With All-Star balloting set to wrap up this week, I'm going to try projecting the AL All-Star roster one more time. Here's what I went with four weeks ago (starters in bold):

C - Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez
1B - Kevin Youkilis, Justin Morneau, Mark Teixeira
2B - Ian Kinsler, Aaron Hill, Dustin Pedroia
3B - Evan Longoria, Brandon Inge
SS - Derek Jeter, Jason Bartlett
OF - Jason Bay, Josh Hamilton, Ichiro Suzuki, Carl Crawford, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones, Johnny Damon
P - Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, Edwin Jackson, Joe Saunders, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Frank Francisco, Andrew Bailey, Joe Nathan, Scott Downs

And now:

Catchers

Starter: Joe Mauer
Backups: Victor Martinez

The vote was over long ago, and Martinez has always been a no-brainer as the backup. Now it just remains to be seen whether the AL will opt to make room for a third catcher. No player is especially deserving, and I imagine everyone would like to see Mauer play at least six innings.

First basemen

Starter: Mark Teixeira
Backups: Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis

Youkilis just reclaimed a modest 40,000-vote lead in the balloting, but the Yankees are at home this week and the Red Sox are on the road, suggesting that Teixeira will move back in front. Both should go regardless, though I'd still prefer to see Youkilis considered the backup third baseman, making room on the roster for Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Pena or even Russell Branyan.

Second basemen

Starter: Ian Kinsler
Backup: Aaron Hill, Dustin Pedroia

In an extremely close vote, Kinsler currently leads Pedroia 2,170,100 votes to 2,163,270. But again, the Rangers are at home this week and the Red Sox are on the road, so barring a big Internet push, Kinsler would seem to have the clear advantage. Aaron Hill has been the league's best regular second baseman and should make the team as the backup. Pedroia, as the defending AL MVP, is quite worthy of a spot even if his recent slump has left him with weaker numbers than some of the competition. Odds are that he'd win the Fan Vote for the last spot if left off the team initially.

Third basemen

Starter: Evan Longoria
Backup: Brandon Inge

Longoria has a lead of 1.6 million votes on Alex Rodriguez for the position. Inge still seems like the best choice as a backup, though it'd be hard to argue with Scott Rolen. Inge has an 894 OPS to Rolen's 881 mark. Unfortunately, Michael Young might trump them both. Chone Figgins is another possibility.

Shortstops

Starter: Derek Jeter
Backup: Jason Bartlett

Jeter is the AL's leading vote-getter, and Bartlett has been the league's most productive shortstop. They're the obvious two, even if Bartlett did recently spend some time on the DL.

Outfielders

Starters: Jason Bay, Ichiro Suzuki, Josh Hamilton
Backups: Torii Hunter, Carl Crawford, Ben Zobrist, Jermaine Dye

Hamilton hasn't even been any good when healthy this year, but the fans clearly want to see him again after what he did in last year's Home Run Derby. He has a 145,000-vote lead on Torii Hunter for the last outfield spot.

I've replaced Adam Jones and Johnny Damon from the list of backups with Zobrist and Dye. Zobrist, who wasn't on the All-Star ballot, has to be included somewhere and the outfield is the easiest place to do it. Dye has been just about as valuable as Adam Lind and has his career numbers on his side. He could be the White Sox representative, though Mark Buehrle and Bobby Jenks have cases for spots.

Pitchers

Starters: Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Edwin Jackson, CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Tim Wakefield
Relievers: Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, Andrew Bailey, Brian Fuentes, George Sherrill

Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver would receive consideration, but they're due to pitch on the Sunday before the All-Star break, likely ruling them out for the game itself. Kevin Millwood, Buehrle and Joe Saunders are also deserving.

Wakefield may seem like an odd choice, but he is 10-3 and the Red Sox are pushing for him. It'd be great to see him get to go to his first All-Star Game at age 42.

Bailey and Sherrill have strong cases anyway, but they can be the token picks for the A's and Orioles, respectively. Fuentes isn't especially deserving, but he is the AL leader in saves and he'd still be a fine choice to face a key left-hander in the All-Star Game.

Chico Harlan of the Washington Post reports that the Nationals and Pirates have agreed to a four-player trade that sends Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan to Pittsburgh with Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett heading to Washington.

Washington has soured on Milledge since acquiring him two years ago, in large part because of his struggles defensively in center field, and Morgan should be a massive upgrade there. However, the trade still strikes me as a good move for Pittsburgh, who had been playing Morgan in left field because Andrew McCutchen's presence means that they won't need a center fielder for the next decade or so.

Morgan's defense makes him an asset wherever he's playing, but he's 28 years old and his career .286/.351/.376 line doesn't look all that great from a corner spot. For all the talk of Milledge being a huge disappointment he's hit .261/.326/.400 to basically match Morgan's production offensively, and at 24 years old has plenty of room to improve at the plate after posting stronger numbers in the minors.

Plus, the Pirates also pick up a decent reliever in Hanrahan, who has been yanked back and forth from the Nationals' closer role amid talk of him not being able to handle ninth-inning duties mentally. Whether or not that's true is unclear and certainly his 7.71 ERA this season is ugly, but with a 35/14 K/BB ratio and just three homers allowed in 32.2 innings he hasn't pitched nearly that poorly and can be a capable setup man.

Burnett was once thought of as a top prospect, but arm injuries and poor strikeout rates have the 26-year-old southpaw looking like a mediocre middle reliever or long man at this point. Pittsburgh did well to sell high on him while his ERA is in the 3.00s, and cashing in Morgan with his value at an all-time high makes sense too. On the flip side, Washington is selling both Milledge and Hanrahan for pennies on the dollar.

Morgan is a nice all-around player, but will be on the wrong side of 30 by the time the Nationals are ready to contend and in the meantime they've sold low on a 24-year-old who for all his issues still has lots of upside. Hanrahan and Burnett changing sides swings the deal a little further in Pittsburgh's favor, but ultimately the trade hinges on Milledge's ability to get his career on track and live up to at least some of the hype.

_

With All-Star balloting set to wrap up this week, I'm going to try projecting the AL All-Star roster one more time. Here's what I went with four weeks ago (starters in bold):

C - Joe Mauer, Victor Martinez
1B - Kevin Youkilis, Justin Morneau, Mark Teixeira
2B - Ian Kinsler, Aaron Hill, Dustin Pedroia
3B - Evan Longoria, Brandon Inge
SS - Derek Jeter, Jason Bartlett
OF - Jason Bay, Josh Hamilton, Ichiro Suzuki, Carl Crawford, Torii Hunter, Adam Jones, Johnny Damon
P - Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Mark Buehrle, Justin Verlander, CC Sabathia, Edwin Jackson, Joe Saunders, Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Frank Francisco, Andrew Bailey, Joe Nathan, Scott Downs

And now:

Catchers

Starter: Joe Mauer
Backups: Victor Martinez

The vote was over long ago, and Martinez has always been a no-brainer as the backup. Now it just remains to be seen whether the AL will opt to make room for a third catcher. No player is especially deserving, and I imagine everyone would like to see Mauer play at least six innings.

First basemen

Starter: Mark Teixeira
Backups: Justin Morneau, Kevin Youkilis

Youkilis just reclaimed a modest 40,000-vote lead in the balloting, but the Yankees are at home this week and the Red Sox are on the road, suggesting that Teixeira will move back in front. Both should go regardless, though I'd still prefer to see Youkilis considered the backup third baseman, making room on the roster for Miguel Cabrera, Carlos Pena or even Russell Branyan.

Second basemen

Starter: Ian Kinsler
Backup: Aaron Hill, Dustin Pedroia

In an extremely close vote, Kinsler currently leads Pedroia 2,170,100 votes to 2,163,270. But again, the Rangers are at home this week and the Red Sox are on the road, so barring a big Internet push, Kinsler would seem to have the clear advantage. Aaron Hill has been the league's best regular second baseman and should make the team as the backup. Pedroia, as the defending AL MVP, is quite worthy of a spot even if his recent slump has left him with weaker numbers than some of the competition. Odds are that he'd win the Fan Vote for the last spot if left off the team initially.

Third basemen

Starter: Evan Longoria
Backup: Brandon Inge

Longoria has a lead of 1.6 million votes on Alex Rodriguez for the position. Inge still seems like the best choice as a backup, though it'd be hard to argue with Scott Rolen. Inge has an 894 OPS to Rolen's 881 mark. Unfortunately, Michael Young might trump them both. Chone Figgins is another possibility.

Shortstops

Starter: Derek Jeter
Backup: Jason Bartlett

Jeter is the AL's leading vote-getter, and Bartlett has been the league's most productive shortstop. They're the obvious two, even if Bartlett did recently spend some time on the DL.

Outfielders

Starters: Jason Bay, Ichiro Suzuki, Josh Hamilton
Backups: Torii Hunter, Carl Crawford, Ben Zobrist, Jermaine Dye

Hamilton hasn't even been any good when healthy this year, but the fans clearly want to see him again after what he did in last year's Home Run Derby. He has a 145,000-vote lead on Torii Hunter for the last outfield spot.

I've replaced Adam Jones and Johnny Damon from the list of backups with Zobrist and Dye. Zobrist, who wasn't on the All-Star ballot, has to be included somewhere and the outfield is the easiest place to do it. Dye has been just about as valuable as Adam Lind and has his career numbers on his side. He could be the White Sox representative, though Mark Buehrle and Bobby Jenks have cases for spots.

Pitchers

Starters: Zack Greinke, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Edwin Jackson, CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Tim Wakefield
Relievers: Mariano Rivera, Jonathan Papelbon, Joe Nathan, Andrew Bailey, Brian Fuentes, George Sherrill

Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander and Jered Weaver would receive consideration, but they're due to pitch on the Sunday before the All-Star break, likely ruling them out for the game itself. Kevin Millwood, Buehrle and Joe Saunders are also deserving.

Wakefield may seem like an odd choice, but he is 10-3 and the Red Sox are pushing for him. It'd be great to see him get to go to his first All-Star Game at age 42.

Bailey and Sherrill have strong cases anyway, but they can be the token picks for the A's and Orioles, respectively. Fuentes isn't especially deserving, but he is the AL leader in saves and he'd still be a fine choice to face a key left-hander in the All-Star Game.

So there's a website out there which purports to have the list of the 2003 drug test failures -- the same list that gave us Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. We're not linking it or reproducing the names listed there because it's a fake. That fact was confirmed this morning by a source who is definitely in a position to know. Anyone who gives it any credence going forward is trafficking in baloney.

But you know what? We kind of suspected that it was fake beforehand. Why? Because for starters, the site running it -- something called "Roto Info" -- has zero reputation as a reliable news source. Really zero -- before now it has never to our knowledge reported anything, be it good, bad or indifferent. Now it is shown to be untrustworthy, lazy and irresponsible. For the moment let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were merely passing this along as opposed to having created it themselves. Even then, posting it with a weak "unconfirmed" disclaimer as they did here does not get the job done. Most bloggers have day jobs yet still manage to get off their butts and get this stuff right. "Roto Info" should be no different. The lesson: get your roto info from Rotoworld.

Second, the list consists of an overwhelming number of bigger names and very few scrubs. This flies in the face of the information we have learned from the Mitchell Report, the Radomski and McNamee business and the testing results that have been made public since 2003. Where are the Marvin Bernards, Tim Lakers, Josias Manzanillos, Matt Francos, and Adam Piatts of the world? Steroids are equal-opportunity, and the fact that this list is almost entirely devoid of 23rd-25th roster slots puts lie to any notion of legitimacy.

Third, the names are listed in team order, by division, going from east to west, AL to NL. On the eve of the Mitchell Report there was another fake list like this one. It was in alphabetical order, and looked fishy for the same reasons. While this isn't necessarily suspicious in and of itself -- we can conceive of some reasons why the list could take on such an order -- it suggests someone being a little more methodical about it than might appear in nature.

Finally, and perhaps most damningly, Jason Grimsley's name is not on the list, and by all accounts it should be. Indeed, our source's debunking of this list specifically mentioned Grimsley's absence, and the absence of other known-positives, as the clincher of its fraudulent nature.

If and when the real list ever surfaces, you can bet that we'll be on top of it. You can also bet that we'll confirm it first. In the meantime, we'll be busy throttling the blogger who ran this nonsense for doing even more to discredit the medium than has already been done.

So there's a website out there which purports to have the list of the 2003 drug test failures -- the same list that gave us Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. We're not linking it or reproducing the names listed there because it's a fake. That fact was confirmed this morning by a source who is definitely in a position to know. Anyone who gives it any credence going forward is trafficking in baloney.

But you know what? We kind of suspected that it was fake beforehand. Why? Because for starters, the site running it -- something called "Roto Info" -- has zero reputation as a reliable news source. Really zero -- before now it has never to our knowledge reported anything, be it good, bad or indifferent. Now it is shown to be untrustworthy, lazy and irresponsible. For the moment let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they were merely passing this along as opposed to having created it themselves. Even then, posting it with a weak "unconfirmed" disclaimer as they did here does not get the job done. Most bloggers have day jobs yet still manage to get off their butts and get this stuff right. "Roto Info" should be no different. The lesson: get your roto info from Rotoworld.

Second, the list consists of an overwhelming number of bigger names and very few scrubs. This flies in the face of the information we have learned from the Mitchell Report, the Radomski and McNamee business and the testing results that have been made public since 2003. Where are the Marvin Bernards, Tim Lakers, Josias Manzanillos, Matt Francos, and Adam Piatts of the world? Steroids are equal-opportunity, and the fact that this list is almost entirely devoid of 23rd-25th roster slots puts lie to any notion of legitimacy.

Third, the names are listed in team order, by division, going from east to west, AL to NL. On the eve of the Mitchell Report there was another fake list like this one. It was in alphabetical order, and looked fishy for the same reasons. While this isn't necessarily suspicious in and of itself -- we can conceive of some reasons why the list could take on such an order -- it suggests someone being a little more methodical about it than might appear in nature.

Finally, and perhaps most damningly, Jason Grimsley's name is not on the list, and by all accounts it should be. Indeed, our source's debunking of this list specifically mentioned Grimsley's absence, and the absence of other known-positives, as the clincher of its fraudulent nature.

If and when the real list ever surfaces, you can bet that we'll be on top of it. You can also bet that we'll confirm it first. In the meantime, we'll be busy throttling the blogger who ran this nonsense for doing even more to discredit the medium than has already been done.

Here's Scott Boras' comment back in February when it was revealed that several baseball players were among the clients of suspected fraudster Robert Allen Stanford:

"The broker dealers the players have chosen have advised our personal management auditors the players are not in jeopardy of losing money."

Here's the news from yesterday:

The lawyer trying to recover the money from R. Allen Stanford's purported Ponzi scheme wants seven current and former Major League Baseball stars who had invested with the accused swindler to turn over millions of dollars, mostly of the players' own money.

Ralph S. Janvey, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission appointed as the "receiver" in the case, wants to take $9.5 million from the players, an amount that mostly consists of their initial investments, so that the athletes' money can be split up among all of Mr. Stanford's purported victims.

"The fact that the [ballplayers] are innocent investors and committed no wrongdoing does not entitle them to retain proceeds received from the fraudulent" scheme, lawyers for Mr. Janvey wrote in a filing last week with the U.S. District Court in Dallas.

Oops.

The players who, if the motion is granted, stand to lose millions include Greg Maddux, Johnny Damon, J.D. Drew, Andruw Jones, Carlos Pena, and Jay Bell.

The question I asked back in February and for which I'd still like an answer is whether Scott Boras -- who makes a big deal about how he's a full-service representative -- steered these guys to Stanford. Maybe someone in a position to should ask him.

Here's Scott Boras' comment back in February when it was revealed that several baseball players were among the clients of suspected fraudster Robert Allen Stanford:

"The broker dealers the players have chosen have advised our personal management auditors the players are not in jeopardy of losing money."

Here's the news from yesterday:

The lawyer trying to recover the money from R. Allen Stanford's purported Ponzi scheme wants seven current and former Major League Baseball stars who had invested with the accused swindler to turn over millions of dollars, mostly of the players' own money.

Ralph S. Janvey, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission appointed as the "receiver" in the case, wants to take $9.5 million from the players, an amount that mostly consists of their initial investments, so that the athletes' money can be split up among all of Mr. Stanford's purported victims.

"The fact that the [ballplayers] are innocent investors and committed no wrongdoing does not entitle them to retain proceeds received from the fraudulent" scheme, lawyers for Mr. Janvey wrote in a filing last week with the U.S. District Court in Dallas.

Oops.

The players who, if the motion is granted, stand to lose millions include Greg Maddux, Johnny Damon, J.D. Drew, Andruw Jones, Carlos Pena, and Jay Bell.

The question I asked back in February and for which I'd still like an answer is whether Scott Boras -- who makes a big deal about how he's a full-service representative -- steered these guys to Stanford. Maybe someone in a position to should ask him.

Yeah, I suppose that's corny, but there's really no other word to describe him. He completely dominated the Cardinals last night, staying perfect until the fifth inning and remaining near perfect for the rest of the game. Other than a double to Pujols -- who tends to get his no matter who's pitching -- no one could do a thing against the guy. The Cardinals didn't even make him work, as he threw 95 pitches in a complete game.

Not that this was anything new. Over his last four starts he's 3-1 (three complete games) with a 1.03 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 37-3. Dude won the Cy Young last year. Though 16 starts in 2008 he was 8-1 with a 2.54 ERA and K/BB ratio of 103-40. Through 16 starts this year he's 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 132-28. Anyone doubt that he's going to win the Cy Young again?

With nasty stuff like that Lincecum could be excused for being a bit cocky. Not that he's the least bit cocky. Here he is after yesterday's game:

When I saw the lineup card today, I thought they're throwing some pretty good guys out there. But then I thought, 'I'm good. I'm here for a reason. I can get these guys out if I make my pitches the way I need to' . . . This game can be humbling. The second you go out there thinking that you're hot s-, then they hit four home runs off you. That's the last thing I want to do. I'm not getting ahead of myself. I'm not thinking I'm going to shut anybody down because of what I did. It's what I'm doing now.

And what he's doing is shutting everybody down.

Yeah, I suppose that's corny, but there's really no other word to describe him. He completely dominated the Cardinals last night, staying perfect until the fifth inning and remaining near perfect for the rest of the game. Other than a double to Pujols -- who tends to get his no matter who's pitching -- no one could do a thing against the guy. The Cardinals didn't even make him work, as he threw 95 pitches in a complete game.

Not that this was anything new. Over his last four starts he's 3-1 (three complete games) with a 1.03 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 37-3. Dude won the Cy Young last year. Though 16 starts in 2008 he was 8-1 with a 2.54 ERA and K/BB ratio of 103-40. Through 16 starts this year he's 8-2 with a 2.37 ERA and a K/BB ratio of 132-28. Anyone doubt that he's going to win the Cy Young again?

With nasty stuff like that Lincecum could be excused for being a bit cocky. Not that he's the least bit cocky. Here he is after yesterday's game:

When I saw the lineup card today, I thought they're throwing some pretty good guys out there. But then I thought, 'I'm good. I'm here for a reason. I can get these guys out if I make my pitches the way I need to' . . . This game can be humbling. The second you go out there thinking that you're hot s-, then they hit four home runs off you. That's the last thing I want to do. I'm not getting ahead of myself. I'm not thinking I'm going to shut anybody down because of what I did. It's what I'm doing now.

And what he's doing is shutting everybody down.

White Sox 6, Indians 3: Nice Indians' debut for Chris Perez: He hit the first two batters he faced, walked the bases loaded and then gave up a fielder's choice, an RBI double, a wild pitch and run-scoring single. One of the guys he hit -- Alexei Ramirez -- took it in the head and had to leave the game. Congratulations, Mark Shapiro and Eric Wedge! After fifteen years of respectability, you have finally brought the Indians back around full-circle to "Major League" territory, complete with Rick Vaughn on the mound.

Cubs 3, Pirates 1: Rich Harden was impressive, striking out nine and giving up only one run -- while scattering nine hits -- over seven innings. Phil Rogers will likely call for the Cubs to waive him tomorrow. In other news, this may have been the perfect Craig day at the ballpark: small crowd, weekday game, not too hot, good pitching, done in 2:17. Really makes me wish I was there. I can almost taste the Yuengling.

Rays 4, Blue Jays 1: Roy Halladay came back and was good (6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 7K), but not good enough. Carl Crawford hit a two-run homer, got another hit and stole a base. Pat Burrell too. The homer I mean. If he stole a base I probably would have led with that.

Red Sox 4, Orioles 0: Jon Lester was fantastic (7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 8K) and J.D. Drew homered, tripled, and singled, driving in two. "Baltimore citizenry welcome Boston conquerors: 'we kept your rooms just the way you left them'." The Red Sox are 22-9 at Camden Yards since the end of 2005 and have won eight straight there.

Giants 10, Cardinals 0: Holy crap, Tim Lincecum is good (CG, SHO, 2 H, 8K, 0 BB). Clayton Mortensen hitting Aaron Roward on the knee with a pitch in the seventh was the hardest hit the Cardinals had all night.

Marlins 4, Nationals 2: Florida vs. Washington, on a Monday night in Miami, with a rain delay. It says that paid attendance was over 10,000. What do you suppose the real attendance was. Seventeen? Thirty?

Brewers 10, Mets 6: According to the Journal-Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt, Gary Sheffield was booed heavily each time he came to bat. Sheffield was traded away from Milwaukee over seventeen years ago. Sure, he left as a very, very unpopular Brewer, having called out the team's pitchers and allegedly tanked plays at third base on purpose. Either way, though, seventeen years is a long time to hold a grudge, isn't it? Willie Randolph was the starting second basemen and Jim Gantner was the starting third baseman on Sheff's last Brewer club. Rick Dempsey was on that roster. Maybe they should let it go, ya know?

Royals 4, Twins 2: Luke Hochevar has had one dawg of a start since his recall on June 6th, but the others have been aces, including this one (7 IP, 2 H. 0 ER). Like J.D. Drew in the Red Sox game, Miguel Olivo came a double short of the cycle, driving in two runs.

Angels 5, Rangers 4: The Angels are starting to pull away from Texas. This saddens me because I think I may have been the only person in the free world who picked Texas to win the west before the season started and I don't want to see them slide out of contention. Kendry Morales and Juan Rivera did the damage for Anaheim, driving in a pair each.

Astros 3, Padres 1: Roy Oswalt's still got it (CG, 2 H, 1 ER 8K), as he continues to own San Diego.

Athletics 7, Tigers 1: Rick Porcello was beat up by an A's offense that doesn't beat up many, giving up five runs on nine hits. This is one of the better passages from a game story this year: "After Porcello was chased, left-hander Fu-Te Ni struck out Giambi in his major league debut. Ni didn't know who Giambi was, and he raised his eyebrows in surprise when told of Giambi's achievements."

Dodgers 4, Rockies 2: The Dodgers win it on a walkoff homer by Andre Ethier, but it sure took a while to get there. The Dodgers used eight pitchers, so Joe Torre is probably going to be sore today from all of that walking back and forth to the mound.

Placed on the disabled list last week with a bone bruise in his right knee, Carlos Beltran is currently in Colorado being examined by the same doctor who did Alex Rodriguez's hip surgery. Assistant general manager John Ricco denied Monday that surgery has been discussed as an option for Beltran, but also described the injury as "a bruise that gets bigger" and "could develop into a microfracture."

Coincidentally, microfracture surgery happens to be Dr. Richard Steadman's big specialty, which has the media in New York speculating that surgery is indeed an option for Beltran. For now at least the trip to Colorado is merely Beltran seeking a second opinion and the Mets don't think that the injury has progressed that far, but there's plenty of reason to be concerned and he's not close to returning.

While the Mets lose their fourth game in a row to fall below .500, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Gordon Beckham began his big-league career by going 0-for-13, at which point one of the Chicago-area newspapers amusingly quoted an anonymous scout as saying that "he's got to change his swing." In other words, never mind the terrific college career and rapid rise through the minors, he failed to get a hit in his first four games!

Beckham has predictably gotten on track since then, singling in each of his three at-bats Monday to make him 15-for-43 (.349) with a homer and three doubles in his last 14 games. It remains to be seen if Beckham will develop significant pop, but everything in his track record suggests that he'll hit for a nice batting average and control the strike zone while posting a strong on-base percentage.

* Ricky Nolasco was demoted to Triple-A last month after going 2-5 with a 9.07 ERA through nine starts, but his 37/13 K/BB ratio in 44 innings suggested that he wasn't pitching as badly as the bloated ERA showed. Sure enough he's had six solid starts in a row since rejoining the Marlins, including eight innings of two-run ball Monday. He's now 3-1 with a 1.91 ERA and 33/5 K/BB ratio since returning.

* Gavin Floyd was one of my "bust" picks coming into the season and seemed to be headed down that path as he went 2-4 with a 7.71 ERA through eight outings. However, he's turned things around in a big way since then and after tossing 7.2 shutout innings Monday now has a 1.28 ERA and 30/11 K/BB ratio in 42 innings this month. Looking beyond ERA, he's actually pitching better than last season.

AL Quick Hits: Josh Outman will miss the remainder of this season and possibly much of 2010 following elbow surgery Tuesday ... Alexei Ramirez left Monday's game after being hit on the helmet by a Chris Perez pitch, but said afterward that he should be fine ... Roy Halladay came off the disabled list with six solid innings Monday, but lost his matchup to Jeff Niemann ... Carl Crawford went 2-for-3 with a homer and swiped his 40th base Monday ... Josh Hamilton (abdomen) began a rehab assignment Monday at Double-A, going 1-for-4 with a steal ... Gil Meche (arm) threw a bullpen session Monday and declared himself fit to make his start Wednesday ... Jon Lester shut out the Orioles for seven innings Monday, striking out eight and walking zero ... Luke Hochevar tossed seven shut innings Monday and has sliced his ERA from 10.80 to 4.96 this month ... Jed Lowrie's bruised knee continues to stall his recovery from wrist surgery.

