By The Associated Press

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT

Former Red Sox Alan Embree earned the win in Colorado's 5-4 victory over Washington without throwing a pitch. He entered with two outs in the eighth and picked off Austin Kearns, who had singled off Joel Peralta. According to STATS LLC, it was the first time a major leaguer had gotten a win without throwing a pitch since B.J Ryan for Baltimore at Detroit on May 1, 2003.

SIDELINED

Right fielder Vladimir Guerrero left the Angels' 8-5 loss to the Rangers in the eighth inning with a strained muscle behind his left knee. Guerrero fielded a single by Elvis Andrus and was about to make a throw when it looked like he stepped awkwardly on his left leg. Guerrero fell to his hands and knees, but got up and walked around before trainers came out to look at his leg. He eventually walked off the field on his own and was replaced by Gary Matthews Jr.

OH MANNY

Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez was ejected in the fifth inning of Los Angeles' game against the Mets for arguing a called third strike. The slugger, who returned from a 50-game drug suspension last week, dropped his bat, tossed his helmet and flung his elbow pad. Booed for much of the game, Ramirez then heard his departure cue from plate umpire John Hirschbeck. Ramirez drove in three runs with two singles before being ejected.

SHOPPING AROUND

Roy Halladay wants to keep pitching for Toronto, but is willing to consider accepting a trade if approached by the Blue Jays. Halladay is 10-2 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts. He'll be paid $14.25 million this year and his contract, which has a no-trade clause, expires after the 2010 season, when he's set to earn $15.75 million.

STRIKEOUT MACHINE

Justin Verlander struck out 11 to run his majors-best total to 141, the most by a Detroit pitcher before the All-Star game in 37 years. The last Tiger to have as many strikeouts as Verlander before the break was Mickey Lolich, who had 152 before the 1972 All-Star game.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME

CC Sabathia continues to baffle the Twins. The lefty is 6-1 with 1.70 ERA in his last seven starts in the Metrodome after giving up one run in the Yankees' 10-2 victory Tuesday night.

WORTH NOTING

Seattle slugger Ken Griffey Jr. wore a single white batting glove in his first at-bat as a tribute to Michael Jackson. ... Doug Davis earned his first win since June 5, allowing two runs over 6 1-3 innings to lead Arizona to a 4-3 victory against San Diego.

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHT

St. Louis at Milwaukee (8:05 p.m. EDT). Ryan Braun and the Brewers host Albert Pujols and the Cardinals in the second game of a key three-game set between NL Central contenders.

TUESDAY'S STARS

-Luke Scott, Orioles, had a career-high seven RBIs to power Baltimore to a 12-4 victory over Seattle.

-Paul Konerko, White Sox, hit a career-high three home runs, including a go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning, to lead Chicago to a 10-6 win over Cleveland.

-Brandon Phillips, Reds, homered twice and drove in three runs to power Cincinnati to a 4-3 victory at Philadelphia.

-Josh Beckett, Red Sox, became Boston's second 10-game winner and improved to 5-0 at Fenway Park this season with 6 2-3 solid innings in a 5-2 victory over Oakland.

-Mark Teixeira, Yankees, had four hits to help New York beat Minnesota 10-2 for its 16th win in the last 22 meetings with the Twins.

-Ryan Ludwick and Colby Rasmus, Cardinals, each homered to lead St. Louis to a 5-0 victory at Milwaukee.

-Clayton Kershaw, Dodgers, struck out seven in six innings to help Los Angeles blank the New York Mets 8-0.

-Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals, hit a three-run homer in Washington's 5-4 loss to Colorado.

-Javier Vazquez, Braves, pitched seven strong innings in Atlanta's 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.

-Jack Wilson, Pirates, hit a two-run homer and an RBI single to lead Pittsburgh to a 6-3 win against Houston.

-Pat Burrell, Rays, hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 victory over Toronto. He had been mired in a 4-for-34 slump.

SPEAKING

"It really woke us up. We came in, said we have to wake up, do the little things and we can't let the same things happen." - Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips on Cincinnati's 22-1 loss at Philadelphia on Monday night. Phillips hit a pair of homers and drove in three runs to help the Reds bounce back with a 4-3 victory against the Phillies on Tuesday night.

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL HISTORY

1912 - Rube Marquard's 19-game winning streak was stopped as the New York Giants lost 7-2 to the Chicago Cubs.

1935 - The AL extended its All-Star winning streak to three with a 4-1 victory at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. New York Yankee Lefty Gomez went six innings, which prompted the NL to have the rules changed so that no pitcher could throw more than three innings, unless extra innings.

1941 - Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth to give the AL a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit's Briggs Stadium. Up to that point Arky Vaughn of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the NL hero with two home runs, the first player to do so in All-Star play. Joe and Dom DiMaggio both played for the AL, marking the first time that brothers appeared in the same All-Star game.

1947 - Frank Shea became the first winning rookie pitcher in the first 14 years of All-Star play as the AL nipped the NL 2-1 at Chicago's Wrigley Field.

1952 - The NL edged the AL 3-2 in the first rain-shortened All-Star game. The five-inning contest, at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, featured home runs by Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer of the Nationals.

1958 - The 25th anniversary All-Star game, at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium, went to the AL, 4-3 in a game that only produced 13 singles. This was the first All-Star game in which neither team got an extra-base hit.

1970 - Jim Ray Hart of San Francisco hit for the cycle and became the first NL player in 59 years to drive in six runs in one inning as the Giants beat Atlanta, 13-0.

1994 - Shortstop John Valentin made the 10th unassisted triple play in baseball history in the sixth inning and then led off the bottom of the inning with a homer to lead Boston to a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

1997 - Cleveland Indians catcher Sandy Alomar hit a two-run homer to give the American League a 3-1 victory over the National League in the All-Star game. Alomar, the first player to win the All-Star MVP in his own ballpark, broke the tie in the seventh inning off San Francisco's Shawn Estes.

2000 - Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens teamed up to shut down the Mets, giving the Yankees identical 4-2 victories in the first double-ballpark doubleheader in the majors since 1903. After the opener, many in the sellout crowd of 54,165 at Shea Stadium immediately headed for Game 2, which drew 55,821 at Yankee Stadium.

2003 - Cleveland rookie Billy Traber pitched a one-hitter for his first complete game, beating the Yankees 4-0. Traber retired 27 of 28 batters, including 21 in a row after John Flaherty's single in the third inning.

Today's birthdays: Jaime Garcia 23; Renyel Pinto 27.