Nationals fall to Fish in Florida  —  Club tripped up despite first Washington homer for Lopez  —  MIAMI — A home run, his first as a member of the Nationals, allowed Felipe Lopez to move a step forward in the adjustment to his new team.  Unfortunately, a mental mistake in the next inning brought him a step back.

Matsui ahead of schedule  —  Thursday is an important day for Hideki Matsui, who is scheduled to visit the doctor and could be given the go-ahead to begin basic hitting drills.  —  Matsui, who is recovering from a broken left wrist, already has been taking dry swings in which he allows …

Yankees save hurtin' A-Rod  —  Needs X-rays on toe after 3 E's  —  There was no beauty and little grace to this one.  Just a lot of sweaty palms, sticky foreheads and what the Yankees hope is little more than a badly stubbed toe.  —  They won't complain about the aesthetics, of course.

Late risers  —  Sox end their slumber in time to beat Royals  —  With the 36,436 at Fenway Park standing in anticipation of a mammoth home run from one of their own Bash Brothers, David Ortiz or Manny Ramírez, they were instead treated to a medium-depth sacrifice fly off the bat …

Audition, Round 2  —  Pelfrey gets another look and Peterson is bullish on his future  —  CHICAGO — The Mets' dream of someday adding Barry Zito to their rotation will likely have to wait until the offseason, when he becomes a free agent.  But Zito's former pitching coach, Rick Peterson …

2 more years for Baker isn't crazy  —  Actually, there's no better alternative to manage the Cubs  —  More than two months ago, on the subject of the Cubs, I wrote that "firings appear almost inevitable, if not imminent."  Two weeks ago, the view here was the sacking of manager Dusty Baker had become imminent, as well as inevitable.

Ricciardi's failure to find everyday shortstop speaks volumes  —  The trail of also-rans follows J.P. Ricciardi around like the stench of stale beer, the cigarette ashes on his baseball resume.  —  It doesn't matter how much his Blue Jays change, how the budgets escalate, how no season is like another.

Graffanino back on the block  —  Trade rumors swirl around KC second baseman, but not to Boston.  The Red Sox are solid at that position.  —  It was a year ago this week that he arrived here, in a trade from the Royals to the Red Sox.  On Monday, he returned to Fenway Park, back with the Royals but again on the trading block.

Mariners Notebook: Pineiro linked to Yanks  —  Mariners unlikely to make trade involving righty  —  NEW YORK — Joel Pineiro's name has been all over the Internet lately.  —  Word is the Yankees have a more than passing interest in Pineiro, who starts tonight at Yankee Stadium.

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.

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 …

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 …