AMERICAN LEAGUE
Devil Rays vs. Royals
Tampa Bay: Manager Larry Rothschild served the second game of his two-game suspension Thursday. He received the penalty for an altercation with umpire Laz Diaz during the Devil Rays' game with Atlanta on July 18. Bench coach Bill Russell managed the club in Rothschild's absence. ... Thursday was the first game of a four-game series in Kansas City. Following the series, the Devil Rays will begin the longest homestand in franchise history -- 13 games in 13 days. Kansas City: The Royals stood 2-0 in the season series with the Devil Rays prior to Thursday night's game. The Royals won both games of a two-game series in Kansas City April 25 and 26 by identical 7-6 scores. Both victories were "walk-off" victories, something Kansas City has accomplished 11 times.

Yankees vs. Twins
New York: This is New York's only trip to Minnesota in 2000. The Yankees have historically struggled at the Metrodome, going just 28-27 at the park in the 1990s. ... It will be a homecoming of sorts for Denny Neagle when he starts Friday's game. He played at the University of Minnesota was selected by the Twins in the third round of the 1989 free agent draft. He was 0-1 in seven games with Minnesota in 1991. ... LHP Allen Watson (shoulder) is scheduled to throw batting practice Friday at the Yankees' complex in Tampa, Fla., and said he might make a minor league rehab appearance early next week. ... RHP Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez (elbow) reported no problems one day after his first bullpen session since going on the 15-day DL. ... Baltimore had a scout at a rookie Gulf Coast League game where INF D'Angelo Jimenez, who is coming back from a broken bone in his neck, made his second minor league rehab start. Minnesota: Wednesday's rainout in Boston means that LHP J.C. Romero will miss his scheduled start against the Yankees. He will work out of the bullpen in this series. Romero was called up last Sunday when RHP Mike Lincoln went on the DL with a bad elbow. ... The Twins are 3-0-1 in their past four series, going 8-5 in those games.

Tigers vs. Rangers
Detroit: Closer Todd Jones entered Thursday night's game against Texas with 117 saves as a Tiger, three short of Guillermo Hernandez's 120, No. 3 in franchise history. Mike Henneman is the career leader with 154 followed by John Hiller's 125. ... Detroit went into Thursday night 19-16 vs. 1999 playoff teams. Texas: Manager Johnny Oates planned on giving closer John Wetteland Thursday night off. Wetteland had appeared in a game four straight nights, only the fifth time in his career he's had to pitch four nights in a row. His total of seven blown saves tied Anaheim's Troy Percival for the most in the league. ... LHP Mike Venafro took a streak of 10 straight scoreless appearances into Thursday night's game against the Tigers, a span of 7 1-3 innings. ... Frank Catalanotto's nine pinch-hits are the most for a Ranger since Brian Downing had nine in the 1991 season. Bill Stein (1982) and Kevin Reimer (1990) share the club record of 12.

Red Sox vs. Athletics
Boston: A game against the Minnesota Twins, which was rained out on Thursday, will be played Sept. 7. The Red Sox have had seven games postponed because of rain this season. ... The Red Sox plan to start newly acquired Rolando Arrojo on Sunday against Oakland's Gil Heredia, and move Ramon Martinez's next start to Monday. Oakland: Rookie pitcher Mark Mulder will face Pedro Martinez on Friday. A's manager Art Howe isn't nervous about putting the rookie up against the formidable All-Star. "Anyone can beat anyone on any given day," Howe said. "I'm not worried." ... The A's have gone six straight games without an error, a season high. The A's committed 27 errors in the first 16 games in July.

Blue Jays vs. Mariners
Toronto: The Blue Jays placed OF Raul Mondesi on the 15-day DL (retroactive to July 22) because of ligament damage in his right elbow. He was examined Thursday by Dr. Frank Jobe in Los Angeles. He will undergo further tests on Friday to find out the extent of the damage. Rob Ducey will fill the vacant roster spot. Ducey, an outfielder, was acquired in a trade from Philadelphia for a player to be named later on Wednesday. Seattle: RHP Gil Meche pitched for Triple-A Tacoma on Thursday. He pitched four innings and allowed two hits and one unearned run. He walked two and struck out seven against Albuquerque.

