The Phillies announced Monday that Ryan Howard will have surgery to repair the torn medial meniscus in his left knee. He is expected to miss six to eight weeks from the date of the surgery, which has not been set. If Howard recovers as expected he could return between late August and early September, but that is no guarantee.

So, I heard there’s some controversy over the All-Star Game rosters. Or, more specifically, who should be added to the National League roster via the Final Vote. One man: Yasiel Puig.

Rays right-hander Alex Cobb threw 47 pitches on Monday after throwing 27 in his first bullpen session on Friday. He is scheduled to throw another on Thursday.

The Braves’ Freddie Freeman is holding a slight edge on Dodgers sensation Yasiel Puig in the National League and the Blue Jays’ Steve Delabar is leading the American League in the 2013 All-Star Game Final Vote to determine the two final players to join the rosters for the Midsummer Classic.

The Rockies will send All-Star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki and center fielder Dexter Fowler to Triple-A Colorado Springs for injury rehab assignments that start Monday

Michael Brantley’s pair of homers — along with ones from Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall — backed a quality start from Corey Kluber and helped the Indians overcome their bullpen malfunctions, as they stood up to the Tigers in a 9-6 win.

A.J. Ellis cleared the bases with a bases-loaded double with two out in the ninth inning and All-Star Clayton Kershaw pitched a three-hitter for eight innings as the Dodgers beat the Giants on Sunday, 4-1.

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg finally received run support as the Nationals defeated the Padres, 11-7, at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon. The Nationals have won four straight games and improved their record to 46-42, and they are now four games behind the Braves in the National League East race.

Carlos Beltran, the elder statesman of the Cardinals’ offense, hardly showed his age on Sunday. If there were questions about how his knees are holding up, Beltran answered them through action. With a bunt hit, a steal of home and a potentially game-changing sliding catch, the 36-year-old Beltran helped preserve the Cards’ 3-2 win over the Marlins.

All-Star left-hander Patrick Corbin earned his 10th win of the season as the D-backs swept the Rockies at Chase Field and extended their winning streak to five games.

The Mets edged the Brewers to get the series win, riding Jeremy Hefner’s strong seven-inning start in Sunday’s finale at Miller Park to a 2-1 victory.

The Phillies need to win a bunch of games before the All-Star break to keep their roster intact entering and exiting the July 31 Trade Deadline. They hope they took a step in the right direction with Sunday afternoon’s 7-3 victory over the Braves at Citizens Bank Park.

Ron Washington didn’t waste time breaking in Joakim Soria and Cory Burns. The two joined the Rangers on Sunday and gave their manager two key shutdown innings in a 5-4 win over the Astros at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

Held down for most of the day, the Orioles came alive against Mariano Rivera, with Adam Jones’ go-ahead homer spurring Baltimore to a 2-1 win over the Yankees on Sunday in the Bronx.

For about two months, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard dealt with pain in his left knee. But while taking ground balls during batting practice Saturday, Howard said he really struggled to move laterally, and did not want to push his knee any further.

Rockies right-hander Roy Oswalt appeared to hurt his lower left leg while covering home plate after a second-inning wild pitch in Sunday’s game at Arizona.

Left-hander David Price struck out five and walked none in a complete-game performance to lead the Rays to a 3-1 victory, the club’s fourth straight, over the visiting White Sox on Sunday at Tropicana Field. Ben Zobrist, Sean Rodriguez and Jose Molina each plated a run.