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Hanson pitches 7 innings, Braves beat Rays 5-3 (The Associated Press)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Chipper Jones is pretty sure his last trip to Tropicana Field has ended early.

 

Braves deny Shields seventh win of season (Reuters)

(Reuters) - The Atlanta Braves handed Tampa Bay a rare home loss when they chased top pitcher James Shields after six innings in a 5-3 victory over the Rays on Friday. Freddie Freeman's run scoring double in the fifth put Atlanta ahead to stay and the Braves added another run two batters later for a 4-2 advantage. Martin Prado made it a 5-2 game with a seventh inning homer as the Braves, who lead the National League East, won for the 10th time in 12 road games. Tampa Bay, chasing Baltimore for the American League East's top spot, lost at home for only the fifth time in 19 games this season. ...

 

Braves-Rays Preview (The Associated Press)

With Tampa Bay the closest major league locale to Florida native Chipper Jones' birthplace, the Atlanta Braves star expects to have 100 or so fans from his hometown in attendance for Saturday's game against the Rays.

 

Jones leaves with bruised left calf (The Associated Press)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones has a bruised left calf and is day to day.

 

Top 5 Kerry Wood Moments with the Chicago Cubs: Fan's Opinion (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

Kerry Wood

 

MLB: Cubs pitcher Wood announces retirement (The SportsXchange)

Chicago Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood's strikeout was thought to be the final batter he faced in his career.

 

Cubs P Kerry Wood retires after 13-plus seasons (The Associated Press)

CHICAGO (AP) Kerry Wood arrived in the majors 14 years ago, a fresh-faced kid with No. 34 on his back, slinging fastballs at 100 mph, delivering breaking pitches that were often unhittable and striking out 20 batters in just his fifth start.

 

Kerry Wood never lived up to his gigantic promise, but he leaves a nice legacy in Chicago (Big League Stew)

After a 14-year career that never quite lived up to its initial promise but still provided plenty of thrills, Kerry Wood finally called it quits on Friday. The 34-year-old Chicago Cubs pitcher announced his retirement after a final swan song at Wrigley Field — striking out Dayan Viciedo,  the only batter he faced in a 3-2 loss to the crosstown Chicago White Sox. Wood hanging it up in the middle of the season should not have come as a surprise if you'd been following him during 2012. Coming into Friday's action he had allowed eight runs, eight hits and 11 walks over 8 1/3 innings of work and his lone highlight before Friday's sendoff — tossing his glove and cap into the stands after blowing a lead last week — was anything but. A lot of Cubs fans were skeptical that Wood had anything left when he signed a one-year contract worth $3 million last offseason and the aging right-hander did nothing to prove those doubters wrong. That still doesn't mean that this wasn't a sad day in Chicago sports. Wood has always been a fan favorite on the North Side of Chicago, beginning with his days as a phenom in 1998 and lasting through the elder statesman portion of his career. While fans in other locales may snicker at Cubs fans calling him one of the best pitchers in team history, they fail to see it's a judgment levied by people looking for a way to honor a career they enjoyed following.* It's based on his close relationship with the late Ron Santo and his involvement with fans and in the community. Not to get too armchair psychiatrist on you, but I think it's also based on the fact Wood's struggles also seem indicative of the Cubs' plight this last century-plus. Desipio's Andy Dolan — as cynical of a Cubs fan as they come —  nicely sums the romance  here . [ Also: Miami Marlins soar in latest MLB power rankings ]

 

The Juice: Brandon Beachy bolsters ERA lead with complete game shutout, O’s stay atop the AL East (Big League Stew)

The Juice is back for its fifth season of fun! Stop by each weekday for an ample serving of news from the action, plus great photos, stats and video highlights. Go the Distance : Atlanta Braves pitcher Brandon Beachy put Fredi Gonzalez in a little bit of a bind after throwing 110 pitches over eight scoreless innings on Thursday night. Should the Braves manager call it a night for the 25-year-old arm or should he let Beachy enter the ninth for a chance at the first complete game of his career? Gonzalez ultimately decided on the latter and Beachy did not disappoint, needing only 12 more pitches to seal a 7-0 shutout victory over the Miami Marlins at Turner Field. ''Roger [McDowell, the pitching coach] and I were hanging on every pitch,'' Gonzalez said. ''You want the kid to be successful. You want him to have the complete game. You want him to have the shutout, but you want to keep him healthy.'' Beachy's scoreless scoresheet allowed him to drop his major-league best ERA from 1.60 to 1.33. The right-hander has won five straight decisions for the Braves and one would think that he's closing in on the first All-Star appearance of his career. O, Mama! : Another morning, another opportunity to see the Baltimore Orioles atop the AL East standings. The early surprise team of 2012 moved to 25-14 with a 5-3 win over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Adam Jones hit his 13th homer of the season as the O's turn toward a D.C.-Baltimore rarity — a relevant interleague series between the Orioles and Nationals. (Washington fell 5-3 to Pittsburgh on Thursday but sit in second place in the NL East with a 23-15 record.)

 

Guillen quits Twitter (The SportsXchange)

Ozzie Guillen, the Miami Marlins' motor-mouth manager, says he is done using Twitter.