White Sox vs. Angels
Chicago: This is the first time the White Sox have been in Anaheim near the trading deadline since 1997, when the team dealt Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez and Danny Darwin to San Francisco despite being only three games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central. "A lot has changed," Frank Thomas said as the White Sox took a 10-game lead into their series with the Angels. "There's a lot of different teammates, and we've also had an overall change in team attitude. But thinking that we were going to win this fast? No. I didn't think we'd turn it around this fast, but we did thanks to the trades." ... Barring a complete collapse, the White Sox will set a club record for most consecutive days in first place if they can hold their lead the rest of the season. They have been atop the AL Central for the past 101 days with 65 days remaining. The previous club mark was 134 days -- by the 1919 team that engineered the "Black Sox Scandal" by throwing the World Series. Anaheim: Kent Mercker, forced out of his start on May 11 because of a cerebral hemorrhage, will make his first of four scheduled rehab starts on Saturday at Stockton, Calif., for the Angels' Class A Lake Elsinore team. A plane ride to Oakland, followed by a 75-mile drive to the ballpark, seems like a lot to go through to make just 30 pitches, but Mercker has been through a lot worse just to get to this point. "It's is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but I'm looking forward to it. I just want to pitch," said the left-hander, who eventually will be stretched out for a role as a spot-starter and long man in the bullpen. "Naturally, I'd like to go faster (in his rehab), but I guess I've got to start from there and move up. They've got a plan for me. So if they only want me to throw 30 pitches, I'll throw 30 pitches.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Expos vs. Mets
Montreal: OF Rondell White, out since July 8 with a strained right hamstring, will have an MRI on Friday. The Expos aren't sure when he will return, although they hope to display him before the July 31 trade deadline. Once again, White's name is being mentioned in trade rumors with many teams. His first choice would be to come to the New York Yankees. "It's a business. The only time you can control what happens is when you are a free agent. But if you get traded, you always want to get to the best team. It would be great." ... The Expos were swept at Shea Stadium for the first time since June 25-27, 1991. New York: SS Melvin Mora is day-to-day after breaking the nail on his right index finger in the opener. ... OF Derek Bell left both games early. He received three stitches in his chin after being hit by a batted ball in the first inning of the opener and left the second game with light headedness. He is expected to play Friday. ... 3B Robin Ventura took BP before the game and could be ready to return Saturday, the first day he is eligible to come off the DL. ... OF Darryl Hamilton, out since the first week of the season with a sprained left foot, could begin a second minor league rehab stint next week. His first was cut short when he re-aggravated the injury. ... Bobby Valentine won his 340th game as Mets manager, passing Gil Hodges for second place. Davey Johnson is first with 595 wins. ... Benny Agbayani tied his career high with four hits in the first game and Matt Franco tied his career with three hits in the opener.

Brewers vs. Pirates
Milwaukee: Jeff D'Amico starts Sunday against Colorado and gets a chance to build on his strong July numbers: 4-0 with a 0.45 ERA. That's the lowest ERA in five starts during a month since Atlanta's Greg Maddux had a 0.29 mark in September of 1995. ... The Brewers play just four of their last 59 games on artificial turf: they have a series in Cincinnati Sept. 14-17. Pittsburgh: Jason Schmidt, who has been on the DL since June 11 with inflammation in his right shoulder, was scheduled to pitch three innings for the team's Rookie League team in Bradenton, Fla. Schmidt is due to return to the Pirates in mid-August. ... OF Adrian Brown continues to rehab his injured left hamstring. The injury put him on the DL for a second time on July 6. He is hoping to be ready for a minor league rehab assignment next week.

Cubs vs. Phillies
Chicago: The Cubs begin a six-game homestand on Friday against San Francisco. Colorado will also visit Wrigley Field. Chicago is 26-24 at home. ... Pitcher Jamie Arnold, 26, has been assigned to Triple-A Iowa and OF Jorge Piedra, 21, was assigned to Class A Daytona. Both players were acquired on Wednesday from Los Angeles for P Ismael Valdes. ... The Cubs have had two players steal 50 bases in a season since 1906. Ryne Sandberg stole 54 in 1985 and Frank Chance swiped 57 in 1906. ... Chicago has won five of its last six series and split the other series in a two-game set with Philadelphia. Philadelphia: Omar Daal will make his Phillies debut against Los Angeles on Friday. Daal (2-10, 7.71 ERA) is 5-1 in his career against the Dodgers. Daal was traded along with Travis Lee, Vicente Padilla and Nelson Figueroa for Curt Schilling on Wednesday. ... Ron Gant hit his 20th homer of the season on Wednesday. He is just the fourth Phillies OF since 1981 to reach the 20-homer plateau joining Pete Incaviglia, Von Hayes and Bobby Abreu. ... Gant's six second-half homers rank third in the NL. ... The Phillies have three Golden Spikes Award winners on the team -- Lee, 1B Pat Burrell and manager Terry Francona.

