Mailbag: Transaction reactions  —  Beat reporter Bill Ladson answers reader's questions … Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez have not been good.  Can we expect better play from them?  How can the Nationals consider trading Alfonso Soriano?  He and Ryan Zimmerman have been the only reliable players this year.

4 and then floored, for him  —  An upper back strain KO's Wakefield early  —  Terry Francona sat behind his desk in the Red Sox clubhouse at 4 p.m. yesterday talking about his knuckleballer.  It had been 10 days since Tim Wakefield last pitched, the 39-year-old's aching back the cause.

Blowing It Up - Wayne Krivsky takes on the Power of Tradition  —  So much for the Power of Tradition.  —  To the fan and analyst a trade is a talent swap first and foremost, stats for stats, needs for needs, but beneath all of the rate stats and percentage stats are nuances that get passed over by those of us on the outside.

Fonz cool with shot in minors  —  INDIANAPOLIS - Edgardo Alfonzo may have left for San Francisco as a free agent four years ago, but the infielder's family never left New York.  —  Now, Fonzie is back home, too.  Almost.  —  Alfonzo - voted by fans as the all-time second baseman …

Phillies-Padres Preview  —  The Philadelphia Phillies are trying to turn around their season.  It would be a big help if Cole Hamels does.  —  The surging Phillies hand the ball to the rookie left-hander on Monday in the opener of a three-game series against the San Diego Padres .

Special delievery to the plate  —  Pitching motions can get personal, with the strangest still capable of strikes  —  By the time the baseball left Luis Tiant's hand, his body had turned 180 degrees around and back again.  En route to releasing the ball, he got a good look at the batter …

'It was the right thing to do' (cont.)  —  Around the majors  —  • The White Sox asked the Mets for Duaner Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey for Freddy Garcia.  No go.  The Sox have spoken to several clubs about Garcia and Javier Vazquez but prefer to keep Vazquez since he's contractually tied to the team for three more years.

Skid creates shake-up  —  Pittsburgh - Frustration spawned roster reconfiguration.  —  Saddled with a season-high eight-game losing streak after falling Monday to the Pirates, the Rockies promoted rookie reliever Manuel Corpas and first baseman Ryan Shealy and benched center fielder Cory Sullivan.

Braves bash Cards with 15-run onslaught, snap seven-game streak  —  CBS SportsLine.com wire reports  —  ST. LOUIS — The only thing missing on another huge night for the Atlanta Braves' offense was an extra-base hit from Chipper Jones.  —  Brian McCann hit a grand slam and leadoff man Wilson Betemit …

Japan baseball great Oh has stomach operation  —  TOKYO (AP) -Japan home run king Sadaharu Oh had successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his stomach, his doctor said Tuesday  —  Masaki Kitajima, a surgeon at Tokyo's prestigious Keio University Hospital, told a televised news conference Tuesday …

Angels back rookie, win seventh straight  —  Halos amass 17 hits to support Moseley in debut vs. Tribe  —  ANAHEIM — The kid was game.  —  Handed the ball to make his first Major League start, Dustin Moseley pitched well enough with a lead Monday night, and let the suddenly surging offense …

Dejan Kovacevic Pirates' chat transcript  —  PensFan: Now that the All-Star festivities are over, do the Nuttings finally sell this team??  —  Dejan Kovacevic: Welcome one and all again.  No, there are no indications whatsoever that the team is for sale.  —  SDWC: Hi Dejan.

Notes: Hunter in a hurry to recover  —  Stewart's injury may be season-ending; White starts in left  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Torii Hunter seems to defy expectations with his play, so it's no surprise that he expects to do the same with his most recent injury, a stress fracture in his left foot.