Tuesday Morning Mock Draft  —  For the first time since 1999, when the Devil Rays deliberated between Josh Hamilton and Josh Beckett, scouting directors will wake up on draft day without knowing for sure who will go No. 1.  The Royals own that pick, and if they've finalized their decision, they've kept it closely guarded.

Future Shock  —  Pre-Draft Pandemonium  —  I had an interesting afternoon yesterday, getting away from the phone long enough to put on the suit and talk about today's draft with the fine folks on ESPNews' Hot List.  During my 12 minute segment I spoke briefly about many of the top players …

Battery Park  —  Yankees unload on Sox, Beckett in Stadium rout  —  NEW YORK — When Josh Beckett walked off the mound last evening, the sky was still a soft blue, the lingering sun illuminating the Bronx courthouse that looms beyond Yankee Stadium in right-center.

Searching for diamond in the rough  —  The Marlins have made shrewd draft picks recently, something they hope to duplicate considering that there is a relatively weak crop of players this year.  —  kbaxter@MiamiHerald.com  —  The conventional wisdom holds that the talent …

Former prep prospect now creating heat in the kitchen after shoulder surgeries  —  Persistent shoulder injuries early this decade prevented Ryan Anderson from throwing 100-mph heat in the major leagues.  Now out of baseball, Anderson is ready to turn up the heat in a new career.

Class A Appearance for Clemens, First as an Interior Designer  —  LEXINGTON, Ky., June 5 — When the Class A Lexington Legends staggered into their clubhouse at 3:30 a.m. Monday, bleary-eyed after an eight-hour bus trip, a few of them might have thought they were dreaming.

Alfonseca's return boosts Rangers' bullpen  —  IF Jimenez expected to be odd man out; move adds flexibility  —  Rangers manager Buck Showalter said he expects right-handed reliever Antonio Alfonseca to be activated from the disabled list today, giving the club an eight-man bullpen for the foreseeable future.

Soler-powered  —  Rookie's gem lifts Mets in L.A.  —  LOS ANGELES - Alay Soler had a three-run cushion before he even took the mound.  Nine innings later, the Cuban defector had his first major-league win.  —  Jose Reyes and Carlos Delgado homered in the first inning …

Giants roll as Bonds rocks  —  Slugger gets homer No. 716 and will get additional support with Alou's return  —  SAN FRANCISCO - The Giants had crushed the Florida Marlins, Moises Alou was about to be activated, and the clubhouse was theirs again.  —  Gone were the scores …

Nationals Win Fifth Game in a Row  —  Cordero Escapes Trouble in the Ninth: Nationals 5, Braves 4  —  ATLANTA, June 5 — About three hours earlier, Washington Nationals Manager Frank Robinson sat in a small office in his team's clubhouse at Turner Field.  Asked if he worried …

Prospectus Hit List  —  Week of June 4  —  Who doesn't love a rookie?  Whether it's a highly touted prospect making his not-so-long-awaited arrival, a green stopgap fresh off the turnip truck, or a lifer finally catching a break, nobody grabs our attention like the new guy.

Pirates likely to select a pitcher in first round  —  Player they are projected to get might stir up memories of former star Pirates pitcher from early '90s  —  If the teams ahead of them behave as expected, the Pirates almost certainly today will select University of Houston right-hander Brad Lincoln …

Milledge: No regrets about high fives  —  LOS ANGELES — Any remorse that Lastings Milledge was feeling after high-fiving the fans along the rightfield line Sunday apparently had vanished by the time the Mets boarded their cross-country charter to the West Coast later that night.

Kids are all right to Brian  —  In the spring, Brian Cashman says, he and Joe Torre spent a fair amount of time talking to the Yankee kids, to the guys off the bench.  The message, Cashman says, was the same, from the first time all the players were together in one room.

1 chance, 1 pitch, 1 dream deferred  —  'Back then, I thought, 'Well, there'll be other days.' I didn't realize that that was the only day.  Thus spoke Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, or at least a whimsical version of him brought to life by Burt Lancaster in the 1989 baseball—some would say cornball—film "Field of Dreams."

Pauley Moves To Bigger Stage  —  NEW YORK — His first start in the big leagues was considered a huge step because David Pauley had never pitched above Double A. His second start will be even bigger.  —  "He's not climbing Mount Everest," Curt Schilling said.  "He's playing a baseball game at Yankee Stadium."