NL Quick Hits: Tim Lincecum allowed two hits and walked zero in his third career complete-game shutout Monday ... Aramis Ramirez (shoulder) is slated to begin rehabbing Thursday in the hopes of rejoining the Cubs after 20-25 at-bats ... J.J. Hardy went 4-for-4 with a homer and two doubles Monday ... Colby Rasmus was scratched from Monday's game with a stomach ailment ... Roy Oswalt used just 110 pitches for a complete-game win Monday ... Manny Ramirez will complete his minor-league stint Tuesday before returning from suspension Friday ... Antonio Bastardo (shoulder) landed on the disabled list Monday, but there's no timetable yet for his return ... Rich Harden scattered nine hits while giving up one run over seven innings Monday, striking out nine .... Scott Olsen returned to the rotation Monday with seven innings of two-run ball ... Fernando Nieve took his first loss Monday while giving up 11 hits in 3.1 innings ... Raul Ibanez (groin) is unlikely to come off the DL when eligible Friday.

Four weeks ago, I projected the following roster for the NL All-Star team (starters in bold):

C - Yadier Molina, Brian McCann, Bengie Molina
1B - Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez
2B - Chase Utley, Orlando Hudson, Freddy Sanchez
3B - David Wright, Ryan Zimmerman, Chipper Jones
SS - Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez
OF - Ryan Braun, Raul Ibanez, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Beltran, Justin Upton, Adam Dunn, Brad Hawpe
P - Johan Santana, Chad Billingsley, Tim Lincecum, Yovani Gallardo, Wandy Rodriguez, Josh Johnson, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Rodriguez, Jonathan Broxton, Heath Bell, Trevor Hoffman, Francisco Cordero

Let's look at the new vote totals and put together a better guess now.

Catchers

Starter: Yadier Molina
Backups: Brian McCann, Bengie Molina

If three catchers are chosen, it figures to be the same trio. Yadier Molina has a nice edge on McCann in the balloting (1.85 million to 1.46 million), and McCann is a lock to be on the team either way. There aren't any other catchers truly deserving of a spot, but Bengie leads the field in RBI and his team is playing very well.

First basemen

Starter: Albert Pujols
Backups: Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder

I went with just the two first basemen in the first projection, but it's going to be very difficult to deny Fielder and Gonzalez is still very deserving, even if he's no longer hitting a homer a day. My guess is that Pujols and Gonzalez will be named to the team and Fielder will win the fan vote for the last spot on the roster. It's just too bad there's no DH. Ideally, Pujols would get to play the entire game at Busch Stadium, but that can't happen now.

Second basemen

Starter: Chase Utley
Backups: Brandon Phillips, Freddy Sanchez

I'm still going with the three second basemen, but Phillips is replacing Orlando Hudson for one of the spots. Hudson has been just as valuable this year, but Phillips has the sexier numbers, with his 11 homers and 51 RBI. Sanchez makes a ton of sense as the lone Pirate on the team, though Zach Duke also has a case.

Third basemen

Starter: David Wright
Backups: Mark Reynolds

Wright has locked up the starting spot, leaving quite a competition for perhaps just one reserve spot. Reynolds (916 OPS, 21 HR, 54 RBI), Pablo Sandoval (965 OPS, 11 HR, 38 RBI), Chipper Jones (884 OPS, 9 HR, 33 RBI) and Ryan Zimmerman (861 OPS, 12 HR, 43 RBI) are all deserving, and Zimmerman has the big advantage in that he could be the only National selected. Reynolds will probably make the squad, and Chipper's career should outweigh Sandoval's hot streak if the NL finds room for three third basemen.

Shortstops

Starter: Hanley Ramirez
Backup: Miguel Tejada

The balloting was very close between Jimmy Rollins and Ramirez when it was time to make the first projection, and I had Rollins winning the vote. Now that Ramirez has a 255,000-vote lead, we no longer have to worry about that possibility, and Rollins has no chance of making the squad as a backup with the way he's performed. Tejada is hitting .330 and has driven in 41 runs, giving him a pretty good case for the backup job. Besides Ramirez and Tejada, Troy Tulowitzki is the only NL shortstop with an 800 OPS.

Outfielders

Starters: Ryan Braun, Raul Ibanez, Carlos Beltran
Backups: Justin Upton, Adam Dunn, Brad Hawpe, Matt Kemp

I'd like to cut an outfielder to make room for a third third baseman, but seven figure to go.

The last outfield spot would seem to be the only one still up for grabs in the NL. The injured Beltran currently has a 170,000-vote edge on the struggling Alfonso Soriano. Beltran might not be able to play even if he does win the vote, but I'm still rooting for him. Not only is Soriano undeserving, but his addition would likely cause the NL to put two center fielders on the bench and none have truly earned in. Kemp is a stretch for one spot, and Shane Victorino would likely be next in line.

If Beltran is on the team, then we could have a situation in which the NL's top six outfielders in OPS are all represented. Ibanez is first, followed by Hawpe, Braun, Upton, Beltran and Dunn.

Pitchers

Starters: Dan Haren, Tim Lincecum, Chad Billingsley, Johan Santana, Matt Cain, Javier Vazquez
Relievers: Francisco Rodriguez, Jonathan Broxton, Heath Bell, Trevor Hoffman, Francisco Cordero, Ryan Franklin

Now that we're closer to the game, we can see what starters might be unavailable to pitch in the All-Star Game because they're scheduled to work the Sunday before. Matt Cain, Josh Johnson, Yovani Gallardo, Johnny Cueto, Adam Wainwright all appear set to pitch then and could be scratched from consideration as a result. For that reason, I'm going with six starters and six relievers. Too many of the deserving starters are likely to be unable to pitch.

Gary Matthews Jr. stole home yesterday. As evidenced by the photo to the right, he's also adept at robbing people of home runs. He's not going to be able to rip off the mother of the child he had back in 2004 anymore, however:

An Arizona woman is entitled to the level of child support she would receive if she had lived with the father, pro baseball player Gary Matthews Jr., an Arizona appeals court ruled. The trial court ordered Matthews to pay Jamie Hunt $1,561 for the child they had in 2004. Matthews' salary is $10 million per year. He also had to pay for the child's medical, day care and private school expenses.

Hunt sought a higher amount on appeal, and Judge Hall agreed.

Dude makes $10 million and he is forcing the mother of his child to mount an extended court battle to raise child support above $1,500 a month? Interesting choice on his part. A better choice, however, would have been for Matthews to step up and come to an agreement with the mother that would have corresponded with the law's requirement that child support be based upon the combined income of the parents.

Freakonomics -- the book, the blog, the phenomenon -- is basically about applying economic theory to non-traditional things. Things like parenting and sumo and the Ku Klux Klan and what have you. It's pretty interesting stuff, actually, that reminds people that economics is way more about social and behavioral science than it is about money and numbers.

Freakonomics author Stephen Dubner was at the Mets-Yankees game last night, and he wonders why Yankees and Mets fans are so darn economically inefficient when it comes to their cheers and taunts:

A pattern quickly emerged. The many Yankees fans regularly broke into their thunderous cheer: "Let's go Yankees!" (clap-clap-clap-clap ... clap-clap). If you are a Yankees fan (we are; but we do not hate the Mets), this was a sign of what might be called prideful hubris, or maybe hubristic pride: we can come into your stadium and rock it very, very hard.

How'd the Mets fans respond? Succinctly. In the space where the Yankees fans did their rhythmic clapping, Mets fans shouted "Yankees suck!" . . .This pattern was repeated all night. What surprised me is that neither side found a way to improve their effort. I kept waiting for the Yankees fans to fill in their clapping with some chanting that couldn't be hijacked by the Mets fans, and I kept waiting for the Mets fans to either be proactive in their chanting or to move beyond "Yankees suck!" But neither side budged . . . I fear not that we are teaching our children to be coarse but that we are teaching them to be uncreative and unskilled in the use of game theory.

I can think of no greater indictment of the new expensive ballparks in New York than the fact that they have priced out one of the greatest forces of nature in the universe: verbally abusive, yet incredibly clever New York baseball fans.

Kent Hrbek, gushing about, Target Field, the Twins' future home:

"I went to see it about a month ago. When I stepped on the field I got chills on my spine. It almost made me want to get the (uniform) off the wall and play again . . . It will be fun to have outdoor baseball here again. [Target Field] is more than a baseball stadium. It's a great venue. There is so much to see, it's a place where people might not even realize there's a baseball game going on."

Call me crazy, but I think that the definition of a good ballpark is one in which baseball, rather than people watching or generalized farting around, is the purpose of being there. If someone can go to Target Field and not realize that a ballgame is going on, the folks who designed Target Field have failed and failed miserably.

(link via BTF)

Sticking with the Cubs, the Tribune's Phil Rogers has a suggestion:

Get Carlos Zambrano out of here, even if the Cubs have to give him away. He's not the guy you want as the ace of a curse-busting team, and at this point, it's wishful thinking that he'll ever mature into that guy.

Proving that I did not attend Kellogg, Wharton or even the Acme School of Business, I offer this proposition for Jim Hendry: First thing Monday morning, put Zambrano on waivers. If anyone claims him and the $62.75 million left on his contract, which runs through 2012, immediately trade him for whatever is being offered, from a bag of balls to a 32-year-old minor-leaguer.

I didn't say a good suggestion.

Setting aside the fact that there are no revocable waivers right now, which means that if someone claims Zambrano he's gone, this is a loopy idea borne more of a columnist with writer's block than anything approaching good baseball sense. Zambrano is no man's idea of a calming influence, but he's pitching more or less the same way he always does. A little better by some measures, actually, and he is certainly not the reason why the Cubs are in the trouble they are right now.

It's one thing to complain that he gets too much money for what he produces -- and he probably is a bit overpaid, actually -- but suggesting you get rid of the guy? Please.

The Milton Bradley-Lou Piniella brouhaha erupted and then more or less resolved itself over the weekend, with the name-calling apparently ending on Saturday and the rapprochement beginning (now they're searching for the leaks). But before we let all of that go, I have to focus for a second on one part of this, and that's one of the things cited in Saturday's Sun-Times article detailing the meltdown:

From the front office to the clubhouse, Cubs personnel sympathize with Bradley's frustration, and nobody blames him for struggling. But an apparent preoccupation with his individual issues over the team's efforts to shake a first-half malaise has worn on teammates, even down to things as simple as working close pitches for walks with runners on base when putting the ball in play with less than two outs might score a rare and needed run.

Is this really a valid reason to be angry at Bradley? That he's trying to get on base? It's be one thing if he were ignoring bunt signs or something (not that I'd bunt with Bradley, but hey, directions are directions) but trying to get on base is pretty much an unequivocal positive, isn't it?

I think the final takeaway from all of this is that, for all of his craziness, there is a pretty rational and self-aware dude somewhere inside of Milton Bradley. Here he is on Saturday, when asked whether Piniella's yelling at him was unfair given that there are a lot of hotheads on that Cubs team:

"Like I've said, I don't have the same set of rules as other people. I've committed mistakes in my past to where you don't get the leeway other guys might get. To a certain extent, I guess that's fair."

(thanks to reader Arun Gupta for catching the on-base bit)

In the beginning Matt Wieters created the heavens and the Earth.

No, that's not true. But if you listed to all of the hype since spring you'd be forgiven for thinking so. It's been years since a rookie has been talked up as much as Wieters has been. Even his teammates contributed to the circus.

But a funny thing happened on the way to immortality: Wieters has proved human.

Twenty-one games into his big league career he's at .243/.300/.405. Yesterday he dropped a ball at home plate, turning a sure out into a run for the Nationals. Overall, he's thrown out just two of 15 base stealers and has committed three errors in less than a month. As Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun notes, Wieters isn't even the best rookie on his team. In fact, he may not even be the second best:

The way things are going right now, Wieters (.234 average, two homers, six RBIs) is not the Orioles' best candidate for Rookie of the Year. Outfielder Nolan Reimold (.286, 9 homers, 20 RBIs) is, with pitcher Brad Bergesen (5-2, 3.76 ERA) also ahead of the backstop.

Connolly believes that Wieters will start hitting and playing better defense soon. So do I, because the kid is just too good not to. But his early struggles are an excellent reminder that baseball is a really hard game with a learning curve to which almost no one is immune.

Not even deities.

Reds 8, Indians 1: It was Brandon Phillips' birthday and he beat up his old team to celebrate (3-5, 3 RBI). But he overplayed it: "It's good to have a game like I did today, especially on my birthday and against the guys you used to play for. Today, I was like, 'I'm going to show the Indians what they missed out on.'" Please, Brandon. They gave you 462 major league plate appearances and you gave them .206/.246/.310. They also gave you parts of four seasons in Buffalo, and you gave them 269/.329/.411. It's nice of you to show them what they missed out on, but maybe if you had showed some of it, oh, 5, 6, 7 years ago, you'd be the starting second baseman for the Indians today. But happy birthday anyway.

Braves 2, Red Sox 1: Look, you can spin it any way you want to, Boston fans, but you got beat by a kid with a mullet yesterday. But he's a good kid. Hanson's last three starts: 17.1 IP, 9 hits, 0 ER. And that ain't against no tomato cans, neither: that's against the Red Sox, the Yankees, and the Reds in that playpen they call a ballpark.

Yankees 4, Mets 2: Mariano Rivera got his 500th save. More impressive: he drew a bases-loaded walk, giving him his first career RBI in 15 seasons. Francisco Rodriguez gave it up, which in some cosmic way illustrates the vast gulf between those two pitchers in my mind. How do you walk Mariano Rivera? Nerves is all I can think, and you can bet your ass that if the situation was reversed, Rivera would never have walked Rodriguez, because Rivera's body temperature runs at a constant 57 degrees.

White Sox 6, Cubs 0: Jon Danks shut out the Cubbies over seven innings, and the bullpen handled the last two. One of the few reasons I'm sad that the interleague season is over is that it will provide fewer opportunities for Ozzie Guillen to talk smack to Cubs' fans. Here he was over the weekend: "White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was asked why attendance was so low at the Sox-Dodgers series, and said: "Because our fans are not stupid like Cubs fans. They know we're (expletive)." Guillen said Cubs fans will go watch any game at Wrigley Field because "Wrigley Field is just a bar."

Phillies 5, Blue Jays 4: You hate to throw this out there on a day he won, but to me it's the most interesting thing that came out of this game: Jamie Moyer, who allowed three home runs, has now allowed 483 in his career, passing Phil Niekro for third all-time. He's a lock to pass Fergie Jenkins, who is in second place at 484, but he's almost certainly going to need to go into next season to beat out Robin Roberts for that all time lead at 505. He's under contract for 2010, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see him hold on and take the record.

Royals 3, Pirates 2: Greinke wins his 10th and, thanks to a rain delay, gets a bit of a rest too, coming out in the seventh after throwing only 80 pitches. The Pirates' highlight of the day didn't come in Pittsburgh: "Ian Snell, the former Pirates' No. 2 starter who was demoted Thursday after deciding he needed a change of scenery, struck out 13 in a row after walking the leadoff batter Sunday for Triple-A Indianapolis against Toledo. He finished with 17 Ks and two hits allowed in seven innings, throwing 70 of 108 pitches for strikes. Indianapolis won 2-1 in 10 innings." I think that (a) he probably needs to come back to Pittsburgh; and (b) if I struck out 17 guys in a game and got a no-decision I'd be pretty damn pissed.

Nationals 5, Orioles 3: Adam Dunn hit a home run that reached the B&O warehouse on the bounce, traveling an estimated 442 feet. The Nats got another run when Josh Willingham scored on a single. He was dead to rights at home plate, but Matt Wieters dropped the ball, missing the tag. Which leads to a theological question: Can Matt Weiters allow himself to make an error? If so, then it seems that he could cease to be omnipotent. But if not -- if he is somehow precluded from allowing himself error -- perhaps he is not omnipotent to begin with. Think about that one for a minute and get back to me. Either way, though, the answer to this question is less important than the act of asking it. You see, Matt Weiters is sitting at .234/.289/.390, which means that I have to use up all of these Wieters = God jokes quickly, because they're rapidly approaching their expiration date.

Tigers 4, Astros 3: I made fun of Russ Ortiz quite a bit early in the season, but he just finished with a 1.90 ERA for June. I even added the dude to my Scoresheet team, though that probably tells you more about the quality of my Scoresheet team than it does Russ Ortiz. He got a no-decision here, but for that he can blame Edwin Jackson and the Astros' bats. Brandon Inge hit a two-run homer off Jose Valverde with two outs in the ninth inning to win it.

Rays 5, Marlins 2: David Price bounces back after a hellish outing against the Phillies, this time holding the Marlins to one run on two hits in six and a third. That makes five straight wins for the Rays, who after seventy some-odd games of fooling around now look ready to make a serious run in the second half.

Twins 6, Cardinals 2: The extent to which the Cardinals have been a one man gang this year was illustrated by the fact that their new edition -- super ute Mark DeRosa -- hit cleanup in his first game with the team. Mark DeRosa has been a lot of things in his career, but a cleanup hitter has never really been one of them. In fact, before yesterday, he had only started four games as a cleanup hitter in his entire career. Of course, three of those came this year with the Indians, which tells you the dire offensive straits they've been in as well.

Mariners 4, Dodgers 2: L.A. has lost four of five, but they can get away with it with their lead. More interesting "the Dodgers hadn't decided whether they'll discipline reliever Ronald Belisario after the 26-year-old rookie was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of DUI in Pasadena." I anxiously await the Bill Plaschke column in which he decries the horrible example set by Belisario and declares that whatever punishment the Dodgers mete out to him is insufficient. Because clearly Plaschke thinks that drunk driving is worse than steroid use, doesn't he?

Rockies 3, Athletics 1: The A's have dropped five in a row. As for the Rockies, Aaron Cook has been somethin' special recently, giving up a single run in four of his last five starts.

Angels 12, Diamondbacks 8: A straight steal of home by Gary Matthews, Jr. was pretty spiffy. Four Arizona errors were not. The Angels finish interleague play 14-4, including an 8-1 mark in NL parks.

Padres 2, Rangers 0: Chad Gaudin allowed one hit over eight innings for the Padres. The box score says it was 99 degrees at game time. Seems like it's always hot down there, no matter when you come. It's the kind of heat that holds you like a mama holds her son. Tight when he tries to walk, even tighter if he runs.

Giants 7, Brewers 0: Ryan Sadowski (who?) stymies the Brewers in his major league debut (6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER). He's bumped Jonathan Sanchez to the pen. Sanchez must have been mad: he plunked Prince Fielder and then struck out the side in his one inning of work.

Do you think Chris Davis should start at first base for the AL in the All-Star game? Would you like to see Manny Ramirez in the NL outfield? Well you better get busy, because time is running out on your ballot-stuffing opportunities.

The cutoff mark for voting for the July 14 game in St. Louis is Thursday night at 11:59 p.m. ET. That gives you four full days to get Willie Bloomquist a spot in the AL lineup. If it doesn't happen, it's all your fault, because you won't find an election this easy to influence outside of Iran.*

*This is not true: Everyone is allowed to vote 25 times, which really only serves to inflate the total numbers. Now if only, say, Pirates fans were allowed to vote 25 times, and everyone else only once, then we would have a scandal. (pick a LaRoche brother, any LaRoche brother!)

So log on to MLB.com and let your voice be heard. Rock the vote!

From a more serious angle, there are some interesting races in the final days of voting. (You can see the AL numbers here), and the NL numbers here.)

In the AL, you have the Yankees' Mark Teixeira with a lead of less than 40,000 votes over the Red Sox's Kevin Youkilis at first base. And Texas' Ian Kinsler with about a 60,000-vote lead on Boston's Dustin Pedroia at second base.

The NL appears to be more settled, with the closest race being between Carlos Beltran and Alfonso Soriano for the third outfield spot.

The aforementioned Ramirez, currently on suspension and starring for the Inland Empire 66ers, is languishing in 6th place among NL outfielders. Though he does have the most votes of any current member of the California League. So he's got that going for him, which is nice.

FIVE SERIES TO WATCH

• Rays at Blue Jays, June 29-July 1: The great Roy Halladay returns from the DL for Toronto on Monday. Both of these teams are solid, but neither one has been able to mount an attack on the Red Sox in the AL East. This series could give us an idea if it will happen at all.
• Angels at Rangers, June 29-July 1: The Angels, riding a five-game winning streak, have finally take over first place in the AL West. Now Texas has a chance to take it back.
• Brewers at Cubs, July 2-5: If ever there was a chance to throw the simmering Cubs' clubhouse into a full-blown meltdown, the Brewers have it with this four-game series.
• Mets at Phillies, July 3-5: For all their struggles and injuries the Mets still enter the week only two games behind their NL East rivals. Can they make up ground?
• Mariners at Red Sox, July 3-5: The Mariners should have been preparing a fire sale. Yet here they are, entering the week just three games out of first place despite dealing with a host of injuries and a two-man offense (Ichiro and Russell Branyan). Will they still be there after this week?

ON THE TUBE Monday, 7:08 p.m. ET: Mets at Brewers (ESPN)
Wednesday, 8:15 p.m.: Giants at Cardinals (ESPN)
*Saturday, 4:10 p.m.: Tigers at Twins (FOX)
*Saturday, 4:10 p.m.: Mets at Phillies (FOX)
*Saturday, 4:10 p.m.: Dodgers at Padres (FOX)
Sunday, 1 p.m.: All-Star selection show (TBS)
Sunday, 2 p.m.: Brewers at Cubs (TBS)
Sunday, 8:05 p.m.: Rays at Rangers (ESPN) *Check local listings

Acquired from Cleveland for Chris Perez plus a player to be named later, Mark DeRosa jumped right into St. Louis' cleanup spot Sunday and went 0-for-3 with a walk hitting behind Albert Pujols. While not a prototypical cleanup hitter, DeRosa has batted .280/.364/.473 with 34 homers and 43 doubles since the beginning of last year, compared to the measly .220/.297/.387 produced behind Pujols so far.

He's a nice pickup for the Cardinals, who can either re-sign him or take draft pick compensation if he leaves as a free agent. Depending on the PTBNL the Indians also did fairly well cashing in a guy they acquired this winter for three mediocre prospects, because Perez is a 23-year-old with a 3.72 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 65 innings as a big leaguer and should be a quality setup man or closer option.

While the Cardinals help a lineup that beyond Pujols has hit just .248 with a .381 slugging percentage, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Antonio Bastardo has been scratched from his scheduled Wednesday start with shoulder soreness and has left the team to undergo further tests, so Philadelphia will call up Carlos Carrasco to fill in. He's been the Phillies' top pitching prospect for years, but Carrasco's stats haven't quite matched the hype with a 4.14 ERA and 239/83 K/BB ratio in 237 innings between Double-A and Triple-A since 2008.

* Josh Outman's promising rookie year may be finished after Oakland transferred him to the 60-day disabled list Sunday. He had been sent to the 15-day DL last week with a sprained left elbow and there's speculation that he may be headed for season-ending Tommy John surgery that would knock him out into the middle of 2010. He'll meet with Dr. James Andrews before any decision is made.

* Adrian Beltre and the Mariners have already decided that he'll undergo surgery to remove bone spurs from his left shoulder, but haven't settled on an exact date yet. In the meantime he's still playing, starting at third base and knocking in a run Sunday, but the surgery is expected to sideline him for at least a month and take place at some point this week. Chris Woodward seems like the probable fill in.

* Xavier Nady had to remove himself from a minor-league rehab game Thursday after experiencing pain in his partially torn elbow ligament and reportedly may be headed for Tommy John surgery. While the operation isn't as bad for hitters, he'd be finished for this year and questionable for the first few months of 2010, so the impending free agent may be done with the Yankees.

AL Quick Hits: Josh Hamilton (abdomen) is expected to start a rehab assignment Monday at Double-A ... Zack Greinke was limited to 6.1 innings Sunday due to a rain delay, but picked up his 10th victory ... Asdrubal Cabrera returned from the disabled list Sunday less than four weeks after suffering an ugly looking shoulder injury ... Francisco Liriano turned in perhaps his best start of the season Sunday with seven innings of two-run ball ... Aaron Hill went deep twice Sunday and has already set a career-high with 19 on the year ... Adam Kennedy slid to third base Sunday with Mark Ellis coming off the DL ... David Price gave up just one run in 6.1 innings Sunday, but again struggled with his control by walking five ... Alexei Ramirez went 3-for-5 with a homer Sunday and is batting .301 with nine homers in his last 40 games ... John Danks shut out the Cubs for seven innings Sunday for his fourth straight Quality Start ... Reports suggest that impending free agent Jason Bay is close to beginning long-term contract talks with the Red Sox.

NL Quick Hits: Jamie Moyer moved past Bob Gibson into 45th place all time with his 252nd career victory Sunday ... Kyle Lohse (forearm) is expected to begin a rehab assignment Thursday at Double-A ... Nate Schierholtz went 4-for-5 with a homer Sunday and is hitting .312 with nine extra-base hits in 22 starts ... Tommy Hanson improved to 4-0 with six scoreless innings Sunday and hasn't allowed a run in three starts ... Ryan Sadowski tossed six shutout innings in his big-league debut Sunday, getting a dozen outs on the ground ... Despite leading the team in wins, Shairon Martis is being bounced from the rotation to make room for Scott Olsen ... Ryan Doumit (wrist) is slated to start rehabbing Tuesday at Single-A in the hopes of returning next week ... Aaron Cook tossed eight innings of one-run ball Sunday, with Huston Street closing out his eighth win ... Max Scherzer gave up eight runs Sunday, but only three were earned.

Darren Dreifort is going to be honored with induction into the national surgery hall of fame.

Actually, the oft-injured and frequently maligned former Dodgers pitcher will be entering the College Baseball Hall of Fame. But is there any doubt he could qualify for both?

The L.A. Times notes that Dreifort will be inducted on Friday in Lubbock, Texas, assuming, in his words, "whether I can walk, or how well I'm getting around."

It's nice to see the right-hander honored for his accomplishments at Wichita State, but is a painful reminder for Dodgers fans of how injuries derailed the career of a promising pitcher chosen one spot behind Alex Rodriguez in the 1993 draft. The Dodgers paid Dreifort nearly $64 million over the course of his career, including a $55 million deal before the 2001 season. For all that money, they got a 48-60 record and 274 appearances as a starter and reliever over parts of 11 seasons.

The grisly details:

And even though retired, his luck has not changed.

These days, Dreifort appears to be in peak condition, dressed for an interview in shorts, a tight T-shirt and running shoes. He notes, however, that he experiences almost constant pain.

"I'm doing nothing," he says on the eve of his most recent visit to the operating room, "and I'm still having surgery."

Disastrous.

It's the word I used to describe the Royals' offseason at the time that they made their one positive move. It is likely that getting Zack Greinke signed to a four-year deal likely will benefit the Royals' long-term future more than the rest of the moves combined will take away from it. Still, it didn't have to be like this.

