Vargas, Royals bounce back to shut out Athletics  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jason Vargas tossed a three-hitter for his sixth career shutout, Omar Infante hit a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-0 on Wednesday night.  —  Vargas (9-5) retired the final 23 batters …

Tulowitzki To Undergo Season-Ending Hip Surgery  —  The Rockies received more bad news on the injury front today, as Thomas Harding of MLB.com tweets that MVP candidate Troy Tulowitzki will miss the remainder of the season to undergo surgery to repair the labrum in his left hip.

Mets manager Terry Collins likely coming back for 2015  —  Terry Collins is likely to be brought back for a fifth season as Mets manager in 2015, sources familiar with the situation say.  —  While the Mets are planning to bring Collins back to manage, officials in the know say …

Pimentel has potential if he can harness it  —  Although he still has rookie status, Pirates right-handed pitcher Stolmy Pimentel signed his first international free-agent contract in 2006.  Born in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Pimentel is still only 24 years old and has already …

How a small-time handicapper concocted a wild MLB game-fixing tale  —  Kris Barr was investigated by MLB for alleging a game-fixing operation with Pirates pitcher Jeff Locke.  —  In the waning days of the 2012 major league season, Niki Congero received an unusual text message.

Mets prospect Rafael Montero roughed up in blowout loss to Nationals  —  Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond, Anthony Rendon and Michael Taylor homered for the Nationals.  Montero gave up three of those home runs.  —  Ninety wins?  That has not looked like a possibility in Flushing for months now.

Building around Stanton high Marlins priority  —  MIAMI — Giancarlo Stanton is heating up again, and so is speculation about his long-term future.  —  We've been down this road before, and will continue to do so until the slugger either signs an extension with the Marlins, or moves elsewhere.

Pirates Claim Ramon Cabrera  —  The Pirates have claimed catcher Ramon Cabrera off waivers from the Tigers, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports on Twitter.  Cabrera was placed on waivers after being designated for assignment to create 40-man space for the promotion of spot starter Buck Farmer, Beck adds.

Pineda returns as Yankees wrap short set with Orioles on TSN  —  The Sports Network  —  The Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees will conclude a rain-shortened series at Camden Yards Wednesday night.  —  Catch the action live on TSN at 7pm et/4pm pt.  —  Tuesday's middle test …

Cosart directed not to swing throughout start  —  After hurting back during at-bat in first NL outing, Marlins take no chances with pitcher  —  MIAMI — No signs from third-base coach Brett Butler were needed when Jarred Cosart stepped into the batter's box on Tuesday night.

Jayson Werth apparently has speeding problems  —  In addition to a sore shoulder that has been bothering him for the past few weeks and led to another scratch from the Nats lineup on Tuesday (he left the clubhouse at Citi Field in street clothes), it seems Jayson Werth also has speeding problems.

How Burke Badenhop uses Pitch F/X data  —  tbritton@providencejournal.com  —  CINCINNATI — After he finishes pitching, one of the first things Burke Badenhop does is fire up BrooksBaseball.net — a website dedicated to tracking pitcher performance.  —  Badenhop first learned of the site …

Scapegoating the Shift for the Decline in Offense  —  Defensive shifts such as this are commonplace now (via GabboT).  —  As defensive shifts have become more pervasive in baseball, so has the mystique surrounding their supposed effect.  —  Early this year, Jonah Keri identified defensive shifts …