Sports Online:Macho Machado Man-ny: Rookie leads O's to win

BALTIMORE -- If reaching 60 wins quicker than any year since 1998 and being well ahead of schedule to snap a streak of 13 consecutive losing seasons isn't enough evidence, Manny Machado is here to drive the point home.

"It's a new era," Machado said. "We haven't won in a long time and this ballclub has been winning without me. And hopefully now that I'm up here, I can contribute."

If his performances going forward look anything like Friday night's, "contribute" is a monumental understatement.

In just his second career game, the Orioles' top position player prospect launched his first two Major League home runs,as the Orioles beat the Royals, 7-1, to even the series at Camden Yards.

The win was the O's sixth in their past seven games, ensuring that their place atop the American League Wild Card standings is secure for at least another day.

"[Manager] Buck [Showalter] brought me up for a reason, and it was to help this team," Machado said. "So, I'm going to do anything I can to help this team and try to make a playoff [game]."

Machado -- just 20 years and 35 days old -- became the youngest player in Orioles history to record a multihomer game.

Both blasts landed in the exact same spot in the left-field stands, and each came on a hanging breaking pitch from Royals starter Luke Hochevar.

In the fifth, Machado belted a hanging slider on the inner half for a solo shot to push the Orioles' lead to 3-1.

"It was the best feeling ever," Machado said. "The crowd here loves me, and for them to support me like that, after my first home run, it just felt great."

Machado took another hanger from Hochevar -- this one a curveball over the heart of the plate -- and hit it to the very same fan in the sixth, a three-run blast that all but put the game away as the Orioles took a 7-1 lead.

After a little prodding from Adam Jones, Machado stepped out of the dugout for a curtain call, waving to the crowd of 17,277 that was giving him a standing ovation and chanting his name.

"I've dreamed about that my whole life," Machado said.

While Machado's performance stole the show, O's starter Miguel Gonzalez was stellar in his own right.

A much less heralded rookie -- he struggled to even get innings in the O's Minor League camp this spring -- Gonzalez held the Royals to just one run in a career-high eight innings.

Building on his seven shutout innings in Tampa Bay on Sunday, Gonzalez faced the minimum in five of his eight frames, effectively mixing in his changeup to keep Royals hitters off-balance.

After Kansas City jumped on Wei-Yin Chen's fastball on Thursday to score four runs in the first eight pitches, Gonzalez threw more of his offspeed stuff early on.

"I'm getting comfortable," Gonzalez said. "I stayed aggressive. I stayed in and out, changing pitches. That's what helped me out tonight."

But, when it came time to get key outs, Gonzalez still relied on his fastball.

After Chris Getz and Jarrod Dyson hit back-to-back one-out singles in the fifth, Gonzalez struck out Alex Gordon and Alcides Escobar with 11 consecutive fastballs to end the threat.

"His fastball was very deceiving and sneaky, and he really located it well," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "You think you can get on it and at the last second it had that little hop, and you ended up popping it up."

"He's real deceptive," Royals designated hitter Billy Butler said. "The ball just kind of got on you. Had some late movement on his ball."

Aside from a difficult July 25 start against Tampa Bay when he pitched through the flu, Gonzalez is 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA.

"Can't say enough about Miguel," said second baseman Omar Quintanilla, who hit a two-run homer to give the O's a 2-1 lead in the second. "He did a great job tonight and, overall, a great team effort."

The bottom three hitters in the O's lineup finished 7-for-12 with all seven RBIs, spurred on by Machado's historic performance.

"It's one of those nights that you're really honored and lucky just to watch," Showalter said. "I look at it more from a city of Baltimore standpoint. He'll put it behind him and realize there's another challenge tomorrow."

Sports Online:Danks' first homer gives White Sox walk-off win

First Major League blast one of four solo shots in comeback

CHICAGO -- Moments after cleaning the shaving cream from his face, eyes and nose, and just before the media throng descended upon him at his locker, Jordan Danks was given a present he won't soon forget.

Danks was handed the game ball he'd drilled 417 feet into the right-field stands at U.S. Cellular Field for his first Major League home run. Not only that, but the two-out, ninth-inning drive gave the White Sox a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the A's on Friday night before a crowd of 25,041.

"It wouldn't have been sad if I didn't [get the ball back] because this feeling is just 10 times greater, but to get it back is pretty cool," Danks said. "I'm probably going to display it somewhere, try to make a trophy case or something."

Danks ripped the first offering from A's reliever Pat Neshek (1-1) to provide the dramatic victory for Chicago (61-50). It was the club's fourth solo home run of the night.

"That was my first walk-off home run in my life and it feels good, I got to tell you," Danks said. "Being late in the game especially, bottom of the ninth, it's something that everybody dreams about their whole life. Right before that I saw myself doing it and it was just one of those things. It was just awesome."

A.J. Pierzynski, Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo erased an early 3-0 deficit with home runs off Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy, who began his career with the White Sox during their World Series championship season in 2005.

"It was a good win, obviously coming back after falling down early and we found a way to battle back," said Pierzynski, whose 22 home runs are the most by a Chicago catcher since Carlton Fisk hit 23 in 1987. "Luckily, we hit four home runs, otherwise we didn't do much offensively."

White Sox right-hander Gavin Floyd continued a trend of getting into early trouble, then gutting out an effective performance to preserve the bullpen. That allowed his teammates the opportunity to chip away at that three-run deficit after two innings.

Floyd pitched six-plus innings, allowing three runs on five hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Although Oakland (60-52) had at least one runner on base in every inning against Floyd, he only allowed two runners into scoring position after a two-run home run by Brandon Moss gave the A's a 3-0 lead with no outs in the second inning.

"It's been like that the past couple games," Floyd said of his early troubles. "But I've got to go out there and compete, and keep my team in the game. When it happens I'm going to battle my butt off to put up zeros."

The bullpen followed with another strong outing as four pitchers combined to get the final nine outs, which included five strikeouts. A ninth-inning walk by eventual winner Brett Myers (1-1) was the only blemish by the relievers.

In the past 17 games, the White Sox bullpen has a 1.36 ERA, having allowed only seven runs in 46 1/3 innings.

But the star of the night was Danks. Injuries have given Danks the opportunity to start four consecutive games. The team learned earlier in the day that Paul Konerko was placed on the seven-day concussion disabled list.

Regardless of being a starter or late-inning replacement,Danks said he realizes no role is unimportant on this White Sox team.

