Indians Designate Johnny Damon For Assignment  —  The Indians announced that they designated Johnny Damon for assignment.  The move creates 25-man roster space for outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, who has been recalled from Triple-A Columbus.  —  Damon signed a minor league deal with the Indians …

Rockies stop skid with win over Cardinals  —  DENVER — Tyler Colvin hit a tiebreaking double and rookie Josh Rutledge homered in his fourth straight game, lifting the Colorado Rockies over the St. Louis Cardinals 8-2 Thursday night to avert a three-game sweep.

Dodgers Awarded Claiming Rights On Cliff Lee  —  5:16pm: The Dodgers were awarded Lee's claiming rights, tweets Jon Morosi of FOX Sports.  —  5:06pm: The Phillies don't see a trade as very likely, reports Jon Heyman.  The Phils also aren't likely to just let Lee leave to the claiming team without getting anything back in return.

Nationals Acquire Kurt Suzuki  —  The Athletics traded catcher Kurt Suzuki and cash considerations to the Nationals for catcher David Freitas, the teams announced.  It sounds like the A's are picking up most of Suzuki's 2012 salary and a bit of next year's salary, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (on Twitter).

Friday's pitching preview: Dickey vs. Richard  —  R.A. Dickey (14-2, 2.83 ERA) will start for the Mets tonight.  —  Dickey was superb in his last start against the Diamondbacks, allowing only one run and four hits for his 14th win of the season.  It was an encouraging end to a rough July …

Dodgers Acquire Joe Blanton  —  The Dodgers acquired Joe Blanton from the Phillies for a player to be named later or cash considerations, the Phillies announced.  The Dodgers claimed Blanton off of waivers, according to the Phillies, who have called up right-hander B.J. Rosenberg in a related move.

Bobby Valentine smells a rat in clubhouse  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  The Red Sox [team stats] still have a snitch problem on their hands.  —  Remember when Josh Beckett [stats] complained in spring training to WEEI.com about having a snitch on the team …

Tigers Designate Don Kelly For Assignment  —  The Tigers announced that they have designated utility player Don Kelly for assignment.  The move creates 25-man roster space for Andy Dirks, who has been recalled from his rehab assignment and reinstated from the disabled list.

Joe Maddon Says “Sabermetrics Rule”  —  Rays manager Joe Maddon has long been known as one of baseball's most statistically savvy skippers, but extensive Googling suggests that despite doing a two-part interview at BP, he has never stated explicitly and on the record that sabermetrics rule.  Until now.

Collins takes heat for Valdespin t-shirt flap  —  SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets delivered a lesson in comportment following Wednesday's game.  After rookie Jordany Valdespin showed up to AT&T Park in a plain white t-shirt, violating the club's self-imposed dress code, his teammates cut tassels …

Reddick homers, Colon solid as A's top struggling Blue Jays  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Josh Reddick hit a two-run homer to back another strong outing by Bartolo Colon, and the Oakland Athletics beat the slumping Toronto Blue Jays 4-1 on Thursday night.  —  Brandon Inge and Seth Smith also drove …

Carlos Marmol, Alfonso Soriano could be Cubs' trade bait in August  —  Carlos Marmol has $12.4 million left on his deal.  If he clears waivers, the Cubs would eat some of that money as part of a trade.  Jonathan Daniel~Getty Images  —  Carlos Marmol looked up from his iPad screen, noticed the inquisitive expression and grinned.

Twins top Red Sox 5-0 behind Samuel Deduno  —  BOSTON - Samuel Deduno allowed two hits in six innings in his third straight strong performance and the Minnesota Twins spoiled a rare solid outing by Jon Lester [stats] and beat the Boston Red Sox [team stats] 5-0 on Thursday night.