Let's review. Here are all the notable moves the team made over the winter:

10/30/2008 - Acquired first baseman Mike Jacobs from the Marlins for RHP Leo Nunez.

Jacobs went on to avoid arbitration by signing for $3.275 million. Nunez, who had a 2.98 ERA in 48 1/3 innings in 2008, is making $415,000.

11/19/2008 - Acquired outfielder Coco Crisp from the Red Sox for RHP Ramon Ramirez.

Crisp arrived sporting a $5.75 million salary in the final guaranteed year of his contract. The Royals have the choice of keeping him $8 million in 2010 or buying him out for $500,000. Ramirez, who had a 2.64 ERA in 71 2/3 innings in 2008, is making $441,000.

Neither trade was necessarily awful in isolation. Jacobs was coming off a 32-homer season, and Crisp had the potential to really improve the Royals' defense. The salaries were perfectly reasonable for both veterans. The big problem was that the Royals had to decimate their bullpen depth to get him.

12/11/2008 - Signed LHP Horacio Ramirez to a one-year, $1.8 million contract.

The first of two completely unreasonable moves. One could actually justify giving Ramirez a major league deal to pitch in relief, but the Royals signed him to start and gave him a rotation spot even after he performed as poorly as any player in the Cactus League. Fortunately, they did replace him after just one turn through the rotation, cutting their losses.

12/11/2008 - Signed RHP Doug Waechter to a one-year, $640,000 contract.

Waechter has been limited to three relief appearances this season by an elbow injury.

12/13/2008 - Signed RHP Kyle Farnsworth to a two-year, $9.25 million contract with a club option for 2011.

The second horrific move. The market for average relievers had already been set when Bob Howry jumped on a one-year, $2.75 million offer from the Giants. It never became clear what team the Royals competed against to sign Farnsworth.

12/16/2008 - Re-signed LHP John Bale to a one-year, $1.2 million contract.

Bale was rarely healthy and only moderately effective during his first two seasons with the Royals. Kansas City did make him take a modest paycut, but it was still $1.2 million that could have been better spent elsewhere. Bale has allowed five runs in nine innings while healthy this season.

1/9/2009 - Signed infielder-outfielder Willie Bloomquist to a two-year, $3.1 million contract.

The Royals could no longer afford a real replacement for Mark Grudzielanek as a result of their other moves. Throwing $1.5 million per season at a 25th man, though, that was doable.

1/26/2009 - Agreed to terms with RHP Zack Greinke on a four-year, $38 million contract.

The shining star.

2/10/2009 - Signed RHP Jamey Wright to a minor league contract.

Just in case the rest of the moves didn't pan out. Which they haven't, of course, and which is why Wright is likely going to throw 70+ innings for a major league team for the 13th time in 14 seasons.

2/28/2009 - Signed RHP Juan Cruz to a two-year, $6 million contract with a club option for 2011; forfeited 2009 second-round pick.

It was hard to argue with this one. Cruz would have done better financially if not for the draft pick issue, and the Royals were able to get him without surrendering their first-rounder. Unfortunately, it's another move that hasn't really worked out, as Cruz has struggled mightily over the last few weeks and is currently sporting a 5.46 ERA.

3/09/09 - Released infielder Esteban German.

3/18/09 - Released LHP Jimmy Gobble.

The Royals could have non-tendered both in December, but they kept them and ended up surrendering termination pay in March. That's another $425,000 completely wasted.

It's not pretty going line by line, and the big picture is even worse. Jacobs and Crisp may have salaries totaling $9.025 million this year, but the Royals are paying so much more for them, since it was the losses of Nunez and Ramirez that led to the Farnsworth and Cruz signings. Those two relievers are making $6.5 million this season and $7.75 million in 2010. Nunez and Ramirez are earning $850,000 this year and probably won't clear $3 million next year in their first seasons of arbitration eligibility. The Royals had both under control through 2012. Odds are that none of the four aforementioned acquisitions will still be around in 2011.

And Moore made the moves so quickly. He wouldn't have had to overpay to bring quality free agents to Kansas City. Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, Orlando Hudson, Orlando Cabrera… they would have taken Moore's money. The Royals had interest in Hudson and Cabrera, but they were already out of cash by the time their prices had come down. It turned out that Moore had as much to spend as all but a few teams, yet he badly misread the market and didn't get a single bargain.

So, was disaster too strong? Probably once the Greinke signing got done. While so little has worked out, nothing here rivals the Jose Guillen signing in handcuffing the Royals' fortunes for the long-term. Still, I think it's enough to put together a legitimate case for dismissing Moore. He hasn't rebuilt the minor league system as hoped, and for a small-market GM, he's thrown a ridiculous amount of money down the drain. The Royals have a deserving replacement in the fold in Mike Arbuckle, who was very well regarded for his work in Philadelphia. It's time they try someone new.

The Big Hurt is ready to face reality:

Frank Thomas said he's getting close to announcing his retirement, and the 41-year-old slugger said he's having fun being a member of the media. The Chicago White Sox's all-time leader in home runs, RBI and runs, finished last season with the Oakland A's and hasn't been picked up this season.

"That percent right now [that I'll play again] is probably about five percent, since we're so deep into the season now," Thomas said on ESPN 1000. "But I'm still in shape, ready to go, if anything happens. But I'm getting close to announcing my retirement because I just turned 41. I just want to make sure that it's the move I really want to make. I don't want to be one of those guys that keeps coming back and keeps saying, 'I'm unretiring, I'm coming back.' I want to make sure it's out of my system."

Well, sort of face reality. I think baseball has more or less taken care of the "retire/unretire" option for Thomas. Though he could still probably be useful on an AL team, no one wants him (unlike Griffey, who is probably less useful than Thomas, Thomas doesn't have a home where he can go and become a gate attraction), so the decision is pretty much out of his hands.

Thomas will be an interesting Hall of Fame case. He should be a lock on the numbers alone, but spending so much time at DH is gong to hurt him with some voters. It's less clear how the steroids era will effect him. On the one hand he was outspoken against PEDs and helped lead the charge to institute testing. And the media recognized him for that to some degree. On the other hand, there's a strong sense that all offensive statistics -- not just those of the PED users -- were inflated during Thomas' career, so people may discount his accomplishments even if they don't consider them to be illegitimate in and of themselves. That may be a little unfair and irrational, but if you don't think the BBWAA can be unfair and irrational, you're not very familiar with their work.

For what it's worth, he'd have my vote.

While writers and pundits decry the fact that Manny Ramirez isn't being made into a total pariah as the result of his drug suspension, the fans are making their thoughts about the man very, very clear:

When Manny Ramirez returns to Dodger Stadium, so does Mannywood.

The fans have spoken, the Dodgers say. They want their "Mannywood" T-shirts, and their special block of seats adjacent to left field.

When Ramirez was suspended May 7 for violating baseball's drug policy, the Dodgers withdrew the Mannywood promotion. He is scheduled to be reinstated July 3, and the Dodgers plan to reinstate Mannywood on July 16, in their first home game after his return.

"We decided to reopen Mannywood directly based on our fans' interest," Dodgers President Dennis Mannion said.

It's important to remember that we watch baseball to be entertained. Manny entertains people, and thank goodness most people appreciate that that matters way more than the moral of ethics of PEDs, however interesting a subject it may be.

Crash: Did you hit me with your right hand or did you hit me with your left?

Nuke: Huh?

Crash: Did you hit me with your right hand or did you hit me with your LEFT?

Nuke: My left.

Crash: Good! That's good; when you get in a fight with a drunk you don't hit him with your pitching hand. God, I can't keep giving you these free lessons so quit screwin' around and help me up.

Braves right-hander Jeff Bennett has been placed on the 15-day disabled list a day after breaking his left hand when he punched a door in frustration. Bennett on Thursday said he was angry after allowing inherited runners to score on Alex Rodriguez's two-run single in Atlanta's 8-4 loss to the New York Yankees on Wednesday night .

The Royals may be on the verge of admitting what everyone else already knows: that they're not going anywhere:

Royals general manager Dayton Moore loathes the word "rebuilding." He's not necessarily ready to concede the 2009 season, even though his team is 31-40. But a person with knowledge of the team's plans said Moore will be open-minded to trade possibilities -- if they bring talent and/or salary relief that would benefit the team in 2010 and beyond.

In that respect, his approach to this year's trade deadline is similar to that of Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro, a competitor in the American League Central.

As a rival AL executive put it on Thursday: "Kansas City will talk about anyone outside their core players."

Who are the Royals' "core players"? Obviously Greinke, Soria, Hochevar, Gordon, and maybe Teahen, Butler and Callaspo, right? And maybe you'd dangle one of them? Now tell me: is there anyone on the Royals' roster outside of that group for whom you'd give a stale sandwich? Maybe Coco Crisp, but otherwise I'm having trouble seeing it.

The doctor who allegedly prescribed Manny his drugs is under the federal microscope:

As Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez nears the end of his 50-game suspension, Drug Enforcement Administration investigators are looking at a Miami doctor and his son as the source of his banned performance-enhancing drug, sources familiar with the investigation told ESPN . . . Investigators believe the prescription for human chorionic gonadotropin, known as hCG, was written by Pedro Publio Bosch, 71, a physician who has practiced family medicine in Florida since 1976. His son, Anthony Bosch, 45, is believed to have worked as a contact between his father and Ramirez . . .

. . . Anthony Bosch is well known in Latin American baseball circles, sources say. His relationships with players date at least from the earlier part of the decade, when he was seen attending parties with players and known to procure tickets to big league ballparks, especially in Boston and New York.

If a doctor is writing improper prescriptions, that's usually a state matter (i.e. the medical board). As far as a federal drug crime matter, the case of Manny Ramirez in and of itself is so small its almost non-existent. I mean, yes, there's the suggestion of illegality here, but there aren't exactly hordes of marauding female fertility drug lords shooting up the streets of border towns.

But read that last-quoted bit again -- the part about the doctor's son knowing lots of ballplayers -- and realize that the feds have generally had their PED-interest limited to those cases in which there are multiple athletes involved: BALCO, Radomski, McNamee, etc. Then realize that, despite the fact that Latin players have constituted a disproportionate number of positive drug tests since the beginning of the testing program, very few of them were named in the Mitchell Report or have had their names mentioned in any of the other high-profile investigations.

Taken together, these facts lead me to wonder whether the Manny Ramirez affair isn't the beginning of the next big PED story. The Latin-BALCO, if you will.

In the wake of Michael Jackson's passing, all of the players in yesterday's games wore one glove in his memory. . .

Yankees 11, Braves 7: Buster Olney went all Jerod Morris on A-Rod yesterday (query: does the fact that Rodriguez tested positive for steroids six years ago, and a year before the institution of punitive testing give one license to play the "one never knows" card all these years later? Geoff Baker -- can I get a consult here?). Less problematic than the steroids speculation garbage was the quoting of scouts and wringing of hands to the effect that Rodriguez has suddenly become a poor decrepit old man who will likely not survive the length of his contract let alone produce during its duration. Jesus. The guy rushed back from hip surgery, played too much, and still isn't 100% right. Is that really the best time to declare someone's career dead? Especially someone who raked like hell just last season? I bet Buster liquidated his 401K in March too. Anyway, reports of Rodriguez's death are greatly exaggerated (3-5 HR, 4 RBI).

Tigers 6, Cubs 5: Geovany Soto pinch hit and struck out. When he was not playing, he regaled Carlos Zambrano with tales about this one amazing killer bong he saw in Iowa City that one time. He ought to straighten up that hophead attitude of his and fly right, though. Look at Magglio Ordonez. That fine young man has shed those hippie locks (and the stoner lifestyle that necessarily accompanies long hair) and not surprisingly he's back on track (1-4, HR, 2 RBI). If only every player could emulate those clean cut and clean living stars of yesteryear!

Pirates 3, Indians 2: Cliff Lee has to be looking around that locker room and feeling like Michael did while looking around the Jacksons' dressing room circa 1979. He's better than these guys, they're doing nothing to help him, and they bring nothing to the party. In fact, I'm going to call Ben Francisco "Tito" for the remainder of the season.

Reds 7, Blue Jays 5: It felt so good to watch Joey Votto break out the whuppin' stick (4-5, 2B, HR 3 RBI). By the way, as I did on Monday, I watched a good 45 minutes of this game on a treadmill at the gym. Unlike Monday, however, I didn't change the channel. Why? Because George Grande and Chris Welsh, while certainly no luminaries, understand that there's a ballgame going on in front of them and actually talk about what's happening in it from time to time. Something else learned from this game: Scott Rolen comes to the plate to Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll." I guess it's a play on "Rolen," but at bottom, isn't that song about a guitar chick lusting after a teenage boy?

Mets 3, Cardinals 2: Good pitching matchup, as Santana beats Carpenter and the Mets take three of four from the Cards. The crowd was the largest in Citi Field's young history. According to the article "New York had offered 50 percent discounts on some tickets." With eight dollar beers and all of the rest you'd think that any team with empty seats would cut prices like Crazy Eddie, promote the crap out of it and be confident that they're making it all up in grub, suds and merch.

Marlins 11, Orioles 3: There are some Baltimore Orioles truthers out there who insist that I have decided to not say anything nice about their team. I'll make you a deal, guys: they do something worthy of praise, I'll praise it. In the meantime I will throw you a bone and note that Nick Markakis went 4 for 4 and drove in Z-game. Unfortunately it was 11-2 in the ninth inning at the time. As for the Marlins, Hanley Ramirez went 3 for 5 and knocked in five runs in what turned out to be a laugher.

White Sox 6, Dodgers 5: Chad Billingsley let a 4-0 lead slip away and actually stood to be the loser when he left the game after six. He got bailed out, but the Sox pulled it out in 13. Weisman makes an excellent observation regarding Torre's bullpen use in extra innings: "Torre chose to save Jonathan Broxton for a save situation rather than ensure he'd get an inning out of him. It's an old philosophical bug: the idea that your best pitcher is more useful when you can afford to give up a run, rather than when you can't afford to."

Mariners 9, Padres 3: I'm not sure what surprised me more yesterday: the news that Michael Jackson died or the news that Mike Sweeney was still alive. Good game for him though (4-4, 2B, 2 RBI), as well as Ichiro and Beltre, who combined to go 7-10 with four runs scored. The Mariners now set off on a death march against the Dodgers, Yankees and Red Sox, all on the road. We'll certainly know what this team is made of in about nine or ten days, won't we?

Rays 10, Phillies 4: It's sort of not fair that the Rays can lose a guy like Evan Longoria and then have his replacement -- Willy Aybar -- hit a homer and drive in three runs. More evidence that the universe is unfair: the Marlins beat the Phillies in this series, are playing much better baseball overall, and have a lineup that could bash them across the country and back, yet Philadelphia remains in first place and the Rays are in fourth, six games back.

Nationals 9, Red Sox 3: Smoltz got pounded (5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER), but he struck out 5 and walked only one. Eh, dude's allowed to warm up a bit. I'm sure someone will analyze his start more closely than I have, but whatever that shows, my gut tells me that he's going to be alright pretty soon and will pitch extremely well until the very moment his shoulder or elbow explodes again.

Astros 5, Royals 4: Lance Berkman launched two dingers and drove in four. The game wouldn't have been as close, though, if it weren't for a bunch of Astros errors leading to three Royals' runs.

Rangers 9, Diamondbacks 8: Chris Davis had four hits, including a two-run homer in the 12th to win it. He wouldn't have had a chance to hit that one if Miquel Montero had held on to a two-strike foul tip the pitch before.

Twins 6, Brewers 4: I live in a city that has a massive (and probably justified) inferiority complex, and one of the funniest things about it is that Columbus can't ever seem to decide which other city it should feel inferior to. Chicago? That's just silly, but you hear it sometimes. Charlotte? Austin? Nashville? Those all make sense for various reasons, but none are perfect. Anyway, as I was staring at the box score of this game and failing to find anything really interesting to say about it, I wondered: does Milwaukee compare itself to Minneapolis? To Chicago? Or is it a city that is comfortable in its own skin, never giving a thought to other places (except when making fun of the elitists in Madison)? The thought gripped me for a while so I decided to Google it a few different ways and came up with this:

Is Milwaukee, with its rich industrial legacy, however small it is compared to its heyday, headed toward a manufacturing heavy Detroit, a financial services hub that Minneapolis is, or something altogether different? Bill Bonifas, an executive vice president with The Polacheck Co. Inc., says the answer to that question illustrates two points: Why Milwaukee is different than Detroit and Minneapolis and where the city's headed.

"You can't say Milwaukee is going in the direction Detroit is because to begin with Detroit has a more spatial dynamic whereas the money is located in Milwaukee.

"Though I think our momentum matches that of Minneapolis, I don't think we'll end up like that city either because that's such a regional center for finance that Milwaukee is, and will have to be, a combination of the two."

Detroit never occurred to me, though I have to admit, there are some basic similarities. An industrial past, Great Lakes access, a snobby little overeducated town a short drive to the west. It works if you squint a little.

I know there's no purpose to this, but does anyone have any ideas here? Lar? And if you don't know a thing about Milwaukee, does your town engage in this neurotic behavior, or is it just a Columbus thing? Does every Springfield have its Shelbyville?

Cliff Lee's win-loss record has suffered from a lack of lineup and bullpen support all season and that continued Thursday night, as he got stuck with a no-decision despite tossing seven innings of two-run ball against the Pirates. Lee has thrown a Quality Start in 12 of his last 13 outings, with a 2.20 ERA and 69/21 K/BB ratio during that time, yet has just a 4-4 record to show for it.

He's just 4-6 overall despite a 2.92 ERA after going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA on the way to the AL Cy Young last year. With the Indians falling to 30-44 and a dozen games back in the AL Central rumors are starting to swirl that Lee may be on the trading block. General manager Mark Shapiro is believed to be holding out for an elite pitching prospect, but Lee's poor record likely hurts his perceived value.

While the misleading nature of individual win-loss records displays itself perfectly in Lee, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* John Smoltz made his Red Sox debut Thursday night, allowing four first-inning runs before holding the Nationals to one run over his final four frames. Losing his first start in more than a year clearly isn't good news, but Smoltz retired the final eight hitters he faced and struck out the side in his last inning. It wasn't the debut that Boston fans were hoping for, but he looked good enough to be an asset.

* Eric Byrnes is expected to miss 4-8 weeks with a fractured left hand after Scott Feldman plunked him with a pitch Thursday. Byrnes is hitting .216/.260/.361 this season after batting .209/.272/.369 last year, so his absence obviously isn't a big blow to the Diamondbacks and basically just guarantees that Gerardo Parra will continue to play regularly once Chris Young returns from a groin injury.

* Josh Hamilton has begun swinging a bat following June 9 surgery on a partially torn abdominal muscle and general manager Jon Daniels revealed Thursday that "there's a reasonable chance" he'll be able to return from the disabled list before the All-Star break. Hamilton has indicated that he'll probably skip the Home Run Derby, but he's also third in the fan voting for a starting spot in the outfield.

* Despite general manager Neal Huntington announcing earlier this week that he would remain in the rotation for at least one more start, Ian Snell was demoted to the minors Thursday and the move apparently came at his request. Snell is 9-20 with a 5.40 ERA in 46 starts since the beginning of last year, but Pittsburgh has turned down trade offers and resisted what may be a smart move to the bullpen.

AL Quick Hits: Frank Thomas said Thursday that he's close to retiring, but is "still in shape, ready to go if anything happens" ... Kenji Johjima (toe) is set to return from the disabled list Friday and will resume starting ... Armando Galarraga gave up four runs in six innings Thursday, but won for the first time since April ... If his bullpen session goes well Friday, Roy Halladay (groin) should be cleared to start Monday ... Evan Longoria sat out Thursday's game, but his hamstring injury isn't considered serious ... Ichiro Suzuki went 4-for-5 with a homer Thursday and now has a career-high .901 OPS ... Denard Span returned from the DL with a triple and three walks Thursday ... Yuniesky Betancourt's hamstring injury sent him to the shelf Thursday, which is addition by subtraction for the Mariners ... Asdrubal Cabrera (shoulder) may come off the DL as soon as Friday ... Aaron Poreda picked up his first career win Thursday by pitching a scoreless 13th inning.

NL Quick Hits: Brandon Webb will be examined by three more specialists before making a decision on his shoulder injury ... Homer Bailey will start Saturday and should get a chance to stick in the rotation if he can throw strikes for once ... Not willing to wait for Milton Bradley's next injury, manager Lou Piniella has benched him for a couple games ... Antonio Bastardo exited Thursday's start in the fourth inning with a strained shoulder ... After losing three of his past four starts, Johan Santana tossed seven innings of two-run ball Thursday for win No. 9 ... Kenshin Kawakami isn't expected to miss a start despite being hit on the neck by a liner Wednesday ... Jake Fox went 3-for-4 with his first homer Thursday ... Hitting just .214 overall and .125 since being dropped to sixth in the lineup, Jimmy Rollins has been benched for two games ... Reed Johnson (back) went on the disabled list Thursday, so the Cubs replaced him with Ryan Freel ... Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana during the WBC, but called it "an isolated incident."

John Smoltz returns tonight, and he's a bit nervous about it:

"Hopefully I learn from some of those past experiences of what I call two of the most anxious moments: first game as a closer and then my first game back as a starter after five years, neither of which did I do very well -- and both of those years turned out to be great years," Smoltz said. "So I'm not going to get too caught up in whether or not tomorrow is a success or a failure based on one start."

I'm not exactly sure what Smotlz is referring to when he says he didn't do well in his first game as a closer. He went to the pen in July of 2001, and in his first game back he gave up no runs, no hits, no walks and struck out a guy against the Expos. If he's referring to the beginning of his first full season as The Closer for the Braves -- 2002 -- he's wrong too. In his first appearance that season he struck out two of the three men he faced and again didn't allow a runner. It wasn't until his second appearance -- against the Mets -- where he got shelled.

He was right, though, about his first game back as a starter. He was destroyed on Opening Day 2005 against the Marlins: 1.2 IP, 6 H, 7 R.

Craziness after the Angels-Rockies game:

An off-duty police officer shot and wounded two men who had assaulted him in the crowded Angel Stadium parking lot after Wednesday night's Colorado Rockies-Los Angeles Angels game, authorities said. The officer, who was walking to his car with his wife and small children about 25 minutes after the game, was hit in the head with an object, police Sgt. Tim Schmidt said. The off-duty officer then shot the men with his duty weapon, Schmidt said. Police did not immediately identify the officer or the shooting victims.

I've been to the Big A a few times. The area around that stadium doesn't strike me as particularly dangerous, but I guess anything can happen anywhere.

Marlins 5, Orioles 2: Ricky Nolasco has been a completely different pitcher since his little jaunt to New Orleans to get his pyloric valve opened or whatever the hell is was. In his four starts since his return, he's given up two earned runs, two earned runs, one earned run and last night zero earned runs. Good thing too, for if he did not find a job, he no doubt would have been arrested for vagrancy.

White Sox 10, Dodgers 7: Randy Wolf had nada and Cory Wade's "relief" pitching was anything but. By the time they were done it was a 9-3 game that was for all practical purpose over. But this loss is morally justified. I mean, how dare the Dodgers be allowed to play when Manny Ramirez should be suspended? It's a slap in the face, that's what it is. If a kid gets suspended from school, do they not burn the building down as a lesson to others? If a soldier is caught hording rations, do the generals not summarily execute the whole platoon? I know it's in the rules that the Dodgers still get to play ballgames, but it shouldn't be. They should all have their contracts voided and be forced to sell linoleum at Color Tile or something. Won't someone think of the children?

Mets 11, Cardinals 0: Let me get this straight: David Wright -- the guy who went 4 for 4 last night and is sitting at .356/.444/.510 is a guy Mets' fans have been complaining about for a good portion of the season? I'll never understand New York baseball. Cardinals pitchers, by the way, combined to strike out exactly zero Mets.

Rays 7, Phillies 1: Pat Burrell's two-run homer in the second proved to be all of the offense the Rays needed, but he picked up an another RBI anyway. I'm not sure what Phillies' fans think of that, but I'd kind of like to think that they're happy that Matt Stairs is getting some playing time now, which he wouldn't be if Burrell had hung around. Who doesn't root for Matt Stairs?

Pirates 10, Indians 6: Workers on the "Carl Pavano for Comeback Player of the Year" campaign feel today how the folks at the McCain campaign felt the day after the Katie Couric-Sarah Palin interviews aired.

Blue Jays 8, Reds 2: Aaron Hill, Adam Lind and Vernon Wells all homered off of Bronson Arroyo in the first and Scott Richmond pitched seven strong innings in what was never really a contest.

Red Sox 6, Nationals 4: Papi went 2-3 with a homer and 3 RBI -- including the 1000th of his career -- as the Red Sox take the second game in this home-away-from-home series (41,000+ once again, and most of 'em weren't Nats' fans). Red Sox' hitting coach Dave Magadan was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. How does that even happen? If you're Francona, don't you tell Magadan to sit down and shut up? Or was it one of those deals where Magadan just called the ump that name you're not allowed to call umps from the dugout?

Brewers 4, Twins 3: Great moments in defensive decision-making: The Twins are ahead 3-2 in the eighth when J.J. Hardy singles and Jason Kendall hits a double scoring Hardy. Except the relay throw skipped by Joe Mauer, so Kendall went to third. Nick Blackburn was backing up Mauer, and rather than just eat the ball and face the pitcher's slot in the order, whips the ball back towards third to try and get the advancing Kendall. Ball goes wide, Kendall goes home, and that's basically the ballgame.

Tigers 5, Cubs 3: That's six straight for Detroit, as they extend their lead to five games over the Twins. Contrary to what I said yesterday, Magglio Ordonez did get the start, and before the game he pulled a Vlad, cutting off his hair. Result: 2-4. Screw science, I say causation, not mere correlation.

Yankees 8, Braves 4: Things were going smoothly for Atlanta until Kawakami was nailed on a comebacker off the bat of Joba Chamberlain. I missed it -- I was reading "Tip-Tip, Dig-Dig" to ShysterBoy at the time -- and I'm kind of glad I did. He was hit on the base of the neck, which as recent history has shown, is a pretty dangerous place to be hit. Jeff Francoeur hit a homer for the Braves, but don't worry, he still sucks.