"When I wasn't playing every day, I was always ready to get in there before the seventh inning," Danks said. "I knew that was going to be my role when I got here. If somebody needed a day or somebody goes down, fill in and do it to the best of my ability. I feel like I did pretty good tonight."

Tempers flared briefly in the sixth when McCarthy hit Pierzynski with a 92-mph sinker on a 2-0 count. Pierzynski stared at McCarthy as he began his trot to first while home-plate umpire Tony Randazzo warned both benches. That came after Floyd hit Yoenis Cespedes with a pitch in the fifth inning.

Sports Online:Nats are first to 70 wins as bats back Strasburg

PHOENIX -- With all the talk of Stephen Strasburg's innings limit, there was a moment on Friday night when it was worth wondering whether the Nationals would let him run up his pitch count trying to complete a no-hitter.

Strasburg only gave up one hit over six innings in the Nationals' 9-1 win over the D-backs at Chase Field. He walked four,  all with two outs, and struck out six while running his pitch count to 104.

The win was the Nationals' seventh straight, ninth in 10 games and made them the first club in the Majors to 70 this season.

Strasburg, who picked up his 13th win and lowered his ERA to 2.90, allowed his only hit in the fourth inning, immediately after a nine-minute injury delay that saw home-plate umpire Dale Scott exit the game.

After recording the first two outs on six pitches, Strasburg walked Justin Upton. He then got ahead of Miguel Montero with a 1-2 count. But Montero's foul tip hit Scott in the face mask, knocking him out of the game.

Strasburg, who meandered around the mound and threw a few pitches to catcher Kurt Suzuki during the break, threw two straight balls when play resumed, and Montero fouled off three pitches before taking ball four. Chris Johnson continued the two-out rally with an RBI single to left field that tied the game, 1-1.

But Washington's lineup hardly needed a shutout from its ace. The Nationals got on the board in the third, when Steve Lombardozzi drilled a one-out triple to center field -- the first of his career-high-tying four hits -- and scored on Bryce Harper's sacrifice fly. That put the Nats ahead, 1-0, a lead Strasburg gave up in the fourth.

Ryan Zimmerman made sure the tie didn't last long, crushing a 2-2 pitch from Trevor Cahill into the left-field stands for a two-run homer, his 16th of the season.

Michael Morse continued his recent tear, going deep to right-center field to put Washington ahead, 4-1, in the sixth. Morse, whose hitting streak would have increased to 19 games if not for an Aug. 2 call getting overturned Friday afternoon, homered twice on Thursday in Houston.

Washington got into Arizona's bullpen in the seventh and put up another run. Lombardozzi hit a leadoff single, moved to second on Harper's walk and scored when Adam LaRoche hit a double-play ball to first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. He forced out Harper at second, but shortstop Stephen Drew threw wide of first on the return throw, allowing Lombardozzi to score the third of his four runs -- a career high -- giving the Nats a four-run lead.

Washington tacked on four runs in the ninth.

Atlanta also won on Friday, so Washington maintained its 4 1/2-game lead in the National League East.

Sports Online:Ex-Marlin Hanley helps lift Kershaw, LA in Miami

Shortstop plates two, Rivera homers to back lefty's 6 1/3 of three-hit ball

MIAMI -- Hanley Ramirez's three-hit return to Florida was the latest reason why Clayton Kershaw's achievements this year seem to be getting overshadowed.

Kershaw allowed three hits and took the Dodgers into the seventh inning in Friday's 5-2 win over the Marlins, two of the hits not leaving the infield,  the other being a long home run by former Dodgers farmhand Justin Ruggiano in the first inning.

That run had the Dodgers playing catch up until a four-run sixth inning that included Ramirez's tie-breaking single and a key two-run home run by Juan Rivera.

"One dumb pitch selection," said Kershaw of the home run.

Catcher A.J. Ellis agreed, sort of.

"I made a poor choice calling the pitch, and he made a poor choice in not shaking me off," said Ellis, who jokingly insults Kershaw whenever he's not catching him. "I was testing him to see if he was smart enough to not throw that pitch. And he failed."

Otherwise, Kershaw did a lot more succeeding,  improving his record to 10-6 with a 2.88 ERA. He reeled off 14 consecutive outs after the home run, and now has three consecutive wins and quality starts in five of his last six.

He's not gunning for the pitching Triple Crown this year, and probably won't repeat as National League Cy Young Award winner, but he's still in the NL top 10 for ERA, innings pitched, strikeouts, shutouts, complete games and lowest opponents' batting average.

"He's been good a lot," said manager Don Mattingly. "We don't realize how good, sometimes."

Everybody seemed to be impressed with Kershaw except Kershaw.

"It was kind of a battle," he said, having seen a game nobody else saw. "I didn't have good fastball command. I broke cardinal rules for pitchers, walking the leadoff guy, giving up a first-inning run, letting them score in a shutdown inning. But the team picked me up tonight."

While Kershaw did allow a run in the bottom of the sixth after the Dodgers had taken a 4-1 lead, the Marlins loaded the bases on three ground balls (two didn't leave the infield) and scored on Carlos Lee's sacrifice fly, so he wasn't exactly hammered.

"I was just limiting the damage that inning," Kershaw said. "Keeping it to one run was big for us."

Ellis, having completed the insults of Kershaw for one bad pitch, got serious about all the other pitches that were thrown.

"Awesome," said Ellis. "About as good as I've seen all year. He went 6 1/3 and had all four pitches working. He's hard on himself. What makes Clayton great is that he wants to be perfect every time. He's also smart enough to know he won't be perfect, and that keeps him going. I can tell him and I can tell you he was really good tonight."

Mattingly decided the game would be determined in the seventh inning, when he used three relievers to follow Kershaw. With two on and one out, he brought on Jamey Wright to strike out John Buck. He asked Randy Choate to get the left-handed Bryan Petersen, but he walked.

Ronald Belisario got the final out, escaping the inherited bases-loaded mess by getting Donovan Solano on a groundout. Belisario then pitched a perfect eighth inning and Kenley Jansen earned his 23rd save. Noticeably absent from the late-inning slotting was newcomer Brandon League, who has allowed two runs in his four Dodgers appearances.

Matt Kemp said he wasn't surprised by Ruggiano's 430-foot blast, his 10th home run in 56 games.

