COOPERSTOWN—Former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo and Former Cincinnati Reds star Barry Larkin were inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Sunday. With his parents and family looking on from the front row, Larkin, one of the best shortstops in major league history, spent his entire speech thanking the people that molded him.His parents introduced him to the game at age 5. Larkin singled out former teammates Pete Rose, Buddy Bell, Eric Davis, Dave Parker and Dave Concepcion.

“My inclusion in the Hall of Fame is the ultimate validation. I want to thank you all for helping me along the way,” Larkin said.

Larkin, who played his entire 19-year career with the Reds, retired after the 2004 season with a .295 career average, 2,340 hits, 1,329 runs scored and 379 stolen bases.Santo was a star third baseman for the Cubs and.for one year with the White Sox, and later a broadcaster for the team. His widow, Vicki, gave a heartwarming speech and ended it with: “This is not a sad day. This is a great day. I’m certain that Ronnie is celebrating right now.”

Santo died of bladder cancer in December 2010. In St. Louis, the Cubs players paid tribute to Santo by clicking their heels together as they jumped over the third-base line to start the game.

DETROIT—Miguel Cabrera’s 300th homer cleared the wall in center field with room to spare and sailed toward the ivy at Comerica Park. That’s not the easiest place to retrieve a baseball, but this one should make a nice keepsake.

“Somebody got it. They got it somehow,” Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. “They got in there and got it, and that’s his 300th, so I’m sure they’ll take care of it for him.”

Cabrera homered twice to reach another milestone in his remarkable career, and the Tigers finished a three-game sweep of the White Sox with a 6-4 victory Sunday. Detroit wrapped up a 6-1 homestand against the White Sox and Los Angeles Angels and now leads the AL Central by 1½. The White Sox have lost five straight.Cabrera became the second Venezuela-born player to reach 300 home runs. Andres Galarraga hit 399.

“For my country, yes, it’s very special,” Cabrera said. “Hopefully a lot of players can follow from Venezuela and try hitting 300 more.”

Quintin Berry and Brennan Boesch also homered for Detroit to help rookie Jacob Turner (1-1) earn his first career win. Four relievers pitched for the Tigers, with Joaquin Benoit working a perfect ninth for his second save of the year. Detroit closer Jose Valverde has been dealing with a balky back and did not pitch. Philip Humber (4-5) allowed six runs in three innings. Alex Rios and Kevin Youkilis homered for the White Sox. The Tigers have won 16 of 21.Turner, Detroit’s rookie right-hander, bounced back after giving up seven runs in two innings in his last start against the Angels. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs and seven hits. He struck out three without a walk before being lifted after Rios hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

“I think the biggest difference is just being more aggressive, attacking the hitters and not really worrying about who might be at the plate, but just going right after them,” Turner said. Cabrera and the Detroit offense provided plenty of support. After an RBI single in the top of the first by Rios, the Tigers scored three runs in the bottom half before Humber retired a batter. Berry’s two-run homer gave Detroit the lead, and Cabrera followed with a high drive that cleared the fence just to the left of center field for home run No. 299.

“I picked the wrong day to get balls up in the zone,” Humber said. “The stuff was there, but when you are facing that team, and especially that team when they are hot, your stuff doesn’t matter if you leave it up.”

Cabrera’s second homer, in the third inning, was even longer. It ended up around where a camera platform is set up beyond the wall in center. A Tigers spokesman, citing ESPN Stats and Info, said it was estimated at 457 feet.

“Dude has some of the most ridiculous pop I’ve ever seen,” Berry said. “His smooth swing, to be able to go that high up and dead center, it’s amazing. It’s fun to watch. He does it in BP and he does it in the game. It’s unreal.”

It was Cabrera’s 23rd homer of the year, and he became the 14th player to reach 300 before turning 30. Cabrera was 29 years, 95 days old Sunday. When Hank Aaron was that age, he had 309 home runs, according to STATS. Barry Bonds had 222 by that age. Boesch added a two-run shot later in the third to make it 6-1. Humber allowed seven hits and a walk with no strikeouts. He’s 3-5 with a 7.55 ERA since pitching a perfect game at Seattle on April 21.The White Sox chipped away after Humber was taken out. Rios’ hit was ruled a homer after umpires consulted replay footage, and Youkilis hit a solo shot off Phil Coke in the seventh. Octavio Dotel, the third Detroit reliever, came on with one out and a man on in the seventh and retired all five hitters he faced, with four strikeouts.The White Sox were swept in a series for the first time all season.

