Baseball

"Because Ellsbury has gone through arbitration the last three years, there's been an opportunity to talk to [agent Scott Boras] and Jacoby each of those years in the winter before spring training or early in spring training about his status," said Cherington. "And each of those years we've signed a one-year deal." Ellsbury, 29, is set to become a free agent after the 2013 season. He has a disappointing .673 OPS since the start of the 2012 campaign.

"He looked good," manager Mike Redmond said afterward. "I'm just going off the results. He was hitting them out. It's another encouraging sign that he's a little closer to being back on the field." Stanton has been on the disabled list since April 30 and is still without a timetable. The best guess is that he's activated around mid-June.

Pena doesn't play much -- Wednesday was just his 14th game of the year -- but when he does, he usually hits. His three-hit game raised his average to .304, and with starting catcher Alex Avila struggling it may mean more at-bats for Pena in the near future.

White Sox manager Robin Ventura finally made the decision official on Wednesday night. Danks posted a 3.18 ERA during his four rehab starts, but he also had a 15/13 K/BB ratio and is still dealing with diminished velocity. Mixed leaguers should stay away for now.

Lee got into trouble in the second inning with a single, walk and hit by pitch, but he pulled a Houdini act with a 5-2-3 double play followed by a pop-out. Two of the three base knocks he allowed were of the infield variety, and all three were singles. The southpaw will take a nifty 2.48 ERA and 1.02 WHIP into next week's start in Boston.

The Red Sox won the game 6-2. Buchholz was brilliant yet again, yielding only five hits while fanning four batters. He has a 1.73 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 73/27 K/BB ratio in 72 2/3 total innings this season and should be able to keep the dominance going next week in an interleague matchup against the struggling Phillies.

Martinez now has two straight two-hit games, and he provided the game-winning homer off James Shields on Wednesday. The home run was his fourth and he now has 14 RBI in 28 games this year. The Astros don't have any reason not to bat him in the middle of the lineup if he continues to produce, but that's not worth much in a barren Houston offense.