INTERLEAGUE
Dodgers-Blue Jays
LOS ANGELES: RHP Brad Penny will get an extra day of rest before his next start and will pitch Monday at Arizona as the Dodgers open a three-game set against their division rivals. “It’s good to get him six days right now,” manager Grady Little said. LHP Hong-Chih Kuo, who worked just 1 2-3 innings against Toronto on Wednesday, will start in Penny’s place at Tampa Bay on Sunday. … Little said RHP Chin-hui Tsao (strained shoulder) will likely make at least two rehab appearances in the minor leagues before rejoining the Dodgers. … INF James Loney, who injured his knee Sunday, was available to play Thursday after missing the past two games. … LHP Clayton Kershaw has been selected to play for the American team and INF Chin-Lung Hu will play for the World team at the All-Star Futures game.
TORONTO: OF Matt Stairs, who has 136 at-bats this season, hit his 10th home run Wednesday. Stairs hit 13 home runs in 117 at-bats last season while playing for Detroit, Kansas City, and Texas. “He hasn’t lost anything,” manager John Gibbons said. “He’s still got a lightning-quick bat.” … Vernon Wells, who is two hits away from 1,000 for his career, entered play Thursday stuck in an 0-for-12 slump. … DH Frank Thomas had six total bases in the second inning of Wednesday’s game, doubling to start the frame and adding a grand slam. The last Blue Jay to accumulate six total bases in one inning was Carlos Delgado, who did it July 27, 2003, against Baltimore, also with a double and a homer.
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Cubs-Rangers
ague seasons with the Twins and Padres. “This is a good advance for my career,” Bowen said. … With 3B Aramis Ramirez set to come off the DL on Friday, the Cubs must create a roster spot. Manager Lou Piniella indicated they would drop to 11 pitchers.
TEXAS: The Rangers are 9-6 in interleague play, one victory shy of the most they’ve had in one season against the National League. They play a three-game series this weekend at home against the Houston Astros. … RHP Vicente Padilla has given up 42 hits over 16 2-3 innings his last four starts. … Former OF Rusty Greer will be the newest inductee into the Texas Rangers Baseball Hall of Fame. Greer had a career .305 batting average for the Rangers from 1994-2003. The hard-playing outfielder will be inducted Aug. 11 as the 10th member, joining Nolan Ryan, Jim Sundberg, Buddy Bell, among others. Greer is the first inductee from the 1996 team that won the franchise’s first AL West title.
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Yankees-Rockies
une 20, 2002, at Coors Field. … SS Derek Jeter has a 15-game hitting streak. He is hitting .444 at Coors Field. … OF Johnny Damon made his first start of the series, missing the first two games with an abdominal strain.
COLORADO: The Rockies have homered in a season-high eight straight games. … The series sweep was the first for the Rockies at home and second overall this season. … The series drew 145,128, a mere 1,402 short of the club’s record of 146,530 for a three-game series at Coors Field. The mark was set June 18-20, 2002 against the Yankees. … OF Willy Taveras got his major league-leading 22nd bunt hit. … Closer LHP Brian Fuentes earned his 20th save of the year and has three consecutive seasons of 20 or more saves. … Colorado is four games over .500 for the first time this season.
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Orioles-Padres
e at the plate. Trembley said he had to “walk a fine line between doing what’s right for the team and what’s right for Tejada, out of respect. Today, I took him out of the game for the team, but I allowed him to have that at-bat out of respect for him.”
SAN DIEGO: Padres farmhand Craig Stansberry was named to the World Team roster for the All-Star Futures game. An infielder for Triple-A Portland, Stansberry was born in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. He’s batting .312 with seven homers and 46 RBIs for the Beavers. … Manager Bud Black said there was no shame in losing two straight to the Orioles, who are last in the AL East. “We ran into two of the best pitchers in the American League the last two nights,” Black said. The Padres were beaten by Jeremy Guthrie and Erik Bedard.
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