As Homers Skyrocket, Baseballs Put to the Test  —  Commissioner Bud Selig has taken notice of the nearly 25 percent increase in home runs in the first month of the season.  And he was curious enough about the jump to ask that Major League Baseball test the baseballs, he disclosed yesterday during …

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 …

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 …

Mench on hot streak since changing shoe size  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — It's gotta be the shoes for Kevin Mench.  —  Since finally getting the right size shoes last week, Mench is on a torrid streak — a Texas Rangers record with home runs in six straight games, including two grand slams, and 20 RBI in a week.

Morneau doesn't panic over slump  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Justin Morneau, mired in a hitting slump, spent more than an hour Wednesday watching video on a laptop in the visitors' clubhouse.  —  Watching video of your swing, huh?  —  "Nah," the Twins first baseman said.  "I was watching the stadium session."

MLB hopes to transfer Nationals to new owner by mid-June  —  NEW YORK - Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is likely to pick a new owner for the Washington Nationals within a few days and the team probably will change hands in June, the sport's No. 2 official said Thursday.

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.

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 …

MRI results good news for Bannister  —  Right-hander has Grade 1 strain of his right hamstring  —  ATLANTA — Flights from San Francisco to Atlanta are surprisingly short, a mere four hours.  (No wonder the Braves once played in the National League West.)

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 …

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.

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.