Royals 4, Astros 3: Miguel Olivo may be on pace for 168 strikeouts against six walks, but he hits a homer once in a while too, and the one he hit in the 11th inning last night won the game.

Rangers 2, Diamondbacks 1: Danny Haren can't buy a break, as he once again pitches well with little run support. The Rangers snap their losing streak at five and remain in first place by the skin of their teeth.

Mariners 4, Padres 3: Brandon Morrow the starter had his longest and best go of it yet (5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4K). Yuniesky Betancourt injured his hamstring and will be out for a while. The game story casts this a negative. I have this feeling some Mariners fans may not feel quite the same way.

Giants 6, A's 3: The Unit, who gave up one run on six hits, struck out six and walked one in seven innings, looks pretty good sandwiched in between Lincecum and Cain these days. I don't know that the Giants have enough offense to get there, but they could be a dangerous team to face in a short series should they sng the Wild Card.

Angels 11, Rockies 3: Just yesterday, Rob Neyer said that Jason Marquis was about to turn into a pumpkin due to his poor strikeout rate. Looks like it's midnight (3.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R). Yeah, he struck out four in those 3.1 innings, but it's probably because the Angels were coming out of the shows to swing at that hittable stuff. Vald-the-bald, by the way: 2-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI. Let's hear it for short hair!

Dustin McGowan emerged as one of the AL's most promising young pitchers by winning 14 games with a 3.62 ERA and 169 strikeouts in 32 starts from mid-2007 to mid-2008, but began struggling following a 125-pitch outing last June and had season-ending shoulder surgery a month later. His recovery has gone poorly and general manager J.P. Ricciardi hinted Wednesday that his career is in jeopardy.

"He's not where he should be from a rehab standpoint," Ricciardi noted. "I don't know if he's never going to throw again, but right now he's struggling." Toronto's pitching staff has been wrecked by all kinds of injuries during the past two years, but losing a young right-hander with a mid-90s fastball who missed plenty of bats and induced quite a few ground balls is perhaps the biggest long-term blow.

While the Blue Jays somehow become the fifth MLB team to win 40 games, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Injuring his elbow in the World Baseball Classic didn't stop Matt Lindstrom from averaging the usual 96 miles per hour with his fastball, but he hasn't looked right since. Last season Lindstrom allowed 21 runs and 26 walks in 57.1 innings. This year he gave up 22 runs and 20 walks in just 29 innings before the Marlins stuck him on the disabled list Wednesday with a sprained right elbow.

Florida worked Lindstrom awfully hard despite the WBC scare, using him in both games of a doubleheader last month and on three straight days twice in the past four weeks. Now he's been shut down for at least a month and most likely will be sidelined well into August. Leo Nunez is the obvious choice to replace him in the ninth inning, assuming that his current ankle injury doesn't linger for very long.

* Edinson Volquez had been making steady progress in his recovery from elbow tendinitis, but has been shut down after an MRI exam showed inflammation. He'll be examined again next week, but now seems highly unlikely to return before the All-Star break. With his recovery timetable being delayed the Reds now have an excuse to give Homer Bailey an extended rotation tryout beginning Saturday.

Bailey was a mess in past stints with the Reds and his prospect stock is nowhere near where it once was, but he's still just 23 years old and is 5-0 with a 0.81 ERA and 40/10 K/BB ratio in six starts since his latest demotion to Triple-A. This is his third go-around at Triple-A and he's made 45 starts there, so it may be time to let him sink or swim while praying that he throws strikes for once.

* There's no official diagnosis yet on Brandon Webb's injured shoulder following two MRI exams and he's expected to seek a second opinion later this week, but the Arizona Republic reported Wednesday that "surgery appears to be a strong possibility" while specifically speculating that he may have a torn labrum. If that's indeed the case, Webb is done for 2009 and perhaps most of 2010.

Note: As the first half comes to a close, we're now offering a "Midseason Report" that includes all the outstanding content from our "Season Pass" product plus a ton of new articles, rankings, and projections tailored for the second half.

AL Quick Hits: Evan Longoria left Wednesday's game with a strained hamstring and missed time earlier this month with the same injury ... CC Sabathia (biceps) declared himself "good to go" following a bullpen session Wednesday ... Neftali Feliz has moved to the bullpen at Triple-A in preparation for a second-half role in Texas ... Oakland placed Josh Outman (elbow) on the shelf Thursday, calling up Gio Gonzalez to replace him in the rotation ... Denard Span (ear) is set to come off the disabled list Thursday ... Jason Varitek has been slumping this month, so manager Terry Francona explained Wednesday that he's been dealing with neck stiffness ... Koji Uehera said Wednesday that he's in danger of missing his next start because of elbow soreness ... David Ortiz homered again Wednesday and is 18-for-55 (.327) with six homers this month ... Orlando Hernandez began his comeback by tossing a scoreless inning out of the bullpen Tuesday at Triple-A.

NL Quick Hits: Oliver Perez (knee) estimated Wednesday that he needs a couple more minor-league rehab starts before rejoining the Mets ... Manny Parra tossed seven innings of one-run ball in his second Triple-A outing Tuesday, striking out Manny Ramirez ... Brad Lidge (knee) will return from the disabled list Thursday, according to general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. ... Gary Sheffield was out of the lineup for a third straight game Wednesday after getting a cortisone shot for his injured knee ... Seth McClung has been tabbed to replace Dave Bush (biceps) in the rotation and may have some short-term value in NL-only leagues ... Kenshin Kawakami exited Wednesday's start after taking a Joba Chamberlain liner off the side of his neck ... General manager Neal Huntington said Wednesday that Ian Snell will remain in the rotation for at least one more start ... David Wright stole his 19th base Wednesday while going 4-for-4 with three runs.

Adrian Gonzalez has walked a league-leading 57 times so far in 2009. He's on pace to receive 108 free passes over the course of this season.

That's not nearly enough.

Let's look at the line for the Padres' slugger: .274/.415/.606. That's 24 home runs in 69 games, and a 1.021 OPS.

In the Padres lineup, Scott Hairston (.951 OPS) has presented a consistent threat, but is just coming off the DL. Otherwise Gonzalez is surrounded by the likes of David Eckstein (.680 OPS), Kevin Kouzmanoff (.678) and Chase Headley (.674).

So when is it OK to pitch to Gonzalez? When you're up 10-0 and you like your bullpen. Otherwise, never. OK I'm exaggerating, but it really is amazing pitchers aren't smarter about this. Just put your ego aside and put him on. Or hope he gets impatient and chases something on the edges.

The Mariners, for example, were leading 1-0 in the fourth inning Tuesday night. Garrett Olson had a man on first with nobody out. Instead of walking Gonzalez and having two on with nobody out, he grooved a pitch to the big lefty that hasn't landed yet. Watch it! Padres 2, Mariners 1. It's just stupid.

And while we're handing out advice, the same rule applies to Albert Pujols. The Cardinals star has a 1.159 OPS. The players around him? Skip Schumaker (.754), Chris Duncan (.746), Ryan Ludwick (.744), and Rick Ankiel (.705).

Just makes sense.

Mark DeRosa (Indians) - With Grady Sizemore back, the Indians aren't likely to sell just yet. Still, at least as big of a problem as being 10 games behind is that they have four teams ahead of them in the AL Central. DeRosa has been talked about as trade bait for close to two months now, and the Indians have soured on him as a third baseman after originally acquiring him to play the position. Given that he's on pace for about 30 homers and 110 RBI, it shouldn't be a problem getting more for him in trade than they would by letting him walk for draft picks at season's end.

Garrett Atkins (Rockies) - It certainly doesn't bode well for Atkins' future in Colorado that he's been given a total of one at-bat with the DH available in Anaheim the last two games. At this point, the Rockies are looking at giving him up for a fraction of what they would have asked for a year ago or keeping him on the bench and letting his trade value decline further. It's unlikely that Atkins has completely forgotten how to hit; while he was positively brutal during May, he posted a .247/.289/.429 line in April and he's at .256/.356/.410 in 39 at-bats during his limited opportunities at month. That he isn't much of a third baseman is a problem, one that really cuts into his value, but he's gone from overrated to potentially underrated in a hurry.

Nick Johnson (Nationals) - While some free agents-to-be are more likely to stay with their current teams because of the ramifications of draft-pick compensation, it only makes Johnson more likely to go. Since Johnson was limited to 38 games last year, there's little chance that the Nationals will receive a pick by keeping him and letting him walk at season's end. Perhaps on his way to his first healthy season since 2006, Johnson is currently hitting .315/.423/.444. The OBP is no fluke and Johnson is a quality defender, so he's the Nationals' best bargaining chip as they attempt to add more young talent to their organization.

Adam LaRoche (Pirates) - The comments he made after the Nate McLouth trade didn't help matters, but LaRoche was already unlikely to finish the season in Pittsburgh. A divorce would be best for both parties, as it'd surely help LaRoche to have a chance to ply his trade for a contender as he heads into free agency at season's end. While he's been a reliable first baseman since the day he debuted in 2004, he's still never topped 90 RBI in a season, partly because he sat against lefties early on and partly because he's hit in some poor lineups. However, it's also the case that his power has tended to disappear in big situations. A few key homers down the stretch for a more visible team might do wonders for his reputation as he enters the market.

Orlando Cabrera (Athletics) - There's no denying that Cabrera has been one of the AL's weakest regulars this season, but at least the price should be right. The A's have no reason to hold on to him, as he could well accept arbitration if the team tries to get draft picks for him this winter. Cabrera is coming off three straight seasons with at least a .280 average and a .330 OBP, and he was the AL's best defensive shortstop in 2008. He's probably not through as a useful starter.

Aubrey Huff (Orioles) - It was about this time a year ago that Huff really took off on his way to a .304-32-108 season. However, outside of that three-month run in 2008, he's been strictly an 800-OPS guy since 2006. The Orioles, who inked him to a three-year, $20 million deal prior to 2007, could opt to try to re-sign him for a couple of years, but they'd likely be better off moving on, especially if they could cash him in for a couple of prospects this summer. Because of the lofty RBI totals, he'll probably be more attractive to some than LaRoche.

Dan Uggla (Marlins) - The Marlins are still a long way from being out of the race, but unless things go very well over the next month, both Uggla and Jorge Cantu will be trade candidates. Uggla's average remains down, but he has improved to .239/.357/.465 this month and he's on pace for 30 homers and nearly 100 RBI. There's almost no chance that he'll be back with the Marlins next season, since he's due to become their most expensive player at $7 million-$8 million.

Freddy Sanchez (Pirates) - While it's always Jack Wilson's name that comes up in trade rumors, his double-play partner is at least as likely to be dealt this summer. If they keep him, the Pirates will have to decide whether to pick up his $8 million option for 2010 or buy him out for $600,000. He's probably worth the cash, but he is 31 and second basemen tend to age especially badly, making it unlikely that he'll still be a quality regular when the Pirates are next ready to contend. He'd be an upgrade for the Giants, White Sox, Twins, Brewers, Cubs, Angels and Cardinals.

Felipe Lopez (Diamondbacks) - Lopez could help all of those same teams. Maybe. While Sanchez is a legitimate .300 hitter, Lopez is 40 points above his career mark in batting .303/.356/.420 this season. On the plus side, he is cheaper, both in terms of salary and probably in the talent that it would take to acquire him.

Miguel Tejada (Astros) - The Astros probably won't be in the thick of the NL Central race come September, but they're also unlikely to give up and start selling off veterans, no matter how much they could use some young talent. As is, they're still just six games back in NL Central and five in the wild card. Tejada is a weak defender at shortstop and he's back hitting nothing except singles lately after his brief power surge in May, but there's no one in the organization who would serve as an adequate replacement.

New York Times' blogger Tyler Kepner is impressed with the safety measures at Turner Field:

Turner Field is the second ballpark the Yankees have seen this season with protective netting that extends beyond the norm. Every stadium has a tall screen behind the plate to protect the fans from hard-hit foul balls. Here in Atlanta, the Braves also have a shorter screen, maybe eight feet off the ground, running in front of the seats behind the on-deck circles on either side of the plate . . . Such safety measures make sense, and should be in place at every ballpark.

Kepner cites the death of Mike Coolbaugh as a cautionary tale, and notes how quickly baseball would act if the unthinkable happened and a fan was killed by a foul ball. Such a thing is not unthinkable in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, however. That's because a thirteen year-old girl was killed by an errant puck during a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game seven years ago. That incident led to the implementation of mandatory netting at either end of the rink in every arena. Before the incident there were all kinds of arguments against putting up such nets. Afterward, those arguments lost all currency.

The same applies to baseball. I'm sure people can construct all kinds of arguments as to why they shouldn't extend protective netting down the lines. But in light of how big, strong, fast and, above all else, close Major League batters are to the fans these days, none of those arguments are enough to overcome the sheer logic and prudence which dictates putting up some nets.

Now if you turn your attention to the center ring, I give you Manny Ramirez, standing on his head while riding on the back of a flaming horse! Or something!

Ramirez, easing back into playing shape after a 50-game drug suspension, suited up for the Albuquerque Isotopes as they beat Nashville 1-0. Ramirez wore No. 99 for the Dodgers' top farm club. He played four innings and was hitless in two at-bats. The capacity crowd of 15,321 was the largest in Albuquerque's baseball history.

Fans lined the walkway from the clubhouse as Ramirez entered the field. They gathered near the dugout, clustering for autographs, and they seemed ready to forgive Ramirez for violating baseball's drug rules.

"People love me everywhere I go," Ramirez said before the game. "I'm excited to bring a lot of joy to a lot of people here. I feel good. I'm happy that I'm here."

This will no doubt make the haters and moralists mad, many of whom think that Manny shouldn't be allowed to live, let alone rehab in the minors before his suspension is over. On that note, I think I have come across the stupidest argument against Manny being allowed to rehab yet:

If someone goes to jail for 50 days, they don't get released 10 days early so they can get used to the outside again. They have to adjust after their full sentence is completed. I know baseball and jail aren't exactly similar, but the metaphor fits.

Except it doesn't. Typically, a prisoner is allowed to leave prison several months before his sentence is over and go to a halfway house, the express purpose of which is for a guy to get used to the outside again. With all due respect to the minor leagues, they are like a halfway house in that, from Manny's perspective anyway, they are not quite freedom while not quite being restriction anymore either.

Sorry to get in the way of your Manny hate folks, but facts is facts.

Royals 2, Astros 1: The legend goes that Zack Greinke fell in love with an Earth woman. Deciding that he wanted to be with her, he chose to undergo the irreversible process of immersing himself in the red Kyptonian sunlight, stripping him of his super powers. After three or four weeks of being mortal, however, he realized that he needed to trek back to the Fortress of Solitude to see if he couldn't get his powers back. It all worked out in the end, as Greinke returned to Planet Houston and defeated his enemies in impressive style (8 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 5K). Only hitch: Brian Bannister still knew his secret identity when it was all over, so they had to engage in a very awkward kiss to set everything back the way it was.

Braves 4, Yankees 0: The book on the Yankees is that they are nearly powerless when facing rookie or, at the very least, unfamiliar starters. I don't know if that's actually true, but it certainly seems it, and getting shutout by rookie Tommy Hanson and a gaggle of relievers doesn't help the perception any. Sad thing is that Wang actually pitched better than Hanson in some respects, so at least that's something for the Yankees to build on. In other news, Braves' catcher Brian McCann continues to be astounding (3-4, 2B, HR 2 RBI) and has no business trailing Yadier Molina in the All-Star voting right now.

Phillies 10, Rays 1: Unlike the Yankees, the Phillies seem to have no such trouble against rookie pitchers, and they roughed David Price the hell up (4.1 IP, 7 H, 10 R). Only five of those runs were earned due to three Rays' errors, but it's not like Price wasn't smacked around, because he clearly was.

Dodgers 5, White Sox 4: Early Wynn was knocked out of the box, well, early, giving up four runs on eight hits in two and two thirds. Roger Craig wasn't any great shakes himself (7 IP, 10 H, 4 R) but between that and a homer and an RBI single from Hodges, it was enough. Next it'll be the youngster Koufax facing off against Bob Shaw two nights from now back in Chicago. If he can pull it off, the Dodgers will have won their first title since moving to Los Angeles. Turning to business news, General Motors announced today that it foresees profits for the next century at the very least, and anticipates that Flint, Michigan will soon rival New York, London and Paris in wealth, prosperity and opulence.

Red Sox 11, Nationals 3: Over 41,000 in attendance in Nationals Park on a Tuesday night? Yep, Boston must be in town. Jason Bay (4-6, HR 3 RBI) made the interlopers happy, and Brad Penny continued to show would be trade partners that he's basically a five inning pitcher, even if he's becoming an increasingly effective one. Give up value at your own risk.

Tigers 5, Cubs 4: Magglio Ordonez got the start after riding the pine for four games, goes 0-2 and is lifted for a pinch runner, and then later the guy who has been starting in his place hits a two-run, come-from-behind walkoff homer. I suspect that it's back to the pine for Magglio.

Indians 5, Pirates 4: There was an article yesterday about how one could conceivably get pumped up for what looks to be such a blah series between two blah teams. I don't know if I buy a lot of them, but I can definitely buy the Cleveland-Pittsburgh rivalry thing. It's slanted way east in football, but baseball could maybe spice it up a bit, no? After all, Cleveland is way closer to Pittsburgh than it is to its putative interleague rival, the Reds, and Cleveland and Pittsburgh have more in common with one another from a cultural and demographic standpoint than Cleveland and Cincinnati do.

Marlins 7, Orioles 6: Two counts of bullpen malpractice. Count I: against Danys Baez for allowing five runs on four hits in the seventh. Count II: against a quartet of Fish relievers that immediately turned around and blew that lead in the eighth and ninth. Jorge Cantu singled in the winning run in the twelfth, but that can be blamed on the pen too, as Brian Bass walked Emilio Bonafacio for some strange reason, then uncorked a wild pitch to allow him to get to second before Cantu did his thing. Pfun Pfact: by the year 2017, use of the term "uncorked" in the wild pitch context will exceed its use in the wine context for the first time in recorded history. If you don't believe me, you can look it up.

Cardinals 3, Mets 0: Joel Pinero shuts the Mets down with a two hit shutout. He had two hits on his own too, which really rubbed the Mets noses in it, no? And the Mets didn't even make him work a little it: he threw 100 pitches even and this one was over in two hours and thirteen minutes.

Twins 7, Brewers 3: It was a victory just getting this game played at home given the damage last week's flooding caused at Miller Park, so let's call this a split for the Brewers. Joe Mauer goes 0-5, knocking him down below .400 for the first time this season. Apropos of nothing, I'll note that knuckleballer R.A. Dickey is sporting a 2.43 ERA on the season.

Blue Jays 7, Reds 5: Joey Votto returns. He only goes 1-4, but as Bob wrote earlier this morning, he could have taken a golden sombrero and it wouldn't have made a difference, because the mere fact that he's playing ball after what he's gone through is a triumph.

Padres 9, Mariners 7: With the exception of one inning, Chad Gaudin pitched excellently (7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 11K) then had to bite his nails as reliever Greg Burke did his best to throw it all away.

Diamondbacks 8, Rangers 2: The season may already be lost for Arizona, but Max Scherzer (6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER) and Justin Upton (2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI) at least provide a bright future.

Angels 4, Rockies 3: This win, combined with the Rangers loss, puts the Angels into a first place tie. There was a point in April where that seemed impossible, but it seems that anything is possible in the AL West.

Giants 4, A's 1: Lincecawesome! (CG, 7 H, 1 ER, 12K). OK, that was probably uncalled for.

Brandon Webb has undergone two MRI exams since canceling a bullpen session last Friday after a setback with his injured shoulder and manager A.J. Hinch said Tuesday that "it's hard to say" if Arizona's ace will pitch again this season. "The priorities have shifted to making sure we know everything about his health, about what's causing his pain," Hinch said. "Pitching in 2009 is a distant second."

Webb hasn't pitched since a rough Opening Day outing and has struggled dating back to last August, which has the Diamondbacks very concerned given that he's made no progress in three months on the sidelines with what was initially termed a muscle injury. There's now speculation that he'll need surgery to repair tears in his tendon or ligament, but there's no real use guessing without the MRI results.

While the Diamondbacks' season keeps going from bad to worse, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Joey Votto came off the disabled list Tuesday and revealed that his month-long absence was due to depression following the death of his father last year. "There were nights that I couldn't be alone," Votto said. "The very first night I was alone was when I went to the hospital. I couldn't take it. It just got to the point where I felt I was going to die, really."

Votto described how panic attacks led him to seek medical help and caused him to be removed from several games, which makes his batting .357/.464/.627 in 38 games all the more amazing. Obviously the Reds and Votto's fantasy owners will be keeping close tabs on him going forward, and he hopped back into the lineup Tuesday night by going 1-for-4 with two strikeouts while batting third.

* Plans for Kelvim Escobar to replace Scot Shields in the Angels' bullpen took a hit Monday when he had a "pinching sensation" in his injured right shoulder while playing catch. He met Tuesday with Dr. Lewis Yocum and said afterward: "I think I need to slow down. I expected to feel a lot better, but sometimes it takes time." Escobar's uncertain status may lead to the Angels pursuing relief help via trade.

* San Diego activated Scott Hairston from the disabled list Tuesday and cleared room for him by placing Brian Giles on the shelf with a knee injury. Whether knee issues are to blame for Giles' abysmal .191/.277/.271 line is unclear, but sending him to the DL is the easiest way to clear the Padres' outfield logjam that includes Hairston, Tony Gwynn Jr., Chase Headley, and recent call-up Kyle Blanks.

AL Quick Hits: Roy Halladay (groin) tossed a bullpen session Tuesday and is on track to rejoin the rotation next week ... Magglio Ordonez was back in the lineup Tuesday after a brief benching ... Chien-Ming Wang pitched fairly well Tuesday while giving up three runs in five innings, but still fell to 0-6 ... Alex Gordon (hip) is expected to begin a rehab stint next week ... Josh Outman (elbow) is slated to undergo an MRI exam Wednesday and won't be able to throw for at least a few days ... Asdrubal Cabrera (shoulder) reportedly could come off the disabled list as soon as Thursday ... Ryan Raburn blasted a walk-off homer as a pinch-hitter Tuesday as Kevin Gregg blew his third save ... Jason Kubel remained out of the lineup Tuesday with flu-like symptoms ... Scott Kazmir (quad) said Tuesday that he's ready to rejoin the rotation after one rehab start and hours later David Price was rocked for 10 runs in a World Series rematch against the Phillies.

NL Quick Hits: Joel Pineiro tossed a complete-game shutout Tuesday, giving up just two hits to the Mets ... Ryan Howard (flu) started at designated hitter and hit an RBI double Tuesday ... Jonathan Broxton picked up a one-out save Tuesday when Hiroki Kuroda couldn't quite finish the game ... Derrek Lee went 2-for-3 with a double Tuesday, extending his hitting streak to 20 games ... Dave Bush is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with a small tear in his biceps ... Aramis Ramirez (shoulder) is scheduled to take batting practice Friday ... Miguel Montero will be Arizona's main catcher with Chris Snyder (back) put on the disabled list Tuesday and Chris Young (groin) may soon be joining him ... Tommy Hanson struggled with his control Tuesday, but improved to 3-0 by shutting out the Yankees for 5.1 innings ... Raul Ibanez (groin) took batting practice Tuesday and hopes to come off the DL when eligible next week.

When I saw the story, I almost decided to ignore it. Better to pretend it wasn't there than to give it any credence. But then I figured something needed to be said.

In case you didn't know, there have been rumors floating around regarding Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto's trip to the disabled list. Before returning to action tonight, Votto had been out with what was officially termed "an undisclosed stress-related issue."

It's a lame, mysterious description, for sure. And whenever we are confronted with lame, mysterious information, what do we do? We become a sewing circle, or a bunch of old dudes in a barber shop. We gossip. We speculate. By we, I mean all of us. Fans, writers, journalists, bloggers. Everyone.

The speculation got personal. The innuendo invasive. The word on the message board/blogosphere was that Votto is gay.

No proof. Just some twisted logic: Votto + stress = gay baseball player. To which I say two things:

1. No one should believe such words unless Joey Votto utters them himself.

2. Even if he does, who cares? Does it matter in the least?

If a gay athlete wants to come out of the closet, let him do so -- on his own. He should never be forced to come forth simply to answer rumors.

And a straight athlete shouldn't be put in a position where he feels the need to say "I'm not gay ... not that there's anything wrong with that."

Because there isn't anything wrong with it. But it's personal. And it's nobody's business.

As writer Jeff Pearlman, a man far more eloquent than myself, put it ...

A ballplayer should come out because it's important for America to see that gay does not mean weird or freaky or diseased. But nobody needs to be forced out via rumor and innuendo. It's not fair and it's not righteous.

I can only hope that Votto didn't feel the need to answer the rumors when he came forth on Tuesday with incredibly personal details about his absence.

Votto said that he has struggled dealing with the death of his father in August. He was distracted by baseball, but when he went on the DL in May with an upper respiratory infection, he became overwhelmed, and the emotions of his loss came crashing down. He struggled with depression, anxiety and panic attacks. He saw doctors. He called 911 in the middle of the night for a trip to the hospital. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.

"It finally seeped its way into the game. I just had to put an end to it. I really couldn't be out there. It's difficult to explain what I was going through. I couldn't do it. I physically couldn't do my job. That's what I've gone through.

Votto spoke of his love for his father, and the stress of being the oldest son and feeling as though he was now responsible for his family. He said the pressure was so great, he felt like he "was going to die."

It would be a terrible ordeal for anyone to deal with, let alone a public figure, a man who lives in the spotlight.

There is no need for any of us to add to it.

This is as much for my benefit as anyone else's, but I wanted to check in on how my players in the Forecasters Challenge are doing now that the season is almost half over. We're not getting status updates, so it's all guesswork at this point.

For those not following along, Tom Tango's Forecasters Challenge includes 22 teams, most generated by rankings provided by experts. The draft was run 1,000 times with random draft orders to hopefully mix things up a bit, though it didn't really work out. 71 players were drafted by the same team 1,000 times and 185 were drafted by the same team at least 900 times.

So there isn't going to be a whole lot of variety outside of the elite players. Hanley Ramirez, my No. 1 player, was drafted by 18 of the 22 teams and no more than 115 times by any of them. If everyone had ranked Hanley first, he would have been on every team 45 or 46 times.

My team has a bit more variety than most, suggesting that I didn't have as many extreme rankings as some.