"Dude can play," said Kemp, a Minor League teammate of Ruggiano, who was dealt to Tampa Bay in 2006 with Dioner Navarro and Jae Seo for Toby Hall and Mark Hendrickson.

The Dodgers took the lead against Mark Buehrle in the sixth. Shane Victorino led off with a double, was bunted to third by Mark Ellis and doubled home by Kemp. Ramirez followed with a bouncer into right field, Kemp scoring with a slide that eluded the tag of catcher Buck.

Ramirez took second on the throw, and Rivera followed by providing needed insurance runs, lining a two-run home run into the left-field seats, his sixth homer of the year and third lifetime off Buehrle.

But Kershaw got into trouble quickly in the bottom of the sixth. Buck's leadoff single exploded past Ramirez. Pinch-hitter Gorkys Hernandez reached on an infield single when third baseman Jerry Hairston's throw to second was late. Solano bounced to Ramirez,who threw to second, but Ellis came off the bag early and umpire Angel Hernandez ruled Hernandez safe to load the bases.

Ruggiano bounced to Hairston for a force at home and the first out of the inning. On Lee's sacrifice fly, Hernandez scored. Giancarlo Stanton just missed a three-run homer by sending Victorino to the warning track with a flyout to end the inning.

"We got a couple chances. When you're going to face a kid of that caliber, you got to bring your best stuff," said Miami manager Ozzie Guillen. "It's not going to be easy to beat him. We got a few chances early and we couldn't get it done."

The Dodgers got the run back in the seventh. They loaded the bases on singles by A.J. Ellis and Kershaw (hit-and-run) and an intentional walk to Kemp. On Ramirez's infield nubber, pitcher Ryan Webb bumped catcher Buck before he could throw to first as Ellis scored.

Sports Online:Angels walk off with wild pitch on Trout's big night

ANAHEIM -- Peter Bourjos scored on a wild pitch by Mariners reliever Josh Kinney, sending the Angels to a 6-5 walk-off victory at Angel Stadium on Friday night, capping a game that saw their bullpen step up and the offense -- particularly Mike Trout -- erase a five-run deficit against Mariners ace Felix Hernandez.

With that, the Angels moved to 6-2 on the year against the Mariners and gained ground on the two teams that sit above them in the American League West, moving a half-game back of the A's and six behind the first-place Rangers.

The win comes on the heels of a gut-wrenching 4-6 road trip,which saw the bullpen compile a 10.54 ERA and constantly blow leads that a surging offense had worked hard to build.

With the score tied at 5, Kendrys Morales began the bottom of the ninth with his second double of the night, then made way for Bourjos to pinch-run. After an intentional walk to the switch-hitting Albert Callaspo, Howie Kendrick dropped a sacrifice bunt that put runners on second and third with one out for Erick Aybar, who was intentionally walked to load the bases.

With pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis up, Kinney threw a pitch wide of catcher John Jaso, who saw the ball ricochet off his glove and allow Bourjos to slide in safely with the winning run.

The red-hot Hernandez and a better-lately Ervin Santana canceled each other out by giving up five runs (four earned) each. Santana started off hot and finished strong, but was hampered by a rough third inning in which he gave up two homers, giving him a Major League-leading 28 allowed this season and put the Mariners ahead, 5-0.

Erasing a five-run deficit against a dominant starter who had posted a 1.41 ERA over his last 10 starts seemed like an almost impossible task.

But the Angels' offense -- one that averaged seven runs per game, notched double-digit hits seven times and totaled 23 homers on the just-completed road trip -- came all the way back against Hernandez thanks to their double-play combo and their dynamic young center fielder.

With one out and Kendrick and Aybar on base, Trout hit a three-run homer to left-center field on a full count, giving him the same season total as his age (21) and cutting the Angels' deficit to two.

The Angels then tied it on Trout's sacrifice fly that scored both Kendrick and Aybar. Trout lofted a fly ball near the right-field foul pole that Eric Thames caught. Kendrick scored easy, but Aybar took off towards home as Thames' throw got by second baseman Dustin Ackley.

Since Aybar was trying to score before Ackley's misplay, Trout was credited with two RBIs on the play, giving him a career-high-tying five on the night.

Santana retired 11 of 14 batters after Jaso's homer, and Hisanori Takahashi, Kevin Jepsen and Ernesto Frieri blanked the Mariners over the last 2 2/3 innings.

Sports Online:Home run monster Ross does it again

BOSTON -- Cody Ross was the hero once again.

Ross belted a walk-off three-run homer to beat the White Sox, 3-1, on Thursday night at Fenway Park.

It was the third three-run jack for the outfielder in two games. He drove in a season-high six runs in Wednesday's 10-1 win, and didn't cool down on Thursday with another homer over the Green Monster.

"It's an incredible feeling, something that you really can't describe with words," said Ross of his first walk-off homer since Aug. 2, 2009, against the Cubs when he was a member of the Marlins. "The emotions that are going through your body, you just try to take it all in and try not to rush it and remember that, because you don't have very many opportunities to do that."

With David Ortiz out of the lineup for a third straight game, Ross has picked up the offensive slack for the Red Sox, who did get Dustin Pedroia back from the disabled list.

Over the years, late-inning heroics have typically fallen on Big Papi's broad shoulders. On Thursday, it was Ross' turn.

"I want to be the guy up every time in that situation," he said. "I always have my whole life. I just like that pressure and I like just being there in the moment. I can't really compare it to anything, it's just a great feeling especially when you come though and you're a hero. There's no better feeling."

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine is looking forward to more heroics from his right fielder.

"I love his smile, I love his swing, I love his energy," Valentine said. "And he's not getting traded. Don't want to start any rumors."

Carl Crawford started the rally with a leadoff single to right off Matt Thornton. Pedroia narrowly avoided a double play and reached first on a fielder's choice. Adrian Gonzalez followed with his second single of the game to set the table for Ross, who delivered off of Addison Reed.

When Ross crossed home plate, closer Alfredo Aceves showered him with a bucket of Gatorade.

"I needed something with some color," said Aceves, who picked up his first win of the year. "It's an exciting way to win."

The victory sealed a series win for Boston, which took three out of four from the American League Central-leading White Sox.

Facing a rookie left-hander for the second time in as many games, the Red Sox couldn't recreate their offensive explosion from Wednesday night.

White Sox starter Jose Quintana shut out the Red Sox over eight innings, but the Red Sox rallied against the Chicago bullpen in the ninth. It was the first time Boston scored all of its runs on a walk-off homer since June 4, 1995.

