Phillies third baseman Placido Polanco, who had missed three straight games, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with lower back inflammation on Thursday, retroactive to Monday.

Adrian Gonzalez had the day off before the next big installment of Red Sox-Yankees Friday at Yankee Stadium, and at 10 a.m. ET Thursday, he walked into the MLB Fan Cave.

With the Trade Deadline looming on Tuesday, the Twins appear more likely than ever to be sellers after being swept by the White Sox in a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field.

With Tuesday's Trade Deadline looming, Braves GM Frank Wren is doing his best to add a front-line starter to what has been an inconsistent Atlanta rotation.

Hanley Ramirez started at third base again for the Dodgers on Thursday, but manager Don Mattingly said the newcomer's move to his original position of shortstop is still a definite.

Ryan Dempster's next start for the Cubs would likely be Tuesday at Wrigley Field, with first pitch scheduled four hours after the Trade Deadline ends. Will he face the Pirates that night or be in another uniform?

The Safeco Field farewell tour is over, and a new beginning — featuring the playoff excitement Ichiro Suzuki so desperately craved — awaits at Yankee Stadium on Friday evening.

James Shields isn't thinking about how Thursday's start may have been his last in a Rays uniform.

To grade the trade Tigers president and GM Dave Dombrowski made this week is premature. But in an environment made all the more costly and competitive by the second Wild Card slots, they acted swiftly to plug their holes and put themselves in a better competitive situation for an all-in season.

Recent history informs us that the Cards' stunning success with its Deadline imports was the exception, not the rule. Major Deadline trades only occasionally turn out to be pivotal in producing championships.

The Reds and Rockies open a three-game weekend series on Friday, at opposite ends of the postseason spectrum.

When the Red Sox visit Yankee Stadium on Friday for the first time this season, opening a three-game series against the Yankees, both teams will have a different look than the last time they met, three weeks ago.

Each day, MLB.com selects one player from each game whose performance stands out.

With Cincinnati trailing by a run in the ninth and facing Astros closer Francisco Cordero, Drew Stubbs drove in Xavier Paul and Brandon Phillips with a two-out double to give the Reds a one-run lead. Jay Bruce brought Stubbs home with a single and Aroldis Chapman finished off a 5-3 victory, the Reds' seventh in a row.

It turns out a trip home was exactly what the White Sox needed. The only problem is, after sweeping three games from the Twins at home, they return to the road Friday as they open a three-game set in Texas against the Rangers.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was ejected in the bottom of the 10th inning Wednesday night by plate umpire Jeff Kellogg, apparently for arguing balls and strikes.

The D-backs will be one of the hosts for the first round of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, with games during March at Chase Field as well as the club's Salt River Fields Spring Training facility.