AMERICAN LEAGUE

Devil Rays at Orioles
Tampa Bay: Fred McGriff needed three homers to become the second player in major league history to hit 200 in both leagues. Frank Robinson is the only player to do it. ... The Devil Rays will play the fourth doubleheader in franchise history on Saturday. They are 0-1-2. Baltimore: Rookie RHP Jay Spurgeon will get his first major league start Sunday against the Devil Rays. ... RHP Alan Mills will get a rehabilitation assignment with Class A Frederick on Monday as he moves closer to leaving the disabled list. The reliever has been sidelined since Aug. 4 with an inflamed right shoulder. ... Albert Belle turned 34 Friday. ... RHP Pat Rapp started Friday for the Orioles, his first appearance since his father died Sunday. He was looking for his first win since July 21.

Blue Jays at Rangers
Toronto: The Blue Jays' run at a wild card spot should get a boost in September and October when they have 17 of their last 29 games at home. Entering Friday night, Toronto had lost 11 of its last 14 on the road, but had won 10 of 14 at home. Texas: LHP Matt Perisho is expected to be removed from the rotation before Tuesday, his next scheduled start. Rookie RHP Ryan Glynn would replace Perisho if Glynn continues to progress on his rehab assignment for the club's Oklahoma Triple-A farm team. Glynn, on the 15-day DL after passing out in the dugout during his last major league start on Aug. 11, allowed two runs and five hits over seven innings in Oklahoma's 5-2 victory over Tucson on Thursday night. Glynn has been diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope, a fainting condition that can be controlled with a high salt diet and medication. ... Perisho is 0-7 with an 8.74 ERA in his last 12 starts.

Red Sox at Royals
Boston: Friday's start for Jeff Fassero was his third against the Royals this season. All three starts have come against Jeff Suppan. ... The Red Sox entered play Friday with the best team ERA in the majors (4.16). The major league average is 4.82. Kansas City: Saturday's game will start one hour later than usual, at 8:05 p.m. CT, because of a college football game at Arrowhead Stadium, across the parking lot. The University of Iowa will face Kansas State in the Eddie Robinson Classic at 1:10 p.m. central. ... The Royals signed David DeJesus, the club's fourth-round pick in the 2000 June draft. The 21-year-old center fielder hit .374 with 20 doubles, three triples and 17 stolen bases at Rutgers.

Tigers at Twins
Detroit: Dave Mlicki will pitch in a rehab assignment Sunday for the Western Michigan Whitecaps of the Class A Midwest League. He is recovering from a severe sinus infection which required surgery. He's been on the disabled list since July 23. Minnesota: Brad Radke needs one win to reach the 10-win mark for the sixth straight season. Eric Milton and Mark Redman each have 12 wins. The Twins haven't had three pitchers with at least 10 wins in a season since 1993, when Kevin Tapani (12), Jim Deshaies (11) and Willie Banks (11) each surpassed the mark. ... Detroit's 15 wins in August are the most in the majors.

White Sox at Mariners
Chicago: The White Sox have reached a four-year player development contract extension with Double-A Birmingham through 2004. Birmingham has been a farm club of the White Sox since 1986. ... Frank Thomas went into Friday's game needing three runs scored and seven walks to reach 100 in both categories for the ninth time in his career. That would rank the third most in the majors behind Babe Ruth (12) and Lou Gehrig (11). ... 2B Ray Durham, who left Thursday's 8-5 loss to Baltimore in the eighth inning because of a tender hamstring, was in the lineup. Seattle: Manager Lou Piniella didn't seem overly concerned about his team's 1-10 slide before a six-game homestand at Safeco Field. The Mariners had a 2½-game lead over Oakland in the AL West going into Friday night's game against the Chicago White Sox. "This is a simple game," Piniella said. "You've got to catch and you've got to pitch. It's gotten off of kilter for the last 11 days, but it can get back on track just as quickly." The Mariners have committed at least one error in seven consecutive games and in 10 of their last 11 games. During Seattle's 1-5 road trip, its pitching staff had an 8.03 ERA. ... RF Jay Buhner's right hand has been placed in a splint for five days. He has a sprained pinky finger, a strained tendon in his thumb and a sore wrist. Buhner, who has 22 homers and 73 RBI this season, is eligible to come off the DL on Sept. 1, but Piniella doesn't expect him back until after Sept. 10. Buhner was injured in a collision with 2B Mark McLemore while attempting to catch a blooper against Detroit Aug. 16. ... RHP Gil Meche will pitch a rehabilitation assignment for Single-A Everett Sunday. Meche has been on the DL since July 31 with a strained right shoulder. ... LHP Rob Ramsay, a reliever who has been on the DL since Aug. 14 with a strained left biceps, will pitch a rehab assignment with Everett Saturday.