Here are the players I drafted the most frequently and the position at which I had them ranked on my overall list:

Jordan Zimmermann - 1,000 - 264th
James McDonald - 1,000 - 353rd
Tom Glavine - 984 - 397th
Johnny Cueto - 793 - 149th
Carlos Silva - 667 - 400th
Ian Snell - 513 - 270th
Francisco Liriano - 499 - 69th
Josh Johnson - 467 - 146th
Tommy Hanson - 447 - 425th
Brad Penny - 435 - 325th
Jon Lester - 423 - 68th
Anibal Sanchez - 372 - 306th
Glen Perkins - 341 - 357th
Brandon McCarthy - 311 - 418th

Relievers did have value in the scoring system, but not as much as starters and I ended up with starters almost exclusively.

Unfortunately, that's mostly it for pitchers. I got Johan Santana 45 times, Chris Carpenter 36 times and Matt Garza 234 times. No one else drafted more than a handful of times figures to make a big contribution. It looks like I'm receiving big points from Cueto and Johnson, who rank third and fourth respectively in the NL in ERA, but they're my aces and the lower-ranked guys aren't doing much.

There's more to like about the hitters:

Victor Martinez - 999 - 47th
Khalil Greene - 969 - 177th
Coco Crisp - 648 - 91st
Justin Upton - 630 - 73rd
Martin Prado - 629 - 408th
Asdrubal Cabrera - 626 - 228th
Erick Aybar -589 - 286th
Adam Jones - 522 - 92nd
Hunter Pence - 500 - 60th
Nick Markakis - 498 - 14th
Eric Chavez - 494 - 362nd
Joe Mauer - 474 - 53rd
Curtis Granderson - 452 - 31st
Todd Helton - 430 - 147th
Jim Thome - 406 - 136th
Bobby Crosby - 397 - 461st
Rick Ankiel - 387 - 121st
Nick Johnson - 362 - 268th
Conor Jackson - 352 - 83rd
Carl Crawford - 341 - 8th
Yunel Escobar - 338 - 148th
B.J. Upton - 301 - 11th

Everyone knows what Victor and Mauer are doing, and also included are some of this year's top breakthrough players in Justin Upton, Jones and Pence. Khalil is showing signs of becoming useful, and Prado is providing nice value for who was drafted in the 500s. Unfortunately, Crisp will go down as a bust because of his shoulder problems. I was quite surprised to see how often I ended up with Chavez despite what I thought was a pretty safe ranking.

A couple of more lists before I wrap this up.

Here are the top players I never ended up with, along with where they were picked on average and where I had them on my list:

CC Sabathia - 7th - 29th
Grady Sizemore - 8th - 12th
Roy Halladay - 11th - 25th
Matt Holliday - 12th - 22nd
Tim Lincecum - 14th - 17th
Ryan Howard - 17th - 23rd
Lance Berkman - 17th - 30th
Alfonso Soriano - 20th - 21st
Jake Peavy - 21st - 44th
Cole Hamels - 22nd - 37th
Chase Utley - 23rd - 16th
Carlos Lee - 23rd - 28th
Dustin Pedroia - 23rd - 41st
Brandon Webb - 24th - 26th
Prince Fielder - 25th - 27th

It's pretty bizarre that I never got Utley or Beltran, considering I had them ahead of where they went on average. But I guess B.J. Upton and Markakis were still available in those spots and I was getting them instead.

Here are the best players to go 1,000 times and their average pick:

Rafael Furcal - 52nd
Justin Verlander - 58th
Francisco Rodriguez - 66th
Zack Greinke - 74th
Ty Wigginton - 75th
Aubrey Huff - 77th
Mike Aviles - 79th
Carlos Zambrano - 83rd
Willy Taveras - 87th
Matt Cain - 92nd
John Lackey - 93rd
Edwin Encarnacion - 108th
Denard Span - 114th
Jose Lopez - 126th
Milton Bradley - 128th
Mike Jacobs - 131st
Erik Bedard - 131st

Greinke and Cain are set to work out really well. Of the low ranked guys to go 1,000 times to the same owner, Trevor Cahill, drafted 369th, appears to be offering the most value.

Huston Street (Rockies) - Street appeared to be a lock to go a few weeks ago, and it seemed likely that the Rockies wouldn't even wait until the deadline before making a move. However, their recent surge, combined with the loss of former closer Manny Corpas, is going to make trading him much more difficult. At the very least, it figures to go down to the deadline now. Street's value is sky high at the moment thanks to 16 saves in 17 opportunities and a 35/9 K/BB ratio in 31 innings. Odds are that it will only drop as time goes on. Even if Street remains this effective, there won't be as much demand after the year, since he'll probably make $7 million or so next season in what will be his final year before free agency.

Chad Qualls (Diamondbacks) - While he's avoided the DL, Qualls has experienced some forearm issues of late that have taken a toll on his ERA. He'll need to get past those if the Diamondbacks are going to receive the kind of offer that would make it worth moving their closer. Qualls is under control through 2010, and his modest price tag will make him quite attractive. If he finishes with 30 saves this year, his salary could jump to $5 million or so next year, but he'd be in line for less if he's relegated to a setup role with a contender.

Danys Baez (Orioles) - It seemed highly unlikely a few months ago, when Baez tried and failed to crack the Baltimore rotation, but he's finally earning his salary in the final season of his three-year, $19 million contract with the Orioles. The league has hit just .183 off the right-hander, allowing him to amass a 3.22 ERA in 36 1/3 innings. He's more of a seventh-inning guy than a true shutdown setup man, but he figures to come cheaper than most of the other relievers on this list.

George Sherrill (Orioles) - Sherrill has allowed just one run in 18 appearances since sort of losing his job a month into the year (the Orioles indicated that they were going to a committee, but it never materialized). He now has a 2.20 ERA, and he's 15-for-17 in save chances. It looked like the Orioles blew it last year when they failed to sell high on Sherrill and then watched him struggle and lose most of his trade value after a poor second half. They could always do it again, but they do have more depth now and they should be able to better cover his loss.

Takashi Saito (Red Sox) - The Red Sox have a surplus of relievers, and Saito hasn't pitched as well as his 2.59 ERA in 24 1/3 innings indicates, though he has improved considerably over the last month. Making a deal tricky is that his salary is due to keep growing. It's currently at $3.5 million, and he could guarantee himself as much as $7.5 million if he remains healthy all season. Even the Red Sox don't want to commit that much to their fourth- or fifth-best reliever.

Rafael Betancourt (Indians) - Kerry Wood figures to stay, but the Indians should move Betancourt, who had lowered his ERA to 3.71 before landing on the DL with a groin strain at the beginning of the month. He's due to return in early July, giving him a few weeks to rebuild his value. The Indians probably won't ask for much in return if it means shedding the rest of his $3.35 million salary.

LaTroy Hawkins (Astros) - The Astros probably won't write off the season -- which means fellow free-agent-to-be Jose Valverde is likely to stay -- but if they see the opportunity to trade Hawkins for immediate help, they could take it. Since joining Houston, Hawkins has a 1.92 ERA in 51 2/3 innings. American League teams will want to stay far, far away.

Renyel Pinto (Marlins) - Pinto's ERA stands at 2.31, but he hasn't gotten there by retiring lefties (.308 average against) and Dan Meyer has supplanted him as the top southpaw in Florida's pen. That he'll be arbitration eligible for the first time this winter only adds to the chances that he'll be moved, though at $1 million or so, he's hardly set to break the bank.

Cla Meredith (Padres) - The Padres could get a whole lot in return for Heath Bell, but he'll be reasonably inexpensive for another year. Meredith, on the other hand, has just about outlived his usefulness with arbitration eligibility on the way. He has a 2.89 ERA this season, but it comes with a 1.57 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 28 innings. The Padres no longer use him with leads, as evidenced by the fact that he hasn't picked up a hold since April 16. His ability to induce grounders would be of more use in a smaller park.

Ron Villone (Nationals) - The Washington pen, so brutal for two months, suddenly has Mike MacDougal, Villone, Joe Beimel and Julian Tavarez all throwing well. Of course, no one from the group can be counted on for the long haul. Three of the four will be eligible for free agency at season's end, and MacDougal, who is making $2.65 million this year under the terms of his deal with the White Sox, would be costly to keep in arbitration if he remains effective. The Nationals should deal one or two of the veterans of the group if decent prospects are offered, and the two lefties are the most likely to go.

Phillies' GM Ruben Amaro has a problem:

I talked to Amaro on the phone yesterday, and while he said that upgrading the starting rotation remains his "main focus," he said he doesn't yet have any willing trade partners. The problem, evidently, is two-fold: a) Some of the pitchers who ordinarily would be on the market (Jake Peavy, Erik Bedard, etc.) are injured; b) Some of the teams that were expected to be trade-deadline sellers (Rockies, Reds, etc.) haven't completely dropped out of contention.

"No one's out there dealing anybody or wanting to part with anybody because the pitchers who are available are, one, hurt, and two, pitching for teams that don't think they're out of the race yet," Amaro told Philled In. "I know because I've asked about every one of them."

Ruben! Put Circling the Bases in your RSS feed and your problems will be solved!

The Yankees play the Braves starting tonight, and whenever that happens, I get seriously bad flashbacks . . .

I was in my second year of law school in the fall of 1996 and I had a professor that semester who would just go on and on and on about the Yankees. He'd use them as the example of greatness, in much the same way people used to use Cadillacs (e.g. "Goldman Sachs is the New York Yankees of investment banks," etc.). I cut him some slack because he was in his early 50s, which meant that he grew up at a time when the Yankees won all the time and such comparisons made sense. Because of his age, he could be forgiven for overlooking the fact that the Yankees hadn't won anything in close to 20 years, and had only been in the playoffs once in the previous 15. The way in which he clinged to the past was kind of cute and endearing.

But then the Yankees started working their way through the playoffs. My Braves -- the reigning World Series Champions -- were too, and despite a big scare from the Cardinals in the NLCS, I and many others expected them to coast easily to another title. My professor, high on New York's run, noticed my Braves cap in class one day and decided to taunt me a bit. Asking me how I'd feel when the Yankees thrashed the Braves. Asking me if I'd need a couple of days off from class to recover from the epic beatdown that was to come. When I realized that he was looking for someone to jaw back at him I obliged, and for a couple of days two or three minutes of class was taken up with our smack.

When the Braves put the hurt to the Yankees in games one and two, my professor backed off. I, however, amped it up. I talked about how unlikely it was for a team -- especially a green and untested team like the Yankees -- to come back from a 2-0 deficit. Especially when they'd have to beat Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux -- in that order -- to do it. I was a total ass about it, really, and that would have remained the case even if what happned over the next four games hadn't happened.

But it did happen. Oh, God, did it happen, and to this day I can't think about that World Series without shuddering, partially because of just how epic was the Braves' fail, but even more so for the complete lack of humility and grace I displayed in the runup to it all. To my professor's credit, he only rubbed my nose in it for, oh, three weeks afterwards. When I got my A in his class, I couldn't help but wonder if pity was just as much at play as performance. Since then I've done my best to blot the memory of 1996 out of my mind, and I've succeeded to varying degrees.

But then a blogger like Jay at Fack Youk goes and starts what looks to be an excellent series reviewing the 1996 and 1999 Yankees-Braves World Series, and the bad memories start flooding back. Not so much for 1999 -- every Braves fan just sort of knew on some level that the Yankees would kill us -- but for that awful, awful 1996.

He has Game one up right now. Since I knew it would have a happy ending I managed to make it through it. By tomorrow morning he's going to have Game Four posted, however. I can't decide if I'll read it yet. It's been over 12 years so you'd think I could handle it by now, but I'm not sure I can. Maybe I'll email Jay and ask him to move Game Four up to this evening so it will be a little more acceptable for me to take a belt of scotch or something before diving in.

Anyway, Jay's series should be enjoyable for (a) anyone too young to really remember the details of the 1996 Series; (b) Yankees fans; and (c) masochistic Braves fans. As for the rest of us? Well, whatever doesn't kill us only makes us stronger, and the 1996 Series hasn't killed me. Yet.

Baseball has taken to staging charity concerts during the All-Star break. This year it's Sheryl Crow:

Major League Baseball will host Missouri native and nine-time Grammy Award winner Sheryl Crow for the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Charity Concert presented by Pepsi on Saturday, July 11 under the iconic Gateway Arch at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The concert, which will be free to fans, is the culmination of a day-long celebration of baseball history and will feature a $1 million donation by Major League Baseball to Stand Up To Cancer.

In addition, fans will be able to make donations to Stand Up To Cancer after the concert. The concert will be streamed live on MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, and fans watching the live stream will be encouraged to donate to Stand Up To Cancer.

Last year it was Bon Jovi, which means instead of being 20 years behind the times, baseball is now only 15 years behind the times. If form holds, next year it will be Ricky Martin!

I'm kidding of course. Good for baseball for doing this and good for Crow for donating her time and vocal cords to a worthy cause.

The Diamondbacks have come to grips with the fact that they aren't very good, which means that it's selling time in Arizona:

"It's the middle of June and we're 10 games under .500, so I think there's a reality as far as the types of discussions we have had and will have with other clubs," Byrnes said . . .

. . . To this point, Byrnes has given no indication that he is planning a major overhaul. So, for now, if the team makes a move, look for it to be with one of the veterans who are in the final year of their contracts. Pitchers Doug Davis and Jon Garland fit that profile, as does second baseman Felipe Lopez. The club would certainly like to deal Chad Tracy if he is able to get back to being healthy and show the form he had the first couple of weeks of the season.

Davis is useful and is having a good season. Garland is useful, but not having a particularly good season. Still, both are the types of pitchers whose value historically peaks around the trade deadline for reasons that have more to do with the desperation of contenders than their inherent worth. I'm not smelling that same kind of desperation this year -- at least not yet -- but it's not inconceivable that the Dbacks could get something valuable for those guys.

Chad Tracy? He of the .203/.262/.373 line and the tender oblique? I have this feeling he's not going anywhere.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jeff Schultz notes that, with the Cubs, Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies coming to town, the Braves stand to play in front of hostile crowds at home for some time:

Fortunately, they will be checking tickets and not allegiances this week at Turner Field.

Revenue isn't the worst fallback. You take what you can get if you're the Braves, particularly when three of the visiting teams on a home stand -- the Cubs, Yankees and Red Sox - come with overstuffed caravans and the term "meaningful games" locally appears to have a decreasing shelf life . . .

. . . The Braves knew the Yankees and Red Sox games would be the year's hot tickets. It's one reason why they initially sold them only through multi-game packs, also hoping to limit the presence of New York and Boston fans. But that plan didn't fill the stadium. Individual game tickets eventually went on sale three weeks ago.

The expected influx of Yankees and Red Sox is not surprising. It happens everywhere anymore. It's one of the consequences of ESPN and FOX's efforts to make New York and Boston de facto national teams over the past decade.

What kills me, though, is that there was a time when the Braves were the de facto national team. Maybe not quite "America's Team" as Ted Turner tried to package them, but certainly a team with a fan base spread across the country thanks to 144 games on TBS every summer. It's one of the reasons I'm a Braves fan. I lived in West Virginia when I was a teenager, and they were the only game on the dial. I watched every game, and no matter where the Braves played -- Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Chicago and even New York -- there was always a surprisingly strong Braves' contingent in the stands.

A couple of years ago, however, Braves' ownership decided to scrap that plan. From a broadcast perspective, the Braves are now confined to the south, and thus the national nature of that fan base is atrophying. I'm certainly losing track of them to some degree, and I presume others who used to follow them from afar are as well. I suppose the Braves' suits could point to how much better the Braves are penetrating their local market since the broadcasting change, but shouldn't they have wrapped up that market before now? How many more Meridian, Mississippi households can they possibly reach?

Atlanta fans are famously fair-weather, so the low attendance Jeff Schultz cites in this article is no real surprise given their poor play of late. One wonders, however, if there would be a greater enthusiasm for this team if they, like the Yankees and Red Sox, were consistently reaching a national audience like they used to.

"It starts at the top with the manager"

-- Clint Hurdle, appearing as a guest commenter on the MLB Network, when asked what's behind the Colorado Rockies winning 17 of 18 games.

Hey, if you can't have a sense of humor about such things, you're probably not going to last too long in that game.

Braves 2, Cubs 0: Javier Vazquez somehow managed to allow no runs despite giving up nine hits and two walks in six and two-thirds. Behold! In these Cubs we have found a team more feeble when it matters most than the Braves!

Rockies 11, Angels 1: Aaron Cook now has the most wins in Rockies' franchise history at 59, which is pretty neat, actually. Colorado has now won 17 of 18.

Athletics 5, Giants 1: I thought Jonathan Sanchez was supposed to be, like, good. He's 2-9, has lost four in a row and has an ERA of five and a half. Meanwhile, Trevor Cahill hasn't allowed more than three runs in an outing in over a month.

Mets 6, Cardinals 4: I know it's great sport to make fun of announcers, and it's even more fun to try to out-funny one another when we do it. But when I say this, please understand that there is no snark intended. There is no joke to follow. I do not offer this as a means of piling on. Really, I am being very, very serious, and I hope this is taken seriously by someone in a position to do something about it: Rick Sutcliffe and Steve Phillips -- who were together on the same ESPN broadcast team for some reason -- are truly wretched and should not be allowed in a broadcast booth.

I am among the biggest baseball fans on the planet. I have devoted thousands of hours over the past few years writing about it and thousands more over the course of my life watching it. I am among those who will watch baseball under almost any circumstances. Scandal. National emergency. Family emergency. You name it, and I'm still wondering when the game starts. Yet after only an inning or two of listening to these men do their best to distract me from the game with their pointless, showy commentary, I changed the channel. I watched a nine year-old "Family Guy" rerun because I could not bear to listen to these disgraces argue about how they'd pitch to Albert Pujols in such a way as to actually interfere in an Albert Pujols at bat. I could not bear to listen to them talk about the legacy of Donald Fehr with an incoherence that was surprising, even for them. I could not stand the cascading cliches, the super-hyped, super-throaty wannabe radio announcer voices, and the seeming unwillingness to let a moment pass without their voices drowning out the sounds of the ballpark and even, on occasion, the play-by-play itself. And before you say "well, I guess we won't pair them up again," know that they do it on their own respective broadcasts too. If these men were next to you at the ballpark or sitting on the next bar stool over going on like they do, you'd yell at them to shut up, and if they didn't, you'd ask them to be shown the door.

ESPN, for all of your faults, you remain the premier venue of broadcast sports. How, then, you allow Major League Baseball, one of your most valuable properties, to be massacred so thoroughly by the likes of Sutcliffe and Phillips I will never know. You are actively driving fans way, ESPN. You are turning off an entire generation to a product that should, by all rights, be bulletproof. Having Sutcliffe and Phillips broadcasting baseball is the equivalent of giving away water in the desert via infomercial. Why bother? People are begging for your product, yet you seem to almost revel in assaulting them in order to get it. The only possible explanation is sadism.

I know many people who work for ESPN. Every single one of them is bright, amiable, and above all else, passionate about sports. How, then, you allow guys like Sutcliffe and Phillips to sully their efforts with their terrible, terrible work is beyond me.

ESPN: dare to give your sport, your viewers, and your employees the respect they deserve. Remove Sutcliffe and Phillips from the booth. Replace them with someone who understands that the game, and not their own mindless prattle, is the product people turn in to see and hear.

Manny Ramirez isn't eligible to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers until July 3, but the hype is already kicking into high gear as the tainted slugger begins his minor league warm-up on Tuesday in Albuquerque.

No matter what you think of the slugger and his pending return, you're bound to have an opinion about it. Everyone does.

One writer thinks it's a sham that he gets to play in the minors before his 50-game suspension for failing a drug test has been completed. Another scribe wonders why that's even an issue. It's not like he's getting special treatment. All suspended players are allowed to find their rhythm in the minors before their eligible to return.

And for what it's worth, my Uncle Frank thinks Ramirez, and anyone else caught doping, should be sent somewhere far, far away. Like Mars, maybe. I have a feeling many people feel the same way.

Regardless of where you fall on the Ramirez issue, it will be hard not to follow his movements over the next week or so. Whether you're thrilled or disgusted, you won't be able to turn your eyes away.

As one fan said "He's a cheater, but I still want to see him play." He's not alone.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, who average 7,000 fans per game, have already sold an extra 11,000 tickets in two days.

And the San Bernardino 66ers -- a single-A Dodgers farm team -- have already sold out Sunday's game, even though the Dodgers have yet to even confirm Ramirez will play there.

Fans can watch Ramirez play on Tuesday - for a fee - as the game will be broadcast on MiLB.TV.

And if you're expecting the slugger to need some time to shake off the rust, you might be surprised. The man who's been throwing him batting practice says Ramirez is already locked in.

"I can tell just by watching how the balls carry," said Flippo. "You can tell -- the way his rhythm is going when he has it together. You can tell if he looks comfortable. You can tell when a guy is fighting it. Everything is looking easy for him, as easy as when he came to us.

"One thing I can tell, when I throw a good pitch down the middle, I expect that to be hit. With him, even when I don't give him a good pitch, he still drives it. In Spring Training, if he got one of those bad pitches, he didn't hit it that good. Last year, when he joined us, no matter where the pitch was, he hit it hard. And right now, it's the same thing with him."

Let the hype begin.

Carlos Beltran had been hoping to play through the bone bruise in his right knee, but instead joined the Mets' crowded disabled list after undergoing an MRI exam Monday. General manager Omar Minaya indicated that the DL stint may last just two weeks, but there's no official diagnosis yet. Beltran has been playing through various injuries all season, yet never slowed down while hitting .336/.425/.527.

Jeremy Reed started in Beltran's place Monday night, but went 0-for-4 as his line dropped to .278/.307/.347 on the year, and the Mets could give an extended shot to Fernando Martinez after recalling him from Triple-A. Martinez has hit .291 with a strong .885 OPS in 44 games at Triple-A, but looked overmatched while going 12-for-62 (.194) with the Mets and the 20-year-old likely isn't ready to thrive yet.

While the Mets close to 1.5 games in the NL East despite running out of healthy players, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Speaking of Mets on the shelf, Oliver Perez and John Maine rehabbed together at Single-A by each starting one game of a doubleheader Monday. Maine tossed six innings of one-run ball as he comes back from shoulder soreness, but Perez allowed six runs in three innings in his recovery from a knee injury. Neither looks ready to rejoin the rotation, but Maine could be back after one more rehab start.

* Having oddly decided to start him in 38 straight games fresh off hip surgery the Yankees have apparently now concluded that Alex Rodriguez needs rest. He sat out Friday and Saturday and the team announced Monday that he's scheduled to receive one day off per week through the All-Star break. He's a career .304 hitter who's never batted under .285, so much is being made of his lowly .213 average.

However, with nine homers, six doubles, and 30 walks in 170 plate appearances his power and patience have been just fine and Rodriguez is actually striking out less often than he has in any season since 1998. He's in a 9-for-59 (.153) slump this month and giving him regular days off should have always been in the plans, but much of his struggles can be traced to some singles not falling in. Be patient.

* Ervin Santana felt soreness in his forearm while throwing a bullpen session this weekend, so the Angels scratched him from his scheduled Tuesday start against the Rockies and put him on the disabled list. While clearly a setback, the move is retroactive to June 12 and would allow Santana to return from the DL as soon as this Friday. However, that seems unlikely given his ugly 7.47 ERA in six outings.

Note: As the first half comes to a close, we're now offering a "Midseason Report" that includes all the outstanding content from our "Season Pass" product plus a ton of new articles, rankings, and projections tailored for the second half.

AL Quick Hits: Grady Sizemore (elbow) is planning to come off the disabled list Tuesday, but remains one setback from season-ending surgery ... Scott Kazmir (elbow) tossed six innings of one-run ball in a rehab outing Monday at Triple-A, striking out five and walking zero ... Angels general manager Tony Reagins said Monday that the team isn't interested in Pedro Martinez ... Out since April with a partially torn elbow ligament, Xavier Nady is set to start a rehab stint Wednesday at Triple-A ... Akinori Iwamura tore his ACL last month, but is now hoping to play again this season after undergoing surgery Monday ... Josh Outman is expected to miss Wednesday's start because of elbow soreness ... CC Sabathia (biceps) remains optimistic about not missing a start, but the Yankees won't make a call until after his bullpen session Wednesday ... Asdrubal Cabrera (shoulder) began what's slated to be a three-week rehab assignment Monday at Double-A.

NL Quick Hits: Out since last month, Joey Votto has reportedly joined the Reds in Toronto and is expected to be in the lineup Tuesday night ... Ryan Howard's status remains unclear after being diagnosed with acute sinusitis ... Albert Pujols reportedly "called his shot" before blasting a game-breaking grand slam Sunday, which apparently surprised no one ... Alfonso Soriano is just 12-for-73 (.164) this month, so he got Monday off while the Cubs were shut out ... Manny Ramirez is expected to begin playing in minor-league games Tuesday in preparation for his July 3 return from suspension ... Yunel Escobar was scratched from Monday's lineup with a strained hip, which is the same injury that sidelined him for a week last month ... Javier Vazquez worked around 11 base runners while throwing 6.2 shutout innings Monday ... Alex Gonzalez will miss 4-6 weeks following surgery Monday to remove bone chips from his elbow.

ESPN is reporting that MLBPA honcho Don Fehr is stepping down:

Don Fehr is stepping down as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a position he's held since the mid-1980s, a source tells ESPN.

Fehr will be replaced by general counsel Michael Weiner, pending board approval, the source said. An announcement is expected to be made later on Monday afternoon.

Fehr, who will turn 61 in July, was voted in to lead the players' union in December 1985.

Let's be clear here: Don Fehr is not a popular man. Indeed, he's the only guy the baseball-loving public holds in lower esteem than Bud Selig, and that really takes some doing. He has been blamed for everything bad that has happened in baseball since 1985, be it the 1994-95 lockout, the steroids mess, huge player salaries, baggy pants, gold chains and everything else that differentiates baseball of today from the baseball of yesterday.

