Roger Clemens put his right hand on the lectern, leaned down toward the microphone and made what might be the most important pitch of his life: "Not guilty, your honor." Those words, uttered Monday in a strong, confident voice by the seven-time Cy Young Award winner sporting a black blazer and blond highlights in his hair, marked the official beginning of a court case that could taint...

The San Francisco Giants were in prime position to gain ground in both the NL West and wild-card races until they got beat on a strange shattered-bat triple and an uncharacteristically off throw by their second baseman when he couldn't grip the ball. The Colorado Rockies rode that big break a step closer to making their own postseason push.

Hiroki Kuroda didn't realize he had a no-hitter going until the fifth inning. It should have come as no surprise, though. He's been at his best against Philadelphia. Kuroda took his no-hit bid into the eighth and Rod Barajas homered in his home debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won 3-0 Monday night to move within 5 1/2 games of the Phillies in the NL wild-card race.

Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds says the Diamondbacks are in spoiler mode with the season winding down. Reynolds drove in five runs with a pair of two-run home runs and a single to lead the Diamondbacks to a 7-2 win over the San Diego Padres. The Diamondbacks won their fourth in five games, extending the Padres' longest skid of the season to five.

As the herd of reporters and camera crews streamed into Chicago's clubhouse and headed toward manager Ozzie Guillen's tiny office, one of the White Sox coaches wondered if the team's newest player had arrived during extra innings. "Is Manny here?" he asked. Not yet. He's on the way, though.

The more familiar C.J. Wilson becomes with teams, the more dominant he is. Wilson gave up just two hits in 7 2-3 innings Monday night to lift the Texas Rangers to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals and continue an incredible second-half pitching surge. He is 7-0 with a 1.99 earned run average since the All-Star break and has the most wins in the majors during that span.

Martin Prado says Jason Heyward is the key to the Atlanta Braves' postseason hopes. "Like I say, if he goes, we go," Prado said. Heyward is recovering his power stroke just in time for the Braves' September playoff push. Heyward homered and drove in four runs, Prado drove in three runs and the NL East-leading Braves beat the New York Mets 9-3 on Monday night.

Jay Bruce started it with a homer and ended it with a hit that put a little more distance in the NL Central race. Win by win, the Cincinnati Reds are pulling away. Bruce led off the first inning with a homer and singled off Trevor Hoffman with two outs in the 10th inning Monday night, rallying the Reds to a 5-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers that extended their lead to a season-high six games...

Trevor Cahill hardly looked like a Cy Young Award contender against the New York Yankees. Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and the Yankees tagged Cahill for the second time this season, emphatically ending the All-Star's run of pitching excellence in an 11-5 rout of the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.

J.A. Happ was determined to pitch better on Monday night than he did in his last outing against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Houston lefty certainly accomplished his goal. Happ threw a two-hitter and rookie Brett Wallace had a career-high three hits and drove in a run to help the Astros beat the struggling Cardinals 3-0.

The Tampa Bay Rays have almost everything they could want for a September playoff run. They're in first place, and they're getting big hits and powerful pitching. Now they just need some more fans to show up. Carlos Pena homered and drove in four runs, Wade Davis won his sixth straight decision and the Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2 before an announced crowd of just 11,968 on Monday...

Mark Teixeira returned to the New York Yankees' lineup with a bang Monday night after missing a game with a bruised right thumb. The slugger singled, homered and doubled in his first three trips to the plate against Oakland. He scored all three times. Teixeira sat out Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.

Colorado Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right oblique muscle that he hurt in the batting cage during Friday's loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The move was retroactive to Thursday. The Rockies needed to clear roster room for Clint Barmes, who came off the bereavement list and was in the lineup at shortstop Monday night at San...

The Atlanta Braves have recalled right-hander Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakami from minor league affiliate Gwinnett. Manager Bobby Cox says Kawakami will work out of the bullpen and could fill in as a starter. Kawakami could be a stand in for right-hander Derek Lowe, who has lost three straight decisions.

Things have gotten hairy in the St. Louis Cardinals' clubhouse. Most of the players got their heads shaved before Monday's game at Houston as a way to break the monotony of their longest road trip of the season. The players took turns doing the cutting and a large pile of multicolored locks covered the floor.

Manny Ramirez will have to follow two nonnegotiable rules if he's going to play for White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. No. 1: Stretch with your teammates. No. 2: Be on the field for the national anthem. That's it. Well, he may have to trim the dreadlocks. But that's about it. "I want him to feel comfortable here," Guillen said Monday.

The Texas Rangers have reinstated outfielder Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list and put him into the starting lineup. Cruz was ready to play Monday night against Kansas City. He's been on the disabled list three times this season with hamstring injuries. Cruz is hitting .320 with 16 home runs and 64 RBIs in only 77 games for the AL West leaders.

The family of Colorado Rockies president Keli McGregor said he didn't die of a heart attack or other preventable cardiac condition but from a rare virus that attacked his healthy heart. In a statement released through the team, his family said they wanted to "share this information with all of those who, like us, have searched for answers." The family said McGregor, who was 48,...

Brian McCann knew it was a homer. So did the Florida Marlins. But the only guys who mattered were wearing blue, and they needed to see a replay. Upon further review, it was a win for the Atlanta Braves. For the first time in baseball history, a game ended on an overturned call after the umpires took a look at the video of McCann's drive that ricocheted back onto the field in the ninth inning...

Another late-inning rally and victory over Boston left Tampa Bay in a famliar spot -- tied for first place in the AL East. With Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford homering to back right-hander James Shields, the Rays won 5-3 Sunday night to keep pace with the New York Yankees and drop the third-place Red Sox 6 1/2 games behind in the division and wild-card races.