Yankees at Athletics
New York: Manager Joe Torre clarified his comments on Ramiro Mendoza, saying Friday there was a chance the reliever would return this season. ... OF Bernie Williams, who has not played since Aug. 18 because of a sore rib cage, took fly balls in the outfield and swung the bat before the game. Torre said he was going to be cautious with Williams. "He's fine defensively, but I'll be surprised if he plays this weekend. I hope I'm wrong. This is the scary part of the year. If anything major happens, there's not time left. When he swings off a tee, we'll have a better read." . ... OF Paul O'Neill sat out his second game to protect his sore right hip. O'Neill will probably return Sunday. ... 3B Scott Brosuis, who is still favoring a sore leg, was given the night off. "He'll never ask for a day off," Torre said. "But he's still getting treatment." Oakland: 1B Jason Giambi, who injured his shoulder while swinging the bat during a game against Cleveland on Aug. 14, doubts he'll ever get back to playing first base this season. "It's playable and that's about it," Giambi said. "I don't hit with my hands as high now because I want to take the pressure off my shoulder. I don't know if I'll ever be back on the field this year." Mike Stanley replaces Giambi at first, but that creates a logjam behind Giambi at the designated hitter. ... Despite the injury to Giambi, Howe said his team is getting heather "slowly but surely. We're in better shape now than we were two days ago." Giambi and 2B Randy Velarde were both able to play on Thursday after missing six games. The A's were 1-5 without them. ... Batting and infield practice were canceled because the ground crew was still working at converting the field back into its baseball dimensions when the gates opened at 4 p.m. PT. The Raiders played an exhibition football game Thursday which ended at 9:30 p.m. It took the crew a full 20 hours to make the conversion, the quickest turnaround in Oakland Coliseum history.

Indians at Angels
Cleveland: Chuck Finley will face his ex-Angels teammates for the third time this season on Sunday -- his first start in Anaheim since leaving the Angels to sign a three-year, $27 million contract with the Indians. The Angels' career leader in wins, starts and innings pitched was recognized for his accomplishments in a brief ceremony before Friday's game -- and noticed his name and likeness on the outfield wall with the other members of the Angels' all-time team. "I just hope they don't send any balls over it," Finley joked. ... Pitching coach Dick Pole confirmed that RHP Bartolo Colon will make his next scheduled start against Texas. Colon was forced out of Wednesday's game because of tendinitis in his left knee. ... The Indians, who face Anaheim left-handers Scott Schoeneweis and Kent Mercker over the weekend, are 11-19 against lefties. Anaheim: Leadoff batter Darin Erstad started for the first time since Aug. 19, when he left a game in New York because of muscle spasms in the left side of his rib cage. Erstad, who leads the majors in hits, singled his first time up to break the club record for left-handed hitters, set by Garret Anderson with 189 in 1997. The hit put Erstad within 13 of the overall club set by Alex Johnson set in 1970. ... The Angels' forgotten man, injured SS Gary DiSarcina, stopped by the clubhouse for only the fourth time since undergoing surgery on his right shoulder in early May. "I think park of the therapy is not being with the guys, not being dead weight in the clubhouse and not getting in the way," DiSarcina said. "I always felt if you can't play, get out of the players' way till you can play again." ... Closer Troy Percival, who has been on the DL since Aug. 5 because of tendinitis in his right elbow, expects to be activated sometime during the weekend. "I can't say I feel like gangbusters, but I feel as good as I'm going to feel the rest of the season," he said.

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Dodgers at Cubs
Los Angeles: Hoping to avoid a scene, the Dodgers want the team's local counsel to accept any subpoenas stemming from the May 16 brawl with Wrigley Field fans. Lawyers for the three Chicago Cubs fans charged with disorderly conduct in the fight have said they plan to subpoena Dodgers players this weekend, particularly backup C Chad Kreuter, who sparked the brawl when he went into the stands to chase a fan who took his cap. No subpoenas were issued Friday, the Dodgers said. ... Catchers Todd Hundley and Chad Kreuter had combined to throw out eight of 11 runners in the previous nine games. But former Dodger Eric Young spoiled that fine mark by stealing two bases in the first game. Chicago: The Cubs activated 3B Shane Andrews off the 60-day DL before the first game Friday, and he was in the starting lineup for the second. "It feels like Christmas morning," Andrews said. "Just playing is good." Andrews had been on the DL since May 15 with a herniated disc in his lower back. He had surgery to remove the disc on June 7. ... Manager Don Baylor had a long meeting with team president and acting general manager Andy MacPhail on Friday morning to discuss September callups. "We discussed as far as when certain guys could join us, how many guys," Baylor said. "We haven't set on a number yet because the (Double-A) West Tennessee guys are going to be in a playoff."