NOTES—Coke was pitching for the first time since his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Mickenzie LouAnn was born Saturday morning….The Tigers could afford to go deep into their bullpen with an off day coming up Monday….The Sox host Minnesota, with RHP Gavin Floyd (7-8) returning from a problem with his throwing elbow to start against Minnesota LHP Francisco Liriano (3-9).

ST. LOUIS—For the third straight game, a St. Louis Cardinals starter thrived with get-me-by stuff. There was more than enough offense again, too.Lance Lynn won his 12th game with six mostly spotless innings, and Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran homered on consecutive pitches to put the finishing touches on a 7-0 victory Sunday that completed a three-game sweep of the Cubs. The weekend was near perfect for the World Series champions, who were 1-5 and totaled 15 runs in their first trip after the All-Star break.

“We’re in a good rhythm now,” Lynn said. “We just need to stay there.”

Jon Jay and Tony Cruz hit consecutive two-run doubles off Travis Wood (4-5) in the first for St. Louis, which outscored the Cubs 23-1 and outhit them 38-16 for their first sweep over them since June 3-5, 2011 in St. Louis. It’s just their second series sweep overall at home, where they’re 26-20.

The Cardinals have had strong pitching most of the year, and rookie manager Mike Matheny has been waiting for a spotty lineup to produce consistently. St. Louis leads the National League with a .276 average and 464 runs.

“You see guys having big numbers and our record really wasn’t indicative of that,” Matheny said. “It’s just a matter of kind of putting it together and those hits falling in timely spots.That was probably one of the more frustrating things with the trip we just had. Hopefully we can ride this out for a while.”

Lynn (12-4) has allowed just one run in 19 innings his last three starts. Like Kyle Lohse, who allowed a run in seven innings Friday, and Jake Westbrook, who put up seven scoreless innings Saturday, the right-hander had to work for his outs.

“It was one of those days that command-wise I wasn’t where I needed to be early in the count,” Lynn said. “But I was able to make pitches to get out of situations. You’ve got to do that sometimes.”

Fernando Salas and Marc Rzepczynski finished a combined five-hitter as the Cardinals earned consecutive shutouts for the first time since Oct. 1-2, 2010, against the Rockies.The Cubs’ 14-5 record entering the series was the best in the majors over that span. Aside from pitching woes with Ryan Dempster’s 33-inning scoreless streak ending and Matt Garza lasting just three innings, the offense ended the game with 25 consecutive scoreless innings and was 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position in the series, including seven chances Sunday.

“It’s very tough,” said cleanup man Alfonso Soriano, who was 1 for 11 with five strikeouts in the series. “I think you have to give a lot of credit to St. Louis, they pitched very well and have a very good team, a very good offense. I think we forget this weekend.”

Attendance of 42,411 just missed a third straight sellout, with some fans perhaps scared off by forecasts of triple-digit temperatures. It was 94 degrees at game time.Holliday also doubled in the first, giving St. Louis a two-game total of 12 one day after tying the decades-old major league record with seven. The Cardinals also tied the franchise record with a 12-run seventh against four Cubs relievers in that game Saturday.Jay added three singles for his first career four-hit game, with everything to the opposite field including a dribbler down the third-base line that he legged out in the seventh, plus a nice running catch at the warning track in center field to deny pinch hitter Joe Mather’s bid for extra bases in the seventh.Jay entered the series finale in a 2-for-20 slump and did not start the series opener Friday.Lynn pushed aside workload concerns in his first season in the rotation. In his previous three starts, he gave up 17 runs in 15 1/3 innings while steadfastly insisting that the problems were solely pitch location at key spots.Lynn’s lone problem, inattentiveness to baserunners, didn’t hurt him. David DeJesus, who’s just 3 for 8 on steals, and Bryan LaHair, 2 for 3, stole second standing up to start the first two innings, but stayed there.

“After they told me what I was doing, they didn’t steal again,” Lynn said. “You give up two steals with no throw with a good catcher back there, you know you screwed up. So you fix it.”

