Marte Homers, Angels Sweep Rangers to Get Out of Last Place  —  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJULY 21, 2016, 1:21 A.M. E.D.T.  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jefry Marte hit a three-run homer and the Angels shut down a late rally by the AL West-leading Texas Rangers for a 7-4 win Wednesday night that gave Los Angeles a three-game sweep.

Mariners, Cubs Swap Mike Montgomery, Dan Vogelbach In Four-Player Deal  —  The Cubs have long been tied to left-handed relief help, and they landed just such an asset today (although not one that many expected), announcing that the acquisition of Mike Montgomery and minor league right-hander Jordan Pries from the Mariners.

Homer-Happy Hanley (3) Powers Boston to 11-7 Win Over Giants  —  By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJULY 21, 2016, 12:00 A.M. E.D.T.  —  BOSTON — Hanley Ramirez told his Red Sox teammates in the dugout that he wasn't going to swing for the fences in his final at-bat.  —  It doesn't work for him that way.

White Sox Reportedly Open To Dealing Veteran Bats, Relievers  —  The White Sox appear to have reversed course in the midst of a significant slump, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the club is now open to selling off veteran pieces this summer (Twitter link).

MLB looking at possible limits on the use of relief pitchers  —  Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred acknowledged that MLB is looking at possibly limiting the use of relief pitchers in games.  —  Average length of MLB games  —  YearAvg.  —  Manfred was a guest Thursday on ESPN's Mike & Mike …

Are Juiced Balls The New Steroids?  —  Maybe it was the 23 first-half homers hit by unknown outfielder Adam Duvall.  Maybe it was when Giancarlo Stanton kept making Chris Berman say “back-back-back,” or when Bartolo Colon broke into a 30.6 second trot around the bases.

Pineda Pitches 6 Strong Innings, Yankees Beat Orioles 5-0  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees are finally hitting and pitching well at the same time, and that may keep these batters and hurlers together in New York for at least a little while longer.  —  Michael Pineda didn't allow a run …

Stewart defends D-backs from unnamed accusations  —  The trade of Brad Ziegler incited some unexpected controversy when unnamed executives complained to a couple reporters that their teams offered a better package (or packages) for the reliever.  And one exec even told Peter Gammons …

Games of the Day  —  The two best games take place Thursday afternoon, starting with the rubber game of the series between the Dodgers and the Nationals.  Julio Urias takes on Stephen Strasburg.  The 19-year-old rookie Urias posted a high strikeout rate so far.

Hellickson, Goeddel Lead Phillies to 4-1 Win Over Marlins  —  PHILADELPHIA — Jeremy Hellickson struck out eight in eight impressive innings, Tyler Goeddel hit a two-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 on Wednesday night.  —  Hellickson (7-7) …