Liriano fills in for Contreras as All-Star  —  Twins southpaw finished second in AL Final Vote  —  PITTSBURGH — For Francisco Liriano, it was a case of "better late than never."  —  Liriano, the Twins' rookie sensation who was edged out by White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski in the 2006 Monster …

Guillen names Rogers AL starter, NL taps Penny  —  PITTSBURGH — Kenny Rogers has gone from all-star scourge to All-Star Game starter.  —  The Tigers' left-hander, the top winner for the team with the best record in the majors, will be on the mound for the AL on Tuesday night against Brad Penny of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Baker's job status raising ire of Eyre  —  MILWAUKEE — Cubs reliever Scott Eyre on Sunday accused the media of hurting the team by focusing on Dusty Baker's job status instead of the game.  —  "I think if we keep playing the way we played this series, and if everyone would stop talking about Dusty's job …

PNC Park a winner, but Pirates . . .  Pittsburgh gets its ballpark right, but team is all wrong  —  PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh's steel-and-glass skyline is so close, it appears to hover over the right fielder's shoulder.  There are three major rivers located about the length of a Jason Bay home run from the ballpark's boundaries.

WAGS WOULD MORTGAGE FUTURE, BUT WILL OMAR?  —  July 10, 2006 — BILLY WAGNER turns 35 in two weeks and the Mets have a 12-game lead in the NL East.  These are the pertinent numbers in the closer's baseball life.  The short time he has left in the game and the wide lead his club has in its division.

Abreu has experienced a power outage … PITTSBURGH — Here in this modern sports world, where we'd much rather believe in supernatural forces than reality, we love our curses.  So it's time to ask a question we know you've all been wondering about pretty much 24/7:  —  Is there any such thing as a Home Run Derby Curse?

What Is Gil Meche?  —  Another day, another good start from Gil Meche, resulting in a Mariners win.  With the performance today, he lowered his ERA to 3.83 for the season and has been essentially annointed the team's current ace by the coaching staff, as he will start the first game after the all-star break.

Future Shock  —  Jay Bruce, of, Low Class A Dayton (Reds)  —  With the 10th, 11th and 12th picks of the 2005 draft, the Tigers, Pirates and Reds all took high school outfielders.  Both Detroit's Cameron Maybin and Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen have been impressive in their full-season debuts, but Bruce has been the best of the trio.

Finally, time to give it a rest  —  CHICAGO — The scoreboard in right-center field was full of ``F"s, as in final scores.  Even the West Coast games were complete.  As a matter of fact, the Sunday night game between St. Louis and Houston was underway.  —  All-Star break getaway planes were being missed.

World beaters  —  Royals prospects spark U.S. team in Futures Game  —  PITTSBURGH (AP) — If the All-Star Futures Game is any indication, there's hope for the lowly Kansas City Royals.  —  A pair of their prospects, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon, led the United States to an 8-5 victory …

Major Leagues  —  Can you explain how the free-agent compensation process works?  —  Every offseason, the Elias Sports Bureau compiles rankings of all major league players, based on the previous two year's stats.  The players are ranked by position, so first basemen are not compared to second basemen, etc.

Going Deep: Answering your questions  —  Clearing up confusion over MLB's procedural rules … Q: I always get a little confused about the different ways call-ups from the Minors occur, i.e., purchasing a contract vs. recalling a player.  —  A: It boils down to whether the player is already on the 40-man roster.

Millwood expects Friday start  —  ARLINGTON - Rangers right-hander Kevin Millwood said he is healthy and ready to start Friday in Baltimore.  —  Millwood threw off a mound Sunday for the first time since straining his right biceps muscle July 2 against Houston.