Wood almost got out of the first without damage when Allen Craig stumbled rounding third on Holliday’s one-out double and had to retreat. Jay bailed out Craig with an opposite-field flare to left that dropped just inside the line.

“I’m not sure what happened,” Wood said. “Their series, I guess. They put the ball in play, got the hits when they needed them. It just wasn’t our series at all.”

The Cubs paid homage to Hall of Famer Ron Santo before taking the field in the bottom of the first, jumping over the third-base foul line and clicking their heels.

“Everybody did it and I think everybody is happy for the team and for the Ron Santo family,” Soriano said.

NOTES—Jeff Samardzija (6-8, 4.57) starts for the Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Pittsburgh on Monday. Joe Kelly is 0-1 but with a stingy 2.11 ERA in four career home starts heading into the Cardinals’ opener of a four-game series against the Dodgers and Chad Billingsley (4-9, 4.30)….Jay is 7 for 13 with 21 RBI for his career with the bases loaded….The Cubs demoted RHP Rafael Dolis, 2-4 with a 6.44 ERA, to Triple-A Iowa before the game and recalled LHP Jeff Beliveau. He allowed three hits in 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his major league debut….Holliday is batting .440 (48 for 109) his last 29 games with six homers, 14 doubles and 28 RBI.

CLEVELAND—For their final game of the 2012 season the Rush (10-8) surely didn’t mail it in, but felt a sting in the final seconds as they lost to the Cleveland Gladiators (8-10) 60-54 at Quicken Loans Arena Saturday night.

A flurry of touchdowns in the final minute set up Cleveland’s final possession with nine seconds left in the game. With the score tied at 54, the Gladiators passed on a 40-yard field goal attempt to toss up a hail mary. Matt Bassuener’s pass sailed high, but bounced off the end zone rebound net and into the outstretched hand of Dominick Goodman for the winning touchdown.At least that was called by another questionable group of Officials.

“A heck of a play by a heck of a player,” stated head coach Bob McMillen regarding the final play, “Our guys fought throughout the night, but this is a memory we’re all going to have to use as motivation heading into 2013. I wish next season started next week because I believe in every single guy on this team.”

Luke Drone appeared to have the Rush primed to close out the game for their 11th win when they took over at the Cleveland 4-yard line with a minute left. Up 47-46, the Rush decided to try and burn time off the last minute of the game when Russell Monk purposely fell at the 1-yard line on second down. The haunting reality of the choice stung them two plays later when Luke Drone threw a fourth down pass into the chest of Levy Brown who returned it 52-yards for a go-ahead touchdown.

Redeeming himself on the following drive, Drone launched a towering 38-yard pass into the hands of Reggie Gray for a touchdown with nine seconds to go. It tied the game at 54, but left enough time for Cleveland to materialize the last second win.

Cleveland’s defense began the game by shutting out the Rush in the first quarter on the back of Drone’s first mistake. Driving inside the Gladiator ten-yard line he was hurried and rushed a throw that was intercepted by Lenny Wicks. Storming back after the misfortune the Rush used Jorrick Calvin’s tenth interception of the year to climb aboard the scoreboard for the first time. Semaj Moody’s ability to get the most out of his 70” frame to grab an interception a series later propelled Chicago to a 13-7 lead when ReggieGray brought in a 21-yard touchdown pass a play later.

The advantage by the Rush through two quarters brought a third quarter change in quarterback for Cleveland as Matt Bassuener replaced John Dutton who only completed 45% of his passes and tossed two interceptions. Gladiator head coach Steve Thonn was proved to be shrewd with the move because Bassuener led Cleveland to a touchdown drive on his first offensive series and never turned the ball over in the remaining thirty minutes. From the outset of the second half through the end of the game he threw for 169 yards and 3touchdowns.

Injuries began to pile up after half as Chicago lost starting wide receivers Terrance Turner and Jared Perry for the remainder of the contest. Rotating a number of spots on offense and special teams pressured jack linebacker Kelvin Morris into emergency receiving duty and threw Gray into most of the high motion routes. Despite the spirited performances, including Kelvin Morris who took a fourth down pitch from Drone 25-yards for a score to give Chicago a lead late in fourth, they weren’t enough to land a win.

