Not Pitching to Pujols Is an Automatic First-Guess  —  ST. LOUIS, May 15 — When the Mets open a three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals at the new Busch Stadium on Tuesday night, every at-bat by Albert Pujols will present a dilemma for Manager Willie Randolph and whoever is on the mound at the time.

Avoiding fault line  —  Hendry says he supports Baker, doesn't blame injuries for team's current 2-14 tailspin  —  Cubs general manager Jim Hendry agreed to a question-and-answer session on Monday's off day, assessing a slumping team that has lost 14 of its last 16 games to fall to 15-22.

Zambrano could be finished  —  ST. LOUIS - Victor Zambrano's career is in jeopardy after the righthander yesterday unexpectedly had a second Tommy John elbow surgery.  —  Team doctor David Altchek found a torn ligament that required replacement during what was expected to be a less intense procedure.

Padres blow hot then cold in desert  —  Barfield takes blame for loss after Green's single lifts D-Backs in 10th  —  PHOENIX - Padres rookie Josh Barfield blamed himself for a 6-5, 10-inning loss to the Diamondbacks last night.  —  The second baseman chafed over defensive miscues …

Beckett lights up Birds  —  Right-hander celebrates 26th birthday by dominating Orioles  —  BALTIMORE — The game face wasn't quite there when Josh Beckett first entered the visiting clubhouse on Monday afternoon.  The right-hander noticed ace Curt Schilling slumped over on the couch …

San Antonio pulls Marlins stadium offer  —  As expected, San Antonio played a game of Texas Fold 'Em on Monday with the Florida Marlins.  —  Bexar County leaders formally pulled out of the Marlins relocation sweepstakes, throwing the spotlight on the team's rising hopes to build a stadium in Hialeah.

Sturtze's year could be over  —  Scott Proctor could tell something was wrong.  Before the Yankees' 4-2 loss last night to the Texas Rangers, he saw fellow reliever Tanyon Sturtze emerge from Joe Torre's office with a look on his face that made it clear he needed to be alone.  So Proctor kept his distance.

Ayala's Absence Has Left a Hole in the Bullpen  —  Luis Ayala wasn't in Atlanta over the weekend, and he did not join his Washington Nationals teammates in Chicago, where the team begins a three-game series today.  Instead, Ayala will be in Phoenix, the site of his rehabilitation from season-ending elbow surgery.

Padilla to test ankle  —  NEW YORK - The Rangers are relatively certain who will pitch for them Thursday and Friday.  They aren't quite as sure about the order in which Vicente Padilla and Robinson Tejeda will start.  —  Padilla, who has been bothered by right ankle tendinitis …

Baseball Is a Game of Numbers, but Whose Numbers Are They?  —  Like no other corner of American popular culture, baseball communicates in numbers.  From .406 (Ted Williams's 1941 batting average) to 755 (Hank Aaron's record home run total) to countless digits bandied about water coolers every morning …

Angels Go Through Growing Pains  —  A once-promising young trio falters, but veterans say the players' response to their struggles will determine whether they'll be productive in the future.  —  Maybe they succumbed to the pressure of having to immediately produce for a pennant-contending team …

Baseball's greatest showmen  —  It was a great made-for-TV moment.  Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols took Pirates pitcher Oliver Perez deep, then flicked his bat high and deep to celebrate the homer and taunt his foe.  —  Jaws dropped in the Pirates dugout.

Struggling Vargas demoted to AAA  —  ATLANTA — Left-hander Jason Vargas arrived in spring training with high expectations on how he would follow up his 2005 Marlins Rookie of the Year season.  —  A demotion to the minor leagues wasn't what he had in mind, but that's what he got for struggling to a 1-1 start and 6.40 ERA.

Q&A with Stan Kasten  —  New Nationals president helped build dominant Braves … MLB.com: You were out of the game for the last two years.  What did you miss about baseball during that time?  —  Stan Kasten: I wasn't running a club, but I was still involved with many, many people inside the game.