The thing about him, though, is that the only people he cares about -- the players whose interests he represents -- owe just about everything good that has happened to them in that time to him as well. Those things include his handling of the 1994-95 lockout, the huge salaries, their right to wear baggy pants and gold chains and just about everything else that differentiates baseball of today from the baseball of yesterday. The point here is that no matter how much you hate him, Don Fehr had one job to do and that was to make life better for the players. He did that in spades. A rookie made $60,000 a year when Fehr took over and the game's biggest stars made around $2 million. Today they're making ten times what they made back then. More importantly, back in 1985 the owners seemed to believe that they could break the law and collude against players, tear up the Collective Bargaining Agreement when it suited them, and generally try to run roughshod over players' rights. That garbage stopped under Fehr's leadership, and you can bet that the players are grateful for it.

The big exception here is PEDs. Here is where, in my view anyway, Fehr's instincts to fight tooth-and-nail against ownership ultimately did the union's membership a disservice. Yes, many were responsible for the steroids mess, but it took Fehr too long to recognize that, unlike your usual labor stuff, there were competing interests within union membership on the issue of PEDs and a strong public interest in the subject as well. Fehr ignored that for far too long, which had the effect of throwing both users and non-users under the public relations bus. My sense is that almost everything you'll read about this in the coming days will greatly overplay his handling of steroids and greatly underplay his accomplishments (stuff like this), but it's not like we can ignore that aspect of his job performance either.

According to the article, the union's general counsel will be taking over, so you can assume that there will be little change in the union's approach going forward. But regardless of the continuity of it all, Donald Fehr's departure leave eaves some pretty large shoes to fill.

So much and so little has changed.

It was 10 years and three weeks ago that I discovered Rotoworld.com, clicked on the contact button and suggested to anyone who was listening that I was the perfect candidate to write some columns for the site. Not that this college dropout had any sort of resume. Besides my willingness to write cheap, I went with the only other thing working in my favor: I was leading an ESPN baseball contest played by about 50,000 people.

It took nearly four weeks to get a reply, but when it finally did come, I was welcomed aboard with open arms and I kicked off my sportswriting career making $25 a week for writing the Strike Zone and the Prospects Report.

Obviously, things got better from there, or I probably wouldn't have made it the 10 years. In January 2000, Rotoworld essentially became my life, as I took over the baseball, football and basketball news, and with plenty of hard work and some luck along the way, the site got big. I gradually received the chance to scale back my workload as we could hire new people, and I've been able to strictly focus on baseball, always my love, for five years now. We even eventually went corporate, as the original site owners chose to sell to NBC in 2006. This year, we started up this blog on NBCSports.com and I've been allowed to focus as much on actual baseball as fantasy baseball for the first time.

I think that's part of the reason why, 10 years later, I'm again leading that baseball contest, ESPN's Baseball Challenge. If I were smarter, I would have switched focuses long ago to a pay game or two and tried to make myself some real money. But BBC gets more attention from me than anything else I've ever played. When it first started up in 1997, I got a little obsessed with it, or at least the chat room attached to it. Among the people I met there was Troy Beech, who later joined me at Rotoworld and who became very important in helping the site grow in the early part of the decade.

As for the game itself, I've always loved the way it saps luck from the equation. 10 different players, every single day. No worries about injuries or players simply falling off a cliff. It comes down to knowledge and dedication when you have to make 900 picks to win.

And I was really good at it, of course. BBC has always been two contests per year: one pre-All-Star break, one post. In 1997, I finished second in the first half and first for the whole year, though that didn't count for anything. In 1999, I went on to win the first half, earning myself a big-screen TV. Ever since, I've been on the leaderboard more often than not, though I've never really been in a position to win coming down the stretch, at least until this year. I think it's partially because I'm less burned out on fantasy stuff than usual, but I've been sitting in first place since the third week of the season.

The lead has fluctuated. It was almost 150 points at one time, but it got down as low as 15 points last week and could have disappeared entirely if not for a poor outing from Chad Billingsley (unlike most, I went with Josh Outman and the A's staff on Friday, only to cringe when he was forced from the game in the second inning due to a sore elbow). While the nine hitters account for the majority of the team's points, it's still the pitcher that makes or breaks most days.622

We're down to the final three weeks now. There are no more flukes high on the leaderboard, and several of the names below me have won or challenged for the title before. I'm not going to mind losing if that's how it works out; I play the game because it's a tradition and it's still fun for me, even if there are days that I don't feel like picking my team. Plus, there's the added bonus now that it keeps me on my toes and gives me a good reason to check over every box score even on those days that my job no longer requires it.

That was convincing, right?

OK, so I want to win. I want to pummel everyone by 200 points. I want to tease Matthew Berry about it afterwards. I want ESPN to not be able to interview their two-time champ because, in doing so, they'd be promoting Rotoworld and NBCSports.com

And I like that the old standby hasn't changed. The rest of the daily routine is different, the house is new and the job is nothing like what I originally signed on for. But six months of the year, I still spend 20 minutes or so every night writing down the matchups, checking tomorrow's weather and then picking my BBC team.

Now that I've gone public, I'll provide weekly updates through the end of the first half.

It's not a feeding frenzy yet, but blood is definitely in the water in Cleveland:

The fate of manager Eric Wedge is in the hands of owner Larry and team president Paul Dolan. If they say he's gone, he's gone . . . When asked if he was considering a change, Larry Dolan said, "I'll talk to you later." When asked if that meant a change was being considered, Dolan said, "I just don't want to lie to you."

Since then Paul Dolan said that nothing was imminent, and GM Mark Shapiro says he thinks that Wedge should keep his job. As the article says, though, it's probably not Shapiro's call.

I'm not one of those guys who thinks that firing a manager is necessarily the best solution -- in fact it rarely is -- but I can't say I see any benefit to keeping Eric Wedge around. His defenders will cite all of the injuries the Indians have suffered, but (a) they were playing poorly right of the gate this season; and (b) even if they weren't, injuries are a fact of life in baseball that just have to be overcome. Except Cleveland never overcomes them, and at some point someone has to be held responsible for that. Maybe that's Mark Shapiro for not supplying the kind of depth an otherwise talented team needs in order to work through this stuff. There's an order in which these things tend to proceed, however, and that usually involves the manager getting axed first.

Not that we'd be talking epic unfairness if Wedge were to get canned. He has has had seven years to make something work with this team, and with one near-magical exception, it hasn't worked. Better managers than Eric Wedge have been let go after compiling shorter and less disappointing records. When you add in the observation by the great Terry Pluto that Wedge just looks lost and beat and demoralized these days, one can't help but think that a change would do both him and the Indians some good.

In the past, when snow, storms and floods have made baseball an impossible task someplace, Miller Park in Milwaukee has pinch-hit as the "home" park for the affected team. Now, it seems, it may need a pinch-hitter of its own:

Miller Park sustained significant flooding after a band of severe storms slammed Milwaukee late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning, and crews have worked around the clock since then to clean up the mess and replace damaged carpet, drywall and furniture . . . The key concern on Sunday afternoon was the electrical system. As the Brewers were playing the final innings of their 3-2 loss in Detroit, power was just being restored at Miller Park, substation by substation.

Water rose knee-high in several areas of the ballpark's service level, which includes office and storage space for the Brewers, Sportservice and the sheriff's department. It was only ankle-deep in the main areas of the clubhouse, according to a team spokesperson, sparing the equipment left behind in the players' lockers . . . "I'd say it's functional, but not normal," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "It's a big deal, and it's probably going to be a period of time before it's taken care of."

The immediately affected series is against the Twins. Sense would dictate that it be shifted to Minnesota. It's close, it will be empty, and there's no chance whatsoever of a rainout. I'm sure some Brewer fans would complain about losing a couple of home games, but it seems like it would be well worth it if it gave crews a little more time to fix all of the damage.

The Marlins screwed up a double switch yesterday, and Joe Girardi protested:

New York manager Joe Girardi protested the game because of a mixup with the Marlins lineup in the eighth inning, when a Florida player was removed in a double switch but took his position on the field anyway . . .

. . . In an odd mixup, Chris Coghlan started the top of the eighth in left field after Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez had removed him in a double switch. Alejandro De Aza batted for pitcher Renyel Pinto in the seventh and was supposed to take over in left, but never ran on the field.

Leo Nunez threw a pitch, then Girardi came out to protest. After about a 5-minute delay, Coghlan was removed, Jeremy Hermida went to left field and the Yankees played the rest of the game under protest. They were trailing 6-3 at the time.

I guess you sort of have to protest that, but even if Girardi is successful, and the game result nullified, I'm not sure New York comes out ahead. That's because the game would be resumed at some later date with the Marlins ahead by three in the eighth inning. The chances of the Yankees coming back from that aren't all that great, really, and when you add in the facts that the game would have to take place on an off day during the height of the summer or the height of the pennant race, would require superfluous travel, and would tax the bullpen, one wonders if it's really worth it. At the very least, if you're the Yankees you'd hope that the protest is successful, and the resumption of the game is scheduled for the day after the end of the season. If New York is out of the playoffs by one game, great, resume the Marlins game. If not, let it slide.

Red Sox 6, Braves 5: First time I got to watch the Braves on TBS in like forever, and they just stink up the joint. All of that bad defense combined with weather imported from Scotland made this game about the only bad thing that happened to me on Father's Day. If it wasn't for home plate umpire Bill Hohn's AMAZING mustache, this game would have been a total loss for me.

Cardinals 12, Royals 5: Albert Pujols (4-5, 2 HR, 2B, 6 RBI) can't be bargained with. He can't be reasoned with, He doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And he absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead.

Padres 4, A's 1: According to the game story, the fathers of Brian Giles, Edgar and Adrian Gonzalez, Luke Gregorson, Kevin Kouzmanoff, Cla Meredith, Edward Mujica, Joe Thatcher, Tony Gwynn and Kevin Correia threw out the first pitch to their respective sons before the game in honor of Father's Day. Then, in the true spirit of baseball fathers everywhere, they all got drunk and paced behind the backstop while angrily yelling at the coach to put their boys in.

Marlins 6, Yankees 5: Sabathia left the game early with tightness in his left bicep. He says it's not serious, and given that (a) it was 95 degrees and humid; and (b) Sabathia sweats barbecue sauce, you have to figure it was some kind of heat-induced cramping or something. According to the game story Alex Rodriguez -- playing in his hometown of Miami -- said he reserved about 100 tickets for family and friends. I'm dubious. I read a book last month that said he had no friends, and they couldn't have printed such a thing if it weren't true, right? In other news, the Yankees dropped four of six to the Nats and Marlins in the past week, though I suppose if Girardi's protest succeeds there's a chance to improve that to three of six (note: protests never, ever succeed).

Rockies 5, Pirates 4: The Rockies begin to rip off another winning streak, winning this one behind Clint Barmes (2-3, 2B, HR, 2 RBI). All of this winning has them doing things like taking one of their more marketable commodities off the market. I still say it's ultimately in vain -- Colorado will be watching the playoffs on TBS and FOX just like you and me -- but in the meantime, mazel tov for the Rockies fans.

White Sox 4, Reds 1: Mark Buehrle just went out and acted all Mark Buehrle-y: seven strong innings, very little b.s. He looked good, but nowhere near as good as the Sox looked on Saturday night in those blue roadies.

Tigers 3, Brewers 2: Justin Verlander likes pitching against Milwaukee. The first time he faced them he threw a no-hitter. The second time -- yesterday -- he struck out eight and gave up two runs in seven and two-thirds.

Rays 10, Mets 6: Upton, Crawford and Longoria went 11 for 16 with seven RBIs, and the Rays have now won eight of eleven. The Mets, on the other hand, are in a one-step-forward-two-steps-back kind of rut, having dropped an awful lot of series lately.

Blue Jays 9, Nationals 4: Someone finally douses the red-hot Nats. Well, relatively speaking anyway. It was Ricky Romero stepping up for Toronto, giving up two over seven innings on a day when the bullpen needed a rest following a couple of extra innings games.

Orioles 2, Phillies 1: Man, has Cole Hamels pitched in some bad luck lately. Last time out he got the no-decision after giving up only two runs in six innings, and yesterday it was two runs in eight innings with ten strikeouts. The Phillies lineup -- minus Ryan Howard, who didn't play for the first time in 343 games because he has some nasty sinus infection -- just couldn't do a thing against Jeremy Guthrie, mustering only four hits on the day. Hamels after the game: "I think the key is we're in first place. We're fortunate everyone in the NL East is playing really bad." Man, the Nats can't any props even when things are going good for them.

Cubs 6, Indians 2: You know, if Jeremy Sowers could figure out a way to fix that little hitch in his delivery, the only thing keeping him from stardom would be his complete and utter inability to get anyone out.

Astros 4, Twins 1: Despite his teammates' best efforts to kill him -- Darin Erstad lined a ball off Rodriguez's left side during batting practice on Saturday -- Wandy Rodriguez was pretty spectacular yesterday (7 IP, 2H, 1 ER). "We need to keep playing good baseball. That's the biggest key for us," manager Cecil Cooper said after the game. Astute observations like that are why Cooper makes the big bucks.

Mariners 3, Diamondbacks 2: The game ended when, with two outs and the score tied, first basemen Tony Clark simply dropped a routine throw from the third baseman, turning what would have been out number three into the game-losing error. I've been watching baseball for over 30 years, and I can't recall ever seeing a game end like that.

Dodgers 5, Angels 3: I can't tell if Clayton Kershaw is trying to grow mutton chops or if he simply has the most pathetic mustache in the history of baseball. He's certainly no Bill Hohn, that's for sure. He can pitch, however, shutting out the Angels over seven innings. Juan Pierre keeps up the good work two, hitting a couple of RBI doubles. At first I thought that Pierre's 50 games in the sun would allow him to rest contently, knowing that he proved a lot of naysayers wrong about his ability to start on a winning team. Now I'm wondering if he'll overplay his hand and demand all kinds of playing time based on his track record once Manny returns.

Giants 3, Rangers 2: Barry Zito had a no-hitter going until he gave up a two-run homer to Andruw Jones in the seventh, but an RBI single by Randy Winn in the bottom of the inning preserved the win for Zito and the Giants. Watching Zito face Jones in 2009 has to be a lot like watching Flair face Steamboat in 1995. Something that you would have once paid a lot to see, but now you just hope no one gets too terribly injured.

John Smoltz makes his anticipated return to the mound on Thursday. It is also his anticipated debut for the Boston Red Sox, who signed him away from Atlanta in the offseason after the Braves showed somewhat tepid interest in keeping their aging star.

There is one problem with Smoltz's return, it would have been a lot more fun if it had come a day or two later.

On Thursday, Smoltz will take the mound in Washington against baseball's worst team - the Washington Nationals. On Friday, Boston begins a three-game series at Turner Field against the Atlanta Braves.

Clearly the Red Sox are easing the veteran right-hander back into things, and Smoltz himself says that's fine with him.

"I'm not afraid of any challenge or anything that comes about. It's just, I've got to be realistic to see that this scenario would have been much more than just a regular first-game start."

Smoltz already paid respects to his former teammates when the Braves were in Boston this past week, but it still would've been fun to have them face off against each other. Now the only way that happens this year is if both teams reach the World Series - unlikely to say the least.

Meanwhile, Boston fans, already undoubtedly pleased with Dice-K's trip to the disabled list, can get excited about adding another strong, veteran pitcher to the rotation. A guy who has made it a habit to be dominant on the mound, even when injured.

"Even when he's not healthy, his numbers don't fluctuate," marveled Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell. "He's had a remarkable career."

FIVE SERIES TO WATCH

B.J. Upton spent the first week of the season on the disabled list following winter shoulder surgery and hit just .204 with two homers, 60 strikeouts, and a measly .587 OPS in 45 games through the end of May. Everything changed for him once the calendar flipped to June and Upton's hot stretch continued Sunday as he tied career-highs with four hits and four RBIs in a win over the Mets.

Upton is now hitting .330 with three homers, six doubles, 13 runs, and 15 RBIs in 18 games this month while going 11-for-13 swiping bases. He's also struck out in 22 percent of his plate appearances after whiffing 28 percent of the time through two months and as usual Upton has drawn walks in bunches. He's still sporting a sub-.700 OPS, but the time to buy low is clearly disappearing in a hurry.

While the Rays score double-digit runs for the 11th time in 71 games to increase their MLB-best total to 401, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* CC Sabathia was yanked from Sunday's start against the Marlins in the second inning with left biceps tendinitis. Sabathia wanted to remain in the game and said afterward that he plans to make his scheduled start Friday against the Mets, but manager Joe Girardi expressed less optimism about his status. For now at least no MRI exam is planned and he's slated for a bullpen session Wednesday.

Sabathia has just 70 strikeouts in 102 innings after racking up 251 in 253 innings last season, but his fastball velocity is actually up slightly compared to 2008 and prior to Sunday's abbreviated start he was 5-1 with a 2.92 ERA and 45/15 K/BB in his previous eight outings. Phil Hughes would likely get the nod to replace him if needed, but Sabathia will no doubt try to pitch through the injury if possible.

* Barry Zito had a season-high with eight strikeouts Sunday against the Rangers, missing that many bats for just the fifth time in 79 starts with the Giants. Zito had 205 strikeouts during his first full season in 2001 and averaged 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings through the age of 24, but has failed to reach 7.0 strikeouts per nine innings in any of seven seasons since then.

However, after eight strikeouts in seven innings Sunday his strikeout rate is up to 6.8/9 for his highest mark since 2004. Zito's average fastball was under 85 miles per hour in 2007 and 2008, but his velocity has improved to a 86.5 mph this year and he's again having tons of success with his amazing curveball. Since two bad outings to begin the season Zito has a 3.85 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 74 innings.

AL Quick Hits: Justin Morneau's league-high streak of 319 straight games ended Sunday because of "general soreness" ... David Ortiz homered Sunday for the fifth time this month after going deep just once through 46 games ... Mike Lowell missed his second straight game Sunday because of soreness in his surgically repaired hip ... Kevin Millwood had a season-high 10 strikeouts Sunday, but took a loss while allowing three runs ... Gil Meche came into Sunday with 16 straight scoreless innings and a 3.31 ERA, but was rocked for nine runs ... Mark Buehrle tossed seven shutout innings Sunday, improving to 7-2 ... Denard Span (ear) is expected to come off the disabled list when eligible Thursday ... Evan Longoria broke out his June slump by going 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles Sunday ... Ricky Romero hurled his fourth straight Quality Start on Sunday ... Dallas Braden cut his ERA to 3.26 with seven innings of two-run ball Sunday.

NL Quick Hits: Albert Pujols homered twice and drove in six runs Sunday, giving him an MLB-leading 26 long balls and 68 RBIs ... Ryan Howard homered as a pinch-hitter Saturday, but returned to the hospital Sunday and saw his MLB-high streak of 343 straight games snapped because of the flu ... Cole Hamels struck out 10 and allowed just two runs in eight innings Sunday, but took a loss ... After giving up 25 runs in his previous five outings, Wandy Rodriguez allowed one run on two hits over seven innings Sunday ... General manager Dan O'Dowd denied Saturday that Brad Hawpe is being shopped ... Geovany Soto homered Sunday for the fourth time in June after going deep just once through 40 games ... Khalil Greene homered Sunday for the third straight game, but left with a bruised leg after being hit by a pitch ... Troy Tulowitzki notched his first three-hit game of the season Sunday and also added a walk.

Obviously a brutal couple of days for Kerry Wood in his return to Wrigley. Hopefully Eric Wedge gives him today off. Thing is, Kerry Wood isn't alone in experiencing a rough homecoming. While you enjoy your Father's Day, here's a look back at some of the good, bad, vengeful, and memorable games for some other high-profile players in their return to familiar settings.

STEVE CARLTON - AUGUST 5, 1972 IN ST. LOUIS: I'd imagine this was kind of like an "F You" performance, but probably more so because the Cardinals stuck him on a gawd-awful team (Carlton won 27 of the 59 Phillies wins that year). Carlton threw a 5-hit shutout with 7 Ks, which was part of this crazy 7-start stretch from July 19 through August 13: 7-0, 7 CG (one of them 11 innings), 4 shutouts, 53 Ks, 0.42 ERA, and a 0.677 WHIP. Wow.

TOM SEAVER - AUGUST 21, 1977 IN NEW YORK: Seaver was devastated that he was traded to Cincy. Mets fans were devastated that he was traded to Cincy. And when he returned to Shea in late August, he embarrassed a crummy Mets team, giving up one run and fanning 11 in a complete game.

KEITH HERNANDEZ - JUNE 28, 1983 IN ST. LOUIS: Hernandez was actually pissed that he got traded to the Mets because he hated New York. He took it out on the Cardinals in the first game of a doubleheader, going 3-for-5 with a triple and an RBI in a Mets win.

ANDRE DAWSON - APRIL 24, 1987 IN MONTREAL: The Hawk wanted out of Montreal because the turf was taking it's toll on his knees, and he actually took a pay cut to play in Chicago, signing an incentive-laden deal. Dawson surpassed those incentives as he won the MVP, and his return to Montreal was quite memorable: 3-for-4 with 3 doubles and 2 RBI. Later in the series, he added 2 homers.

BOBBY BONILLA - JUNE 4, 1992 IN PITTSBURGH: Bobby Bo had quite a debut with the Mets, hitting two homers (including the game-winner) in an extra-inning win in St. Louis. But two months later, as he made his first trip back to Pittsburgh, Bonilla was hitting .258 with only 6 bombs and Mets fans had started to hate him. Not as much as the people at Three Rivers that night, who hurled, among other things, batteries at the New York right fielder. He didn't really do anything to shut them up, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout in a 7-2 loss. He homered a couple days later, but in hindsight, everyone probably wishes he had just stayed in Pittsburgh.

GREG MADDUX - APRIL 5, 1993 IN CHICAGO: Cubs fans no doubt felt betrayed that the reigning Cy Young winner fled to Atlanta, and Maddux let them know exactly what they'd be missing on Opening Day, going 8 1/3 of shutout ball, allowing only 5 hits and striking out 4.

BARRY BONDS - APRIL 9, 1993 IN PITTSBURGH: A year after Bonilla bolted, Bonds signed with the Giants for a then-record 6-year, $43.75 million deal, which killed baseball for good in Pittsburgh and was also the inspiration for Wesley Snipes' character in The Fan. The still-skinny Bonds was obviously booed, although as we saw in later years, he seemed to feed off the negative energy, ripping a double and a triple in a loss. The Giants would win the next two games in the series despite Bonds going hitless.

WADE BOGGS - MAY 21, 1993 IN BOSTON: Boggs went 4-for-4 with a walk in his return to Fenway, and I'm not gonna bother to look up where the hits went because I'd like to think they were all opposite line drive singles over the shortstop's head.

ROGER CLEMENS - JULY 12, 1997 IN BOSTON: Red Sox GM Dan Duquette famously said that Clemens was in the twilight of his career after Clemens signed with Toronto after the '96 season (come on, how was he gonna know Clemens would start taking horse steroids and forge a friendship with Brian McNamee), and that just added to Clemens' rage. In one of the greatest "F You" performances ever, Clemens went 8 innings, giving up 4 hits, 1 run, and struck out 16 batters. To cap things, he stared straight at the Duquette and the rest of brass up in their suite as he walked off the mound at the end of his day.

MIKE PIAZZA - AUGUST 28, 1998 IN LOS ANGELES: A contract dispute helped force a trade from the Dodgers to the Marlins, and when Piazza returned to L.A. a couple months later as a Met, he seemed eager to stick it to management. Big Mike homered to get the Mets on the board and then scored the winning run in extra innings. He would hit 7 homers in Dodger Stadium as a member of the Mets.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ - APRIL 16, 2001 IN SEATTLE: You're not gonna believe this, but the Seattle fans didn't greet A-Rod with open arms in his first game back as a Ranger. But instead of batteries, they showered him with fake money, and you know A-Rod heard every single one of the 45,657 who booed him that night. He singled in the middle of a Texas rally to get them back in the game, but finished 1-for-5 in a 9-7 loss.

MANNY RAMIREZ - JULY 3, 2001 IN CLEVELAND: Can't really blame Manny for leaving the great city of Cleveland for the 8 years and $160 million that Boston threw at him. Don't tell that to Indians fans through, who predictably booed him during BP, introductions, the video montage on the big screen, and when he singled in his first at-bat. Still unclear if Manny actually knew what was going on or where he was, but he got 2 hits that night and went 5-for-13 for the series, so his game wasn't affected much.

JASON GIAMBI - APRIL 23, 2002 IN OAKLAND: Oakland fans lustily booed Giambi when he showed up as a Yankee, but it's tough to blame them since this was before the Moneyball secret was out and they knew there was a plan in place to keep the team competitive despite losing all the big free agents. Giambi got 2 hits including a double as the Yankees won, and no question that he celebrated afterwards by demolishing a porterhouse, probably at Kincaid's.

FRANK THOMAS - MAY 22, 2006 IN CHICAGO: White Sox GM Ken Williams had some not-so-nice things to say about The Big Hurt at the end of his stay in Chicago, so Thomas probably didn't feel too bad about his return with the A's, ripping 2 solo homers in a loss.

PEDRO MARTINEZ - JUNE 26, 2006 IN BOSTON: Pedro didn't leave Boston on the best of terms with management, but the fans still loved him, and even though his return to Fenway was two years later, he got a crazy ovation. Didn't really work out for him though, as he left trailing 8-0 after 3 innings. Lastings Milledge didn't help him out, missing a pop-up in left which led to 2 runs, but he also gave up 8 hits and a homer to Alex Gonzalez, and people thought that the emotions were too much for him. Turns out he was injured, and didn't make a start for another month.

OTHER NOTABLES

DARRYL STRAWBERRY - MAY 7, 1991 IN NEW YORK: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI

ROD CAREW - APRIL 17, 1979 IN MINNESOTA: 1-for-4, K ... SERIES TOTAL: 6-for-12, 4 R, 2 RBI, 3 2B, 2 BB

JOSE CANSECO - SEPTEMBER 30, 1992 IN OAKLAND: 1-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 BB

JOE MORGAN - APRIL 29, 1980 IN CINCINNATI: 1-for-4, R, SB ... SERIES TOTAL: 5-FOR-12, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R

PAUL MOLITOR - JUNE 25, 1993 IN MILWAUKEE: 1-for-4, RBI

SCOTT ROLEN - AUGUST 16, 2002 IN PHILADELPHIA: 2-for-4

JACK MORRIS - MAY 19, 1991 IN DETROIT: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 8 R (4 ER), 3 K, 6 BB, 3 HRA, LOSS (8-3)

TOM GLAVINE - MAY 24, 2003 IN ATLANTA: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 2 HR, LOSS (10-4)

When baseball in the Dominican Republic is mentioned, stories of kids using milk bottles for gloves, shady dealings with Buscones and unscrupulous scouts, and the spectre of easily-available PEDs are often soon to follow. There's another side to that, however, and it's a side none of us ever really hear much about:

Living in a high quality hotel and school 6 days a week, 10 months of the year, boys from the Dominican Republic and Latin America practice baseball.

