Swept, but hardly cleaned out  —  If a team struggles alone, in the forest of ineptitude that is the National League, does anyone hear it?  —  The Mets, after all, saw their National League East lead drop to 11 games last night, as a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox sent them to the Subway Series as victims of a Fenway Park sweep.

Barrett: Brewers' Lee belongs at Wrigley  —  Michael Barrett is a catcher, but he made a strong pitch Wednesday for Cubs general manager Jim Hendry to pursue Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Carlos Lee.  —  Lee's power explosions at Wrigley Field remind Barrett of how his former Montreal Expos …

For Nats, A Really Bad Trip  —  Road Woes Continue, Patterson Is Ailing: Blue Jays 8, Nationals 4  —  TORONTO, June 29 — He didn't say it as if he was resigned to his team's fate, as if there was no hope at all.  But Washington Manager Frank Robinson's response could only seem realistic given …

Steinbrenner's spending has AL on top  —  George Steinbrenner turns 76 on the Fourth of July.  His legacy as owner of the New York Yankees is secure.  —  The Boss made the American League into a powerful beast.  —  In the B.S. era (before Steinbrenner), the AL had turned meek and out of date.

Palmeiro speaks … The man whose finger-wagging image may forever be the lasting snapshot of baseball's so-called steroid era hasn't paid much attention to the sport's most recent drug scandal.  —  Rafael Palmeiro spends his mornings working out, his days playing baseball with his two sons …

Dunn hits 25th, Junior homers in fourth consecutive game  —  CBS SportsLine.com wire reports  —  CINCINNATI — Adam Dunn wanted to see a few pitches from Jimmy Gobble.  He jumped all over the fourth one.  —  Dunn took the first two pitches from the reliever for strikes and fouled off …

Cashman Won't Panic As Red Sox Streak  —  NEW YORK — The Yankees are slipping in the AL East primarily because the Red Sox are so hot.  —  But Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said no emergency trade is imminent.  —  "I'm not going to do something that could hurt us in the long term," Cashman said.

Deaf to Boos, Rodriguez Finally Hears the Cheers  —  Alex Rodriguez must have heard the boos when he failed to reach base in the 1st and 10th innings, and again in the 11th when he made an error.  Or did he?  After yesterday's game, Rodriguez said his hearing was going bad, likening himself to a swimmer with clogged ears.

Pirates demote Perez to minors  —  Pirates demote Perez to minors  —  PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates opening-day starter Oliver Perez was demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday, the club's latest move to try to turn around the hard-throwing pitcher once viewed as their staff ace.

Go 2 Guy: Mariners destined to win AL West  —  The 2006 American League West champions should forget the preseason predictions written here, those that said the Mariners would finish 73-89 and Ichiro Suzuki would not hit .300.  —  Steve Pool gets to revise his forecast, so I will too …

You can't beat luck at the old ballpark  —  All these years, I thought the Cubs were just bad.  Bad players, bad attitude, bad management.  Comically bad.  But maybe not.  Years ago, for example, the Cubs went to the College of Coaches, deciding it best not to have a manager …

Kasten prioritizes 'long term'  —  Incoming Washington Nationals president Stan Kasten hinted yesterday the team will be active in acquiring young talent at the July 31 trade deadline, and reiterated his commitment to rebuilding the team's depleted farm system.

Rock the game clock  —  As game times are ticking back from three-plus hours, the Rockies are displaying better defense; players hope staying fresher will help them contend  —  Seattle - To understand the Rockies' standing in the NL, think DSL.  —  For years, Colorado was a dial-up franchise in a high-speed world.

They've Rebuilt the Farm  —  Dodgers' minor league system has gone from one of baseball's worst to among the best  —  In the batting cages at Dodgertown, wrapped in catcher's gear, staring through horizontal bars, pelted by hard and undeveloped sliders, Russell Martin still knew.