MLB News Blog

Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz is expected to make one rehab start before returning to Boston’s rotation after going on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring. Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein says the right-hander is going to pitch three or four innings Friday in Syracuse. Epstein said Wednesday that Buchholz is “healthy [...]

White Sox pitcher Jake Peavy underwent successful surgery on Wednesday afternoon to repair a detached latissimus dorsi muscle in his right shoulder. Peavy, who will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, was hurt delivering a pitch on July 6 against the Angels. The 29-year-old expects to be ready for spring training.

Cal Ripken Jr. is exploring the possibility of joining the Baltimore Orioles as a part-time adviser, which would ease his transition into a permanent position after his son graduates high school in 2012. Ripken, who turns 50 next month, has been meeting on a regular basis with Orioles owner Peter Angelos and president of baseball [...]

Major League Baseball’s All-Star game has earned its lowest-ever television rating. The National League’s 3-1 victory Tuesday night on Fox earned a 7.5 fast national rating and 13 share. That’s down 16 percent from the 8.9/15 for last season’s game, a 4-3 win by the AL. The previous low was an 8.1/14 in 2005.

Ozzie Guillen’s always full of advice. The way his Chicago White Sox played before the break this season — a miserable start and then a stunning turnaround — it sure seems appropriate. Ozzie says: Don’t look around. Just play. On June 8, the White Sox were nine games under .500 and 9 1/2 games out [...]

The Texas Rangers are in bankruptcy and up for auction. They went into the All-Star break after being swept at home by the worst team in the majors. No longer is it a certainty that Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher and team president, will become a co-owner. And yet the Rangers are having [...]

The Atlanta Braves have acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez and sent Yunel Escobar to the Toronto Blue Jays in a five-player trade. The Braves traded Escobar and left-hander Jo-Jo Reyes to the Blue Jays for Gonzalez, left-handed minor-league pitcher Tim Collins and minor-league shortstop Tyler Pastornicky.

The owners’ box behind home plate will be empty most nights. Then again, it has been vacant most games for several years. Little figures to change in the operation of the New York Yankees following George Steinbrenner’s death Tuesday at age 80. His role for several years had been to give approval to decisions already [...]

Alex Rodriguez was relegated to All-Star observer by his own manager. The New York Yankees slugger never got in the game for the American League, held out Tuesday night in the National League’s 3-1 win. A-Rod later said he felt fine physically. He just didn’t get the call from New York manager Joe Girardi.

The biggest hitters in the All-Star game were the biggest zeros. Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Adrian Gonzalez, Vladimir Guerrero and Ichiro Suzuki couldn’t muster any offense Tuesday night, when the National League snapped its 13-year winless stretch with a 3-1 win over the American League. The AL scattered just six hits — its lowest total [...]