Greinke confirms contract extension from Brewers

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CINCINNATI — Right-hander Zack Greinke confirmed a report Friday that the Milwaukee Brewers have offered him a contract extension of more than $100 million to keep him for the next five years.

Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.com reported the Brewers might have offered a deal similar to the five-year, $112.5 million contract extension the San Francisco Giants gave right-hander Matt Cain in the spring. Shortly after that deal raised the bar for pitchers of Greinke’s stature, talks between the club and Casey Close broke off.

“I can say Heyman is pretty accurate with what he’s saying, but nothing else,” Greinke said before the Brewers’ game against Cincinnati at Great American Ball Park.

Greinke, 28, would not say whether he is receptive to the club’s offer, apparently made within the last week.

“We’ll see how it works out,” Greinke said. “That’s about it. I can’t say anything about that. I just gave you that one thing. I figured that was as good as I could do.”

Brewers general manager Doug Melvin declined to confirm or deny the offer, but he did not sound overly optimistic about keeping Greinke off the free-agent market this winter.

In 20 outings, Greinke is 9-3 with a 3.57 earned run average, which was inflated by allowing 14 runs in 14 innings this month.

Thome passes Sosa with 610th homer

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jim Thome hit his 610th home run to pass Sammy Sosa and move into seventh place on the all-time list.

Thome led off the fourth inning for Baltimore on Friday night and connected off Cleveland’s Derek Lowe. It was the 41-year-old’s first homer since being acquired by the Orioles from the Philadelphia Phillies on July 1, and sixth of the season overall.

It was Thome’s 189th homer at Progressive Field. He played for the Indians from 1991 through the 2002 season and returned for the final two months of 2011.

Thome holds the Indians’ record with 337 homers. He has also played for the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota.

Players with 500 or more home runs

(x-active player)

1. Barry Bonds, 762; 2. Hank Aaron, 755; 3. Babe Ruth, 714; 4. Willie Mays, 660; 5. x-Alex Rodriguez, 643; 6. Ken Griffey Jr., 630; 7. x-Jim Thome, 610; 8. Sammy Sosa, 609; 9. Frank Robinson, 586; 10. Mark McGwire, 583; 11. Harmon Killebrew, 573; 12. Rafael Palmeiro, 569; 13. Reggie Jackson, 563; 14. Manny Ramirez, 555; 15. Mike Schmidt, 548; 16. Mickey Mantle, 536; 17. Jimmie Foxx, 534; 18. (tie) Frank Thomas, Willie McCovey, Ted Williams, 521; 21. (tie) Ernie Banks, Eddie Mathews, 512; 23. Mel Ott, 511; 24. Gary Sheffield, 509; 25. Eddie Murray, 504.

Astros pick up 7 players in trade

HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros acquired closer Francisco Cordero and outfielder Ben Francisco as part of a 10-player trade with Toronto on Friday.

Houston will receive four minor leaguers in the deal — right-handed pitchers Joe Musgrove and Asher Wojciechowski, left-handed pitcher David Rollins, catcher Carlos Perez and a player to be named later.

The Blue Jays, who entered Friday at 45-47 and in last place in the AL East, will receive pitchers Brandon Lyon, J.A. Happ and David Carpenter from Houston.

In 794 career relief appearances, Cordero has a 3.28 ERA and has reached 40 or more saves in three seasons.

Francisco is hitting .244 in 23 games for Toronto in 2012. He has a .259 career average with 45 home runs in 483 career games with Cleveland, Philadelphia and Toronto.

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