Carlese Franklin led the Gladiators in receiving with 9 catches for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns. Right behind him was Robert Redd who finished with 8 catches for 91 yards and touchdown, but came through more impressively on a fourth quarter 55-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the game at 40.

Drone finished the game 20-29 for 311 yards, 4 passing touchdowns and 2 rushing scores. Six Rush players caught a pass from him as Marquis Hamilton led all by mounting 5 grabs for 96 yards and a touchdown.

Gray completed a historic 2012 by catching his 47th and 48th touchdowns on the year. His stats tonight leave him with a final line of 140 catches, 1,937 yards and 52 total touchdowns.

Moody led the Rush in tackles with 10.

Tonight marked the sixth straight game in which the Rush defense didn’t record a sack.

The last second loss wraps the 2012 season for the Rush as they earn second place in the National Central Division with a 10-8 record.  The ten wins leave them on the outside looking in as the AFL playoffs begin next week.

ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Cardinals totaled 15 runs in their six-game trip to open the second half. They threatened that total in a single inning against the Cubs.Jake Westbrook worked seven innings of three-hit ball and the Cardinals finally backed him — and  then some — by tying a 76-year-old major league record with seven doubles in seventh inning of a 12-0 victory on Saturday night.
“I knew my spot was coming up hitting so I knew I was probably done,” Westbrook said. “I just wanted to hopefully get some runs there, and we did. It was a fun inning.”
Rafael Furcal’s go-ahead single in the seventh turned out to be a mere appetizer as the Cardinals also matched an 86-year-old franchise record for runs in an inning. St. Louis totaled 10 hits with multiple hits by three players including pinch-hitter Allen Craig, who doubled twice with an RBI.
“It was crazy. I don’t think I’ve seen anything like that in the big leagues,” Craig said. “I came into the game in a big spot and I was glad I could make something happen, and the rest of the guys took it from there.”
The Cardinals managed five hits the first six innings before jumping on Justin Germano (0-1) and three other relievers. They tied the major league record for doubles in an inning by the Boston Bees at St. Louis in the first inning of Game 1 of a doubleheader on Aug. 25, 1936.They tied the franchise record for runs in an inning set Sept. 16, 1926, against the Phillies, in the third inning of the opener of a doubleheader in Philadelphia.The Cardinals totaled nine doubles for the first time in franchise history since setting a modern major league record with 13 doubles on July 12, 1931, against the Cubs. Matt Garza was taken out after three scoreless innings with cramping in his right triceps, an injury that wasn’t obvious and prompted speculation that he had been traded. The Cubs added a bit of intrigue, waiting until the bottom of the sixth to announce the injury and the fact X-rays — as a precaution for possible elbow issues — were negative.
“The trade thing, I’m not so concerned about that,” Garza said. “I’d rather go out there and throw eight or nine [innings] than come in here and say, “I can’t throw the ball.”‘
Germano got unlimited warmups in the fourth, an indication he was entering because of an injury or ejection, although the rule book also allows for an unspecified sudden emergency. Germano allowed a run in three-plus innings before the roof caved in on the Cubs, who allowed 12 runs in an inning for the first time since July 30, 2010, at Colorado.James Russell gave up a career-high six runs on four hits in two-thirds of an inning. Manuel Corpas gave up four runs without getting an out, surrendering three doubles and a walk.Previously, the Cubs hadn’t allowed more than six runs in a single inning. The Cardinals topped their previous season best of eight runs April 27 against the Brewers.Westbrook (8-8) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first, falling behind 3-0 in the count against Geovany Soto before inducing a groundout. The sinkerballer permitted only two baserunners his last six innings, a leadoff single by David DeJesus in the third and a walk by Luis Valbuena in the fifth, and neither of them made it second.
NOTES—Garza is 2 for 30 at the plate with 23 strikeouts after fanning in the second….Soto is 0 for 5 with the bases loaded…..Bryan LaHair had two strikeouts and a walk against Westbrook after entering the game 3 for 3 with a homer against the right-hander…..The Cubs have lost 12 of their last 16 in St. Louis….The first two games of the series were sold out, with attendance of 43,424 the Cardinals’ 16th sellout overall…..Schumaker is batting .500 (15 for 30) with runners in scoring position…..Craig is the first Cardinals player to double twice in an inning since Jerry Mumphrey May 30, 1977, against the Cubs. He’s the first in the majors to do it since Seattle’s Michael Saunders May 30 at Texas.