Astros at Expos
Houston: INF Tripp Cromer left the team for personal reasons. Cromer, 32, was 1-for-8 in nine games for Houston since his contract was purchased from Triple-A New Orleans Aug. 2 following Craig Biggio's season-ending knee injury. Cromer was placed on the 15-day disabled list and RHP Rusty Meacham's contract was purchased from New Orleans. ... The Astros, who have won eight of their last 10 games, have won their last four series. Montreal: The Expos went 0-7 on their last homestand and have lost eight straight, and 12 of 13, at Olympic Stadium. ... RF Vladimir Guerrero missed his fourth straight start. Guerrero's strained left shoulder was examined by team physician Dr. Larry Coughlin, who pronounced him fit to return to the lineup this weekend.

Reds at Marlins
Cincinnati: Ken Griffey Jr. didn't attend Tony Perez's Hall of Fame luncheon Friday with his father, but only because he had some shopping to do with his kids. Griffey Jr. was buying sharks and a 1,200-gallon fish tank for his Orlando, Fla. home: "Of all the fish available, they wanted sharks," he said. Florida: OF Cliff Floyd, on the DL since July 29 with torn cartilage in his left knee, could return to the lineup early next week. With Floyd back, manager John Boles says he will not use a four-outfielder rotation, meaning Henry Rodriguez likely will end up on the bench: "The priority on this club is who's coming back." ... RHP Alex Fernandez's recovery from midseason shoulder surgery is going so well that he now expects to be ready for spring training: "I feel optimistic, about 70 to 80 percent more optimistic than earlier on. I didn't think things would be going this well, to be honest with you." ... Florida's 2-4 road trip featured losses on Boles' 52nd birthday and his 29th wedding anniversary.

Rockies at Pirates
Colorado: As has become his habit, Todd Helton had a 15-minute media availability before Friday's game. With Helton chasing the majors' first .400 batting average since 1941, the Rockies have decided to stage a news conference at the start of each series. Helton said it's been no problem to answer questions that way. "This is just talking to people," he said. "It's not like I'm dreading coming out here and talking. It's no big deal if you think about it. I talk to people for 15 minutes, then I get to go out and play and that's the fun part."... Helton said he doesn't play any golf during the season but it's not because he worries that swinging a club would affect his hitting stroke. "I golf right-handed so that's not it," he said. "I just don't want to get up early on an off day and go out and play golf." Pittsburgh: RHP Jason Schmidt said his shoulder feels great one week after season-ending arthroscopic surgery. Schmidt said he also has peace of mind because he knows that the problems that had plagued him since spring training have been corrected. Schmidt said doctors told him the clean-up procedure in his shoulder was, "a 50,000-mile tune-up. It was just the normal wear that a pitcher is going to have." Schmidt isn't expected to start a throwing program until Dec. 1. ... Brad Clontz, who hasn't pitched since April 30, was assigned to Double-A Altoona for rehab work. Clontz had surgery on his right elbow on May 17.

Diamondbacks at Mets
Arizona: The Diamondbacks, who had the second-best road record in the NL last year at 48-33, are only 28-29 this season. Arizona plays 12 of the next 15 away from Bank One Ballpark. ... The Diamondbacks have lost five straight at Shea Stadium, including the final two games of last year's division series and a three-game sweep in May. Arizona, 1-5 against New York this season, swept the Mets in their only regular-season visit to Shea last year. New York: LHP Mike Hampton had a 12-minute, 60-pitch bullpen session Friday to test his fractured rib and he was cleared to rejoin the Mets' rotation Sunday against Arizona. "When I threw in the 'pen today, it actually felt better than in previous starts," said Hampton, who was injured while batting on August 17 against San Diego. The injury forced him to miss one start. ... Joe McEwing started at 3B on Friday in get him in the lineup against LHP Randy Johnson. McEwing entered 6-for-17 (.353) against Johnson. He has four doubles and a homer in his career against The Big Unit. McEwing, subbing for lefty-hitting Robin Ventura, flied out to left to lead off the first. ... OF Bubba Trammell said he saw the video replay of former Tampa Bay teammate Tony Saunders re-fracturing his arm while throwing a pitch in a minor league rehab start. "It looked exactly the same, except this time he fell in the middle of the mound," said Trammell, who was in the minors when Saunders first broke his arm in May 1999. "I would not want to throw a pitch again."

