Nationals trade deadline: the case against adding a starter to replace Stephen Strasburg  —  With the trading deadline four days away, the Nationals' front office executives will be asking numerous questions of themselves and their roster.  One of the biggest: Should the Nationals acquire …

Red Sox revival rests on Lester, Beckett  —  But this is mostly about the rotation.  The Red Sox have four of the bottom 14 AL ERA qualifiers.  That includes rookie Felix Doubront (4.54) and Clay Buchholz (4.93), who has shown some positive signs recently.

Red Sox revival rests on Lester, Beckett  —  The Red Sox team that will show up tonight at Yankee Stadium comes with tons of problems.  —  Strangely, they also have plenty of solutions.  —  They are a bizarre group, an underachieving team that could plummet or soar from here forward and surprise few with either result.

Joey Gallo Continues Power Surge For Rangers  —  Joey Gallo's numbers have been downright silly.  —  Signed for $2.25 million as a Rangers supplemental first-round pick last month, Gallo has annihilated pitchers in the Rookie-level Arizona League.  The 18-year-old third baseman …

Dodgers may consider adding Soriano or LaHair to a Dempster deal with Cubs  —  The Dodgers and Cubs, stalled on what the Dodgers would give up in a trade for Ryan Dempster, have had some discussions on expanding the deal to also include Alfonso Soriano or Bryan LaHair, sources say.

Rockies want to keep Cuddyer & Belisle; Scutaro Giambi & Betancourt could go  —  The Rockies see Michael Cuddyer as the replacement to Todd Helton at first.  (Getty Images)  —  The Rockies, who lost three starting pitchers to the disabled list and Troy Tulowitzki for most of the year …

Starling in the making: Rookie homers on first pitch  —  HOUSTON — That wasn't an earthquake in a suburb of Santo Domingo at exactly 8:07 p.m. ET on Thursday night.  It was the Richter Scale picking up the tremors caused by an entire neighborhood jumping up and down in unison in celebration …

Pirates Hand Astros 10th Loss in Row With 5-3 Win  —  HOUSTON (AP) — Prized prospect Starling Marte homered on his first major league pitch and the Pittsburgh Pirates jumped out to an early lead before holding on for a 5-3 win over the Houston Astros on Thursday night.

Second Look: Williams, Sanchez  —  Mason Williams and Gary Sanchez are developing well in Tampa … Mason Williams  —  Position: CF  —  Level: High Class A Tampa  —  Age: 20  —  The Yankees center field prospect Williams signed for an over-slot $1.45 million bonus out of an Orlando area high school in the 2010 draft.

Vargas one-hits Royals through eight innings in Mariners win  —  SEATTLE — Seattle starter Jason Vargas allowed one hit in eight innings to win his career-high 11th game, and Mike Carp had three hits to help the Mariners beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 Thursday night.