Brewers among several teams to inquire about Red Sox ace Jon Lester  —  The Brewers, a team with a history of being aggressive at the trade deadline, is among several teams to be making a play for Red Sox ace Jon Lester.  —  Milwaukee, famous for acquiring CC Sabathia in July 2008, leads the NL Central by 1½ games.

Travis d'Arnaud homers to back Bartolo Colon as Mets beat Phillies for 14th win of July … It is a chore, of course, but the Mets lately have been doing their best to drag their followers from doubt to faith, from realism to magic.  —  With Monday night's 7-1 victory over the Phillies …

Bullpen remains Tigers' focus at Trade Deadline  —  Dombrowski keeping tabs on relief market even after making deal for Soria  —  DETROIT — Could last week's trade for Joakim Soria be the opener of a two-part move to upgrade the Tigers' bullpen?  Possibly.

Trader Jack?  As Seattle's GM struggles to complete deals, some rival executives wonder  —  The Mariners already have completed one trade, acquiring designated hitter Kendrys Morales from the Twins last week.  General manager Jack Zduriencik could make one or two more deals …

Melvin, aides prep for Trade Deadline  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Doug Melvin needed some extra chairs in the visiting general manager's suite at Tropicana Field on Monday.  —  With the non-waiver Trade Deadline looming at 3 p.m. CT on Thursday, Melvin led a larger-than-usual group of Brewers officials …

Worley Tosses 4-Hitter, Pirates Beat Giants 5-0  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Vance Worley tossed a four-hitter for his first career shutout, and the Pittsburgh Pirates pounded Madison Bumgarner early in a 5-0 win over the struggling San Francisco Giants on Monday night.  —  Worley (4-1) struck out three and walked one.

Carter Leads Astros Homer-Happy Win Over Athletics  —  HOUSTON — Chris Carter, Jason Castro, Marc Krauss and Matt Dominguez each hit a home run as the Houston Astros snapped a five-game skid with a 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.  —  Carter hit a monstrous three-run shot …

Odorizzi Goes 7 Strong, Rays Beat Brewers 2-1  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Jake Odorizzi won his third consecutive start, James Loney had two RBIs and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 on Monday night.  —  Odorizzi (7-8) allowed one run and three hits in seven innings to beat …

(USATSI)  —  The Cubs made their big deal already — they aren't about to try to acquire David Price or Jon Lester — but they may still have a few small deals to come.  —  Cubs people have to be pleased that they traded top starter Jeff Samardzija early to land big-time shortstop prospect Addison Russell …

Nationals trade rumors as deadline nears  —  Thursday's non-waiver trade deadline now stands only three days away, and the Nationals are, as ever, somewhat hard to read.  They “seem to be very busy on multiple fronts,” as one executive from a selling team put it.