Giants at Phillies
San Francisco: The Giants will play each of their next seven games on artificial turf. Before Friday, the team played just six games on turf all season. ... 2B Jeff Kent is the seventh Giant to register four straight 100-RBI seasons. Teammate Barry Bonds was the last Giant to accomplish the feat from 1995-98. ... Saturday's starter Kirk Rueter (8-8, 3.92 ERA) has a 78-47 lifetime record and his .624 winning percentage is the fourth highest for a left-hander since 1980. The others: Arizona's Randy Johnson (176-92, .657), New York Yankees' Andy Pettitte (97-52, .651) and Atlanta's Tom Glavine (203-122, .625). ... The Giants' 95 homers on the road lead the majors. ... San Francisco owns a .990 field percentage at Pacific Bell Park. Philadelphia: C Mike Lieberthal will be featured in a segment called "Before the Bigs" on This Week in Baseball on Saturday. Lieberthal's acting credits are growing. His biggest role came in the HBO series "Arliss" where he played himself. On Tuesday in Cincinnati, Lieberthal, CF Doug Glanville and LF Pat Burrell filmed bit parts for an upcoming baseball movie. ... Saturday's starter Randy Wolf is 0-2 in his last four starts with a 10.62 ERA. During the span, his season ERA has ballooned from 3.64 to 4.52. ... The last time the Phillies won a series against San Francisco was May 13-15, 1996, at Veterans Stadium. ... Phillies area scout Bill Harper, who has covered the Northwest territory for the last 30 years, is retiring in the fall. Among Harper's signings are Larry Christenson, Don McCormack, Ryne Sandberg and Adam Eaton. He was honored before Friday's game.

Cardinals at Braves
St. Louis: Britt Reames, who made his second major league start Friday night, is only the sixth starting pitcher used by the Cardinals this season. That's fewer than any other team in baseball. Reames was called up when Andy Benes went on the DL with a sore right knee. ... Jim Edmonds, normally a center fielder, made his sixth start at first base. Eric Davis started in right field and J.D. Drew moved over to play center. Atlanta: The Braves signed OF Rich Amaral to a minor league contract and assigned him to Richmond of the International League. He is scheduled to report on Sunday. Amaral, 38, was put on waivers by the Baltimore Orioles on July 28 after hitting .217 with six RBI in 30 games this season. He has a lifetime .276 average with 11 homers and 159 RBI in 727 major league games. ... RHP Kevin McGlinchy, bothered most of the season by a sore right shoulder, has struggled during his latest injury rehab assignment. Pitching in the rookie Gulf Coast League, he allowed 11 hits and eight runs (five earned) in only three innings. Nevertheless, McGlinchy has been moved up to Triple-A Richmond, where he'll begin pitching Sunday in hopes of getting back to the big leagues.

Padres at Brewers
San Diego: Not including Brian Tollberg's start Friday night in Milwaukee, the San Diego trio of rookie pitchers -- Tollberg (2-2, 3.30), Adam Eaton (5-2, 2.89) and Kevin Walker (7-1, 4.64) are 14-5 with a 3.49 ERA in 82 games (28 starts). ... The Padres have sent 21 players to the DL and have used a club-record 51 players this season. The major league record is 56 by the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics. Cleveland leads the majors with 52 players playing at least one game this season. ... Entering Friday's game, the Padres were 23-16 since the All-Star break. ... Phil Nevin has hit .429 (34-for-73) with eight homers and 21 RBI in his last 23 games. Milwaukee: The Brewers need four or more runs to be successful. They are 49-29 when they have scored four or more this season. ... By going 4-2 in Houston and Arizona, the Brewers completed only their second winning road trip of the season. The only other winning road trip came June 9-11 when the Brewers won two of three in Minnesota. ... The Brewers will honor players from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in a pre-game ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. About 180 women who played in the league, which lasted from 1943-54, were expected for the reunion in Milwaukee. ... Entering the seven-game homestand, Richie Sexson and OF Geoff Jenkins are batting .335 with 15 home runs and 37 RBI in the 22 games since Sexson was obtained from Cleveland.