Bowden 1, Krivsky 0  —  Lopsided trades happen all the time.  In fact, it's the very nature of trading that a large percentage of swaps involve one team getting significantly more in return than the other team.  Even completely one-sided deals—the ones that cause guys like me to express amazement …

Sox-y offer to Mets  —  As Pedro ails, Javy available  —  CHICAGO - The Mets may have found a partner willing to deal a starting pitcher after all, which could be even more pressing as Pedro Martinez is about to miss his third straight start.  —  The White Sox have been calling around to clubs …

Rangers blast past Orioles  —  Teixeira hits three homers; DeRosa, Wilkerson, Barajas go yard  —  BALTIMORE — Mark Teixeira and Brad Wilkerson did not quite have the kind of first half that the Rangers were hoping for from them.  —  The second half, after just one game, bodes much better.

YANKEES AND METS BOTH INQUIRE ABOUT ABREU  —  July 14, 2006 — BOBBY Abreu is both appealing and repelling, an enigma within an All-Star.  He could prove a difference-maker in a playoff race or a reminder that the New York teams should never acquire expensive players with makeup issues.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS  —  A quick glance at Clay Davenport's Adjusted Standings Report suggests there's something seriously wrong in Beertown.  At 411 runs scored, the Brewers are in the middle of the pack.  However, they're at the wrong end of the runs allowed rankings with 485, worst in the National League.

Sox in great shape coming off break  —  "Our record's what it is.  That's what matters.  I do think this is the most comfortable I've been with a team since I've been here."  —Terry Francona, Red Sox manager.  (AP Photo)  —  The immutable truth is this: For all the sound and fury …

Pujols Pounds Perez in 14th  —  Long home run ends Cardinals' 3-2 victory.  Dodgers left-hander says he has been 'treated like trash' and wants to get out of the doghouse.  —  ST. LOUIS — Good intentions gone awry.  That's the story of Odalis Perez's season, in his own words.

Holiday Inn Steps Up to the Plate for MLB  —  CHICAGO — After a stop at the All-Star Game, Holiday Inn now begins injecting its Major League Baseball sponsorship into the daily lives of consumers by rolling the" Ultimate Baseball Road Trip" into Detroit this weekend for the Tigers series against the Kansas City Royals.

Mets' Bannister: Forgotten, but Not Gone  —  PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., July 12 — It looked lonely on the ball field.  Under an overcast morning sky, with a wind picking up that swayed the nearby palm trees and portended rain, a man alone — a man who had seemingly and suddenly fallen off the baseball map — threw from the mound.

Notes: White Sox, Carlos Lee and more  —  White Sox general manager Ken Williams might be aggressive, but he isn't reckless.  So, discount any reports that he's willing to trade right-hander Brandon McCarthy and center fielder Brian Anderson to the Giants for right-hander Jason Schmidt.