DETROIT—Rick Porcello pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning, and the Detroit Tigers took over first place in the AL Central on Saturday with a 7-1 victory over the  White Sox.Brennan Boesch hit a three-run homer and Austin Jackson drove in the other four runs for the Tigers, who lead the White Sox by a half-game in the Central. Detroit was six games out after a loss to the Cubs on June 12.Porcello (7-5) fell just short of his first complete game, departing after he allowed two hard-hit singles to start the ninth. He allowed a run and five hits.Porcello struck out four with no walks, outdueling Chris Sale (11-3) in the Sox left-hander’s first loss since May 12.

NOTES—Kenny Williams is at it again.

The White Sox have acquired closer Brett Myers from the Houston Astros in exchage for lefty prospect Blair Walters, age 22, (97.2 IP, 3.96 ERA, 93 K, 22 BB across Low-A and High-A this season); 21-year-old right-hander Matt Heidenreich (111.2 IP, 3.95 ERA, 71 K, 18 BB across High-A and Double-A) and a player-to-be-named.

On the season, Myers has a 3.52 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched. Over that span, he’s struck out 20, walked five unintentionally and given up four home runs.

DETROIT—Justin Verlander shut down the White Sox after the third inning, and the Detroit Tigers backed their ace with timely hitting in a 4-2 victory over on Friday night in the opener of a big three-game series.Detroit inched closer to the top of the AL Central. The Tigers trail the first-place White Sox by a half-game. Detroit was six back after a loss to the Cubs on June 12.Verlander (11-5) allowed four hits in eight innings, including a two-run homer in the third by Alejandro De Aza. He struck out six and walked two. Jose Valverde finished for his 18th save in 22 chances.Jake Peavy (7-7) struck out the first five batters he faced and seven overall, but Detroit scored three runs in the third.Peavy went seven innings, allowing four runs and eight hits — five during Detroit’s big third inning. Jhonny Peralta led off with a double but had to stay at second on Ramon Santiago’s single because the ball was nearly caught on the fly by right fielder Alex Rios.Peavy almost worked out of the jam when Austin Jackson hit into a double play, but Quintin Berry was hit by a pitch, and Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder followed with consecutive RBI singles.Delmon Young’s run-scoring double put the Tigers ahead 3-2.Verlander cruised after that, allowing only one hit over his final five innings. Jackson hit an RBI single with two outs in the seventh for another Detroit run. Verlander struck out Alexei Ramirez to start the eighth, then broke Gordon Beckham’s bat with a 100-mph fastball. Beckham was left holding the sawed-off handle after a foul ball. He popped out on the next pitch.After De Aza grounded out to first for the third out, Verlander — who had covered first on the play — walked slowly back to the dugout while the sellout crowd gave him a standing ovation. He threw 121 pitches.Verlander has pitched at least six innings in each of his last 62 regular-season starts.Kevin Youkilis came back after missing Thursday night’s loss at Boston with a tight left hamstring. He struck out three times against Verlander and flied out against Valverde.Valverde, who has been erratic this year, managed a 1-2-3 ninth, capped by Berry’s diving catch in left field.

NOTES—Chris Sale (11-2) takes the mound for the White Sox on Saturday against Detroit’s Rick Porcello (6-5). …Robin Ventura said he hopes Gavin Floyd (right elbow tendinitis) will be able to pitch Monday, but he wants to see how the pitcher feels Saturday. … The White Sox are 13-13 against the Tigers in games started by Verlander, but 1-11 in the last 12.

ST. LOUIS—Kyle Lohse worked seven strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals’ slumbering offense ended Ryan Dempster’s 33-inning scoreless streak with a three-run first in a 4-1 victory over the Cubs on Friday night.Matt Holliday added a third-inning home run estimated at 469 feet, the longest at 7-year-old Busch Stadium.Lohse (10-2) won his fourth straight decision over five starts to complement a lineup that topped three runs for the first time in 12 games.The defending World Series champions found an unlikely victim in Dempster (5-4), who hadn’t allowed a run since May 30 while winning five straight starts. He entered with a major league-best 1.86 ERA before running into immediate trouble, giving up four straight singles in a span of six pitches with one out. Rumors of a Dempster trade to the Dodgers continue,but so far,he remains a Cub

BOSTON—Cody Ross’ five-year old son stood behind him as he sat at a podium during a postgame interview session, triggering him to recall when he first started to enjoy hitting in the clutch.

