Talking Baseball

With his 536th career homerun on Sunday, Jim Thome tied Mickey Mantle for 14th all-time on the career homerun record list.

Thome’s two-run shot came in the first inning against Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield and put the White Sox up 2-0 early on.

Thome has played for the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies, and now the Chicago White Sox.

Ahead of Thome on the all-time list are Alex Rodriguez with 546 homeruns and former Phillie Mike Schmidt with 548 career homeruns.

Thome is a sure-fire Hall of Famer and will solidify his place in history as he continues to climb up the ladder of all-time homerun hitters.

The Florida Marlins announced on Saturday that they are shutting down their closer, Kevin Gregg, for the remainder of the season or at least two weeks.

He has blown a Major League leading nine saves in 2008.

His latest came on Friday night against the New York Mets. He allowed a game winning grand slam to Carlos Beltran in the top of the ninth inning.

The Mets went on to win the game 5-4.

The Marlins are now seven games behind the Mets in the National League East division.

Gregg revealed, following his latest blown save, that he has been hampered by inflammation in his left knee for almost four weeks.

The Marlins will not place Gregg on the disabled list because rosters expand on September 1st and won’t need to create room for a replacement.

The team will go with a closer by committee for a while. Manager Fredi Gonzalez will more than likely use right handers Matt Lindstrom and Joe Nelson.

The Red Sox placed right handed starting pitcher Josh Beckett on the disabled list on Friday after being examined by Doctor James Andrews.

He was diagnosed with a strained right elbow and the stint on the disabled list is retroactive to August 18th.

Beckett should be healthy enough to return to action against the Texas Rangers early next week.

The newly signed David Ross had his contract purchased from Triple-A Pawtucket. Ross was released earlier in the month by the Cincinnati Reds and was signed by the Red Sox only days later.

He will be a late game pinch hitter and defensive substitution at catcher for the Red Sox.

Beckett, after winning 20 games last season, is only 11-9 with a 4.34 ERA.