The 24-year-old's Major League Baseball career has been blighted by injury and a strained back muscle will force the frustrated Strasburg to miss more time on the mound.

Strasburg underwent 'Tommy John' elbow surgery in 2010, wiping out him out for much of 2011. He enjoyed a 15-6 season, with a 3.16 ERA, last year but was shut down before the playoffs as a health precaution by the team.

He is 3-5 with a 2.54 ERA this year.

In Seattle, the Chicago White Sox scored all of their runs after the 13th inning to register a thrilling 7-5 triumph over the Mariners in a game that lasted 16 innings.

Both teams were held scoreless through 13 frames until Chicago erupted for five runs in the top of the 14th to move well in front.

Seattle, however, responded with five runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, thanks largely to Kyle Seager's grand slam.

The White Sox finally moved ahead for good in the 16th, where Alejandro De Aza hit a go-ahead single to help the team snap an eight-game losing streak.

In Atlanta, Julio Teheran took a no-hitter into the eighth inning but settled for a shutout in the Braves' 5-0 triumph over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 22-year-old Teheran struck out 11 batters and surrendered just one hit in eight innings as the National League East-leading Braves (37-22) won their fifth straight.

Pinch-hitter Brandon Inge got the lone hit for the Pirates in the eighth and Teheran did not return for the ninth.

In Cincinnati, Carlos Gonzalez slugged three home runs, Troy Tulowitzki added two and went 5-for-5 as the Colorado Rockies blasted the Reds 12-4.

Gonzalez homered in the first, fourth and eighth innings to give him 17 for the season, and finished with six RBIs.

Tulowitzki did his damage throughout the game during a perfect day at the plate that included three RBIs, vaulting him into the NL batting lead with an average of .349. (Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by John O'Brien)

Yanira Maldonado, 42, walked out of the prison on the outskirts of Nogales, Mexico, and into her husband's arms late Thursday and crossed through the Nogales port of entry into Arizona. After spending the night in a hotel, she drove away with a police escort at midmorning Friday and was expected to return to her Phoenix-area home to be reunited with her children.

Maldonado spoke briefly after her release, thanking U.S. State Department officials, her husband, her lawyers and prison workers who made her stay comfortable.

"Many thanks to everyone, especially my God who let me go free, my family, my children, who with their help, I was able to survive this test," she said.

Maldonado also said at a news conference later that she still loves Mexico, and the experience will not stop her from returning in the future to visit family there.

"It's not Mexico's fault. It's a few people who did this to me and probably other people, who knows?" Maldonado said. "I'm still going to go back."

The family's lawyer in Nogales, Jose Francisco Benitez Paz, said a judge determined Thursday that Maldonado was no longer a suspect, and all allegations against her were dropped. Prosecutors are appealing the ruling, but Benitez said that is routine and Maldonado will not have to return to testify.

Maldonado's release came hours after court officials reviewed security footage that showed the couple boarding a commercial bus traveling from Mexico to Phoenix with only blankets, bottles of water and her purse in hand.

U.S. politicians portrayed her as a victim of a corrupt judicial system and demanded her release, with Arizona congressmen saying they were working closely with Mexican authorities.

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who previously said he has had "multiple conversations with the deputy Mexican ambassador," on Friday welcomed Maldonado's release.

"Though I'm sure this last week has been a nightmare for her, I'm thankful that Mrs. Maldonado's clear innocence was proved and that she is now home safe with her family," he said in a statement released by his office.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said her administration had been closely monitoring Maldonado's case and been talking with authorities on both sides of the border.

"As Americans, we all know that our precious constitutional rights don't extend beyond our nation's borders," she said. "It is this kind of case that once again illustrates how blessed we are in this country. Most of all, I am so happy for the Maldonado family that they can now put this chapter of their lives behind them."

The judge had until late Friday to decide whether to free Maldonado or send her to another prison in Mexico while state officials built their case.

Maldonado was arrested by the Mexican military last week after they found nearly 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) of pot under her seat during a security checkpoint.

Benitez noted it was a fairly sophisticated smuggling effort that included packets of drugs attached to the seat bottoms with metal hooks a task that would have been impossible for a passenger. He said witness testimony and the surveillance video showed Maldonado was innocent.

