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Once again, the Yankees have left themselves in perfect position as they continue to make their jobs easier by doing them well. The Yankees finished off the west Coast part of their road trip with a 3-2 win over Oakland, giving them a 5-2 record on the swing and allowing them to enjoy their day off before another showdown with the Red Sox. The victory kept their lead over Boston at seven games and gave them the chance to put the Sox away during the weekend series at Fenway Park.

The Chicago Cubs perked up in time to avoid an embarrassing sweep in San Diego. Rich Harden held the Padres to one hit over seven innings and the Cubs came alive offensively for a 7-1 victory Wednesday night, snapping a six-game losing streak at Petco Park dating to June 4, 2008. Milton Bradley and Aramis Ramirez homered for the Cubs, who had 10 hits after looking flat in losing the first two games of the series. Ramirez also had a two-run double.

Rich Harden held San Diego to one hit over seven innings and the Chicago Cubs perked up offensively to beat the Padres 7-1 on Wednesday night to avoid an embarrassing sweep. Milton Bradley and Aramis Ramirez homered for the Cubs, who had 10 hits after looking flat in losing the first two games of the series. Ramirez also had a two-run double. The Cubs came into the night trailing the St. Louis Cardinals by six games in the NL Central.

Two mistakes ended Adam Wainwright's no-hit bid. Luckily for the St. Louis Cardinals, they still won the game. Matt Holliday's sacrifice fly snapped a ninth-inning tie for a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night in the series finale between two first-place teams. It was the Cardinals' fifth consecutive series win over the Dodgers.

The St. Louis Cardinals added a future Hall of Famer to their roster in hopes of bolstering an already talented rotation. If John Smoltz can rediscover his old form the way Joel Pineiro has in St. Louis, the Cardinals will surely be thrilled. One night after signing Smoltz, the NL Central-leading Cardinals will send the red-hot Pineiro to the mound Thursday night as they open a four-game series in San Diego looking to extend their dominance of the Padres. St.

Findlay High graduate Jennifer Spieldenner will be looking to claim the Twenty-12 Elite Series title and possibly win a U-23 national championship as well when she competes this weekend in the USA Triathlon Elite National Championship in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Roy Halladay can hope for the nine runs the Jays put up in the series opener. For a bullpen in need of rest, there may be no better starter to see on the mound than Roy Halladay .

Kyle Busch pulled away from Matt Crafton in the closing laps to easily win the O'Reilly 200 truck series race Wednesday night ...

While the Chicago Cubs try to remain a playoff contender, the Los Angeles Dodgers hope to prevent their once seemingly secure postseason berth from slipping away. These struggling clubs open a four-game series Thursday night at Dodger Stadium. Los Angeles (71-50) lost for the fifth time in seven games, falling 3-2 at home to NL Central-leading St. Louis on Wednesday.

More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP Nice game, Milton. Seriously. Hope it starts a real hot streak for you. Browse more photos » This team is absolutely maddening. They play the first two games of the series in San Diego as if they were... well, I dunno, the Cleveland Indians or something. And then the Cubs come out on Wednesday night and beat the Padres handily, 7-1, with timely hitting, particularly with runners in scoring position, and outstanding pitching from Rich Harden. Why can't they do this every day? What is it about this team that makes it so inconsistent? They clearly have the talent and ability to play like this every day. This is a mystery that I hope they solve before tonight, when they begin an important four-game series with the Dodgers -- and this may be just the time to hit Dodger Stadium. LA is 7-11 in August (and 9-11 in home games since the All-Star break). Milton Bradley had one of his best games as a Cub, drawing three walks, scoring twice, hit