Boston knocked around Pedro Hernandez in his Major League debut on Wednesday for eight runs in four-plus innings with three homers. But Quintana did not suffer the same fate.

"I felt all my pitches were good," said Quintana, who retired 19 of the first 20 batters he faced. "It's one of those things that I was just trying to throw strikes in there and I had a good understanding of what the strong points are of some of these batters. I just try to throw the ball in the right place."

Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz did his part to keep the home team in the game. The right-hander was terrific in his second start since a stint on the disabled list, allowing one run in eight innings with six strikeouts. His only blemish was a sacrifice fly in the fourth.

He was in line to get a loss before Ross' bomb landed in the third row of the Monster Seats.

"You can't ever expect something like that to happen, but it makes you feel really good when it does," Buchholz said.

It was another strong outing for Buchholz, who is 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 45 strikeouts over his last seven starts since May 27.

"I feel pretty confident in most all of my pitches each time I go out and I think that plays a big key in going out and having success and keeping the team in the game in a game like this," he said.

Boston's best chance against Quintana came in the seventh after consecutive singles by Pedroia, Gonzalez and Ross loaded the bases for Will Middlebrooks.

The third baseman battled during an eight-pitch at-bat before grounding into a double play to end the threat.

Quintana allowed just one hit prior to the seventh, Pedro Ciriaco's two-out triple in the third. After that he promptly struck out Jacoby Ellsbury to end the scoring chance.

"He had some tough, tough spots there," said Chicago manager Robin Ventura. "Bases loaded and he gets the big double play. He's a mature kid. He's got everything you want as a pitcher. He has a lot of guts to go with it."

But Ross erased all that with his 16th homer of the year. He described the scene at home plate, where his teammates stood eager to congratulate him.

"I felt like a bunch of piranhas jumped on me and started attacking me," Ross said with a smile. "I look up and [Nick] Punto is staring right at me with this evil look on his face and he just grabs my jersey and is yanking on it. He became famous in St. Louis for that. They call him the shredder. So we got to meet the shredder tonight."

@sportsoline

Sports Online:After duel, Kemp's HR finishes Phils in 12th

LOS ANGELES -- There's been a lot of talk recently with the Phillies in town about how the Dodgers are in desperate need of adding someone with the caliber of a player like Cole Hamels or Shane Victorino.

While it's still to be seen if a guy like that is added to the Dodgers, the current team already has a pair of players who fit that bill in Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp, and the two of them showed Wednesday afternoon in a 5-3 victory in 12 innings at Dodger Stadium that this group can still get it done on its own.

In a game that lasted nearly 4 1/2 hours, Kershaw tossed eight innings of one-run ball and Kemp launched a fastball into the stands with one out in the 12th inning to help the Dodgers avoid getting swept by the Phillies.

On Tuesday, manager Don Mattingly chalked up the Dodgers' recent struggles to losing the sorts of close games they were winning all season. Well, Wednesday's victory was that sort victory the team has been missing as Los Angeles fought back after giving up two runs in the top of the 10th.

"You come from behind and win a game and it's one of those that ends up being a nice win for your club," Mattingly said. "And you never know if this is the day that starts us rolling the ball in the right direction."

While the win sends the team off on a 10-game road trip with some momentum after four straight losses, there was some cause for concern with the bullpen and offense. Kenley Jansen gave the team a scare in the top of the ninth when he loaded the bases after getting the first two batters out and Javy Guerra coughed up two runs in the 10th.

Offensively, the Dodgers only managed two hits through the first eight innings, largely thanks to a shutdown performance by Cliff Lee, who countered Kershaw by giving up only one run in eight innings.

"We needed it," Kershaw said. "We needed a win. We'll take them any way we can get them right now. We battled all the way through, and Matt came up huge in the end. It's a testament."

Kershaw did his best to put the Dodgers in position to salvage a game from the Phillies. He struck out seven and only allowed one run on an RBI single by Carlos Ruiz in the fourth.

But aside from a solo home run by Juan Rivera in the second, the Dodgers couldn't string together any sort of offense themselves. That is until the ninth inning, when Wednesday's pitching duel turned into a nail-biter.

With Kershaw and Lee pulled for pinch-hitters, both teams' bullpens struggled out of the gate loading the bases in the top and bottom of the ninth inning. After each failed to capitalize on its own opportunity to score, the Phillies and Dodgers finally got a dose of clutch hitting in the 10th.

In his first game back from the bereavement list, Guerra surrendered two runs on a chopper hit by Hunter Pence that bounced over the head of Jerry Hairston at third base to give Philadelphia the lead.

However, the Dodgers fought back in the bottom half against Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon when Luis Cruz led off the inning with a double and Bobby Abreu brought him home on a bloop single. A Tony Gwynn base hit put runners on the corners and Kemp delivered a game-tying single on a bang-bang play at first to beat out a throw from Jimmy Rollins.

"It's just one of those outings where you really can't do much about it," Papelbon said. "For the most part, I felt like I really made the pitches I wanted to make. Swinging bunts and bloop hits and infield hits and stuff like that, you can't really do much about them."

Kemp, who looked cautious at times in his first few games back from the disabled list, looked fast and healthy on the infield single that really tested out his hamstring.

"I feel really, really good," said Kemp, who missed 51 games while on the DL twice. "My legs are getting under me and I'm getting my timing back."

The infield single proved the first part and two innings later Kemp's no-doubt-about-it, walk-off home run proved the second.

"It felt good to help my team win," said Kemp, who was mobbed by teammates and tackled by catcher A.J. Ellis after rounding the bases. "It had been a while since I've played and it's always exciting to do that. It was a good time to do that at that moment."

Had the team not rallied against Papelbon and had Kemp not delivered the big blast, the joyous mood in the Dodgers' clubhouse would have been a lot different if Kershaw's gem had been squandered. But Los Angeles, which had lost 19 of its last 25 before Wednesday, has a win to be excited about for another day until the trade chatter starts up again.

"Hopefully we take this momentum into the East Coast and get this going again," said Kemp, who was still beaming from his sixth career walk-off homer.

Ozzie, Davey clear air, downplay pine tar incident

MIAMI -- Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen and Nationals skipper Davey Johnson had a brief phone conversation following Sunday's game to clear the air.

During Washington's 4-0 win over Miami, Guillen and Nationals rookie Bryce Harper got into a chirping match in the fourth inning stemming from the amount of pine tar on the 19-year-old's bat. Guillen called Harper "unprofessional" for the way he handled the incident, and said Sunday that he would talk to Johnson about it later that evening.

"He called me," Johnson said. "He said it wasn't a big deal and enough said about it. It was an interesting exchange going on, but that's Oz. ... It was a pretty brief call. It wasn't a big issue with him."

Guillen had a different account of the conversation.

"I tried to call him, and he told me to get the [expletive] away from me," Guillen said. "I don't think Davey understands why I called him. I just called to say 'I don't want to make a big deal about this. I just think he did something he shouldn't.' I love Davey and I think he is one of the best baseball men in the game."

On Sunday, Guillen took issue with the pine tar on Harper's bat in the first inning being too high up on the barrel, so he brought it to the attention of Nationals third-base coach Bo Porter and home-plate umpire Marty Foster.

When Harper came to bat again in the fourth inning, Guillen said the outfielder raised his bat toward Miami's dugout as if to ask if the bat was OK with Guillen.

Miami's manager took it as a sign of disrespect, while Johnson maintained his stance from Sunday -- that Guillen was trying to intimidate Harper.

"He showed me up," Guillen said. "I didn't try to show him up."

"I don't like any time an opposing manager talks while my player is up at the plate, has any kind of conversation with my hitter," Johnson said. "Whether my hitter instigated or he instigated, it's not what I like to see happen in the ballgame."

Guillen added that if he wanted to intimidate Harper, he would have a pitcher throw at him. When asked if he was worried about the Marlins throwing at Harper on Monday, Johnson said, "Heck no. My guy throws harder than them anyway."

While Johnson and Guillen didn't agree on how the incident was handled by each side, the two managers did seem to agree on one point -- that pine tar on the bat doesn't serve as an advantage for hitters. Johnson added that every player just uses it to help with the grip so the bat doesn't go flying out of their hands.

Guillen, who has been complimentary of Harper all season, again sang the All-Star's praises on Monday, but cautioned that if Harper "continues to do that [stuff], he might not make it."

"He's going to fool around with the wrong guy and that guy is going to kick his [behind]," Guillen said. "He might not make it, and I love this kid. I think he is great for the game. He plays the game right and he plays hard. He has a chance to be one of the greatest players in the game, but he needs to be careful."

Ibanez's eighth-inning slam sends Yanks past Jays

Veteran outfielder comes through in clutch in series-opening win

NEW YORK -- If the Yankees have learned anything from Raul Ibanez's first season in pinstripes, it's that he seems to have a knack for coming up with hits in big spots. Those hits also tend to travel a long, long way.

Ibanez crushed an eighth-inning grand slam off Jason Frasor on Monday at Yankee Stadium, powering the Yankees to a 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays for their seventh win in the last nine games.

"It's definitely a situation you want to hit in," Ibanez said. "That's what you want as a hitter. You play the game to get into situations like that. When you're in the backyard as a kid, you're in the backyard thinking, 'Bases loaded, two outs.'"

That was precisely where Ibanez found himself, digging in on a muggy evening in the Bronx. He broke open a tight pitchers' duel by unloading on Frasor's 3-1 fastball, sending a no-doubt drive into the second deck in right field.

"He was supposed to pop that up," Frasor said. "It wasn't my night. It was a struggle from pitch No. 1. What can I say? I had to come to him, and he got it."

The blast was Ibanez's 10th career slam and his first as a Yankee. He was sent up at the right time; five of Ibanez's 12 homers have given the Yankees the lead, with eight coming in the sixth inning or later.

"We expected him to play well," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We've always liked him as a hitter. We talked about what a great clubhouse guy he is. He's done a great job for us in left field, but he's come up with some huge hits for us."

Rafael Soriano closed out the ninth inning for his 23rd save in 24 chances, preserving the win for David Robertson, who pitched a scoreless eighth to follow Phil Hughes' strong seven-inning no-decision.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the eighth as Aaron Loup allowed hits to Alex Rodriguez and Robinson Cano before Frasor entered. Ibanez said long at-bats by Mark Teixeira (five, hit-by-pitch) and Nick Swisher (eight, strikeout) helped him get a feel for Frasor.

"I think it is a deep lineup, for sure," Ibanez said. "It's a lineup that when we do what we're capable of doing, grinding out at-bats, guys see a lot of pitches and battle and fight. It puts a lot of pressure on the other team's pitcher."

Hughes had to contend with Toronto's potent offense, but passed the test, limiting Jose Bautista and company to two runs on four hits over seven innings before Bautista was removed from the game in the eighth with a left wrist injury.

"It was a battle today," Hughes said. "I had a good fastball, but I was constantly behind in counts and trying to battle back into counts. It was tough. It was a grind, but I hung in there and just tried to keep it close. Unfortunately I gave up a lead, but the other guys battled back and got a win out of it."

Adam Lind connected for a fourth-inning solo homer, his eighth, and Edwin Encarnacion laced a run-scoring double off the left-center-field wall in the sixth inning to account for the production against Hughes.

The right-hander walked three and struck out four as he turned in his first start following the All-Star break. In his last six starts at home since May 22, Hughes is 4-1 with a 3.18 ERA.

"I just loved the way he competed," Girardi said. "He used his fastball, his curveball and his changeup pretty effectively. He stayed away from big innings. He got big outs when he needed to. You look at him getting through that seventh inning, and that was real important for us."

The Blue Jays squeezed a solid six-inning effort from starter Henderson Alvarez, who struck out a season-high six batters and held the Yankees to two runs and five hits.

Russell Martin got New York's offense started in the second inning with a line-drive home run to right field, Martin's ninth of the season, snapping a 66 at-bat homerless streak for the catcher. The Yankees have homered in 12 straight home games.

"It was a sinker away, and he probably left it up a little bit," Martin said. "It didn't have quite as much action. That short porch over there has been nice to me this year."

Rodriguez and Cano bashed back-to-back doubles off Alvarez in the third, bringing around the second run. Cano's hit sailed past the dive of right fielder Bautista, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 19 games.

Ibanez said that the showing was just another example of the ongoing group effort, which has the veteran believing something special is brewing in the Bronx.

"It's a real team," Ibanez said. "It's a team of 25 guys coming together and trying to win games. There's great players in here, but they're also great people. They're all team players and gamers."

