Not many teams call a game against the last-place Pirates a must-win. The Atlanta Braves did, and they responded exactly the way manager Bobby Cox hoped they would. Omar Infante had three hits, Derek Lowe beat Pittsburgh for the 10th straight time and the Braves got the breakout victory they badly needed, beating the Pirates 9-3 on Wednesday night.

First place is a lot more fun when you win. Just ask the Texas Rangers. Ian Kinsler led off the game with a home run, Derek Holland won for the first time since mid-May and the AL West-leading Rangers stopped their five-game losing streak with an 8-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

Ryan Howard homered and had six RBIs and the Philadelphia Phillies backed Cole Hamels with a rare burst of the run support he had been missing most of the season in a 10-6 win over the Florida Marlins on Wednesday night. Howard hit his 28th homer of the season and the NL East-leading Phillies had a season-high 18 hits.

As a disappointing season winds down, Joe Torre is mulling whether to return to the Dodgers or find a different gig.

Latos is ill and seven pitchers are needed in a 4-2 victory over the Dodgers, but San Diego remains in first place.

Deep into a divorce trial that will determine whether his ex-wife, Jamie, gets half of the Dodgers, McCourt reflects.

Talk about a rough couple of nights for the Chicago White Sox. At the worst time, too. Jeremy Bonderman pitched eight strong innings and the Detroit Tigers beat sloppy Chicago 5-1 on Wednesday, handing the White Sox another costly loss. The White Sox entered Tuesday's game with a seven-game winning streak, but have been outscored 14-2 by the Tigers over the last two nights, including seven...

Manager Jim Leyland issued a word of warning on Detroit's latest rookie whiz, Will Rhymes.

"He's done a good job," Leyland said, "but you've got to be careful.

"Two months ago you were talking about (Brennan) Boesch like he's the second coming of Ty Cobb. I haven't heard anybody talking about Boesch lately, until now.

"Now everybody wants to start talking about Rhymes. Just let him play. Let him settle in."

Rhymes brings everything to the party except size and experience.

At age 27, he's not somebody who just wandered in off the campus. And always having to play over his 5-foot-9 (listed) size tends to keep him grounded.

He's provided a perfect complement to leadoff man Austin Jackson, a bats-left following a bats-right.

Rhymes laced a 1-1...

Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Jeff Weaver, who has a 4.99 ERA and 5-1 record this season, would like to play for...