AL | Brad Ziegler surpasses pitching mark that stood since 1907

Brad Ziegler spent the first two months of the season pitching in the minors. Now the Oakland reliever is making plans to send some of his gear to Cooperstown.

Ziegler set the major-league record for scoreless innings to start a career as the Athletics' bullpen threw 4-1/3 shutout innings to bail out starter Dana Eveland in a 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday.

Ziegler gave up two singles in two innings to extend his scoreless streak to 27 and break a record that had stood since 1907. Ziegler's record broke the previous mark of 25 innings set by Philadelphia Phillies right-hander George McQuillan. It's also the third-longest scoreless streak overall by an Oakland reliever.

Afterward, the 28-year-old right-hander kept two balls from his outing but planned to send the rest — along with a pair of his shoes and a hat — to the Hall of Fame.

"I don't know if that's something I'd ever thought I'd have to do as long as it wasn't a real embarrassing moment or someone else's highlight, but it's pretty incredible," Ziegler said. "It's real special. I feel like I've worked real hard to get here. Thankfully it's not over yet. Hopefully we can keep it going."

Baltimore: The Orioles finally ran out of patience with rookie starter Radhames Liz, optioning the struggling left-hander to Class AAA Norfolk and activating reliever Jamie Walker from the 15-day disabled list.

Boston: Manny Ramirez is "tired" of the Red Sox and would agree to a trade that would make both him and the team happy. But he doesn't think it will happen and Boston, battling for a playoff spot, needs the production of its cleanup hitter despite its oft-contentious relationship with him. Four days before the non-waiver trading deadline, Ramirez said, "I'm tired of them. They're tired of me." The Red Sox have until Nov. 9 to pick up a $20 million option for next year on Ramirez, who would have to approve any trade as a 10-year veteran with five years on the same team. They also have a $20 million option for 2010. Ramirez is in the final year of his guaranteed eight-year, $160 million contract.

Kansas City: Jose Guillen was held out of the lineup after aggravating his left groin in the Kansas City Royals' 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night. Guillen said he hurt his groin coming out of the box on his fifth-inning RBI single. He remained in the game and fans booed when he grounded into a double play to end the seventh and let a B.J. Upton fly ball to shallow right drop in front of him in the eighth. "Some of the fans are yelling at me, 'Why you not hustle? Why you not hustle?' " Guillen said. "Sometimes that gets to your head. They can't see the big [pointing to the wrap around his left thigh]. They don't know how I'm hurting. I'm just trying to help the team. I should have been smart and just taken myself out of the game because I could not even walk right. I thought that by staying in the game, it might get better, but it only got worse."

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