ATLANTA — Randall Delgado, who had never pitched in a game above Double-A, had a difficult challenge in his debut for Atlanta: Josh Hamilton and the defending American League champion Texas Rangers.

Hamilton hit a homer off the rookie in the Rangers’ 6-2 win over the Braves on Friday night, but Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said Delgado won respect.

“I’ll tell you what, I was really, really impressed,” Gonzalez said. “He’s got about two and a half pitches, for a young kid pitching in the big leagues.

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DENVER — Chris Nelson hit his first major league home run during a six-run second inning and Carlos Gonzalez homered and doubled to drive in four runs, helping the Colorado Rockies beat the Detroit Tigers 13-6 Friday night.

Rookie Charlie Blackmon added four hits and two RBIs, helping to fuel the Rockies’ second-highest scoring output of the season and improve their winning percentage in interleague competition to .620 (49-30) since 2006, tops in the NL in that span.

Jason Hammel (4-6) weathered Jhonny Peralta’s grand slam in the sixth to win for the first time since April 30, snapping a string of five consecutive losing decisions. He allowed six runs on eight hits in 6 1-3 innings and walked four with two strikeouts.

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez is just about willing to try anything to help his team stop a dismal slide.

“I might come in early (Saturday) and turn the calendar one month ... make them think it’s July,” Rodriguez said with a smile after the Marlins dropped to 1-16 this month after losing 5-1 to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night.

The Marlins, who have also lost eight in a row, got a homer from John Buck. Florida went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

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BOSTON — Shaun Marcum has a strained left hip flexor but hopes to make his next scheduled start after leaving the Milwaukee Brewers game with a hip injury.

The right-hander threw 44 pitches in the first inning of the Brewers’ 10-4 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. He was replaced at the start of the bottom of the second by Marco Estrada. It was announced late in the game that Marcum had a strained left hip flexor.

Manager Ron Roenicke said Marcum, 7-2 with a 2.85 ERA, told him the hip hurt. Marcum tried to stretch it after the top of the first. He left the game after allowing two runs and four hits, with one strikeout, one walk and a wild pitch. He also allowed a leadoff homer to Jacoby Ellsbury.

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The first six of 18 segments that will form NASA's James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror for space observations completed final cryogenic testing this week. The ten week test series included two tests cycles where the mirrors were chilled down to -379 degrees Fahrenheit, then back to ambient temperature to ensure the mirrors respond as expected to the extreme temperatures of space.

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A compound that for about 60 years has been used as a drug against tapeworm infection is also apparently effective against colon cancer metastasis, as studies using mice have now shown. The compound silences a gene that triggers the formation of metastases in colon cancer. Professor Ulrike Stein (Experimental and Clinical Research Center, a joint cooperation between the Charité Medical Faculty and the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, (MDC)) and her research group made this discovery in collaboration with Professor Robert H. Shoemaker of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Frederick, Maryland, USA (Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 103, No. 12, June 17, 2011)*. Plans are already underway with Professor Peter M. Schlag (Charité Comprehensive Cancer Center) to conduct a clinical trial.

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The first three patients to undergo an investigational surgical procedure for peripheral vascular disease that involves the patient's own stem cells continue to do well, reports the University of Louisville surgeon who is the principal investigator.

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A low pressure area in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, located off the western coast of Mexico, is still getting organized, and System 92E and the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite spotted heavy rain and strong thunderstorms within.

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The U.S. Medicaid program is likely paying far more than necessary for medications and not offering patients the most effective ones available, by ignoring international evidence-based lists of safe and effective medications, according to a new study by researchers at University of California, San Francisco.

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In einem Bach in Frankfurt am Main ist der aggressive Ehec-Keim vom Typ O104:H4 nachgewiesen worden. Auf dem Salat eines nahen Gemüsehofs hatten die Behörden am Donnerstag ebenfalls einen Ehec-Erreger festgestellt - allerdings einen weniger gefährlichen.

Scientists and educators alike have long known that cramming is not an effective way to remember things. With their latest findings, researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan, studying eye movement response in trained mice, have elucidated the neurological mechanism explaining why this is so. Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, their results suggest that protein synthesis in the cerebellum plays a key role in memory consolidation, shedding light on the fundamental neurological processes governing how we remember.

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A team of researchers has proposed a way to turn the material graphene into a semiconductor, enabling it to control the flow of electrons with a laser "on-off switch".

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Earlier this month, ESA's Mars Express performed a special manoeuvre to observe an unusual alignment of Jupiter and the martian moon Phobos. The impressive images have now been processed into a movie of this rare event.

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The post-war trend of falling birth rates has been reversed across Europe, according to a new study. However, despite an increasing emphasis on family and fertility policies in Europe, this recent development involves social, cultural and economic factors more than individual policy interventions.

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A University of Exeter biologist has discovered a 'lost' species of bat breeding on the Isles of Scilly (UK). A pregnant female brown long-eared bat is the first of its species to be found on the islands for at least 40 years. It was discovered by Dr Fiona Mathews, Senior Lecturer at the University of Exeter, a postgraduate student and a team from the Wiltshire Bat Group.

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The potentially lasting implications of day-to-day couple conflict on physical and mental well-being are revealed in a study published today in the journal Personal Relationships.

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Nach einer Familienfeier in Niedersachsen ist fast ein Drittel der Gäste erkrankt. Diagnose: Ehec. Eine Servicekraft, die selbst infiziert war, hatte die Erreger offenbar auf Lebensmittel gebracht.

Kilometerdicke Lavaschichten, Schwefel an der Oberfläche, ein stark verzerrtes Magnetfeld: Die ersten Ergebnisse der "Messenger"-Mission bieten viele Überraschungen über den Merkur - und lassen an den bisherigen Erkenntnissen über die Entstehung des Planeten zweifeln.

Die Aussichten für den internationalen Klimaschutz verdüstern sich. Fast zwei Wochen wurde auf einem Uno-Treffen in Bonn verhandelt - herausgekommen ist so gut wie nichts. Damit ist klar, dass ein Nachfolgevertrag für das Kyoto-Protokoll nicht mehr rechtzeitig fertig wird.

In a new study revealing key steps for controlling plant growth, Australian researchers have shown how the assembly of components of the plant cell wall regulates growth of root hairs. Root hairs are important structures that allow plants to absorb essential nutrients and water from the soil. The research will assist in contributing to the sustainability of Australia's plant -based industries such as, agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

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