"There is justice in this country," he said.

Maldonado husband, Gary Maldonado, said he originally was arrested after the pot was found under his wife's bus seat. But after Yanira Maldonado begged the soldiers to allow her to come along to serve as a translator, the military officials decided to release him and arrest her instead. Gary Maldonado alleges authorities initially demanded $5,000 for his wife's release, but the bribe fell through.

"Here, we are guilty until you are proven innocent," he said after the court hearing.

Maldonado's lawyer said there is no bail in serious criminal cases in Mexico, and that included the drug smuggling charge she faced. Instead, he had to gather evidence that could clear her before a judge, and he praised the bus company for gathering the video evidence and providing a list of fellow passengers who could back up her claims.

"I as a defense attorney have to prove her innocence," her lawyer said Friday. "After I got the evidence I knew I would win."

The Maldonados were traveling home to the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear after attending her aunt's funeral in the city of Los Mochis when they were arrested.

The bus passed through at least two checkpoints on the way to the border without incident. In the town of Querobabi in the border state of Sonora, all the passengers were ordered off the bus and a soldier searched the interior as they waited. The soldier exited and told his superiors that packets of drugs had been found under seat 39, Yanira Maldonado's, and another seat, number 42. Her husband was in seat 40.

Gary Maldonado said a man sitting behind them on the bus fled during the inspection. He said the man might have been the true owner of the drugs.

About 40 people were on the bus before the inspection, but Gary Maldonado said he was the only passenger who appeared American.

Mexican officials provided local media with photos that they said were of the packages Maldonado was accused of smuggling. Each was about 5 inches high and 20 inches wide, roughly the width of a bus seat. The marijuana was packed into plastic bags and wrapped in tan packing tape.

The couple had previously traveled on commercial buses through Mexico because they felt it was safer than driving a personal vehicle.

Yanira Maldonado is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Mexico, her family said. She and her husband have seven children from previous marriages. The couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary while she was jailed.

Drug traffickers have increasingly been using passenger buses to move U.S.-bound drugs through Mexico. Federal agents and soldiers have set up checkpoints along Mexico's main highways and have routinely seized cocaine, marijuana, heroin and more from buses.

Mexico's justice system is carried out largely in secret, with proceedings done almost entirely in writing.

Four years ago, Mexico decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin, but it still has stiff penalties for drug trafficking.

Mexican law doesn't specify a minimum or maximum sentence in drug crimes and leaves it up to the judge to decide how long the sentence should be, said Jose Luis Manjarrez, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Mexico.

On Wednesday, an army lieutenant, a private and another sergeant were supposed to appear in court but they did not show up. The army did not explain why, the couple's lawyer said.

A search of court records in Arizona turned up no drug-related charges against Yanira or Gary Maldonado.

___

Associated Press writers Michael Weissenstein in Mexico City, Luis Castillo in Nogales and Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this report.

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Emmy Award-winning director Adam Bernstein has signed on to direct the premiere hour of FX's first limited series, "Fargo."

The "Breaking Bad" and "Rescue Me" veteran won his Emmy for "30 Rock." He also directed the premiere of "Alpha House," one of five new shows ordered by Amazon on Wednesday.

"Fargo," a 10-episode series inspired by the 1996 Coen brothers film of the same name, will feature a new crime story but retain the original's humor and darkness. Production begins this fall, and the show is expected to debut in spring 2014.

It is written by Noah Hawley ("The Unusuals," "My Generation") and executive-produced by Hawley, Joel and Ethan Coen, and Warren Littlefield. Berstein, who is represented by ICM Partners, will also executive produce the premiere. FX Productions and MGM Television produce.

The film "Fargo" was nominated for seven Academy Awards. The Coens won for Best Original Screenplay and Frances McDormand won for Best Actress. It was named as one of the 100 Greatest American Movies by the American Film Institute.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Author Michael Lewis did not defame a money manager in his best-selling 2010 book "The Big Short," according to a federal judge in Manhattan.

In a lawsuit filed in 2011, Wing Chau, a manager of collateralized debt obligations, and his firm Harding Advisory LLC, accused Lewis of including a series of defamatory statements in a chapter revolving around a 2007 dinner in Las Vegas that included Chau and hedge fund manager Steven Eisman.

