Joe Blanton hurled his second complete game of the season and Jim Thome hit career homer No. 607 as the Phillies beat the Twins, 6-1, on Thursday at Target Field.

For the third straight night, the Royals provided late-inning heroics. And for the third night in a row, it led to a win. The Royals trailed by two heading to the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday, but they rallied to win, 4-3, and sweep the Brewers.

Righty Tommy Hunter received tremendous run support as Steve Pearce and Matt Wieters combined for 10 RBIs in the O's 12-6 win over the Pirates on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep.

Chase Utley isn't back at second base yet, and he admits he's still a work in progress at the plate. But as far as he's concerned, every step he's taken the last three days has been a step in the right direction.

Friday night's opener between the White Sox and Dodgers offers a matchup of two of the top young lefties in Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw.

Dealt from Arizona to the Angels in July 2010, Dan Haren will face his old club for the first time since the trade Friday, when the D-backs travel to Anaheim for the opener of an Interleague set.

Vin Mazzaro starts for the Royals opposite Kyle Lohse of the Cardinals as the latest edition of the I-70 Series commences in St. Louis on Friday night.

Starting Friday, the Rangers will host the Astros for the final Interleague edition of the Lone Star Series. With the Astros moving to the American League West next year, the two Texas teams will meet a lot more often in 2013.

Left fielder Mike Carp said two recent throws — one in Anaheim when Albert Pujols took an extra base on him with a hit to left and another against the Dodgers last weekend when he couldn't get anything on the ball — told him something wasn't right.

The 66th College World Series kicks off at 5 p.m. ET on Friday, with surprise contender Stony Brook squaring off against No. 2 UCLA.

After a rehab start, John Danks felt soreness in his left shoulder, but the White Sox may not know how big of a setback it is until the pitcher throws again on Friday.

D-backs closer J.J. Putz just thought he was being a good sport when he posed with a Justin Bieber autographed trading card for fellow reliever Brad Ziegler on Wednesday. What he didn't expect was for Ziegler to tweet the photo and have it go viral on the Internet.

Following about four hours' sleep after his perfect game, the Giants' Matt Cain returned to AT&T Park to begin his between-starts routine with cardiovascular work, besides playing catch with Madison Bumgarner. After all, a starting pitcher's work never ends.

After a week full of examinations, Brett Gardner got a third opinion by Dr. Timothy Kremcheck on Thursday, one that confirmed the diagnosis of a strained right elbow.

The A's got more than enough offense in Thursday's 8-2 win over the Rockies. Starter Jarrod Parker was great, going seven shutout innings to help Oakland complete the sweep.

J.D. Martinez hit his first career grand slam in the third inning Thursday to back a quality start from starting pitching Wandy Rodriguez and send the Astros to a 6-3 win over the Giants in the series' afternoon finale at AT&T Park.

Erstwhile Brewers right fielder Corey Hart has been getting treatment for some swelling in his surgically repaired right knee, perhaps a side effect of his recent move back to first base.