Chacon could be on the way out  —  CLEVELAND - It appears unlikely that Shawn Chacon will make his scheduled start Sunday, but that could be the least of his concerns.  With Chacon failing to show any of the magic he had last season, his time with the Yankees could be coming to an end.

There is no cause for alarm  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — I suppose you want to know what's going on.  —  Baseball's going on.  The Big 162.  The ebb and the flow.  —  They go to Minnesota, drop three in a row, and you want someone to hijack their plane and drop them off in the middle of the Pacific Ocean somewhere.

RANGERS NOTES  —  Loe could move to bullpen  —  ARLINGTON - Right-hander Kameron Loe, who is on the disabled list with a right elbow bone bruise, played catch on flat ground from 90 feet Wednesday.  He is scheduled to throw bullpen sessions Friday and Sunday, then begin a rehab assignment at Double A Frisco.

METS 5, PIRATES 0  —  Slow-Pitch Baseball as Hernández Quells the Pirates Softly  —  Cliff Floyd scored one of the Mets' five runs in the first inning in a 5-0 win over Kip Wells and the Pirates.  Orlando Hernández earned the victory.  —  Orlando Hernández threw …

Eight-run inning ties Marlins mark; Marlins 18, Nationals 9  —  WASHINGTON — The Marlins completed a double play to end the fifth inning and retreated to their dugout, but they could just as well have converged on the RFK Stadium diamond and started shaking hands.

Dusty's lifeline — winning  —  HOUSTON — A day after prompting speculation about manager Dusty Baker's future by saying he will evaluate the Cubs' situation during the All-Star break, general manager Jim Hendry tried to temper all the guesswork.  —  Hendry said Wednesday that Baker might …

THE CAVALRY  —  As you've probably heard, the Cardinals have made a move to bolster a struggling pitching staff, trading outfield prospect Terry Evans to the Angels for Jeff Weaver.  I'm old enough to remember another Weaver riding to town to save the day.  Let's hope this one isn't quite as preposterous.

Elbow surgery will end Martinez's season  —  WASHINGTON — Carlos Martinez's season is over.  —  As the Marlins feared, the right-hander needs Tommy John surgery.  Dr. James Andrews, who examined Martinez on Wednesday, will perform the operation today in Birmingham, Ala.

60 Years and 1,000 Tales Since 14 Were Ejected  —  Sixty years is a long time to stretch a memory.  But Dario Lodigiani is certain that the reason that he and 13 other Chicago White Sox players and coaches were ejected from a game against the Boston Red Sox had nothing to do with a ventriloquist in the stands.

Pirates Notebook: Burnitz, Randa amenable to being traded  —  NEW YORK — Neither Jeromy Burnitz nor Joe Randa has asked the Pirates for a trade.  —  But neither sounds as if he would be terribly troubled if one were to happen.  —  Check out Burnitz's typically candid response to a question on the matter yesterday:

Scowling Scolari blames referee  —  It was always unlikely that Portugal would leave this World Cup quietly and so it proved last night as Cristiano Ronaldo and coach Luiz Felipe Scolari laid the blame for their semi-final defeat at the feet of the Uraguayan referee Jorge Larrionda.

Ramirez Passes On All-Star Game  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — News flash: Manny Ramirez will not be playing in the All-Star Game next week in Pittsburgh.  —  OK, it's hardly a surprise because manager Terry Francona had been saying that he preferred Ramirez use the three-day break to rest his right knee.

Back Pain Hospitalizes Gagne  —  Eric Gagne was admitted to St. Vincent Medical Center because of lower back pain the Dodgers said was unrelated to baseball activity.  Results of an examination by spine surgeon Dr. Robert Watkins were not known.  —  Gagne, 30, has been on the disabled list most of the season because of elbow pain.