Marlins vs. Braves
Florida: After facing Tom Glavine, Kevin Millwood and Greg Maddux on consecutive nights, the Marlins were preparing for Curt Schilling's debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks Friday in Miami. Schilling has not faced the Marlins since winning consecutive starts against them April 10 and 16 last year. ... SS Alex Gonzalez moved his average over .200 for the first time this season by going 2-for-4 Wednesday. ... Florida is 4-46 when trailing after seven innings, 1-48 when trailing after eight. ... 2B Luis Castillo, who entered with a 17-game hitting streak, began the night with a career .143 average (2-for-14) against Maddux. Atlanta: Fear of overusing LHP Mike Remlinger led manager Bobby Cox to leave LHP Terry Mulholland in the bullpen and start John Burkett against Houston Saturday. Burkett (7-4) has not started since going five innings and giving up 10 hits and four runs in a 6-4 loss to Montreal July 6. In his 12 starts, Burkett is 6-2 with a 4.43 ERA. ... Remlinger was tied for the NL lead in appearances when he went on the disabled list with a stiff elbow July 2. Since May 21, Remlinger is 2-1 with four saves despite owning a 6.10 ERA. His June ERA was 7.84. ... Mulholland is 4-5 with a 6.71 ERA at Turner Field this year. Burkett is 2-3 with a 6.68 ERA at home. ... LF Reggie Sanders, bothered by a strained left hamstring, started Thursday. Hitting only .191 with five homers and 18 RBI, Sanders had not played since going 0-for-4 at Florida July 20. He hit a ground-rule double in his first at-bat. ... OF Trenidad Hubbard, still bothered by a sore right hamstring that forced him to leave in the fifth inning Wednesday, is listed as day-to-day. ... SS Walt Weiss missed his sixth straight game with a strained right knee ligament.

Diamondbacks vs. Cardinals
Arizona: Travis Lee, once considered the cornerstone of the Arizona Diamondbacks, learned he had been traded by watching television. "I was talking to my girlfriend and I said, 'Oh, my gosh, I think I've been traded,"' Lee told an Arizona radio station. "I was watching SportsCenter and saw Curt Schilling with my name down below." The official notification was a message left on Lee's answering machine by a club official. Lee, who had the first hit, first home run and first run in the history of the Diamondbacks was playing for Triple-A Tucson when he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that had tried to sign him originally. ... Schilling will make his first start Friday against the Florida Marlins. With the acquisition of Schilling, the Diamondbacks have the strikeout leader for six of the last seven years on their staff. Schilling and Randy Johnson were beaten out by John Smoltz in 1996. St. Louis: J.D. Drew was activated from the DL before the game Thursday after missing 15 games with a sprained left ankle. ... Mark McGwire is still suffering from tendinitis in his left knee and he is getting grouchy about all the media attention. "He hates it when he gets a lot of attention," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "He didn't like it when he hit 70 home runs two years ago, either. He just doesn't like the attention put on him." McGwire missed his 17th game in a row Thursday night.

Dodgers vs. Rockies
Los Angeles: C Todd Hundley was activated from the 15-day DL and C Paul Loduca was optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. ... The Dodgers also optioned RHP Eric Gagne and LHP Onan Masaoka to Albuquerque and activated RHP Gregg Olson from the DL. ... Ismael Valdes, acquired from the Chicago Cubs in a Wednesday. will joining the Dodgers in Philadelphia, the next stop on the team's 10-game road trip. ... Manager Davey Johnson has yet to finalize plans for Valdes. "I'll speak with him to find out where he is at. I still don't when I'll put him in the rotation." ... Gary Sheffield was walked six times and hit once in the four-game series. ... Alex Cora had career highs with his two home runs, fours hits and six RBIs. Colorado: GM Dan O'Dowd said RHP Kevin Jarvis would go on the 15-day DL due to soreness in his right elbow. ... Larry Walker reached the third deck for the sixth time with his eight inning homer. It was the 13th time a player had homered into the third deck. ... Walker tied a club record with five runs scored. ... Commenting on the insertion of Terry Shumpert into the lineup, manager Buddy Bell said there was no connection with the trade talk that eventually sent 2B Mike Lansing to Boston. "I had to get Shumpert some at-bats. I know Mike would prefer to play, but I have to get Shumpert in there."