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.

Rockies use arms and hammer to beat Dodgers  —  Jittery Kim settles, Hawpe's throw, big hits add up to victory  —  Right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim was 19 pitches and three batters into Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies catcher Danny Ardoin was puzzled.

Mailbag: Big plans for new owners?  —  Beat writer Bill Ladson answers Nationals fans' questions … While there is no doubt that the Nationals need to rebuild the farm system and essentially start from scratch, don't you agree that they need to retain at least some of the good players on the Major League roster?

Notes: Chances for Minors pitchers?  —  MRI reveals torn elbow ligament for Drese, surgery may follow  —  CHICAGO — Entering Tuesday's action, the Nationals' pitching staff is near the bottom of almost every category, and the team is still debating whether or not to carry more than 11 pitchers.

Jays drop Molina's well-rounded return  —  Former Angels catcher gets first steal; plunked Glaus day-to-day  —  ANAHEIM — If nothing else, catcher Bengie Molina's return to Angel Stadium on Tuesday night had its moments.  —  Several of them, actually.  —  The first came when he emerged …

Padres-Diamondbacks Preview  —  Jake Peavy hopes to help the San Diego Padres defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first time this season when the NL West rivals continue a three-game series at Chase Field on Tuesday.  —  Peavy (3-3, 3.61 ERA) is 2- with a 1.29 ERA over his last three outings …

A's smack Felix around  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — The Mariners came into the season fairly confident that Felix Hernandez wasn't in over his head, pitching in the big leagues at 20.  —  It would be no surprise if that confidence had been shaken some in the first six weeks of the 2006 season.

Mets' pitchers face challenge from Pujols  —  ST. LOUIS — Those four fingers the Mets showed Barry Bonds last month?  —  Well, they'll show them to Albert Pujols this week.  And as Bonds twice did when the Mets went after him in San Francisco, don't be surprised to see similar results …

Good at-bats helping Varitek catch up  —  BALTIMORE — A year ago this morning, Jason Varitek had 15 RBIs on the season.  This morning he has 18.  However, a year ago he was hitting .318 with 7 home runs.  Now he's hitting .243 with 3 homers.  —  The good news: Varitek reached base five times …

Field-and-scream effort  —  Rookie Logan has a nightmare night in an ugly Sox defeat  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Brandon McCarthy suffered from a high pitch count Tuesday night and lasted only four-plus innings.  —  That paled in comparison, however, to the embarrassing outing …

Showing his age  —  Johnson's woes reveal his best days are behind him  —  For much of the last two seasons the Yankees have excused the decline of Randy Johnson with some creative thinking.  See, it never could be just that Johnson was getting hit and getting old.

LaRoche's disorder in spotlight  —  ATLANTA — Adam LaRoche knows how it looks.  He doesn't seem to be trying hard.  He comes across as inattentive, sluggish, a little too laid-back to be a professional athlete.  —  When LaRoche was coming up through the minors, countless coaches and instructors told him to show more emotion.

Notes: Milton fully recovered  —  Pitcher set to start against the Tigers on Saturday  —  PITTSBURGH — The limited amount of pitches Eric Milton threw in Monday's Hall of Fame game appeared to be enough.  He said he's ready.  —  It was revealed on Tuesday that Milton will be activated …

Nolasco set for first start  —  Ricky Nolasco's family rooted for John Smoltz and the Atlanta Braves when the Marlins pitcher was growing up in California.  But loyalty only goes so far.  —  When Nolasco makes his first big-league start tonight, he'll take on Smoltz.  And the Nolascos won't be pulling for the Braves.

Ball from stands nearly hits Jones  —  Incident raises security concerns  —  An allegedly inebriated fan in right field threw a ball that barely missed hitting Jacque Jones before the ninth inning Tuesday, raising some red flags about security problems in the bleachers.

Notes: Lima, Gonzalez remain in rotation  —  Mets don't want to rush Bannister back from hamstring injury  —  ST. LOUIS — The perceived need for Brian Bannister to make a start in the Minor Leagues before returning to big-league duty has forced the Mets to retain the rotation they have used since Victor Zambrano went down on May 6.