Negotiations with draft pick to step up

Negotiations with third-round pick Matt Harvey will kick into high gear today when the Angels make their first -- and possibly only -- major push to sign the highly touted Connecticut high school pitcher, one day before Wednesday’s deadline to come to terms with players from the June draft.

“Our first real offer is going to be pretty close to our last offer -- it will all happen at once,” said Eddie Bane, Angels scouting director. “We’re going to give him a fair offer based on our evaluation of his ability and forget all the other stuff. We’ll see if it’s good enough.”

The “other stuff” is a reference to Harvey, a 6-foot-4, 210-pound right-hander, dropping from the first round, where many projected he’d be picked, to the third round because most teams feared advisor Scott Boras’ asking price, believed to be in the $2.5-million range.

Harvey, whose fastball was clocked in the 95-mph range at last week’s Connie Mack World Series in New Mexico, has a scholarship offer to North Carolina. He must decide by 9 p.m. PDT Wednesday whether to sign with the Angels or go to college.

“I think he has a chance to be a 21-year-old major leaguer,” Bane said. “The money has to be right, I understand that.”

Assault and battery charges were formally filed by the Anaheim city attorney’s office against Roland Flores, the 22-year-old La Puente man who was arrested for throwing a plastic water bottle at Mike Piazza while the Oakland designated hitter stood in the on-deck circle during a July 25 game in Angel Stadium. Arraignment is set for Sept. 4.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

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RESULTS

at New York 7, Baltimore 6: Melky Cabrera raced home from third on Derek Jeter’s grounder in the ninth inning to lift the Yankees, who stayed within four games of AL East-leading Boston by winning for the ninth time in their last 10 games.

at Boston 3, Tampa Bay 0: Tim Wakefield held the Devil Rays hitless until Carl Crawford’s single leading off the seventh and Julio Lugo had three hits for the Red Sox. Wakefield (14-10) allowed two hits in eight innings.

at Seattle 4, Minnesota 3: Richie Sexson homered on Matt Guerrier’s second pitch of the ninth inning to send the Mariners to their sixth victory in seven games and keep them one percentage point ahead of New York in the wild-card standings.

Oakland 7, at Detroit 2: Mark Ellis homered, Marco Scutaro drove in three runs and Chad Gaudin struck out a career-high nine, dropping the Tigers into a first-place tie in the AL Central with idle Cleveland before traveling to play the Indians.

at Kansas City 6, Toronto 2: Mark Teahen homered for the first time since May 29 and the Royals took advantage of three Blue Jays errors. Odalis Perez (7-11) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth by striking out Frank Thomas.

From the Associated Press