“I’ve always wanted to be up in those situations since I was like my son’s age,” Ross said of his three-run homer in the ninth that lifted the Boston Red Sox to a 3-1 win over the White Sox on Thursday night. “It’s a great feeling, especially when you’re the hero.”

Ross’ dramatic shot came one night after he hit three-run homers in consecutive innings of a 10-1 win.Before the game, he was jokingly asked if there’d be a repeat performance.

“I thought it was kind of a dumb question, but I guess it wasn’t,” he said, smiling, with his blond-haired son, Hudson, just off to his left.

Boston took three of four games in the series and is 5-2 since the All Star break.It was the fifth loss in 13 games for the AL Central-leading White Sox, who opens three-game series at second-place Detroit on Friday night.Boston’s Clay Buchholz had a solid start, allowing one run, six hits, striking out six and walking one in eight innings. But he was set to be the loser until Ross’ blast.

“I was sitting on the couch watching,” he said. “He’s been in big situations and is a guy that thrives in those situations most of the year.”

When Ross reached home plate, he was met by Nick Punto, who tore his jersey.

“He was famous for that in St. Louis [last postseason],” Ross said. “I met the shredder.”

While Buchholz had his own little celebration.

“I was running around the clubhouse,” he said.

Matt Thornton (2-6) got one out, but left with runners on first and second before Addison Reed faced Ross, who hit a 1-1 pitch into the Green Monster seats.Carl Crawford opened the ninth with a single, but was erased on Dustin Pedroia’s fielder’s choice grounder. Adrian Gonzalez then singled to right before Reed came in. Just before the first pitch, Boston sent Punto in to pinch run, slowing Reed down a bit.

“You go back and forth and make decisions, figure them out,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said of electing to open the inning with Thornton. “You got the two lefties coming up with Crawford and Gonzalez, so you know you know you still got Reeder out there if Ross and the rest of the righties come up.”

Reed just felt he missed badly with the pitch.

“It was supposed to be a fastball away, and it just sailed over the middle of the plate and he got a good piece on it,” he said.

Alfredo Aceves (1-6) pitched one inning for the win.Jose Quintana continued the impressive start to his career, pitching eight shutout innings.Quintana held Boston to five hits, striking out two and not walking a batter in his 10th major-league start. The 23-year old has held opponents two runs or fewer in eight starts.Buchholz had been given the second-most run support in the majors at 7.48 runs per nine innings — only behind teammate Felix Doubront’s 8.38 per — but the Red Sox couldn’t solve the rookie lefty.Boston was held to one hit until loading the bases with one out in the seventh on singles by Pedroia, Gonzalez and Ross. Shortstop Alexei Ramirez was leaning the wrong way on Will Middlebrooks’ liner, dove back, grabbed the ball on one hop and fired to second to start an inning-ending double play.The White Sox grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Adam Dunn drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on Paul Konerko’s single, barely beating right fielder Ross’ throw. Alex Rios followed with his sacrifice fly to center and Dunn trotted home easily.Unlike Wednesday night when the Red Sox pounded a rookie left-handed starter for eight runs, three homers and 12 hits in four innings, Boston had just Pedro Ciriaco’s two-out triple in the third.Second baseman Pedroia returned from the 15-day disabled list after being out with a strained right thumb and went 1 for 4. Kevin Youkilis didn’t play because of a tight left hamstring. He was 4 for 8 with a homer and three RBI in his first series against his former team of 7½ years since being traded on June 24.