Backed by bats, sharp Sheets wins Atlanta debut

Braves plate six in fifth, sweep Mets for seventh straight victory

NYM@ATL: Sheets strikes out Wright, gets the win

ATLANTA -- About two years ago, Ben Sheets thought his baseball career was over.

On Sunday afternoon at Turner Field, he showed it's not.

Sheets threw six scoreless innings in his first start in almost two years, and Michael Bourn's fifth-inning RBI double ignited a six-run outburst as the Braves beat the Mets, 6-1, completing a sweep of the series.

The victory also gave Atlanta a season-high seven-game winning streak.

"He did a terrific job. He mixed his pitches well, his command was outstanding," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "Even better than I thought he would be his first time out. Facing the New York Mets in the heat and his first time in two years, I think we got every bit of what we wanted out of him."

Sheets (1-0), who was signed to a Minor League contract on July 1, allowed only two hits in earning his first win since July 10, 2010, a 15-1 victory over the Angels as a member of the A's. The 33-year-old right-hander threw 88 pitches Sunday, 57 for strikes, striking out five while walking one.

"I felt pretty good. I've been feeling like I could throw the ball where I want to first and foremost. That's the most important thing," he said. "I was having fun."

The only time it wasn't fun for Sheets was in the third, when catcher Josh Thole's double off the wall in left-center put runners on second and third with two out for David Wright.

Wright came into the game with a National League-leading .368 daytime average and a Major League-leading .382 road average.

After falling behind 2-0, then working the count full, Sheets retired Wright on a fly ball to the warning track in right. The threat was over and the game remained scoreless. The Mets limited Wright to a .182 average in the series (2-for-11) with seven strikeouts, and he was hitless in his last nine at-bats.

"It was a big moment, a big pitch," Sheets said. "One big pitch, that can really turn things around."

That Sheets made that pitch didn't surprise Chipper Jones.

"He's a gamer," said Jones. "He knows in a 0-0 game against [Mets ace Johan] Santana that could possibly be one of the biggest outs in the game. What impressed me was that was the only really stressful inning he had. He really didn't get into trouble after that."

Sheeets didn't allow a baserunner after that, retiring the final 10 Mets he faced.

While Sheets cruised, Santana (6-6) would run into trouble in the fifth.

After deftly navigating through a couple of jams over the first four innings, Santana, who allowed six runs and eight hits, and has allowed 13 runs over his last two starts, covering 9 2/3 innings, allowed the Braves to bat around and plate six runs.

Matt Diaz, who started in left field because of his career .514 batting average against Santana, led off with a double over the head of center fielder Andres Torres. Diaz went 1-for-2 to keep his career average against Santana to .514.

Santana then walked Paul Janish, not getting a couple of close calls from home-plate umpire C.B. Bucknor on 2-2 and 3-2. After Sheets popped out attempting to sacrifice, Bourn dropped a 2-2 pitch into left field for an RBI double that broke the scoreless tie. The hit gave Bourn a five-game hitting streak.

"There's not much you can do. You've got to go back and try to get the next guy or the next pitch," said Santana. "Turns out a couple pitches later, you give up a base hit, a double, and it costs runs."

Mets pitching coach Dan Warthen, who thought Santana had Bourn struck out on 1-2, wasn't as diplomatic. He went to the mound and argued quite demonstratively with Bucknor before getting ejected.

Those pyrotechnics were followed by some by Braves hitters.

Martin Prado hit a sacrifice fly to right and Jason Heyward followed by grounding an RBI single to right. After Chipper Jones laced a single back through the box, Freddie Freeman, who came into the game hitting .714 in the series (5-for-7), hit an 0-1 changeup into the seats in right-center for his 11th homer of the year. It extended his hitting streak to seven.

"We might have caught some breaks on some pitch calls but so did they at some point. We took advantage when we did," said Diaz. "Michael Bourn got that great hit. That just speaks to his character. It was great to see him get that big hit to start the scoring, then Freddie busted it open."

Jones had two hits after seeing his 14-game hitting streak stopped Saturday, while McCann extended his hit streak to seven with a second-inning single.

But the story of the day was Sheets. He dominated Mets hitters, throwing 13 first-pitch strikes to the 21 hitters he faced.

"I like to pitch from in front. That's fun," he said. "I just tried to stay ahead and not get in good hitters' counts."

"You go out there with a game plan and he was getting strike one, which allows him to use his other pitches," said McCann. "He can bury his curveball when he wants to and he was getting ahead with his curveball. When you're throwing multiple pitches for strikes, you can go anywhere you want to go."

Atlanta sees Sheets as a key to getting past Washington, the NL East leader.

"I can't wait to run him back out there again in five days or six days with this off-day," said Gonzalez.

"We are ecstatic," said Jones. "For him to come in and build on our winning streak, seven-game winning streaks don't come along very often. We keep the ball rolling.

"Any time I go through nine innings and I don't get a ground ball, that's a good day. I like those kind of days," he added with a laugh. "So me and him are going to get along just fine."

Teagarden sends O's home with walk-off blast

BALTIMORE -- He didn't have an at-bat this season until the 11th inning, but it didn't matter.

Orioles catcher Taylor Teagarden picked up his first hit in an Orioles uniform in thrilling fashion, delivering the first walk-off homer of his career with a two-run, two-out shot in the 13th inning that capped a stunning 8-6 Orioles' comeback against the Detroit Tigers.

"I never thought I would see this day," said Teagarden, activated from the 60-day disabled list prior to Saturday's game, and still wearing the remnants of the celebratory shaving cream pie he got from teammates around his left ear and sprinkled in his hair.

"I was just excited to be playing in front of this stadium, these fans. I've been thinking about this day for a while. It has been somewhat of a grind for me this year, just being in this clubhouse and amongst these guys, it means the world right now."

Sidelined since this spring with a back injury, Teagarden lifted Joaquin Benoit's pitch just over the wall to secure the series-tying victory and erase what would have been a devastating late-game collapse for Baltimore. The Orioles' 13th inning scoring started in with J.J. Hardy, marred in an 0-for-28 slump, picking an opportune time to break out. The Orioles shortstop sent Benoit's pitch into the left-field stands for a towering homer that marked his first hit since July 3 and evened the score at 6 after reliever Matt Lindstrom surrendered a run in the top half of the frame.