At the San Diego Padre's Baseball Academy, tucked away outside of San Cristobal, these boys learn more than just baseball. Giving these boys 16.5 years old and older an opportunity to develop in many ways, the academy gives the players found by scouts a rounded education. They spend a few hours a day practicing baseball and then they go to their other classes. English and computer skills are two of the main curriculums taught in order to make a submersion into American culture easier when they get signed on with a team, the ultimate goal.

I'm sure there are pros and cons of the academies themselves -- and this story, coming as it does from the Dominican Today could be an exercise in mild propaganda -- but it's interesting all the same. Most interesting is the photo gallery, which can be found here.

You may have noticed that, contrary to the reports that circulated last weekend, Manny Acta still has a job. Clearly, then, those who reported his imminent dismissal are eating crow today, right? Not on your life. Via D.C. Sports Bog, here's Ken Rosenthal on his report:

"If my story was wrong, then the Nationals should simply say Manny Acta is our manager for the rest of our season. If what I wrote was indeed something that had no basis, as Mike Rizzo suggested, well, make him your manager for the rest of the year. If the story is right, however, and of course I believe it was, then the Nationals should fire him today, tomorrow, whenever. Just leaving him dangling like this is not fair to Manny, not fair really to the team itself. So what I'm saying is, one way or the other, they need to make a decision."

Rosenthal is saying he was right and, though he says he really doesn't know, thinks that the Nats held off on doing what they had planned to do (i.e. fire Acta) because they didn't want to appear as through they were pressured by the media. Based on some of the Nats' previous moves and what people whisper about Nats' ownership, I'm totally willing to buy this. Except it wasn't media pressure that set this all off. It was someone in the Nats' front office leaking their plans about Acta. I'm not saying that the media hasn't forced this kind of thing in the past, but Ken Rosenthal breathes tips. He doesn't go after managers for a living, and I'm inclined to think that Rizzo's statement that there was "no basis" for this report is bunk.

Bill Simmons has an interesting column up:

We're going with a one-question mailbag this week, courtesy of Phil D. from Montclair, N.J.: "What was the purest baseball era, from a statistical perspective?"

Honestly, Phil? That's like asking, "Who's the purest actress in an X-rated movie?" Every baseball era has been tainted to some degree. But if there is no era, maybe we can find a window. A four- or five-year stretch will do. Two years, even. Hell, I'll settle for an All-Star break. Okay, let's begin.

He dismisses the 19th century for being too primitive and the dead ball era for much the same reasons. The interwar period and the rest of the 40s are out because of segregation and WWII. The 50s and 60s are also eliminated due to the gradual nature of integration (a point many neglect, but a good one all the same -- the game really wasn't fully integrated until the 60s) and the insanely pitching-friendly environment. The 70s and early 80s start to look better, but AstroTurf, odd pitcher usage and cocaine kill it for him, and of course the 1993-present era is out due to steroids. That causes him to settle on the narrow time frame of 1988-1992 as the most "statistically pure" period in baseball history.

And he may be right, even if the definition of "pure" is a bit unclear and maybe not that useful. What is useful, however, is Simmons' highlighting the fact that, at just about every single point in baseball history, there was something, be it drugs, or rules, or racist policies or whatever, that altered the statistical and competitive landscape. Some of them -- and I'm thinking segregation here -- were borne of even more malice than the cheating of the steroids era.

Simmons' observation puts lie to the notion, so popular in recent years, that the steroids era's greatest evil was that it somehow sullied a heretofore pure record book. There was nothing pure about it, and certainly nothing consistent about it. Lefty Grove would have been a Hall of Famer whenever he played, but there's no escaping the fact that a lot of the guys he got out wouldn't have been able to sniff the big leagues if black players had been allowed in the game. Bob Gibson would likewise be celebrated, but his 1.12 ERA in 1968 would never have happened if he was pitching from a modern mound in a modern retro-park. We talk about baseball's wonderful continuity all of the time, but things have changed in radical ways over the years, and no one has ever presented any evidence to convince me that steroids impacted things any more radically than did high pitchers' mounds, huge strike zones, segregation and dead balls.

So, yes, let us continue to disapprove of and sanction those who break the PED rules, but please, let's put an end to the talk that baseball has been irrevocably tainted, because it quite clearly has not.

As I mentioned in the recaps this morning, the Yankees were nice enough to let the people who waited out the five and a half hour rain delay move down to the good seats once the game got going. Sure, that seems like an obvious move and one that wouldn't bat an eye if it happened in any other park, but the Yankees don't have much of a customer-friendly track record these days, so kudos are in order. They get more kudos for this:

All fans with tickets for Thursday's game can redeem the used or unused ticket for a free bleachers, grandstand or terrace seat at a non-premium game in 2009 or 2010. Fans also have the option of using their ticket as a coupon to purchase a half-price ticket in any other non-suite seating location for a non-premium game in 2009 or 2010.

Rain checks are common when the game doesn't go, but most of time you're s.o.l. if you simply don't want to wait around for the game. This was a rather extraordinary delay, however, and good for the Yankees for acknowledging it.

Braves 7, Reds 0: Tommy Hanson shuts out the Reds over six innings. Not that he was brilliant or anything. He threw a lot of pitches, got into jams and all of the kind of stuff you see young kids do. But it's all good, because even when he's been getting lit up like a pinball machine, he has continued to play this game with fear and ignorance. No wait, arrogance.

Padres 4, Mariners 3: The Padres jump on Adrian Gonzalez's back (4-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI) and finally win an interleague game. Don Wakamatsu on pitching to Gonzalez: "He ends up hitting a home run and a double when we are trying to pitch around him. That is the most frustrating part." Chris Jakubauskas on pitching to Gonzalez: "I wasn't trying to pitch around him." OK, someone's lying and no one is leaving this room until we find out who it is.

Rockies 4, Rays 3: Jim Tracy on Ubaldo Jiminez: "Ubaldo is a guy who is beginning to find his niche. I still believe there's still another step on the ladder that he aspires to take and that is to become a bona fide ace-stopper type starting pitcher in the Rockies rotation." That was his real postgame quote? It sounds like a book blurb or a marketing statement or something. I think the "in the Rockies' rotation" is what sealed it. It just sounds weird. Does Tracy really talk like that?

Astros 5, Rangers 3: I was trying to make a funny yesterday when I said that the loser of this series wins the State of Texas. I guess it wasn't too funny, though, because someone emailed me to tell me that I was being both ignorant and disrespectful. That's nothing new, but at least the emailer educated me a bit. The winner of this series wins "The Silver Boot." It's a a 30-inch tall, size-15 cowboy boot cast in silver, complete with a custom, hand-made spur. How very college football of them. I wonder if the Rangers, who once again won the Silver Boot, came running out of the dugout after the game, grabbed the boot and started whooping it up like Wisconsin does with that axe after they beat Minnesota and vice-versa.

Tigers 6, Cardinals 3: Magglio rode the pine, and will continue to do so "indefinitely" according to Jim Leyland. His replacement, Ryan Rayburn, was 0-3 and struck out twice. Game story: "Albert Pujols grounded out as a pinch hitter for hot-hitting rookie Colby Rasmus in the seventh and played first base the rest of the game and flied out in the ninth. La Russa wanted to get him a day off, plus he has a sore ankle." Two at bats and a couple of innings in the field doesn't sound like much of a day off to me, but then again, I'm not a genius like Tony La Russa.

Twins 5, Pirates 1: Nick Blackburn (CG, 6 H, 1 ER) was the man, as he basically has been in the Twins rotation all year. After the game, pitching coach Rick Anderson said "He's basically been the stabilizer." So, is Blackburn's new nickname "gelatin" or "carrageenan?" That's a little food additive humor for ya. Additives -- NOT preservatives.

Nationals 3, Yankees 0: A five and a half hour rain delay? Really? Waiting around for this game to start lasted longer than the travel and suit-up time a makeup game would have taken. This is fun too "about 10,000 people were sprinkled around the ballpark for the first pitch. When the Yankees announced fans could move down, there was a stampede toward the $2,625 seats in the front row. By the end, the upper deck and bleachers were virtually empty." Part of me hopes that the peasants ransacked the manor houses while their owners were away.

Blue Jays 8, Phillies 7: Rod Barajas hits the game winning home run in the ninth. Apparently Barajas is hated in Philly despite having played there for only one season and despite being Rod Barajas. Anyone care to educate me as to the reason for the ire? Because from where I'm sitting, this is the equivalent of Braves fans hating Paul Bako or Charlie O'Brien or someone. How can the response to a guy like Barajas -- who played all of 48 games for the Phillies -- be anything other than slightly peeved indifference?

Orioles 5, Mets 4: Francisco Rodriguez and his tired act came into the game to lock things down in the ninth, except they didn't get locked down. Matt Wieters doubled to kick things off. Dave Trembley then sent in a pinch runner for him, and was amazingly allowed to live. The pinch runner scored, so maybe it was all willed by Wieters that way to begin with. In any event, an Adam Jones bases-loaded walk followed by an Aubrey Huff liner ended the proceedings.

Cubs 6, White Sox 5: A wild come from behind win by the Cubbies. Down 5-1 in the eighth, Derek Lee hit a three-run homer followed by a solo shot from Geovany Soto to tie things up. In the ninth it was Alfonso Soriano with an RBI single. If he didn't get that, I wouldn't have been surprised to see Piniella give him the Magglio Ordonez treatment.

Marlins 2, Red Sox 1: They called this one early due to rain. Because it was the Red Sox, however, the game still took three hours and twenty-six minutes.

Diamondbacks 12, Royals 5: After two great starts following his second callup, Luke Hochevar reverted to May form, giving up seven runs on nine hits in four innings. Danny Haren, meanwhile, held the Royals to two runs on seven hits, struck out six and didn't issue a walk in seven innings.

Dodgers 3, A's 2: Randy Wolf pitched well but got another no-decision. Pfun Pfact: Vin Mazzaro is the first A's pitcher with two sacrifices in one game since Ken Holtzman on Aug. 27, 1972. I hate the DH.

Call it the Jerod Morris hex or merely a coincidence, but Raul Ibanez was put on the disabled list Thursday for the first time since 2004. Ibanez has been in a funk since taking Morris to task last week over a blog entry, going 5-for-27 (.185) with 11 strikeouts while receiving more media attention than ever before. After seeing him struggle to run out grounders, the Phillies shut him down for a couple weeks.

John Mayberry Jr. is back for his second stint in the majors after being called up from Triple-A to replace Ibanez and went 2-for-5 with a homer while throwing out a runner at the plate from right field Thursday. He stands 6-foot-6 and has lots of power with 24 homers and 75 total extra-base hits in 166 games at Triple-A, but Mayberry also hit just .261 with a lowly .323 OBP and 141/51 K/BB ratio there.

While the Phillies give the 25-year-old Mayberry a shot at regular playing time for the rest of the month, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Jim Leyland avoided calling it a benching, but did say Thursday that he's going to get Magglio Ordonez "away from it ... indefinitely" amid a 38-game homerless streak. Ordonez is batting just .273/.347/.343 with two homers and 22 RBIs in 57 games overall after hitting .323/.383/.510 in four previous seasons in Detroit, but the problem is that fill-in Ryan Raburn's career .251/.310/.411 line is just as bad.

* Frank Francisco tossed a perfect inning in a rehab appearance Thursday night at Double-A, setting him up to return from the disabled list Friday. Francisco has been out for over two weeks with shoulder tendinitis, so the Rangers have talked about slowly easing him back into the closer role. That means C.J. Wilson could get another save chance or two before dropping back down into a setup role.

* Brandon Webb was scheduled to take the next step on his road back from right shoulder soreness with a mound session Friday, but instead has been shut down indefinitely after suffering a setback. He felt pain after throwing from flat ground earlier this week and seems highly unlikely to make it back by the All-Star break as previously hoped.

* Chien-Ming Wang was shaky while lasting five innings in his Wednesday outing and is now 0-5 with a 12.65 ERA, but manager Joe Girardi announced Thursday that he'll remain in the Yankees' rotation. Girardi suggested that Wang "threw the ball pretty well" while allowing three runs Wednesday, so Phil Hughes will remain in the bullpen where he's given up two runs while striking out 10 in 7.2 innings.

AL Quick Hits: Gavin Floyd turned in another strong start Thursday, allowing one run in seven innings before the bullpen coughed up his win ... After watching him go 1-4 with a 7.49 ERA in seven starts the Tigers returned Dontrelle Willis to the disabled list Thursday with the same "anxiety disorder" ... Franklin Gutierrez had a pair of homers Thursday after coming into the game with four long balls in 189 at-bats ... Brandon Morrow made his second start Thursday, giving up two runs with six strikeouts and just one walk in four innings ... Jeremy Accardo picked up a save Thursday in his first appearance since last May, but don't expect him to be the Blue Jays' primary closer ... Vince Mazzaro hurled his fourth Quality Start in as many tries Thursday ... Brett Gardner left Thursday's game with a bloody face after running into the outfield wall chasing a fly ball ... Derek Jeter's ankle is healthy enough for him to ground out as a pinch-hitter Thursday.

NL Quick Hits: Brad Lidge (knee) threw a bullpen session Thursday and is set to begin a rehab assignment at Double-A ... Craig Stammen and four relievers shut out the Yankees on Thursday as the Nationals won a series in New York ... Joel Pineiro fell to 1-8 in his last nine starts despite allowing one earned run in seven innings Thursday and was helped off the field after cramping up ... Khalil Greene returned from the disabled list Thursday and whiffed off the bench ... Jonathan Broxton (toe) was unavailable again Thursday after getting a cortisone shot, so Ramon Troncoso picked up a save ... Tommy Hanson tossed six shutout innings Thursday for his second victory ... Livan Hernandez gave up two runs in seven innings Thursday, but missed a win when Francisco Rodriguez blew his second save ... Kevin Youkilis' solo homer Thursday was the only hit allowed by Ricky Nolasco in a rain-shortened complete-game win.

I'll go over the pitchers tomorrow, but for now, here's a look at how former major and minor leaguers are currently performing in Japan.

Tuffy Rhodes - .327/.413/.655, 11 HR in 110 AB

Rhodes earlier this year became the 12th player in history and first American to hit 450 homers in Japan. He'd be leading the Pacific League in slugging if he had enough at-bats to qualify.

Dan Johnson - .197/.302/.415, 9 HR in 169 AB
Kevin Mench - .148/.179/.204, 0 HR in 54 AB

The two highest-profile players to cross the Pacific this winter have both been big-time disappointments, even if Johnson is doing everything except hitting for average. Mench has found himself banished to the minors, where he's hit .362/.434/.553 in 47 at-bats.

Tony Blanco - .288/.341/.575, 19 HR in 233 AB

Blanco leads the Central League in homers in his first year in Japan. His only major league action came with the Nationals in 2005, but he's still just 27 years old and he appears to be well set up for a nice run as one of Japan's top power hitters. I don't think he was ever going to make it in the U.S.

Gary Burnham Jr. - .247/.333/.398, 1 HR in 81 AB
Chase Lambin - .221/.256/.430, 4 HR in 86 AB

The Chiba Lotte Marines went obscure with a couple of their newest imports, and it hasn't really worked out so far. Burnham spent seven of his 11 minor league seasons in the Philly farm system before playing in Taiwan last year. Lambin, 29, hit .300/.378/.518 with the Marlins' Triple-A club last season.

Jose Ortiz - .301/.340/.615, 9 HR in 156 AB

Ortiz, a one-time top prospect for the A's, attempted a major league comeback this year, only to return to Japan after failing to make the Rockies during spring training. I've always thought he could hit in the majors, but that he's no longer much of an option at second could prevent him from getting another shot.

Jason Botts - .143/.250/.571, 1 HR in 7 AB

I'm assuming that there have been some injury issues here. The former Ranger has hit .300/.375/.700 in 50 minor league at-bats.

Tadahito Iguchi - .330/.439/.554, 10 HR in 197 AB

Iguchi opted to return home when it didn't look like he'd be offered a starting job in the U.S. Obviously, he had some baseball left in him after all. He's performing even better now than he did in his final year before leaving for MLB (.333/.394/.549 in 2004).

Others

Benny Agbayani - .285/.388/.431, 3 HR in 130 AB
Chris Aguila - .095/.208/.095, 0 HR in 42 AB
Hiram Bocachica - .243/.371/.564, 12 HR in 170 AB
Alex Cabrera - .250/.290/.453, 4 HR in 69 AB
Jamie D'Antona - .237/.284/.432, 8 HR in 169 AB
Jose Fernandez - .234/.308/.389, 6 HR in 175 AB
Aaron Guiel - .301/.374/.566, 9 HR in 166 AB
Luis Jimenez - .231/.268/.397, 5 HR in 127 AB
Greg LaRocca - .303/.374/.524, 9 HR in 185 AB
Scott McClain - .235/.322/.382, 3 HR in 102 AB
Alex Ramirez - .299/.324/.488, 10 HR in 244 AB
Scott Seabol - .216/.281/.352, 4 HR in 125 AB
Fernando Seguignol - .165/.248/.320, 4 HR in 97 AB
Rick Short - .230/.279/.294, 1 HR in 126 AB
Terrmel Sledge - .259/.356/.532, 9 HR in 139 AB

In case you missed it, I ran down the hitters on Wednesday.

D.J. Houlton - 5-3, 2.13 ERA, 62/21 K/BB in 76 IP

Houlton ranks third in the Pacific League in ERA behind Masahiro Tanaka and Yu Darvish. The 29-year-old was a swingman last year in his first season in Japan. He had a 4.18 ERA in 28 innings out of the pen for the Dodgers in 2007, but former GM Paul DePodesta was likely his biggest backer in the organization and the new regime didn't think he had much to offer.

Colby Lewis - 4-3, 3.34 ERA, 69/5 K/BB in 59 1/3 IP

Lewis is off last year's pace, as he went 15-8 with a 2.68 ERA and a 183/27 K/BB ratio in 178 innings in his first season with the Carp. Still, there would likely be several teams interested if he opted to return to the majors.

Mike Schultz - 2-0, 1 Sv, 1.17 ERA, 32/6 K/BB in 30 2/3 IP

Schultz's major league experience consists of one inning with the Diamondbacks in 2007. He was a fringe relief prospect for several years before finding himself in Japan.

Marc Kroon - 0-1, 11 Sv, 1.13 ERA, 27/12 K/BB in 24 IP

Kroon's outstanding fastball never made him a successful major leaguer, as he gave up 23 runs and walked 26 in 26 2/3 innings in parts of four seasons before leaving for Japan in 2005. He's since saved 136 games as one of Japan's premier closers.

Darrell Rasner - 3-4, 6.62 ERA, 34/16 K/BB in 51 2/3 IP

Rasner was the top pitcher to jump to Japan over the winter, with the Yankees reportedly receiving $1 million for his rights. The move, though, hasn't worked out Rakuten so far.

Kazuhisa Ishii - 3-5, 5.33 ERA, 63/25 K/BB in 54 IP

The now 35-year-old Ishii has seen his ERA increase every season since returning to Japan, going from 3.44 to 2006 to 4.14 in 2007 and 4.32 last year (he did switch from the non-DH league to the DH league after 2007, so he was probably better in 2008 than the previous year).

Brian Falkenborg - 3-0, 1 Sv, 0.92 ERA, 35/2 K/B in 29 1/3 IP

Falkenborg had seen major league action in each of the last five seasons, but since he never could establish himself, he opted to go to Japan prior to this year. It seems likely to pay off, as he's been one of the country's best relievers so far.

Others

Justin Germano - 2-0, 1.46 ERA, 2/0 K/BB in 12 1/3 IP
Ryan Glynn - 2-8, 5.05 ERA, 31/22 K/BB in 62 1/3 IP
Dicky Gonzalez - 6-1, 2.11 ERA, 33/4 K/BB in 55 1/3 IP
Seth Greisinger - 6-4, 4.26 ERA, 47/10 K/BB in 76 IP
Kameron Loe - 0-4, 6.33 ERA, 18/12 K/BB in 27 IP
Brian Sweeney - 2-3, 5.94 ERA, 28/21 K/BB in 53 IP
Les Walrond - 3-6, 3.72 ERA, 56/30 K/BB in 65 1/3 IP
John Wasdin - 2-2, 5.04 ERA, 10/11 K/BB in 30 1/3 IP

Scott Atchison - 3-2, 0 Sv, 2.91 ERA, 32/10 K/BB in 34 IP
Ricky Barrett - 0-1, 0 Sv, 5.40 ERA, 3/8 K/BB in 8 1/3 IP
Scott Dohmann - 0-0, 0 Sv, 17.28 ERA, 4/7 K/BB in 8 1/3 IP
Alex Graman - 0-2, 3 Sv, 5.40 ERA, 1/2 K/BB in 5 IP
Marcus Gwyn - 1-1, 1 Sv, 2.70 ERA, 22/11 K/BB in 23 1/3 IP
Jon Leicester - 0-1, 0 Sv, 4.32 ERA, 10/4 K/BB in 8 1/3 IP
Masao Kida - 3-3, 0 Sv, 5.67 ERA, 19/14 K/BB in 33 1/3 IP
Satoru Komiyama - 1-0, 0 Sv, 10.13 ERA, 7/1 K/BB in 13 1/3 IP
Michael Nakamura - 1-1, 0 Sv, 7.04 ERA, 12/7 K/BB in 15 1/3 IP
Tom Mastny - 0-2, 0 Sv, 4.14 ERA, 24/15 K/BB in 37 IP
Maximo Nelson - 0-2, 1 Sv, 3.81 ERA, 23/10 K/BB in 26 IP
Nelson Payano - 0-0, 0 Sv, 1.74 ERA, 13/7 K/BB in 10 1/3 IP
Brian Sikorski - 4-2, 1 Sv, 1.40 ERA, 30/8 K/BB in 25 2/3 IP
Kazuhito Tadano - 2-2, 0 Sv, 7.71 ERA, 8/7 K/BB in 21 IP
Ryan Vogelsong - 0-3, 0 Sv, 6.84 ERA, 33/10 K/BB in 25 IP
Jeff Williams - 1-1, 0 Sv, 3.28 ERA, 33/14 K/BB in 24 2/3 IP

- Ricky Nolasco has pitched well in two starts since returning from the minors, but he has a tough assignment ahead of him in Boston tonight. Jon Lester, who has fanned 34 and allowed three runs in his last three starts, will get the ball as the Red Sox try to complete a home sweep of the Marlins. They're a major league-best 23-8 in home games this season.

- With Mike Hampton down, Brandon Backe will make his first start of the year against the Rangers. He's allowed 12 runs and 17 hits in nine innings out of the pen since coming off the DL, so it looks like it could be a big night for Texas hitters. Backe has given up eight homers and 21 runs in 24 1/3 innings lifetime against the Rangers.

- Vin Mazzaro, who opened his career with 17 2/3 scoreless innings before giving up three runs to the Giants last time out, takes on the Dodgers tonight. Los Angeles will counter with Randy Wolf, in what would seem to be a pretty easy matchup for the left-hander. However, the A's hitters who have faced Wolf have tended to be very successful against him. Jason Giambi has homered in both of his at-bats against Wolf. Orlando Cabrera is at .316/.372/.500 in 38 at-bats, and Nomar Garicaparra is 7-for-14 with two homers. Matt Holliday is 3-for-11 with one homer and five RBI.

Game of the Night

Detroit vs. St. Louis - Two of the game's top groundball pitchers will face off with Rick Porcello and Joel Pineiro on the mound tonight. The Cardinals are going for a sweep of the three-game series after withstanding a pair of Curtis Granderson homers to win 4-3 on Wednesday. For it to happen, Pineiro will have to snap a string that's seem him take losses in each of his last four starts. He's 5-7 with a 3.99 ERA for the season, but he has gone 6-1 with a 2.82 ERA lifetime against the Tigers. Porcello is 7-4 with a 3.71 ERA.

In last night's Rangers-Astros game, Pudge Rodriguez broke the all-time record for games caught. But that wasn't the only notable achievement: Omar Vizquel tied Luis Aparicio for most hits by a native of Venezuela.

While most would agree that Pudge's record was a tougher nut to crack, being the Venezuelan hits leader is not nearly as narrow a feat as some may suspect. Indeed, Vizquel has outhit a pretty impressive group of people in outhitting his fellow countrymen. In addition to Aparicio, Vizquel has Andres Galarraga (2333 hits), Dave Concepcion (2326), Bobby Abreu (2011), Magglio Ordonez (1889), Ozzie Guillen (1764) and Tony Armas (1302) in his rear-view mirror, among others.

There's a debate out there about whether Vizquel is a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate, and I suspect that he'll get a lot more support from writers than he otherwise might have due to the perception that he was a little guy who made it in a steroid-fueled world. And that will hold true regardless of there likely being no way of knowing if he ever took steroids in his long career. Personally, I don't think he's a Hall of Famer, and I'll no doubt argue that he doesn't belong at some point.

But when I and others do, don't you dare mistake such arguments as disparagement of Omar Vizquel. He's been really really good for a really really long time, and this record is just further evidence of that.

Fox's Ken Rosenthal -- who either (a) spends 22 hours a day on the phone; or (b) just makes stuff up all of the time, has a rundown today of the potential buyers and sellers at the deadline. In the former category he places the White Sox, Astros, and the Marlins. In the latter he has the Indians, Rockies and Mariners. Among the player-specific tidbits are the Cardinals being interested in Mark DeRosa, the Rockies shopping Jason Marquis and Huston Street, and the Marlins considering dealing Jorge Cantu, Dan Uggla and Jeremy Hermida if and when they fall out of contention.

Rosenthal says that Street could foment a feeding frenzy. He rated Matt Holliday last year, so God knows what the Rockies could get for him now. Likewise, if history holds, I would expect someone to overpay for Jason Marquis, because this is the time of year when people get a little crazy and focus on the most recent couple of months while forgetting everything a player did in the past. Rosenthal doesn't mention it, but there are rumors that Colorado wants to deal Brad Hawpe too. If all of that is true, there is a chance that the Rockies could come away from the deadline is the biggest winner of all. That is if Dan O'Dowd doesn't screw things up. Again.

