Baseball News

CLEVELAND - An unearned run against Aaron Laffey caused by his own throwing error ended the scoreless streak by Cleveland Indians' starters at 44 1-3 innings but didn't interrupt their string of dominant outings.

MILWAUKEE - Ryan Braun grinned. He had just agreed to the largest contract in Milwaukee Brewers' history.

PHOENIX - Backed by Stephen Drew's career-high four hits, Brandon Webb became the major leagues' first nine-game winner when the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Colorado Rockies 8-5 on Thursday night.

The AL East is upside down.

The Colorado Rockies must be tired of seeing Brandon Webb by now. That probably goes for the rest of the National League, too.

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Jim Thome hit a go-ahead RBI single in the ninth inning, A.J. Pierzynski's RBI double capped a three-run second against former batterymate Jon Garland, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 Thursday night.

PHILADELPHIA - Cole Hamels pitched his first career shutout, Ryan Howard homered and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 5-0 on Thursday night.

SAN FRANCISCO - Lance Berkman splashed his major league-leading 15th home run into McCovey Cove, breaking a ninth-inning tie and helping the Houston Astros rally past the San Francisco Giants 8-7 on Thursday.

CINCINNATI - The game between the Florida Marlins and Cincinnati Reds scheduled for Thursday night was postponed because of poor weather.

CHICAGO - Ryan Dempster struck out a career-high 12 and hit a go-ahead single against Greg Maddux during a four-run fifth inning, leading the Chicago Cubs over the punchless San Diego Padres 4-0 Thursday.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jose Guillen homered and drove in three runs, Gil Meche pitched seven solid innings and the Kansas City Royals beat Detroit 8-4 Thursday to complete another three-game sweep of the Tigers.

ST. LOUIS - Pinch-hitter Jason Bay 's three-run homer off Jason Isringhausen snapped an eighth-inning tie and capped the Pittsburgh Pirates' rally from an early four-run deficit in an 11-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday.

MINNEAPOLIS - Pinch-hitter Joe Inglett sliced a two-out, bases-loaded single through the infield in the 11th inning, lifting the Toronto Blue Jays over the Minnesota Twins 3-2 Thursday for a three-game sweep.

MILWAUKEE - Andruw Jones, Jeff Kent and Gary Bennett homered during a six-run seventh inning, leading Chad Billingsley and the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 Thursday.

NEW YORK - Nationals first baseman Nick Johnson was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday with a torn tendon sheath in his right wrist.

NEW YORK - Willie Harris' diving catch in the ninth inning saved Washington, and the slick-fielding Nationals beat the New York Mets 1-0 Thursday behind Jason Bergmann's fantastic pitching performance.

MILWAUKEE - Baseball owners unanimously ratified tougher drug testing rules Thursday, and commissioner Bud Selig said he will now turn his attention to whether maple bats have become dangerous.

MIAMI (Reuters) - The Milwaukee Brewers have signed left fielder Ryan Braun to an eight year $45 million contract, the team said on Thursday.

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Indians' starters ran out of zeros.

As a kid, my two biggest hobbies were sports and music. I kept my own MLB stats in one notebook, and I had another notebook that I vowed to fill up with song titles. I have a distinct memory -- from when I was probably 7 or 8 years old -- of asking my mom what would happen when they ran out of song ideas. She assured me that never could happen.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir agreed Wednesday to a $28.5 million, three-year extension through 2011, a deal with a club option that could raise the contract's value to $39.5 million over four seasons.

CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Reds blew a six-run lead in the ninth, but Paul Janish singled home the tiebreaking run in only his second big-league at-bat for a 7-6, 10-inning victory over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Yankees edged the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in Florida on Wednesday, rising to a challenge issued by their owner and their manager as the Bronx Bombers halted the home team's six-game winning streak.

CHICAGO - Jim Edmonds wasn't out of work long. The Chicago Cubs agreed to a contract with the 37-year-old outfielder on Wednesday, five days after he was released by the San Diego Padres.

TAMPA, Fla. - Hank Steinbrenner expects his struggling New York Yankees to focus and turn around their season. "They've got to play smarter and harder," he said Wednesday, even before manager Joe Girardi called a pregame meeting.

BALTIMORE - Jay Payton hit his fourth career grand slam to back a gritty pitching effort by Daniel Cabrera, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3 Wednesday for a two-game sweep.

ARLINGTON, Texas - Miguel Cairo had a two-out RBI single in the 12th inning, and the Seattle Mariners beat Texas 4-3 on Wednesday to avoid a sweep and keep the Rangers from reaching .500.

SAN FRANCISCO - Federal prosecutors have unveiled a revamped indictment against Barry Bonds, but the career home run leader's lawyers say nothing has changed.

SAN FRANCISCO - Barry Bonds was charged in a new indictment Tuesday with 15 felony counts alleging he lied to a grand jury when he denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs and that he hampered the federal government's doping investigation.