Padres-Diamondbacks Preview  —  The San Diego Padres look for a ninth straight road victory as they try to hand Arizona Diamondbacks ace Brandon Webb his first loss of the season when the NL West rivals begin a three-game series at Chase Field on Monday.  —  San Diego (22-16) …

Silva demotion temporary, team says  —  MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Twins made a move with their struggling rotation Monday morning, sending shaken right-hander Carlos Silva to the bullpen temporarily and promoting lefty Francisco Liriano.  —  Liriano, 22, is one of baseball's top prospects …

Notes: Angels thinking pink  —  Colored bats and story behind them a hit with players  —  ANAHEIM — Major League Baseball broke out the pink bats on Sunday in support of the fight against breast cancer.  —  In a collective effort to raise money for the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation …

Mailbag: Much ado about Milledge  —  Beat writer Marty Noble answers Mets fans' questions  —  With Cliff Floyd slumping and Lastings Milledge hitting around .300, isn't it time to consider bringing up Milledge?  —  No. It's time to give Milledge more time.  And it's time to afford Floyd more time as well.

Prospectus Today  —  He's Baaaaaaack  —  So yesterday afternoon, instead of my usual routine of flipping through a number of ballgames, I had settled on the Yankees/A's tilt.  I liked the pitching matchup, with one of my favorite young pitchers, Dan Haren, going up against someone who's …

Rangers' rest has pluses, minuses  —  BOSTON - As the Rangers paired up for boarding their chartered ark, er, flight to escape flooded Boston, the pitching perspective on a weekend full of rainouts differed.  —  Mainly, it depended where you sat.  —  For the starters, especially the young and infirm …

A's bring out Bonderman's best  —  When Jeremy Bonderman went to the mound in Oakland last Wednesday night the Tigers had won one of 18 games and were on their way to being anchor and talk-show host punch lines, not to mention lending themselves to a stockpile of negative footnotes to history.

Future Shock  —  Howie Kendrick's first taste of the big leagues turned out to be one to forget, as arguably the best hitter in the minor leagues went just 3-for-26 before being sent back to Triple-A Salt Lake to make way for shortstop Erick Aybar.  The Angels already have three players …

Big Unit looks more like Big Problem  —  Southpaw showing his age, despite his denials, and Yanks are in trouble  —  Randy Johnson's ERA is up to 5.13 and he has given up 54 hits in 52 innings, the first time since 1988 that has he given up more hits than he has innings pitched.  —  Mike Celizic

Catch Me If You Can  —  Alternate Title: Oh, Wiki You're So Fine...  Nationals 8, Braves 1  —  I realize it's been a long, long time since I've done a game recap, but it's been a long time since there's been a game that I've (a) seen and (b) felt any urge to revisit.  (Cable monopolies... they're COM-CASTIC!!!)

First Pitch, May 15  —  CROWDED  —  The Colorado Rockies have a big decision to make on right-handed pitcher Sunwoo Kim, who allowed one hit in eight shutout innings of a rehabilitation start for Class AAA Colorado Springs against Omaha on Saturday.  At some point, the Rockies are going to be faced …

Minor Matters: Unlisted Hitting Prospects Worth Knowing  —  We're just six weeks into the minor league season and it's already time to throw away your favorite "Top Prospect" lists from this past winter.  Young players can mature significantly during the offseason, when they rest nagging injuries …

Hall of Fame Game canceled due to rain  —  Sixtieth annual event — between Reds, Bucs — called in third  —  COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The annual Hall of Fame Game requires nearly 12 months of planning on the parts of Hall of Fame officials and Cooperstown, N.Y., village employees …

Ugly game, wasted effort  —  Mother's Day brought the Cardinals another typical start from Chris Carpenter, neglected pitcher.  —  The National League's reigning Cy Young Award winner threw six innings without allowing an earned run.  His reward was no decision in his team's messy 7-6 loss …

Power Rankings: Phils bust into top 10  —  Gotta love Aaron Rowand.  Going all-out, sacrificing the nose, getting bloody, making a Web Gem grab, helping save a rain-soaked victory.  —  And you've gotta love Rowand's Phillies right now, as well.  Their nine-game win streak might have ended this week …

Notes: Elbow lands Mercker on DL  —  Right-hander Burns recalled from Triple-A Louisville  —  CINCINNATI — Veteran reliever Kent Mercker was asked to describe the lingering soreness he felt in his left elbow.  Was it an ache, a dull pain or throbbing?  —  "Um, yeah.

Dodgers contain Bonds, take series  —  LA's go-ahead runs score in eighth on Kline's throwing error  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Dodgers relievers not only have trouble getting saves, some don't even know what they are.  —  Joe Beimel, for example, pitched the final two innings of Sunday's 6-3 win …