All in all, nothing too sexy here, but hey, the crazy season is still young.

Congress is going to investigate Sammy Sosa for perjury:

A congressional committee will look into former baseball slugger Sammy Sosa's denial that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs in light of a report that he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003. The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Democratic Rep. Edolphus Towns of New York, says that the committee takes seriously suggestions that a witness had been misleading.

Towns said in a statement Wednesday that he will determine the appropriate steps following a review of the matter.

Given Tuesday's news, there is no question that Sammy was, at the very least, being cute with Congress during his 2005 testimony. That said, I don't think anything will come of this and don't expect that Sosa will ultimately be charged.

Why? Because Sammy never appeared to have actually said that he didn't do steroids. He said "To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs." He said "I have not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic. I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean." Those statements -- and many others he made during his testimony -- allow for the possibility that he used substances that were legal in the Dominican Republic that would have been illegal to use in the United States.

I know that such a distinction is going to make a lot of you mad, but federal perjury law is really, really, clear in holding that responses to questions made under oath that relay truthful information in and of themselves, but that are intended to mislead or evade the examiner cannot be prosecuted. Instead, the criminal-justice system requires that the questioner -- in this case Congress -- diligently followup on such answers and suss out the misleading nature of the response themselves. A relatively non-technical summary of that law can be found here. And yes, it's an unpopular law in some circles, but it is the law, and there are several good reasons for it being as it is.

I don't know what Sammy Sosa took, when, and where. But neither does Congress, and they didn't try to obtain that information in 2005 even though they were presented with an opportunity to do so. And believe me, there were lawyers all over that hearing room, and you can bet that many of them were aware of the implications of Sosa's carefully-phrased statements that day. If they wanted to nail him for perjury, they should have nailed him down then.

But they didn't, and because of that, I think he skates.

According to the Chicago Tribune (and a bunch of other sources) the Cubs are scouting and seriously considering signing Pedro Martinez.

I love Pedro as much as the next guy, but why on Earth are the Cubs doing this? Pedro's career line is .134/.124/.258! There's no way he can solve the Cubs' problems.

Wait, you say they want him to be a pitcher? No, that can't be right, because measured by ERA, they have the best starting pitching in baseball right now. They don't need him. Given that they're 11th in the NL in runs per game and sinking (they've been shutout or scored one run ten times over the last 25 games), certainly their scouts are looking at him for his bat, right?

Believe it or not, Manny Ramirez is eligible to come back and play for the Dodgers in just over two weeks. As such, L.A. is thinking about sending him to their Class A team in San Berdoo for a rehab assignment.

In other rehab news, John Smoltz pitched his last rehab assignment yesterday. It wasn't the best ever -- a run on three hits, a walk and a wild pitch, two strikeouts in four innings -- but overall he's been strong pitching to kids: 27.1 innings, 18 hits, 21Ks, 4 walks and a 2.63 ERA. He's going to face the Nats next week, as the Red Sox adopt a six-man rotation until they can unload Brad Penny or Dice-K implodes or something.

The Red Sox are in first place. So are the Dodgers, who actually have a bigger lead in the NL West today than they did when Ramirez was suspended. For each of these teams, the return or debut of these guys is the equivalent of making a trade for an All-Star caliber player at the deadline, with the added bonus of not having to give anything up for him.

It almost isn't fair.

Because steroids are such gosh darn fun, let's ponder this one for a bit:

Jose Canseco plans to file a class-action lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the players' association, saying he's been ostracized for going public with tales of steroids use in the sport.

Canseco said Wednesday that he has discussed the suit with lawyers and intends to enlist Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro to join in the suit. Canseco said the basis of the suit would be "lost wages -- in some cases, defamation of character."

"Because I used steroids and I came out with a book, I was kicked out of the game, but I have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame," Canseco said in a telephone interview.

With a few minor exceptions, this is a fabulous idea! The exceptions being that (a) Canseco was done as a player after the 2001 season and came out with his book in 2005, meaning that he couldn't have been kicked out of baseball for writing it; (b) Canseco could not have been "defamed" over steroids when he, you know, has admitted to everyone in the planet -- often with glee -- that he did, in fact, do lots and lots of steroids; (c) There is no such thing as a "class action lawsuit" that involves Canseco plus whatever small number of players could cobble together, and even if there was, members of a class action lawsuit have to have common claims; and (d) neither he nor anyone else has a legal right to be inducted into the Hall of Fame or to be given a job in baseball after retirement.

If a court should do anything involving Jose Canseco, it should, in the interests of public decency, prevent him from taking these media victory laps and being allowed to spew this kind of garbage each and every time a new person is connected with steroids. Jose: your 15 minutes ended about 500 minutes ago. Please, for the sake of everyone's sanity, go find something quiet to do until you can collect your pension and thus no longer need to make a spectacle out of yourself for self-tanner and mesh shirt money.

Orioles 6, Mets 4: Matt Wieters hits the first of what the prophecies have foretold will be a thousand career home runs, each more majestic than the last. The real story was the middle of the O's order -- Markakis, Huff and Mora -- who combined to go 8 for 11 with four RBI.

Blue Jays 7, Phillies 1: I sat back on the couch and watched this game, hoping to relax after a long day. But then Sutcliffe and Co. start talking about the Jerod Morris/Raul Ibanez affair. Look, I don't come into your house and talk about your work when you're off, so what makes you think you can do it to me?

Nationals 3, Yankees 2: Wang pitched, but he was way less responsible for the Yankees losing than was John Lannan (8.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER). Five run game, three of them scored on homers.

Angels 4, Giants 3: Six straight wins for the Angels, who hung around long enough to finally get to Tim Lincecum. It's nice when you can pinch hit Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter late in the game.

White Sox 4, Cubs 1: Piniella after the game: "Danks pitched a good game, they executed a good squeeze bunt, and we didn't do much offensively. That's about it. That's the ballgame in a nutshell." Hey Lou, I do the recaps around here, got it?

Reds 4, Braves 3: Micah Owings' three run homer was the big blow of the game. If he played for the Braves, he'd be the team's second best outfielder in terms of OBP. Javier Vazquez has pitched better than anyone could have hoped entering this year, but the dude is still only 4-6 because, I dunno, the universe hates him or something.

Red Sox 6, Marlins 1: The Brad Penny trade deadline audition continues, with the commodity in question giving up 0 ER on three hits in five innings, though he had to make 100 pitches and gave up four walks in the process. David Ortiz walked twice, got a hit and scored all three times on base. Pedroia had a big game too. The team made a big deal out if it being the 500th straight sellout, including the fans in all kinds of fun. The game story doesn't say whether or not anyone dangling their free tape measures or gawking at the giant "500" mowed into the outfield realized that the sellout streak is why they had t sell a kidney in order to buy their tickets on StubHub.

Cardinals 4, Tigers 3: A couple of Curtis Granderson homers aren't enough for Detroit, as the Cardinals and Tigers trade little jabs all night.

Pirates 8, Twins 2: Andrew McCutchen over his first 13 games: .339/.381/.492. That's better than Nate McLouth is doing, both on the season and since the trade. Are Pirates fans still supposed to be mad about this?

Rockies 5, Rays 3: David Price has to pitch in Coors Field. That's bad. But he lasts a bit longer into a game than he has been lately. That's good! He still gives up ten hits and five runs and loses the game. That's Bad. But he gets more economical with his pitches, walking no one. That's good! The postgame spread contains sodium benzoate . . . That's bad. Can I go now?

Rangers 5, Astros 4: The battle for Texas rages on! So far, Houston is down 2-0. If they don't turn things around soon, they're going to be stuck with Texas.

Diamondbacks 12, Royals 5: Greinke's return to Earth continues, as the Dbacks rough him up for six runs over six and two-thirds (four earned).

Brewers 9, Indians 8: Trevor Hoffman blew his first save of the season, but the Brewers pull it out in extras. And really, it's the Indians' bullpen that should be ashamed of itself, having given up 21 hits, 14 walks and 18 runs in 14 innings against Milwaukee.

A's 5, Dodgers 4: Trevor Cahill started wild, but settled down and then somehow managed to survive three errors by his mates which led to three unearned runs. The A's will take it.

Mariners 4, Padres 3: Rob continues to claim that the American League is "playing a different game" and "a better game." And he may be right. But how much of that difference is attributable to the Padres alone? I mean, jeez, they've lost 13 straight games to the AL, and that sort of skews things a bit, doesn't it?

Already wrecked by injuries, the Blue Jays' pitching staff will likely add two more big names to the disabled list. Roy Halladay experienced a setback with his groin injury during a bullpen session Wednesday and is headed for the shelf, but noted that he "absolutely" expects to rejoin the rotation when eligible on June 28. Brett Cecil seems like the best candidate to fill-in after holding his own in his debut.

Halladay could pitch again this month, but Toronto will probably be without Scott Downs for quite a bit longer after he sprained a toe while hitting Tuesday. Downs has done a great job since taking over closer duties from B.J. Ryan, saving eight games with a 1.98 ERA and 28/4 K/BB ratio, but Ryan may get a second chance after eight straight scoreless appearances. Jason Frasor is the other option.

While the Blue Jays try to stay above .500 with approximately 50 pitchers on the DL, here are some other notes from around baseball ...

* Pedro Martinez has reportedly been working out five days per week recently in the Dominican Republic and said Wednesday that he's close to signing with an undisclosed team. "There's a good chance I'll be signing soon, but there still isn't anything firm," Martinez said. He listed the Cubs and Rays as the two teams that "have shown the most interest" before adding that "we're negotiating with them."

* It took 14 games and 50 plate appearances, but Matt Wieters hit his first career homer Wednesday against Tim Redding. Wieters is batting .240/.283/.380 with a 12/3 K/BB ratio and four extra-base hits overall, which clearly isn't the production that owners had in mind when he was called up amid crazy hype last month, but he's 10-for-35 (.286) over the past 10 games and will get on track soon enough.

* Erik Bedard was placed on the disabled list Wednesday and will have his sore shoulder examined by Dr. James Andrews next week, which could ruin whatever plans the Mariners had of cashing in the impending free agent before the July 31 trading deadline. Bedard is 5-2 with a 2.47 ERA and 65/22 K/BB ratio through 66 innings, so if healthy he would have been very attractive to contending teams.

* John Smoltz made his final minor-league rehab start Wednesday, giving up one run in four innings at Triple-A. He threw just 60 pitches in preparation for his Red Sox debut next week, striking out three, walking one, and allowing three hits. His first matchup will be next Thursday against the Nationals, but mixed leaguers will likely want to take a wait-and-see approach initially.

AL Quick Hits: Brad Penny picked up his 100th career win by allowing one run in five innings Wednesday ... Scott Kazmir (quadriceps) tossed 4.2 shutout innings in his first rehab start Wednesday at Single-A ... Torii Hunter (ribs) came off the bench Wednesday, going 1-for-2 while playing center field ... Derek Jeter (ankle) sat out Wednesday's game, but an MRI exam revealed no big damage ... Dustin Pedroia was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two steals Wednesday ... Carl Pavano's next start has been pushed back four days due to a sore shoulder ... Pat Burrell played the outfield Wednesday for the first time with the Rays ... Scott Richmond had a career-high 11 strikeouts over eight innings of one-run ball Wednesday for his first win since May 3 ... Chien-Ming Wang fell to 0-5 with a 12.65 ERA, giving up three runs over five innings Wednesday as Phil Hughes relieved him with two shutout frames ... Zack Greinke allowed six runs Wednesday for his worst start.

NL Quick Hits: Micah Owings tossed six innings of two-run ball Wednesday and smacked a three-run homer in a 4-3 win ... Gary Sheffield homered Wednesday for the third time in five games, quieting concerns about his knee injury ... Pablo Sandoval started at third base Wednesday for the first time this month and went 0-for-3 ... Ryan Braun left Wednesday's game with lower back tightness ... Jerry Manuel said Wednesday that Jose Reyes (calf) is at least a week from beginning a rehab stint ... Tim Lincecum allowed four runs in eight innings Wednesday for his first loss since April 12 ... Alfonso Soriano continued to struggle Wednesday by going 0-for-4 with his sixth error ... John Lannan held the Yankees to a pair of runs in 8.1 innings Wednesday before Mike MacDougal got the final two outs for a save ... Joey Votto took batting practice Wednesday and is close to beginning a rehab assignment ... Jonathan Broxton (toe) was unavailable Wednesday.

I hope you're sitting down for this, because I'm going to share a notion that might shock you right out of your Snuggie.

No, it's not that Jose Canseco is suing MLB. Or that Congress is now setting its sights on Sammy Sosa. Those two nuggets wouldn't even surprise this guy.

No, what I'm going to point out is so shocking, you might question everything you thought you knew about baseball:

DEREK JETER IS NOT SUCH A BAD DEFENDER ANYMORE.

That's right, he's not. In fact, at the age of 34 (35 in 9 days, don't forget to send a card), Jeter is putting together his finest defensive season since they've been keeping advanced defensive metrics.

Looking at two fielding stats, range runs and UZR, Jeter has improved immensely since 2005, when he contributed to one of the worst defensive teams to ever make the playoffs.

Here is how Jeter's numbers stack up since that season:

Range runs (Number of runs above or below average a fielder is, determined by how the fielder is able to get to balls in his vicinity)

2005: -17.1
2006: -7.1
2007: -16.0
2008: -3.2
2009 (through 60 games): 0.6

Ultimate zone rating (Number of runs above or below average a fielder is in both range runs, outfield arm runs, double play runs and error runs combined)

2005: -14.3
2006: -6.8
2007: -15.3
2008: -0.5
2009 (through 60 games): 1.6

The improvement clearly started last season, when Jeter rededicated himself to defense, employing "exercises designed to improve his lateral quickness and first-step explosiveness."

So how has Jeter gone from being among the worst defensive shortstops in baseball to a slightly above-average one?

Is it something simple like these exercises he's doing? His diet? The fact that no one wants to hit the ball on the ground at the new Yankee Stadium?

I wonder what Jerod Morris thinks? That last one was a joke, folks.

Bud Selig says what everyone else already knows:

Commissioner Bud Selig said that baseball draws more attention and criticism for its steroid revelations than does football during a radio interview on Tuesday.

"We are held to a higher and different standard," Selig said during a 17-minute appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.

The Commissioner engaged in discussion of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers, whose four-time Super Bowl championship teams from 1975-80 have been alleged to have conducted in widespread use of steroids and included players who later admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. "We have to be very careful that we don't overreact to a situation," Selig said. "For instance, the comment in football that came out about the great Steelers teams of the '. Should they take those Super Bowls away from the Rooneys? I don't think so.

I don't know that we should be surprised about the different standards, and I don't know that we should even be bothered by them. At least not too terribly.

It's a fact that baseball lagged way behind football in instituting its testing regime, and to large degrees was dragged kicking and screaming into the testing world. When that happens, you have to expect that you're going to be criticized. This is especially true given that, because of the delay in getting to where we are now, baseball caused itself to go through a series of high-profile reveals (Bonds, Clemens, A-Rod, Sosa, the whole of the Mitchell Report) that football never had to endure.

As for the criticism itself? I view it as akin to the difference between having a parent who's hard on you as opposed to having one that doesn't give a crap. Sure, neither is ideal, but there's something good to be said about people caring enough about the integrity of baseball, its records, and the health of its players to criticize the game, even if they go overboard about it from time to time. It tells me that baseball still matters to people, and that's important. As for football? I get the sense that people largely don't care about such issues. They simply want to be entertained, and it's far more entertaining to watch faceless, gigantic dudes bash into one another than to see smaller guys do it.

Given that they change the rules and the length of the seasons every couple of decades, there is little magic to the NFL record book. What's worse, given how short the average NFL career is, there is little opportunity for fans to get close to the players. I question whether a large number of NFL fans know or care just how damaging the sport is to the men who play it. I question whether they realize the alarmingly high mortality rate among NFL players from the 70s and 80s. If they did, one would think that there would be far more scrutiny of PEDs in football -- PEDs that almost certainly still persist no matter how long the testing regime has been in place -- than there currently is. But it isn't there, and that tells you something about the average football fan or writer's reltionship to the game.

So even if I, like Bud Selig, occasionally note the unfairness of baseball's heightened standard, I'm more or less fine with it, and Bud should be too. Baseball is a better game than football in my view, and the passions it provokes are merely evidence of its underlying greatness.

Former Mets' pitching coach was on the radio yesterday, speculating that Johan Santana's struggles could be a result of knee pain. This was news to Johan Santana:

"How does he know that my knee hurts?" Santana rhetorically asked. "That's the question that I have. You guys tell me how the heck did he find that out....Not even the trainer knows. Not even me. I didn't know my knee hurts. Just put it that way.

"We got along pretty good," Santana continued about his relationship with Peterson, "but the reality is he's not here. I'm the one who feels my body better than anybody, and my knee doesn't hurt. I don't know where he got that one from. I'm being honest and realistic: My knee is the last issue here. We took care of that last year (with Oct.1 surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee), and it has nothing to do with what's going on right now."

Santana has always been a straight shooter, so there's no reason not to believe him. Sometimes guys get shelled, even the best of them. No one thought CC Sabathia was hurt when his ERA was over a million last spring, so why is everyone so unwilling to believe that Santana can just pitch poorly from time to time? It happens.

But I am taken by Santana's comment that "I'm the one who feels my body better than anybody." In addition to being a straight shooter, he has also always been a class act, so I'm surprised to see him disparaging Mrs. Santana like this.

After several days of unchecked speculation, someone from the Nationals has finally said something about Manny Acta:

Rizzo spoke publicly about the reports for the first time before Tuesday's game with the Yankees, and while he offered nothing resembling a definitive statement on Acta's status, he said the front office hasn't discussed the issue with him.

"It's certainly uncomfortable with the speculation," Rizzo said. "Names are being bandied about of replacements, and we haven't even discussed it with the current manager. He's still our manager. We support him. And all the reports that happened over the weekend, I don't know where those reports come from. And there's not much to comment on reports that there's no basis to."

Which is strange, because the current manager says that it was discussed with the current manager: "I spoke to them the same day it came out. It's a rumor," Acta said. One wonders why it took so long for Rizzo to give Acta this vote of confidence.

Not that it's really a vote of confidence. Indeed, perhaps the most notable thing about all of this is that Rizzo calls Acta "the current manager" in the first place. Strange choice of title for a guy you're supposedly not firing. Would you feel comfortable if your boss called you the "current" accounts receivable clerk or the "current" assistant to the comptroller? I sure wouldn't.

Let's take a quick stroll around the blogosphere to see how others are reacting to the Sosa news:

Goat Riders of the Apocalypse: I hated the punk BEFORE he even joined the Cubs. I hated him when the White Sox' GM, Larry Himes (yep, HIM) traded Harold Baines, a friggin' Sox icon, to Texas for the sideshow fraud. He came up and became a free-swinging whiff machine. Sure, he had speed and power, a strong arm, and obvious filling out to do. Physically, Sosa was a specimen. But his arrogance rubbed his teammates wrong from Day one . . . I've known he was a fraud for nearly 20 years, and if the damn corked bat wasn't enough to convince you, the truth is now out here.

Bugs & Cranks: It's expected because Sosa's career progression and statistics smack of performance enhancing drugs; there's such a dramatic spike in his power later in his career it almost moronic no one though to question Sosa at the time. Sosa's halfhearted denials and severe drop in performance after baseball began drug testing only amplified the expectation that his superstar turn was aided by the juice.

Deadspin: The real outrage here, as it was with A-Rod, is not who's on the list but who's doing the leaking, a story that for obvious reasons The New York Times will not be writing. You'll remember that those tests results were supposed to be confidential — a perfectly reasonable expectation of any employee who submits to a drug test — yet now they're trickling into public view, merely because somebody wants to remind you to care deeply about steroids in baseball again.

Bleed Cubbie Blue: We now know, presuming the report on Sosa is true, that the joy [of the 1998 home run race] was indeed stolen from us. The numbers put up were put up by cartoon figures, not baseball players as we had known them for decades earlier. I know, I know, amphetamines in the 50s and 60s, other PEDs, other ways of cheating, ad nauseum . . . we were sold a bill of goods. They all swore up and down that they were honest -- "Flintstone vitamins," Sammy told us with a straight face. Now we know that face was lying to us, presuming the report is true.

Cant' Stop the Bleeding: The obvious attempt to demoralize the Cubs on the eve of this year's North Side/South Side Chicago Civil War Reenactment fools no one, Mr. Obama. It smacks of Cub fan Rod Blagoevich's fall from the grace as you ascended to the White House. A cheap shot, SIR, and I hope Bobby Jenks gets bitten by a clubhouse rat tonight and Ozzie gets hit on the head by falling concrete in the Wrigley media room.

Baseball Prospectus: I've always followed the steroid story as something of an epidemic. It often follows the same models, centering around hubs and nodes. The hubs are players like Jose Canseco or Bill Romanowski in the NFL who were evangelists for the substances, but the nodes are usually the drug distributors. The Bay Area had BALCO, Baltimore had their "star", and Dallas had their Hollywood connection, while the NFL had doctors in Pittsburgh and Charlotte, among others, who were willing to supply. Chicago, however, doesn't have this issue or at least hasn't. Looking at the Cubs roster in 2003 and a year previous, there's *no one* that tested positive or that has even had much speculation surrounding their production. It will be interesting to see if the 2003 list shows such a cluster existed or if Sosa was one of few singular users.

Obviously the story of the day is Sammy Sosa. Earlier, Bob cataloged the non-surprise to the Sosa news. At NBC Sports proper, Mike Celzic writes that rather than burn Sosa at the stake, our focus should be on Bud Selig and Don Fehr.

My view: I share the lack of surprise Bob mentions and the lack of ire at Sammy Sosa for many of the reasons Mike mentions. But to me, the real issue here is the fact that list of the 2003 test results -- which was intended to be first confidential and then was supposed to be destroyed -- is being leaked. The MLBPA and/or Major League Baseball screwed up royal in allowing that list to survive when they had agreed that it would not. The people who subjected themselves to the drug testing that formed its basis (a) did so in order to move the ball forward on drug testing in baseball; and (b) had an expectation that their identities would remain confidential. That expectation has now been spectacularly confounded, and the practical result of it is that anyone who cares about their privacy is now being sent the message that they should not, under any circumstances, participate in their employers' drug testing program, however confidential it is supposed to be. You never know: your name could wind up in the newspapers! Your mileage may vary, but I don't think the avoidance of workplace drug testing is something anyone wants to encourage. As a result of all of this, it's my view that the list should be ordered destroyed, though I suspect that in the Internet age, such an order would be meaningless. Information wants to be free, and enough people have it now that I suspect it all will be some day.

The greater wrong in my mind is the fact of the leaks themselves. I'm a lawyer by trade, and it shocks me that fellow officers of the court are divulging this sort of information to the media. This is evidence that was seized in an ongoing criminal case that is subject to court order putatively preventing its release. The act of leaking this stuff is, at the very least, a violation of that court order and a violation of legal ethics. Depending on the exact language of the order, it could be a criminal act. I don't know about you, but that causes me far more concern than whether Sammy Sosa took steroids six years ago.

Red Sox 8, Marlins 2: David Ortiz continues to heat up, adding a homer and a two-run single to his increasingly improving statline. Tim Wakefield was strong too. From the game story: Wakefield is now two starts and five home wins behind Roger Clemens for the most in Red Sox history in each category. I suppose that's something Boston fans were mostly aware of, but you could stump a decent number of Midwesterners and West Coasters with that, I imagine.

Reds 7, Braves 2: This one had a long rain delay, and when that happens, Marty Brennaman and Jeff Brantley take calls. I caught a bit of it last night. This is paraphrased, but it's pretty close to how one call went down:

Marty: Hello, you're on Reds radio!

Caller: Hey Marty, being from North Carolina, could you tell us who your favorite professional wrestler is?

Marty: Well, I um, er . . .

Brantley [interrupting, with extreme urgency and certainty]: No question about it, my favorite wrestler was The Million Dollar Man, Ted Di-Bi-ase. He was absolutely the best.

Marty and Caller: stunned silence.

I wish to God I was making that up.

Yankees 5, Nationals 3: Cano went 4-4 and had the tie-breaking hit in the seventh. More game story fun: "[Alex] Rodriguez greeted fans in Monument Park before the game. One spectator told A-Rod he was a Phillies fan but he liked him." I was going to scoff at the inclusion of this, but then I realized that, yes, someone publicly admitting that they like A-Rod does probably qualify as newsworthy.

Rangers 6, Astros 1: Pudge v2.0 ties Pudge v1.0 for most games caught, but this was the Ian Kinsler show (3-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI). And Kevin Millwood (7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER) is quietly putting up his best season since his he broke out all awesome-like ten years ago.

Cardinals 11, Tigers 2: Verlander proves human after all, posting his worst start since April 17th (4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER). In other news, with a 2-1 lead (1934 & 2006 to 1968) the Cardinals can put this series away with a win this week.

Twins 8, Pirates 2: Some Twins fans took me to task on the NBC blog yesterday for saying that the Tigers looked to be solidly atop a weak division. I still think the Central is fairly weak, but I think I should have waited to declare Detroit solidly atop anything. The Twins are two games back and they have a force of nature on their team. I repeat: The Superman exists, and he's Minnesotan.

Royals 5, Diamondbacks 0: Mechetastic! (SHO, 4 H, 6K). GWRBI from Miguel Olivo. What?

Blue Jays 8, Phillies 3: Ryan Madson blew the save in the ninth, and Clay Condrey barfed the game away in the tenth, allowing five of the six batters he faced to score. Madson and Condrey? Weren't they the original Midnight Express? I'll have to ask Brantley . . .

Mets 6, Orioles 4: Bad defense -- including a dropped popup to Aubrey Huff with which I'm guessing Luis Castillo could sympathize -- doomed the O's.

Brewers 7, Indians 5: Gallardo wasn't efficient -- he threw 61 pitches in the first two innings -- but the Indians didn't cash in on it like they could have and Yovani gutted his way to five and the win. So much enthusiasm for this Indians team in March has devolved into wondering who will trade for Mark DeRosa. Not exactly how Mark Shapiro drew things up.

Quick rundown of the late games because I'm jammed up with other stuff this morning:

Angels 8, Giants 1: Mike Napoli had a three-run homer and three other hits. Dodg