Church Arrives in Time to Lead Nats to Series Win  —  MIAMI, April 16 — There was no evidence that this was on the way, not given what Ryan Church did in spring training, where he hit .200, not given what he did when he went to the minors, where he hit .130, and not given what he did in his first seven …

Notes: No timetable for Griffey's return  —  Reds center fielder out of lineup for fourth straight game  —  ST. LOUIS — The Cincinnati Reds didn't appear to miss Ken Griffey Jr. much when the center fielder was out of the lineup on Thursday at Chicago, an 8-3 Reds victory.

Baseball Notes |  Baserunning gaffe voids O's home run  —  Baseball Notable  —  It might have been the longest single in Javy Lopez's career.  Without question, it was the most disappointing.  —  Lopez hit a pitch from John Lackey into the seats at Camden Yards yesterday …

Notes: DiNardo slated to start  —  Left-hander to fill in for ailing starter Wells on Monday  —  BOSTON — Hopefully Jason Varitek has better luck catching Lenny DiNardo than first-base coach and former big league catcher Bill Haselman.  —  Red Sox manager Terry Francona confirmed Sunday morning …

Are Pirates running out of patience with underperforming Snell?  —  PITTSBURGH - Patience.  Patience.  Patience.  —  The Pittsburgh Pirates have preached patience with their young pitching staff since the day spring training started, an understandable sentiment given that only one of their five starters is older than 24.

Dodgers edged in series finale  —  Kent beaned, Hamulack ejected in low-scoring contest  —  LOS ANGELES — The Giants beat the Dodgers on Sunday night, 2-0, a game in which cleanup hitters Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds were hit by pitches, resulting in the ejection of Dodgers reliever Tim Hamulack.

No more tarp sliding for Buehrle  —  Southpaw reportedly fined for Sunday's rain-delay actions  —  CHICAGO — Mark Buehrle's tarp-diving days officially came to a close Sunday afternoon, now slipping and sliding in its fourth year of rain delay theater.  —  During the second of two rain delays …

Notes: Gagne makes clubhouse visit  —  Two roles for Saito; Izturis' rehab assignment pushed back  —  LOS ANGELES — Eric Gagne on Sunday made his first clubhouse appearance since surgery last week to remove a nerve near his elbow.  —  Gagne said he finally acknowledged the discomfort …

Garcia gets a win, lecture  —  With the rain pelting down in the top of the fifth and the dirt of the U.S. Cellular Field infield a quagmire, White Sox second baseman Tadahito Iguchi fumbled an easy grounder that would have ended the inning.  —  Sox starter Freddy Garcia raised his hands …

Mets cream of NL East?  Braves say hold on  —  Atlanta has talent, attitude to show Pedro, mouthy N.Y. who owns division  —  Pedro Martinez and the Mets may be riding high right now, but the Braves will likely show them who's boss during their series this week, writes NBCSports.com's Ray Glier.

Notes: Yankees sign Pena, Colome  —  New York gives first baseman, righty Minor League deals  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The Yankees added some insurance to their organization on Saturday, signing first baseman Carlos Pena and right-hander Jesus Colome to Minor League contracts.

Notes: New dad Erstad on Cloud Nine  —  First baseman flies back to Baltimore after birth of first child  —  BALTIMORE — Darin Erstad arrived at the ballpark a little more tired than on a normal day.  But that's understandable, given the fact this definitely hasn't been a normal week.

Re-creating a classic  —  Before this story gets to the part where the kid lands his dream job because of a video game, some tired fingers and Bill Buckner, let's go back about 20 years.  —  On Oct. 25, 1986, Conor Lastowka was 5 years old.  He lived in Virginia, and bedtime was long …

Ponson's first win ends his seven-game losing streak  —  Up next: 1:15 p.m. Sunday vs. Cincinnati, KPLR (Ch. 11)  —  Before Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium, the last time Sidney Ponson won a game was ...  Good question.  —  "The date of my last win?

Notes: Pagan to DL; Aardsma recalled  —  Cedeno tweaks throwing motion; Williamson healthy, confident  —  PITTSBURGH — The Chicago Cubs decided to add another arm and go with 12 pitchers on Sunday when they recalled right-hander David Aardsma and placed outfielder Angel Pagan on the 15-day disabled list.

Bannister, Mets win  —  Xavier Nady drove in three runs with a home run and a sacrifice fly and Carlos Delgado hit a three-run homer to help the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-3 on Sunday.  —  David Wright, leading the National League in hitting with a .421 average coming into the game …