSTON — Drew Stubbs delivered another huge hit in the ninth inning, launching a two-out, two-run double that rallied the Cincinnati Reds past Houston 5-3 Wednesday night for their season-high seventh straight win.