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 will likely make push to bring back lefty Jeff Francis  —  Jeff Francis won't solve the Rockies' myriad pitching woes.  He's not the rotation's savior and he's never again going to be an ace like he was during the 2007 World Series season.  —  But there are strong indications …

Rochester Red Wings, Twins renew affiliation for 2 more years  —  The Red Wings are ready to begin another decade as Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.  —  The clubs jointly announced a two-year extension of their player development contract on Friday, ensuring the Twins will be in Rochester through at least 2014.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Braun's 32nd Homer Lifts Brewers Over Phillies 6-2  —  MILWAUKEE (AP) — Ryan Braun hit his NL-leading 32nd home run, Yovani Gallardo won his fourth straight start, and the Milwaukee Brewers extended their home winning streak to nine with a 6-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.

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 …

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 …