Rays prospect Young throws bat at ump  —  Incident occured after ejection for arguing balls and strikes  —  Devil Rays top prospect Delmon Young is facing a potentially lengthy suspension after throwing his bat at an umpire's chest during Wednesday night's game at Pawtucket.

Selig: MLB not planning any celebration for Bonds passing Ruth  —  NEW YORK — Barry Bonds will have to wait until he passes Hank Aaron before baseball throws a party for him.  —  Major League Baseball is not planning any celebration for Bonds if and when he tops Babe Ruth's mark of 714 home runs, commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday.

Mariners Notebook: Day off gives all arms a rest  —  Mariners decline to skip anyone in their rotation  —  The Mariners have their second day off of the month today, which could have led to a shakeup in the pitching rotation.  —  It won't.  After talking it over the past couple of days …

Foulke Weighs In On Hall Ball  —  Reliever Says World Series Souvenir Should Be His  —  CLEVELAND — The shoes Red Sox pitcher Keith Foulke wore in the 2004 World Series are on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame.  He would like to have them back.  Still, what he would really like to have is the ball …

To Combat Ortiz, Just Add Outfielders  —  DAVID ORTIZ swung and missed for strike three, and Toby Hall, the Tampa Bay catcher, went to throw the ball to third base, the way catchers do when a batter strikes out for the first or second out.  Only this time the third baseman was not there.

Team Needs A Hand and A Few Arms  —  The Washington Nationals' pitching staff is in such a sorry state that the team made a slew of moves yesterday, and the end result is that, in the first of a four-game series beginning tonight at St. Louis, they will throw a rookie left-hander who has never pitched …

Calabrese's value transcends gender  —  Padres say female massage therapist fits in, helps in big way  —  SAN DIEGO — Kelly Calabrese's work speaks for itself.  —  Her tenure as a massage therapist speaks so loudly that when she worked on first baseman Ryan Klesko while he was with the Braves …

QuesTec would help umps get in the zone  —  Bottom of the ninth.  Yankees down to Baltimore 6-5.  Bases loaded and a full count to Hideki Matsui.  O's closer Chris Ray uncorks a breaking ball that's at least a foot off the outside corner.  Matsui doesn't bite.  Strike three called.  Game over.

Piazza comes to in time for 400th  —  For a day that included a whack on the head with a bat and a loss for his team, yesterday wasn't all bad for Mike Piazza.  —  The Padres catcher became the 41st major league player to hit 400 home runs, reaching the milestone with a 416-foot blast …

Eckstein plays key role for Pujols  —  Never one to shy from taking the extra base - in fact, it's in the DNA of his grit - Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein did something unusual in the ninth inning as he rounded second base.  —  He stopped.  —  Having watched as the Pittsburgh Pirates …

Insider: Maddux-Glavine, in our words — and theirs  —  Rolled together again like a favorite pair of old socks, there Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were at the start of the week, still throwing cotton-soft, still a match ... and still remarkably unrumpled.  —  The latest link in the Maddux-Glavine chain …

Otsuka replaces Cordero as closer  —  Japanese reliever takes over for struggling incumbent  —  ARLINGTON — The Rangers have decided to change their closer.  —  Akinori Otsuka will get a chance to close when the Rangers begin a five-game road trip to Cleveland and Tampa Bay on Friday night.

Exclusive Interview with GM Wayne Krivsky  —  In this space, we had intended to bring you a big exclusive: an interview with Reds General Manager Wayne Krivsky.  —  Last week, Mr. Krivsky graciously allowed me to pepper him with questions for a half-hour, or so.

A SONG FOR THE TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS: YOUR PITCHERS ARE MADE FOR WALKIN'  —  Cue Nancy Sinatra...  You keep saying you've got something for us,  —  Some winning base-ball? ...but confess.  —  You keep throwin' balls outside the strike zone,  —  And now your bullpen doesn't get no rest.

Staying close early of Central importance  —  The Wrigley Field scoreboard was almost as tough to watch Wednesday as the Cubs' sloppy 7-5 loss to the Florida Marlins.  National League Central rivals St. Louis, Cincinnati and Milwaukee all won afternoon games, and division leader Houston won at night.