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Bob Gibson can still project an aura of menace, even 40 years after he intimidated batters en route to an astonishingly low 1.12 earned run average.

This year’s leader boards include plenty of familiar stars, but two improbable stars have been Carlos Quentin of the Chicago White Sox and Ryan Ludwick of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Henry Blanco hit a bases-loaded single in the 11th inning to drive in the winning run as the Cubs improved to match last season’s win total at Wrigley Field.

Ramírez homered for the fourth time in six games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who averted a three-game sweep Thursday with a victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

Manny Ramírez homered for the fourth time in six games with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who averted a three-game sweep in a 4-1 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Johan Santana worked through nine innings and allowed six harmless hits, one walk and struck out five as the Mets defeated St. Louis.

In breaking their five-game skid, Albert Pujols clobbered a two-run homer to help the Cardinals snap the Mets’ three-game streak and send them to their fourth loss in 18 games.

The Mets have won 14 of their past 17 games, including three straight, to vault into first in the division, and their lead grew to two games over the Phillies and the Marlins,

For Jason Isringhausen, resuming his countdown to 300 saves with the St. Louis Cardinals will be a slow climb.

Rick Ankiel slapped a two-run single to right field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a three-run rally and lead the host St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs.