Wakefield set to wrap up homestand  —  Tampa Bay (7-8) at Boston (11-4), 7:05 p.m. ET  —  Though many of the faces have changed this season, the Red Sox might well maintain the swagger they've had at Fenway Park for the last several years.  They go into Thursday's contest against the Devil Rays looking …

Chat transcript: Cordero is still the Rangers' man  —  Evan Grant: Well, I'm here.  Barely.  Long game made for a long night.  I've got the Eggs Benedict heading up the room and prepared to answer all your wide-ranging questions.  But let me guess, you want to talk some Francisco Cordero, don't you?

Cubs 5, Dodgers 4  —  Rookie Sean Marshall did everything he could to put his team in a position to win on Wednesday.  But it took an eighth inning rally, sparked by back-to-back RBI singles from Michael Barrett and Ronny Cedeno, to tie the game then put the Cubs ahead for good.

Martin makes a statement by hitting Padres' Giles with pitch  —  An otherwise forgettable Wednesday afternoon for the Colorado Rockies was spiced up in the eighth inning.  —  That's when Rockies left-hander Tom Martin hit Brian Giles in the right buttock with the first pitch he threw to him.

Culprit of Mench's painful April: Wrong shoe size  —  SEATTLE — Kevin Mench entered Thursday night's game against the Seattle Mariners with zero RBI in his first 10 games.  —  Why?  —  Perhaps because his shoes were too small.  —  The Texas Rangers right fielder has missed five games …

Kaz gets second chance  —  Kaz Matsui's return to the Mets - and to their starting lineup - has arrived faster than the team anticipated.  Rookie replacement Anderson Hernandez was placed on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI yesterday revealed he has a bulging disk in his lower back.

Forbes.com: The Business Of Baseball … Baseball owners continue to slam the ball out of the park.  Team values increased an average of 15 percent for the second consecutive year, to $376 million, in our 2006 survey of Major League Baseball's 30 franchises.

Under The Knife  —  Expert  —  I'm often introduced as a "baseball expert."  I always chuckle, because to me, the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.  Every discovery, every analysis, every set of data leads to new conclusions and often just as many questions as answers.

Saying hey to Shea, finally  —  I got off my couch on Tuesday night for a trip down to Shea Stadium.  Amazin'-ly it was my first trip to the beautiful home of the New York Mets.  The sad thing is I grew up a Mets fan.  Since we didn't have a major league team in Denver until '93 …

Q&A with Rangers' Kameron Loe  —  After posting a 9-6 record with a 3.42 ERA in 48 appearances (including eight starts) with Texas in 2005, 25-year-old right-hander Kameron Loe earned a spot in the Rangers rotation this season.  Loe, who features a fastball, heavy sinker, slurve and changeup …

Notes: Jones ready to be activated  —  Leyland to ease veteran closer into role  —  OAKLAND — All that's left for Todd Jones now is to wait.  —  After throwing about 23 pitches on Wednesday afternoon in his second simulated game, Jones' work was finished.

Idle Womack getting a bit antsy  —  Tony Womack wasn't in a chatty mood Wednesday, but he gave a pretty good indication he's not real happy about his situation.  —  Womack was out of the starting lineup for the fifth straight game Wednesday.  —  More significantly, Brandon Phillips started …

Low-Scoring Victory: Yanks and Mussina Tweak Template  —  TORONTO, April 19 — Since the first game of the season, the Yankees had established a pattern.  Every time they won, they scored at least nine runs.  Every time they lost, they scored no more than five.

Greinke takes step toward mound  —  For Zack Greinke, there's no schedule or projected return date.  Just hope.  —  SURPRISE, Ariz. — Zack Greinke is alone, something that seems to both comfort and frighten him.  The normally busy baseball facility has gone silent.

For Marshall, it's back to the basics  —  Rookie lefty needs innings to build confidence, stamina  —  LOS ANGELES — The education of Sean Marshall continued Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, where the 23-year-old Cubs left-hander was seeking his second major-league victory.

DaVanon, Webb star in D-Backs' win  —  Outfielder falls a double short of cycle against Giants  —  PHOENIX — How do you spell relief?  —  If you're the Diamondbacks' bullpen, you spell it: W-E-B-B.  —  That's Webb as in Brandon Webb, who pitched into the eighth inning for the second …