The book, which spent six weeks atop The New York Times' list of hardcover nonfiction bestsellers, looks at the housing and credit bubble during the 2000s that lead to the 2007 financial crisis.

Chau also named Eisman and the book's publisher W.W. Norton & Co as defendants, over what he called "accusations of grave professional misconduct, incompetence, and irresponsibility."

But U.S. District Judge George Daniels said the statements were "non-actionable expressions of opinion," not "assertions of fact that may properly serve as a basis for libel claims."

"A careful review of Chapter 6 of The Big Short indicates that the challenged statements are incapable of being reasonably susceptible to any defamatory meaning," Daniels wrote in a ruling on Friday.

Moreover, Daniels said "many of the allegedly defamatory statements about the plaintiffs are completely or substantially true."

"We respectfully disagree with the court's decision and intend to appeal," said Steven Molo, a lawyer for Chau.

W.W. Norton and a lawyer representing the firm and Lewis did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

David Schulz, a lawyer for Eisman, declined to comment.

The case is Chau et al v. Lewis et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-01333.

(Reporting by Bernard Vaughan; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

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That's because HTC hasn't had a hit since 2011. After , the once-popular Taiwanese smartphone competitor needed something like the One to lift it out of a bad year. The phone should have been good enough to do that, given all the laudatory praise. But it didn't: Sales of the device, which debuted in mid-April, started off slow, sources tell Ziegler — and that was a worse outlook than , which had the One "selling well," but not as well as its biggest competition, Samsung's Galaxy S IV. One source attributes the lag to "supply issues," which had to do with internal disorganization. But even if they get on track, HTC might be too late to fix this mess. The Samsung Galaxy S IV has already captured a lot of that high-end, non-iPhone smartphone market, gettingand selling 10 million devices in less than a month. (The Galaxy S III took 50 days to hit the same mark.) 

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Unfortunately, the One's decent sales are the better part of the news for HTC. The Facebook phone's  has only made things worse. One of Ziegler's sources called it an internal "disaster," which pretty much mimics its performance in the outside world. After a little over a month, the company discontinued the HTC First, despite the hype of a Facebook partnership, straight from Mark Zuckerberg himself. Things only look to get worse from here: HTC CEO Peter Chou told other senior executives he would step down if the One failed, . At this point, it remains unclear if that bigger, better phone is a failure, per se, but it's definitely not the type of huge and huger success that HTC really needs. 

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc unveiled technology to boost security for its users, following a spate of attacks on accounts of prominent media outlets including the Associated Press, the Financial Times and The Onion.

The micro blogging site, which transmits some 400 million messages a day, said on Wednesday that it had begun rolling out an optional "login verification" service to thwart hackers seeking to hijack accounts with stolen passwords.

Security experts welcomed the move as a positive step toward securing a service that is widely used by consumers, political activists, advertisers and news outlets around the globe to quickly exchange information.

Twitter had come under fire over the past year for failing to offer such an option, which is known as two-factor authentication, amid a surge in breaches of high-profile accounts. That criticism intensified in April after a fake tweet about a non-existent White House explosion sent from the Associated Press account briefly roiled U.S. financial markets.

"It's been a long time coming," said Jeremiah Grossman, chief technology officer of White Hat Security. "It's not going to solve all problem, but it's a step in the right direction."

When users log in to Twitter via a web browser, they must confirm their identity by entering a six-digit code that Twitter delivers to their smartphones. To access the service through applications for PCs and smartphones, users must use an automatically generated temporary password for each of the programs.

Twitter described the offering in a blog post, reminding users that they still need to use strong passwords to keep accounts secure.

The approach is similar to security tools previously introduced by other Internet services from companies including Facebook Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp.

"This would have made the AP hack and other hacks against Twitter more difficult to accomplish," said Jeffrey Carr, CEO of cyber security firm Taia Global Inc.

Yet he added that hackers looking to break into corporate accounts will still be able to do so if they can take control of PCs or smartphones running applications authorized to use the service.

"Two-factor authentication isn't perfect," Carr said. "If you own the machine, it really doesn't matter."

(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)