Top News:
Ian Browne / MLB.com:
Beckett hit hard in loss to Yankees — Right-hander has short night as Red Sox drop series opener — NEW YORK — The Red Sox found themselves on the wrong end of a Bronx bashing Monday night at Yankee Stadium, suffering such an early knockout punch in a 13-5 loss that Jason Varitek …
Discussion:
Keep Your Sox On In Brooklyn
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Baseball America:
Monday Morning Mock Draft — When Royals officials went to bed Sunday night, they still didn't know whose name they'd call with the No. 1 pick in the draft Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET. Insisting money wouldn't be the determining factor, they still were debating the merits of North Carolina …
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Bryan Smith / Sports Illustrated:
MLB Mock Draft — Royals will avoid p.r. nightmare, take UNC's Miller — Tuesday's Major League Draft may have a shortage of hitters, but what it lacks in talent it makes up for in intrigue as uncertainty has lingered at the top for months. When the selections are announced, here are the 30 names you should expect to hear first.
Joe Posnanski / Kansas City Star:The Royals' No. 1 dilemma — The only consensus on first pick is that KC better be right
Discussion:
Purple Row
ESPN:
Pujols lands on DL with 'moderate to severe' injury — ST. LOUIS — This is a much larger challenge for the St. Louis Cardinals: Albert Pujols will be out indefinitely with a strained muscle on his right side. — Pujols, last year's NL MVP and this season's major league leader in home runs and RBI …
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Will Carroll / Baseball Prospectus:
Under The Knife — The Tipping Points — With apologies to Malcolm Gladwell, there are tipping points in each major league season. The Astros were dead and buried last season. We kept waiting for the White Sox to turn into pumpkins and they never did. Did the turn of the page to June cause some tipping point to be crossed?
Associated Press:
Padres-Brewers Preview — The Milwaukee Brewers have picked the worst time to meet one the hottest pitching staffs in the major leagues. — The Brewers will try to halt an eight-game losing streak when they take on the San Diego Padres in the start of a four-game series at Miller Park on Monday.
Discussion:
Ducksnorts
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Vic Feuerherd / madison.com:
Brewers notes: Yost says 'Don't panic' — MILWAUKEE - The Milwaukee Brewers currently face so many difficult questions that manager Ned Yost resorts to one simple answer: — "Don't panic." — When posed with the expected questions about his slumping team Sunday, in particular closer Derrick Turnbow …
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Tom Haudricourt / JSOnline:Notes: Yost plans to keep Turnbow as team's closer
Discussion:
Cincinnati Reds
Zachary Levine / MLB.com:
A-Rod earns Player of the Month honors — Yankees third baseman wins award for seventh time of career — Alex Rodriguez has already missed two games in June with a stomach flu. His torrid month of May must have taken a lot out of him. — The Yankees' third baseman was named …
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Zachary Levine / MLB.com:
Bay named NL Player of the Month — The honors keep coming for Jason Bay — almost as fast as his home run balls are leaving the ballpark. — After receiving National League Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks, Bay was named National League Player of the Month for May.
Discussion:
Where have you gone …
John Tomase / Boston Herald:Schilling: Yanks skipper keeps team afloat
Discussion:
Yanksfan vs Soxfan
Kat O'Brien / Dallas Star-Telegram:
Benoit is baffled by recent struggles — CHICAGO - If Joaquin Benoit knew what he was doing wrong, he'd fix it. — If Benoit knew what had led to his giving up runs in each of his past six relief appearances for the Rangers, causing his ERA to swell from 2.55 to 5.61, he would stop making that mistake.
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Kevin Fiorenzo / MLB.com:
Johnson named NL's top rookie for May — Marlins rookie moves from bullpen to rotation to shine — At the start of the season, Josh Johnson was not a part of the picture when the Marlins put together their starting rotation. Two months later, Johnson has proven to be an indispensable piece of that rotation.
Dan Gelston / Associated Press:
Former umpire Eric Gregg fighting for his life after stroke — PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Former major league umpire Eric Gregg was fighting for his life Monday, a day after a stroke that left him with little hope of any significant recovery, his son said. — "I think we're running out of time right now," Kevin Gregg said.
Discussion:
The Catbird …
Jenifer Langosch / MLB.com:
Notes: Clayton's new spot — Pitchers to have season-ending surgeries; Zimmerman sits — ATLANTA — For the first time this season, Royce Clayton said he feels genuinely comfortable with his role on the team. And it's a result of his new spot in the lineup.
Discussion:
Capitol Punishment
Associated Press:
Businessman aims to have Israel in 2009 WBC — CBS SportsLine.com wire reports — JERUSALEM — Israel has few world-class baseball players, its fan base is minuscule and the country has only one full-size baseball diamond. — Yet American businessman Larry Baras is determined …
Discussion:
The Griddle
newsnet5.com:
Officials: Boyfriend Kills Founder Of Indians Player Fan Club — Friends Say Boyfriend Was Jealous Type — TOLEDO, Ohio — One of Grady Sizemore's biggest fans, who routinely made the trip from Toledo to Jacobs Field, was found shot to death over the weekend. She was apparently a victim of a murder-suicide, officials said.