After Adam Jones was hit by a pitch to keep the inning alive, Teagarden hit a 1-2 high fastball, that caught just enough of the plate, just hard enough to teeter over the right-field fence. The O's catcher, who entered the game after Matt Wieters was lifted for a pinch-runner in the 10th, stopped for a moment around first-base thinking it was a double. Once it was ruled a homer, Teagarden ran to the pile of excited teammates as fast as he could, with Jones, Robert Andino and Mark Reynolds doing the damage to the Orioles' latest walk-off hero.

"[They] got me good," Teagarden said of the shaving cream celebration. "[I] never saw it coming."

The same can be said of Teagarden's clutch homer, his first in the Majors since August 18, 2010, as a member of the Texas Rangers. The game-winning power stroke erased the ill will generated from some poor Orioles defense, a blown three-run lead in the ninth inning and an offense that had gone missing for the previous seven innings, giving the O's their seventh win in the last 21 games. It also ensured that the fabulous effort of starter Wei-Yin Chen, who fired six strong innings, wouldn't be wasted.

"This is a scratch-and claw team," manager Buck Showalter said of a plucky Oriole club that has won 10 consecutive extra-innings games this season. "There's nobody in the dugout going, 'Oh my goodness, we're playing this many innings in this much heat.' Everybody was enjoying it. They don't take themselves too seriously, and they love the competition. Especially against a team with that type of talent, and quite frankly, that type of payroll."

Closer Jim Johnson, fresh off his first All-Star appearance, couldn't shut things down in a three-run ninth inning that dissolved the Orioles' lead and let the game go into extras. The right-hander, who entered the game with an American League-leading 26 saves, surrendered a leadoff single to Miguel Cabrera and, one out later, third baseman Ryan Flaherty's error put Delmon Young on as well. Jhonny Peralta singled in a run and Brennan Boesch crushed a double into right field to plate another pair of Tigers and bring the game within one.

After Johnson struck out Avila, Quintin Berry tied it up with a blooper into left field that Endy Chavez fielded and threw home to nab Boesch in an inning-ending play. The damage in the three-run frame -- only one of which was an earned run charged to Johnson -- spotlighted a troublesome Orioles' defense which extended its Major League-lead to 77 errors.

"I did more bad than good today," said Johnson who has blown two saves this season, both which resulted in Orioles' wins. "But that happens. Obviously with a three-run lead, that shouldn't happen. I was obviously upset about it. I got over it by the 12th and I was out there rooting for the guys. You can see what happened, a great team win."

They couldn't have gotten there without Chen, who was lost in the day's events but set the tone early. With news that Jason Hammel is leaning toward right knee sugery -- adding more uncertainty to an already-unreliable starting staff -- Chen gave Baltimore something to feel good about in six strong innings. He rebounded from a 21-pitch first, retiring 15 in a row after Prince Fielder's RBI double, and held the Tigers to just two hits on the afternoon. Chen exited the 108-pitch performance with a three-run lead and a rousing ovation from the crowd of 43, 215 at Camden Yards.

"I wanted to go deep and be consistent, and after the first inning I felt really strong," Chen said through his interpreter. "I finished strong. And I just feel great that I can help the team to get a win."

The team's struggling lineup -- which posted double-digit hits for just the fourth time in 24 games -- scored four runs in three innings, but was unable to get anything going after that. The two teams traded runs in the 11th, with Orioles reliever Miguel Socolovich charged a run in his Major League debut, before Teagarden's fateful blast.

"It was a great game," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "There's no other way to put it, it was a great baseball game. A lot of good things happened, and it was just a terrific, terrific game. It was Major League baseball at it's best with two teams going at each other and both teams coming back and nobody giving up on either side. It doesn't get any better than that."

McCutchen stays hot as Bucs rally past Brewers

All-Star homers in third straight game; Correia settles in for win

MILWAUKEE -- Kevin Correia knew four runs wasn't going to be enough to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a different story earlier in the season, but not anymore.

Correia retired the final 11 men he faced in six innings, putting his team in position to scratch across the necessary runs in a 6-4 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night at Miller Park. The Pirates (49-38), who scored four or more runs for the 13th time in 15 games and won for the 11th time in 14 games, remained tied for first place in the National League Central with the Cincinnati Reds.

Pittsburgh plated the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh, and home runs from white-hot Andrew McCutchen and Casey McGehee helped the cause after Milwaukee took leads of 2-0 and 4-2.

"At the beginning of the year, it was about trying to not give up that many runs and try to hang in there," said Correia (6-6), who matched a career best in winning his fourth consecutive decision. "I gave up four runs in the first three innings and I knew that wouldn't be enough, especially in this ballpark. This is a weird place to pitch, it's kind of like Colorado -- you know there's going to be runs scored. I knew four wasn't going to be enough to beat us, and I was able to hold it right there."

Brewers third baseman Aramis Ramirez hit a chopper to third that bounced past the backhand of Pedro Alvarez for a two-base error in the third, allowing a run to score and setting up a sacrifice fly from Corey Hart one batter later, making it 4-2. But Correia never permitted another batter to reach, finishing with four runs (two earned) allowed on four hits in his six frames, with six strikeouts and a walk.

"He was just changing speeds enough," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's never going to be overpowering; he's going to beat you with command and miss the bat -- not miss it completely, just mishit it. He had a nice assortment of pitches and nice work by [catcher Michael] McKenry to continue to add and subtract throughout the outing."

McCutchen's 20th home run of the year came on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the third and tied the game, 2-2, marking his third straight game with a blast. First baseman Garrett Jones was the last Pirate to homer in three straight games when he did so in four straight, also straddling an All-Star break in 2009.

That wasn't all from McCutchen, who also made a slick sliding grab in center field with two outs in the eighth, perhaps taking away an extra-base hit from Martin Maldonado with the potential tying runs on base.

"Andrew is playing the game at a very high caliber right now on both sides of the ball," Hurdle said. "He's in a very comfortable place. He makes those plays look easy but it's a good first step, it's an exact read when the ball's off the bat and it's a direct line to the ball and a slide. Any missteps out there, he might not make the play. Offensively, with the big swing of the bat ... it's been fun to watch. The numbers up there really get your attention."

McGehee had a 3-for-5 day with two runs driven in after going 1-for-10 in his first three games back at Miller Park since getting traded from the Brewers in the offseason. He struck out four times Friday, but his homer in the eighth added insurance, and his RBI single in the sixth brought his team to within a run at 4-3.

