Heavy rain forces suspension of Royals-Indians game, which will resume Sept. 22  —  ›  —  ‹  —  The wind punished the flags hanging high above the outfield walls.  A hail of plastic bags and paper napkins whipped through the sky.  During a rain delay that postponed …

Castillo, Valbuena Help Cubs Beat Brewers 4-2  —  CHICAGO — Welington Castillo homered and drove in three runs, Luis Valbuena also hit a home run and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 Monday.  —  Rookie sensation Jorge Soler had two doubles in his home debut for the Cubs and Jacob Turner …

Hummel: Sandberg's HOF credentials no help in Philly  —  • By Rick Hummel rhummel@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8196  —  There hasn't been a Hall of Famer player take a team to the World Series as a manager since Yogi Berra with the New York Mets, who lost in seven games to Oakland in 1973.

K R  —  Hold on.  Wait.  Stop!  —  Theo Epstein cannot possibly be talking about Manny Ramirez.  —  “It opened my eyes about how people can change,” said Epstein, the Cubs' president of baseball operations, about Ramirez's stint as a Triple A player-coach.

Blue Jays Acquire John Mayberry Jr.  —  The Phillies announced that they have traded outfielder/first baseman John Mayberry Jr. to the Blue Jays in exchange for infielder Gustavo Pierre.  —  Mayberry, 30, has hit .213/.304/418 on the season, good for a 104 wRC+ (roughly league average).

Gomez's wrist injury needs more examination  —  Brewers center fielder feels pain after swinging strike; X-rays negative  —  SAN FRANCISCO — After experiencing an alarming “pop” in his left wrist during a Sunday strikeout, Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez needs further tests …

Mauer helps Hughes earn 15th win as Twins beat Orioles  —  BALTIMORE - Joe Mauer drove in four runs, Phil Hughes held Baltimore without an earned run over eight innings and the Minnesota Twins beat the Orioles 6-4 Monday to avoid a four-game sweep.  —  Nelson Cruz hit his major-league leading 36th home run …

FARQUHAR ACHIEVED MUCH OF HIS SUCCESS AS AN INDEPENDENT LABORER … It makes sense, on a day like Labor Day, to highlight the struggles of a middle reliever.  Even a great one like Danny Farquhar has had to work hard to find a niche on the fringes of the big leagues.

Prospect Bethancourt to be among September callups  —  Constanza, Terdoslavich, Jaime and Shreve also likely to join Braves this week  —  ATLANTA — Highly regarded catching prospect Christian Bethancourt will headline the list of Minor League players that will attempt to help the Braves gain a postseason berth in September.

Chapman poised to set record for fastball velocity  —  PITTSBURGH — Reds closer Aroldis Chapman's fastball has established its presence with authority since he broke into the Majors in 2010.  But he's got a chance to do something that neither he, nor anyone else, has done before — have a fastball average 100 mph for an entire season.

Wood whiffs 12 in eight innings as Braves nip Marlins  —  ATLANTA — Alex Wood struck out 12 in eight dominant innings and Evan Gattis homered to help the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Sunday.  —  The Marlins had gone 60 games without getting shut out, the longest active streak in the majors.

A's close to trade for Adam Dunn  —  The Oakland Athletics are closing in on a trade for Chicago White Sox slugger Adam Dunn, sources told ESPN.  —  The 34-year-old Dunn, who has 460 career home runs, is in the last year of a four-year, $56 million deal with the White Sox.