NOTES—“Every once in a while it flares up on him,” Ventura said of Youkilis’ tight hamstring. “It flared up last night and we can give him the night off to get him ready for the weekend.” It was the first time he hasn’t played since being acquired from the Red Sox June 24….John Danks, out with a mild muscle strain in his shoulder since May, played catch again Thursday and felt good, which is a lot different than a few weeks ago. “It would hurt for a couple of days after I did it then,” he said…..The Red Sox traded right-hander Justin Germano to the Cubs for cash….Ventura agreed that this weekend’s series at Detroit is important. “It’s a big series, but it’s not going to win or break [our season],” he said…..Right-handed hitting Kelly Shoppach was Boston’s catcher for the second straight night with a lefty starter again…..TV personality Joan Rivers was in the Monster seats

Paul Maholm welcomed Mark Buehrle back to Chicago with a spot-on impersonation of his fellow veteran left-hander.Maholm pitched eight innings, Alfonso Soriano homered and the Cubs beat Buehrle and the Miami Marlins 4-2 Thursday to complete a solid 5-1 homestand.

“With Buehrle, you watch him over his career. You work fast, you mix speeds, you keep the ball down, you put your defense to work and they make plays,” Maholm said. “I’m all about trying to get it over with quick.”

Maholm (8-6) allowed one run and four hits to win his fourth consecutive start, matching a career best. Including his first career relief appearance July 8 against the Mets, the lefty has allowed just three runs in his last 30 1/3 innings for a sparkling 0.89 ERA over his last five games.Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs delivered an RBI single in the ninth before Carlos Marmol finished the five-hitter for his 11th save in 13 chances, sending the Cubs to their 14th win in 19 games. The Cubs took two of three in the series to improve to 10-4 in July.Buehrle was back in the Windy City for the first time since he left the White Sox for a $58 million, four-year contract with Miami, where he was reunited with manager Ozzie Guillen. The left-hander won 161 games in 12 seasons on the South Side and was greeted with mostly cheers when he batted for the first time in the third inning. Buehrle’s big free-agent deal was part of a major offseason overhaul for the Marlins, who also signed shortstop Jose Reyes and closer Heath Bell. While Reyes and Bell have underperformed, Buehrle (9-9) has been the most dependable member of Miami’s rotation. He leads the team in wins and innings, and has one of the club’s two complete games this season. Reyes’ difficult season continued Thursday when he was robbed of a pair of hits in the series finale. Shortstop Starlin Castro made a leaping grab of his liner in the sixth and Reed Johnson had a terrific diving catch in right-center in the eighth.

“I just kind of put my head down at first and took a few steps and fortunately the wind was kind of blowing across back towards me,” said Johnson, who received a long ovation from the Wrigley Field crowd of 32,741 after the impressive grab. “So it kind of checked the ball up a little bit and gave me time to run underneath it.”

Buehrle and Maholm were in a scoreless pitchers’ duel before Soriano hit a leadoff drive into the left-field basket in the fifth for his 18th homer, bolstering his credentials ahead of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadlines. The slugger batted .391 (9 for 23) with three homers and six RBI during the homestand. Soriano’s laser-like shot seemed to spark the Cubs’ lineup. The next three batters reached to load the bases, and Luis Valbuena hit a sacrifice fly to center field. Maholm struck out for the second out, but Johnson followed with a liner into left field for a a 4-0 advantage.

“It seemed like I had nothing working,” Buehrle said. “Changeup, couldn’t throw that for a strike. I think I threw one good one the whole day.”

Pinch-hitter Donovan Solano tripled and scored on Emilio Bonifacio’s grounder in the sixth for Miami’s first run.

NOTES—The Cubs picked up right-hander Justin Germano from Boston for cash…..Soriano became the 13th player to hit at least 150 home runs for the Cubs….Ryan Dempster is scheduled to start for the Cubs when they open a three-game series at St. Louis on Friday night. Dempster (5-3), who is working on a 33-inning scoreless streak and a major league-best 1.86 ERA, is expected to be traded before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, but said before Thursday’s game he didn’t know of any imminent deals. “I’m sure if they have something they’ll come to me,” said Dempster, who can veto any trade. “But right now I’m just worried about trying to get ready for tomorrow’s game.” Kyle Lohse (9-2, 2.80 ERA) will start for the Cardinals…..Miami travels to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates. RHP Ricky Nolasco (8-7, 4.47 ERA) and Pirates RHP Kevin Correia (6-6, 4.25 ERA) are slated to meet in Friday night’s series opener….Miami RF Justin Ruggiano went 2 for 4 and is batting .354 (17 for 48) in July…..When Guillen was asked how few days in Chicago were, he exploded “F*** Chicago! Ask me questions about MY team, not Chicago!” See you next year Ozzie!