Andre Ethier explains and Russell spells out Martin had RBI doubles for Los Angeles while Tracy and Mark Reynolds had run- scoring singles for Arizona " Both teams swung the bats well the first couple innings and looked sloopy at times, but then tightened it up considerably " Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. He left the mound to a chorus of boos after allowing eight runs and nine hits in 5 2/ 3 innings " He certainly didn' t have very good success today " Detroit manager Jim Leyland said " Some of it by his own doing and some of it was that' s just the way it is sometimes " Sometimes it just isn' t your day " Pena singled in the first of three Tampa Bay runs off reliever Ryan Perry in the seventh and finished a seven- game road trip with four homers and 12 RBIs " Carlos is looking extremely sharp " Rays manager Joe Maddon said. There are veterans on the roster who have won a Super Bowl, such as Lewis with the Ravens and linebacker Willie McGinest with the New England Patriots, but there is also a lot of young players who have never won consistently in the NFL. Calderon sometimes loaned money to people and worked as a bondsman, and allegedly posted the bail of a person accused of murder, Rivera said, without providing details. Clubhouse doors finally opened 1 hour, 23 minutes after the game. Carpenter pitched four solid innings in his first start since April 2007 as the Cardinals beat the slumping Braves 7- 2 on Wednesday night. Willie Harris homered and had three RBIs for the Nationals, who had lost nine in a row prior to their current streak " We are playing better defense and have played four clean games so far " Nationals manager Manny Acta said.

The Bills( 3- 6) will consider promoting tight end Brad Cieslak off the practice squad but likely won' t make any moves until Friday or Saturday " We do have some decisions we need to make " coach Dick Jauron said following Thursday' s practice " They don' t have to be immediate . Ready and waiting, Jones already has moved to Dallas and is hanging out with his new teammates . He underwent reconstructive elbow surgery in 2003 while with Cincinnati The Cubs converted him to a closer in 2005 . The Mariners have declined to discuss their efforts to bring Griffey back to his original team . In the day' s other games: GROUP A, VRSAC Russia hammered Italy 87- 61 to remain the only team unbeaten in that group. An agreement for the Japan trip could be finalized next week, according to the official . A' s RHP Kaz Tadano made his first appearance in the field, committing two errors on the same play in the ninth He also drew a walk in his first at bat Triple- A manager Dan Rohn skippered the Giants.

Manager Tony La Russa indicated it was Rolen' s call " He just doesn' t think he can be competitive " La Russa said " It' s not working, so we go to the next step, which is to shut him down and try to get him healthy " Rolen was injured May 10 in a baserunning collision with Dodgers first baseman Hee- Seop Choi and missed 33 games following surgery . It should be fun " Tampa Bay is 4- 1 against the Red Sox at Tropicana Field this season and has won seven of the first 11 meetings . I think that makes it a lot of fun this time of year " Christopher Higgins and Andrei Kostitsyn scored power- play goals for the faltering Canadiens, who have lost 11 of 14 Markov assisted on all three Montreal goals . Texas Rangers: The Mariners activated right- hander Gil Meche from the 15- day disabled list before Friday night' s game against the Texas Rangers Meche has been on the DL since Aug 20 with tendinitis in his right knee He is 10- 8 with a 5 . Bonser walked the bases loaded with one out in the fourth but got out of the jam by getting Pena to hit into a forceout at home and David DeJesus to fly out to left field " He pitched out of it, but it was finger painting It wasn' t art " Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said The Twins have scored 11 runs in their last five games . Wellemeyer walked four in 3 2- 3 innings against the Marlins in his previous start, and one on Tuesday " I felt pretty good " he said " Keep the ball down and let them swing " Seven Orioles pitchers, the last six working an inning apiece, combined for 11 strikeouts. Updated: December 30, 2008, 4: 30 PM ET Blue Jays sign 4 to minor league deals Comment Email Print Share Associated Press TORONTO- Pitcher Mike Maroth, catcher Michael Barrett and two other players signed minor league contracts with the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday and were invited to spring training.

The results were seized by the government in 2004 and remain under seal . Game notes: With Randolph' s firing, Scioscia is the only current manager who played in the 1989 All- Star game at Anaheim The Angels will host the event again in 2010 . Allen, Nash and President Steve Patterson cleaned house last season, trading away temperamental players Bonzi Wells and Rasheed Wallace. Felton Felton said the ankle has been bothering him since the preseason, and he rolled it again in the first quarter of Friday' s win over Chicago " Playing on it last night didn' t help it " Felton said " That' s why I' m sitting out tonight " While coach Sam Vincent targeted Wednesday' s game in Sacramento as Felton' s likely return date, Felton said he would push hard to play on Monday against the Los Angeles Clippers . Updated: December 25, 2008, 6: 24 PM ET Banged- up Panthers defense struggling Comment Email Print Share Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N. This is a bad offense that has no identity under offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski