>>Braves Blank Cubs

(Chicago, IL)  --  Freddie Freeman and Dan Uggla each blasted solo home runs and Jair Jurrjens tossed six-and-a-third scoreless innings as the Braves blanked the Cubs, 3-0, on Monday night at Wrigley Field.  Jurrjens gave up eight hits and walked five with just one strikeouts, but was able to register his 13th win of the season.  Jonny Venters worked through a pair of walks in the ninth to notch his fifth save.  Ryan Dempster fanned eighth through six innings of three-run ball to suffer the tough-luck loss for Chicago.  Aramis Ramirez went 3-for-4 in a losing effort for the Northsiders.  Casey Coleman gets the nod opposite Mike Minor in tonight's second installment.

>>Dodgers Rally To Beat Cardinals

(St. Louis, MO)  --  The Cardinals squandered a tremendous start from Chris Carpenter as they fell to the Dodgers, 2-1.  Carpenter gave up one run and struck out seven through eight-plus innings but did not factor in the decision.  Cards reliever Fernando Salas suffered the loss.  Lance Berkman provided the offense for St. Louis with a solo homer, his 29th of the season.  The second of the three-game series is tonight with Kyle Lohse opposing Clayton Kershaw.

MLB NL
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Milwaukee Brewers 8, Pittsburgh Pirates 1 (G1)
Philadelphia Phillies 10, New York Mets 0
Washington Nationals 4, Arizona Diamondbacks 1
Atlanta Braves 3, Chicago Cubs 0
Los Angeles Dodgers 2, St. Louis Cardinals 1
Colorado Rockies 9, Houston Astros 5
Pittsburgh Pirates 9, Milwaukee Brewers 2 (G2)

MLB AL
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Seattle Mariners 3, Cleveland Indians 2
Detroit Tigers 5, Tampa Bay Rays 2
Texas Rangers 4, Boston Red Sox 0
Baltimore Orioles 4, Minnesota Twins 1

>>Cardinals Pitching Coach Duncan Taking Leave Of Absence

(St. Louis, MO)  --  The Cardinals will have to get by for a while without pitching coach Dave Duncan.  He's taking a leave of absence to be with his wife.  Jeanie Duncan had major surgery on Sunday and will need additional tests and rehabilitation.  Dave Duncan has been the Cardinals pitching coach since coming to the Redbirds from Oakland with manager Tony La Russa in 1996.

>>White Sox In Anaheim

(Anaheim, CA)  --  The Chicago White Sox are back in action this evening as they open up a brief two-game series against the Angels in Anaheim.  Mark Buehrle will be on the bump against Ervin Santana in the opener.  The Southsiders took two-of-three from Texas over the weekend to improve to 63-and-63 on the season.

>>Giants Rout Bears On "MNF"

(East Rutherford, NJ)  --  Da'Rel Scott capped the Giants' 41-13 blowout preseason win over the Bears with a 97-yard touchdown run on "Monday Night Football" at New Meadowlands Stadium.  Jay Cutler led Chicago to two field goals in his 30 minutes of action, completing 12-of-21 throws for 171 yards.  Marion Barber totaled 80 yards from scrimmage for the Bears, whose only touchdown came in the closing second from Kahlil Bell.  David Carr passed for 84 yards and two touchdowns while Eli Manning added 78 yards.  Da'Rel Scott, Brandon Jacobs, and Danny Ware each scored a rushing TD for New York. Daniel Coats and Domenik Hixon each caught a score in the win.  The Giants host the Jets on Saturday. The Bears square off against the Tennessee Titans at LP Field on Saturday evening as well

>>Rams Release Long Snapper Massey

(St. Louis, MO)  --  The Rams are parting ways with their longest-tenured player.  The "Post-Dispatch" cites league sources as saying the Rams have released long snapper Chris Massey.  He was the team's seventh-round draft pick in 2002.  The 32-year-old will be replaced by rookie Jake McQuaide of Ohio State.  The move saves the Rams about $1-million in cap space.