Royals rally for 4-2 victory over White Sox  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Luis Mendoza is pitching so well the Kansas City Royals are having some fun with his unorthodox hairstyle.  —  Mendoza tossed seven effective innings, Salvador Perez hit a tiebreaking two-run double and the Royals rallied …

Rockies' Jhoulys Chacin pitching Tuesday against Mets in New York  —  Chacin set to rejoin rotation Tuesday vs. Mets in New York  —  Right-hander Jhoulys Chacin is returning to the Rockies' rotation, giving him an opportunity to make something out of his lost season.

C.J. Nitkowski ‘in the conversation’ to join NY Mets rotation says team officials  —  'If he keeps doing what he's doing, he'll be up,' one team official said  —  Terry Collins runs into some trouble upon arriving to the nation's capital.  —  WASHINGTON — The Mets' most interesting September call …

Francisco's Single Gives Braves 4-3 Win Over LA  —  ATLANTA (AP) — Pinch-hitter Juan Francisco's two-out single in the 11th inning gave the Atlanta Braves their fourth straight win, 4-3 over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night.  —  Backup catcher David Ross and light-hitting Paul Janish kept …

Club paying for David Ortiz's absence  —  NEW YORK — For 31⁄2 months, David Ortiz [stats] was as powerful a force in the middle of the Red Sox [team stats] batting order as he ever has been.  —  But his true value has been seen over the past four weeks.

Mariners give up runs, but still beat Twins 5-3  —  SEATTLE—John Jaso and Miguel Olivo homered, and Hisashi Iwakuma pitched seven strong innings to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Friday night.  —  Iwakuma (4-3) gave up four hits, but didn't allow an earned run …

Cain Is Dominating in Giants' 10-1 Win Over Padres  —  SAN DIEGO (AP) — Matt Cain pitched eight dominating innings and the San Francisco Giants scored eight runs in the third inning to move into first place in the NL West with a 10-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night.

Stanton, Reyes, Homer, Marlins Beat Rockies, 6-5  —  DENVER (AP) — Jose Reyes and Giancarlo Stanton homered, Wade LeBlanc won for the first time as a starter and the Miami Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 on Friday night.  —  John Buck and Gorkys Hernandez had two hits each for the Marlins …

Reds hit 3 HRs in 7-3 win over Cubs  —  CINCINNATI—Todd Frazier hit a two-run home run, Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce added solo shots, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3 on Friday night in the opener of a four-game weekend series.  —  Bronson Arroyo survived a shaky start to improve to 5-1 in his last six starts.

Wells finds contentment in new role  —  ANAHEIM — For essentially the first time in his baseball-playing life, Vernon Wells is a part-time player.  So, since being activated from the disabled list exactly three weeks ago, the 33-year-old Angels outfielder has tried to adjust to an entirely different …

Pirates Edge Cardinals 2-1 Behind James McDonald  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — James McDonald halted a string of ineffective starts with six innings of two-hit ball, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Friday night in a matchup of NL Central playoff contenders.

Happ gets payback against Rangers striking out eight  —  J.A. Happ remembers well the last - and only other - time he had faced the Texas Rangers.  —  It still makes him squirm.  —  Friday night was payback time.  —  Happ was superb in outpitching Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers …