Manager Dale Sveum said he’ll mix and match in the outfield with the pending trade of Alfonso Soriano, using rookie Junior Lake as well as Cole Gillespie in left field.

The Rockies removed Carlos Gonzalez just before his fourth-inning at-bat in Thursday afternoon’s game against the Marlins because the left fielder aggravated the sprain of his right middle finger.

Thursday’s Red Sox-Rays game, with first place in the American League East on the line, was postponed because of rain and rescheduled for Monday, a common off-day for both teams. Felix Doubront will take the hill for Boston in the makeup game.

Declining to label the Giants as either buyers or sellers with baseball’s Trade Deadline approaching, general manager Brian Sabean indicated that the club won’t make any major moves in the coming week.

Dormant for seven innings, the Marlins’ offense finally came alive for five runs in the final two innings in a 5-3 victory over the Rockies at Coors Field Thursday afternoon.

The A’s recalled catcher Stephen Vogt from Triple-A Sacramento on Thursday to replace John Jaso, who was placed on the seven-day disabled list designated for players with concussions.

Alfonso Soriano was in the Cubs’ starting lineup on Thursday, but president of baseball operations Theo Epstein called manager Dale Sveum and asked him to pull the 37-year-old outfielder, saying a deal was “99 percent” done.

The Yankees are giving Alex Rodriguez the stop sign in his attempted return from a strained left quadriceps, rejecting the third baseman’s claim that he is ready to play in Major League games.

The Dodgers designated veteran pitcher Ted Lilly for assignment on Thursday and recalled utility player Elian Herrera from Triple-A Albuquerque.

Brent Lillibridge’s sixth-inning double gave Hiroki Kuroda Kuroda the only run he needed, as New York’s most reliable pitcher spun seven excellent innings and the Yankees posted a 2-0 victory over the Rangers on Thursday afternoon.

Jake Peavy was sharp in his second start since returning from the disabled list, leading the White Sox to a 7-4 victory over the Tigers in the finale of a four-game series in front of 30,348 at U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday afternoon.

One would have thought the Nationals won the seventh game of the World Series after Bryce Harper’s two-run homer in the ninth, the first walk-off homer of his career, gave the Nationals a 9-7 win over the Pirates at Nationals Park on Thursday afternoon to snap their six-game losing streak. It was Harper’s first home run since July 1.

Domonic Brown sounded pretty optimistic he would be back in the Phillies’ lineup Friday in Detroit. But he will not be back until next Wednesday at the earliest. The Phillies placed Brown on the seven-day concussion disabled list Thursday, which is retroactive to Wednesday.

Carlos Quentin and Jesus Guzman each hit home runs and Will Venable did his best work with his glove as the Padres held off the Brewers for a 10-8 victory before a crowd of 34,372 at Miller Park on Thursday.

Zack Wheeler pitched well enough to earn his fourth win of the season in the Mets’ 7-4 win over the Braves.

To help celebrate the 2013 Civil Rights Game, which will be played in Chicago by the White Sox and Rangers on Aug. 24 and televised nationally on MLB Network at 6:10 p.m. CT, Aretha Franklin and Bo Jackson will receive the MLB Beacon Awards at a luncheon that day and will be recognized in a pregame ceremony on the field.

Derek Jeter ran the bases without incident on Thursday at Rangers Ballpark, showing no ill effects from his right quadriceps strain. Could a return to the Yankees’ lineup be on deck? Jeter has said that he hopes to be activated for Saturday’s game against the Rays at Yankee Stadium.