Lester perfect through five innings against Cardinals  —  St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Adam Wainwright (50) wipes away sweat while throwing against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Wrigley Field Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, in Chicago.  The Cubs won 13-2.  (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

Hundley's single lifts Giants past Padres 5-4 in 12  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Nick Hundley singled in Kelby Tomlinson with two outs in the 12th inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Padres on Saturday.  —  Pinch-hitter Tomlinson reached on a fielder's choice …

Ian Kinsler to Brewers?  Tigers 2nd baseman unfazed by trade rumors  —  Counting down the top athletes playing on Detroit's four major professional sports teams right now!  Here are Nos. 20-11.  Video by Marlowe Alter/DFP Wochit  —  CONNECT  —  MINNEAPOLIS - Ian Kinsler sat in a chair …

Blue Jays Place Aaron Sanchez On DL, Designate Jeff Beliveau  —  The Blue Jays have announced that they've activated righty Joe Smith (shoulder) from the DL and recalled righty Chris Smith.  To clear roster space, they've placed righty Aaron Sanchez on the DL with blister issues and designated lefty Jeff Beliveau for assignment.

Phillies' Aaron Altherr to return sooner than expected  —  The Phillies will try to trade away several players this week, but they will also welcome back their best hitter.  —  Aaron Altherr's strained right hamstring has improved more quickly than expected and there is a chance the outfielder …

Looking back on the Reds rebuild's most important year  —  Rebuilding in baseball has become synonymous with prolonged stretches of losing, and it's not an unfair association.  —  Before the Chicago Cubs rode a core of homegrown players and veteran additions to a World Series win last year …

Brewers activate Eric Sogard from DL, demote slumping Keon Broxton to minors  —  The Milwaukee Brewers have activated infielder Eric Sogard from the 10-day disabled list and optioned slumping outfielder Keon Broxton to Triple-A Colorado Springs.  —  Sogard, 31, suffered a left ankle strain in late June and hasn't played since July 4.

Sale blanks Angels for 6 innings in Boston's 6-2 win (Jul 21, 2017)  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Chris Sale pitched six scoreless innings and the Boston Red Sox rode a five-run first inning to a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.  —  Sale (12-4) allowed four hits and struck …

Yu Darvish on the Yankees' radar … SEATTLE — With Yu Darvish starting for the Rangers against the Rays on Friday night, the speculation at Tropicana Field was that with Yankees scout Brandon Duckworth on hand the Bombers were interested Darvish.  —  The Yankees' rotation could use help …

Orioles VP Dan Duquette quashes notion of trading away talent  —  BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles apparently have no intention of dealing away veteran talent before the non-waiver trade deadline.  —  At least for now.  —  Although the Orioles were 46-50 and in fourth place in the AL East …

Astros' Colin Moran fouls ball off face, exits game  —  Houston Astros third baseman Colin Moran left Saturday night's game against the Orioles in Baltimore after fouling a ball off his face.  —  Moran was injured in the sixth inning when he fouled an inside pitch from Orioles reliever Darren O'Day straight …

NL Trade Notes: Dodgers, Darvish, Cardinals, Kendrick  —  The Dodgers (and the Cubs, whose interest we've already noted) were among the teams scouting Rangers star Yu Darvish last night, the MLB Network's Jon Morosi tweets.  Darvish struck out 12 Rays batters over eight innings.

Three up, three down: Pirates focus on winning now rather than later  —  Rather than trading away valued players such as starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, the Pirates are trying to win this season.  (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)  —  A look at the trending topics this week in MLB:  —  THREE UP

Royals counting on Vargas vs. White Sox (Jul 22, 2017)  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the Kansas City Royals to be serious postseason contenders, they will need left-hander Jason Vargas to pitch like he did the first three months, not like he has in July.  —  Vargas will start Saturday …

Column Best way for Dodgers to win the World Series is by adding a pitcher  —  Will the Dodgers get closer Kenley Jansen some help in the bullpen before the trade deadline?  (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)  —  There is no great mystery about the most effective way to win a World Series.

After rain delay, Urena pitches Marlins to 3-1 win over Reds  —  CINCINNATI (AP) — Jose Urena pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, Christian Yelich drove in two runs and the struggling Miami Marlins opened a six-game road trip with a rain-delayed 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.

Bell has 4 hits, McCutchen 3 as Pirates beat Rockies 13-5  —  DENVER (AP) — A rough first inning could have meant an early exit for Pittsburgh starter Trevor Williams.  The rookie settled down, though, and rode his offense to his first win in more than a month.