Westbrook, Lilly traded

Former All-Stars Jake Westbrook, Ted Lilly, Ryan Ludwick and Kerry Wood were traded Saturday as pennant contenders played a game of beat-the-clock. Lance Berkman went to the World Series champion New York Yankees after rejecting the Chicago White Sox.

Octavio Dotel, Rick Ankiel, Kyle Farnsworth, Chad Qualls and Ryan Theriot also joined the playoff chase and Ryan Church highlighted a five-player deal between last-place teams.

The swaps came as clubs scrambled before the 1 p.m. PDT deadline for making trades without waivers.

The N.L. Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals were the prime players in a three-team trade, getting Westbrook from Cleveland and sending Ludwick to N.L. West-leading San Diego.

The Yankees plucked Wood from Cleveland, shortly after finishing off the deal to get Berkman from Houston. The Astros sent $4 million and Berkman, the Yankees’ new designated hitter, for reliever Mark Melancon and minor league infielder Jimmy Paredes.

In other deals:

• N.L. East-leading Atlanta acquired outfielder Ankiel, reliever Farnsworth and cash from Kansas City for pitchers Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez and outfielder Gregor Blanco.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers got the left-handed Lilly, Theriot and about $2.5 million from the Chicago Cubs for infielder Blake DeWitt and minor league right-handers Kyle Smit and Brett Wallach. The Dodgers also boosted their bullpen by obtaining Dotel from Pittsburgh.

• A.L. West-leading Texas traded catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to Boston for pitcher Roman Mendez, first baseman Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later and cash.

• Arizona sent catcher Chris Snyder, minor league shortstop Pedro Ciriaco and cash to the Pirates for outfielder Church, former A.L. Rookie of the Year Bobby Crosby and right-hander D.J. Carrasco in a trade between last-place teams.