"It's getting to the point where even if we're down early, we're just waiting for something good to happen," McGehee said. "As soon as we get rolling, we can capitalize. Even early in the game, we left a couple chances out there but you keep giving yourself opportunities, somebody's going to come through. The key is to keep putting yourself in those situations. It just goes back to confidence. It's a crazy thing how much confidence plays into this."

Pittsburgh stranded a runner at third with no outs in the second and another runner at third with one out in the sixth, but the Brewers' defensive woes contributed to the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh.

Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun whiffed trying to scoop up Clint Barmes' leadoff single and allowed the Pirates shortstop to reach second as it rolled to the wall. Barmes scored when pitcher Kameron Loe (4-3) threw Josh Harrison's bunt away at first base, knotting the score at 4-4.

With runners at the corners and one out, ball four to McCutchen glanced off Maldonado's glove to the backstop for a passed ball, and Harrison scored easily from third base.

"We're hitting the ball so well right now, it just gives you the confidence to keep putting up zeros rather than giving up after you've given up a few," Correia said. "I think all the pitching staff feels that way right now."

Brewers starter Marco Estrada struck out 11 batters in just 5 2/3 innings but left with a no-decision, allowing three runs on six hits.

"There was one pitch I regret, and that was the pitch to McCutchen," Estrada said. "I went away from our game plan and decided to throw a fastball away. And I shook it off, which I shouldn't have done, and I got hurt for it. I can't be doing stuff like that. I've got to stick to the game plan and try to make the pitches."

The Pirates bullpen was able to make its pitches in relief of Correia. Chris Resop worked around a leadoff single in the seventh and retired Travis Ishikawa on a fly ball to the warning track in left to end the frame. Jason Grilli issued a leadoff walk in the eighth but stranded two runners with the two-run lead still intact when McCutchen made the sliding snare in center. Joel Hanrahan worked a scoreless ninth around a one-out walk to earn his 24th save of the season.

Neil Walker extended his hitting streak to 14 games and finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Dempster making way up Cubs' record chart

Ties best scoreless mark since '69; 11 frames shy of club record

CHICAGO -- While trade rumors swirl around Ryan Dempster, he is making history in Chicago.

Through injury and an All-Star break, Dempster has continued to blank opponents, tossing six scoreless innings on Saturday in a 4-1 win against the D-backs. He became the first Cubs pitcher to toss 33 consecutive scoreless innings since Ken Holtzman in 1969.

Dempster's active run is one of only four Cubs pitching streaks to reach 33 scoreless innings in the last 95 seasons. He hasn't allowed a run since May 30, and lowered his ERA to 1.68 in the process. The club record of 44 consecutive scoreless innings was established by Ed Reulbach back in 1908, according to the Cubs' media guide.

"It's pretty crazy," Dempster said. "I think as a reliever, when you do something like that, it seems more realistic because you're going out there one inning at a time. But to go out there start after start and not give up any runs, it's pretty humbling. I'm just trying to get outs and win ballgames, I'm not expecting that."

Dempster's career-best fifth consecutive win marked the Cubs' 11th victory in their last 15 games. The Cubs have won five straight games at Wrigley Field and are 21-20 at home. It's the first time they've been above .500 at home since April 2011.

Manager Dale Sveum said before Saturday's game he wanted to keep Dempster between 85 and 95 pitches. He stuck to his word, pulling Dempster after 89 pitches.

The Cubs' starter allowed four hits, while walking three batters -- including D-backs starter Joe Saunders while leading 3-0 in the fifth inning. Dempster allowed three total walks in his three June starts, before being sidelined with right lat tightness.

"It looked like he was kind of losing it there when he walked the pitcher," Sveum said. "Then, all of a sudden, he came back with probably his best stuff all day. We got him right to the 90-pitch mark in six innings this time, so it all worked out as much as you draw it out."

Dempster said its easy to lose command coming out of the All-Star break. But just as he did in his return from injury in five scoreless innings on July 8 against the Mets, Dempster rebounded after a brief hiatus and found ways to keep his opponents from scoring.

"It looked like he was laboring a little bit and I thought we were going to have a chance to maybe take advantage of some of the pitches up in the zone," said D-backs third baseman Geoff Blum. "But he just never caves in."

The Cubs gave Dempster a three-run cushion by taking a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning on an RBI double by Darwin Barney and an RBI single by Luis Valbuena, who also scored in the third inning to put the Cubs on the board and has hit safely in eight of his last 10 games at Wrigley Field.

Dempster struck out five batters and relied on his defense when he got into jams. The Cubs have turned at least one double play in each of their last nine games and added three on Saturday.

"That's the thing about Demp," Barney said. "He's been around a long time. He's smart. He knows how he wants to get guys out. He's not out there trying to strike everybody out. He knows how to pitch to contact really well, and that's why he's so good."

After Dempster exited, reliever James Russell allowed a solo home run to Chris Young in the seventh. The Cubs led, 4-0, at the time, and are 27-15 when scoring at least four runs.

Shawn Camp tossed a scoreless eighth inning to extend his scoreless-innings streak to 13 1/3. After Carlos Marmol put two runners on in the ninth inning, right fielder Reed Johnson ran into the wall but still caught a fly ball and Anthony Rizzo started the Cubs' final double play of the day to end the game.

"Rizzo kind of secures up that corner a little bit, making some tough plays look pretty easy," Barney said. "We're really happy with the way we're playing defense."

"Defensively, knock on wood, it's about as good as it can get right now," Sveum said.

Barney, who increased his errorless streak at second base to 74 games, said he looks forward to every day Dempster pitches because he knows he'll get a lot of action. He hopes he'll get to play behind Dempster for the rest of the year.

"He was one of those guys that really helped me out in a lot of situations coming up to the big leagues last year and the year before," Barney said. "He's a leader. He's just a great guy to be around, a competitor. The day he throws, it's absolutely different."

Dempster has tried not to get wrapped up in trade speculation, but he does look back and think about how lucky he's been to play in Chicago for nine years.

"I have been really fortunate that this city has been tremendous to me and my family, and I am so thankful for every opportunity," said Dempster. "And I'm trying to give my best effort when I am out there, and have truly enjoyed every minute of it."

Now on pace to finish with an ERA below 3.00 for the second time in his 15-year career, Dempster doesn't want to think about playing somewhere else.

"I just really enjoy pitching for the Cubs right now," he said.