It's a Dream Start for Rookie  —  After a restless night, Saunders shakes off the nerves to lead the Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Yankees as Izturis continues his hot streak.  —  NEW YORK — The butterflies began tap-dancing in his stomach long before rookie Joe Saunders stepped onto the Yankee Stadium mound Friday night.

Mets Support Lo Duca as Gambling Stories Swirl  —  Paul Lo Duca signing autographs at R.F.K. Stadium.  Lo Duca was acquired from the Marlins in December.  —  The Mets rode into town Friday with a 14-game division lead that is swelling at the same pace as the potential headache surrounding their All-Star catcher, Paul Lo Duca.

Benson makes his return at Fenway  —  Baltimore (51-65) at Boston (66-48), 1:25 p.m. ET  —  In the midst of a six-game road trip against the top two teams in the American League East, the Orioles need all the help they can get.  —  Looking to turn around Baltimore's 3-6 start to August …

Mulder shaky in second rehab start  —  Left-hander allows four runs in four innings of work  —  MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Through two innings, Mark Mulder felt great.  The next inning, though, yielded a far different outcome.  —  Making a rehab start for Triple-A Memphis on Friday night at AutoZone Park …

Prior to DL?  Velocity dip a concern  —  DENVER — Mark Prior's lost season grew dimmer Friday.  —  Instead of flying with the Cubs from Milwaukee to Denver, the club sent the right-hander to Chicago to have team physician Stephen Gryzlo examine his shoulder.

Without Varitek, young staff caught off guard  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — One thing is obvious: The Red Sox pitching staff really misses Jason Varitek.  —  Nobody is pointing fingers at Javy Lopez and Doug Mirabelli, but the small nuances of Varitek's game are lost inside the white lines.

Pavano in fan flap  —  Carl Pavano was involved in a verbal dispute with a fan at his rehab outing in Tampa on Thursday night, during which he made an off-color remark alluding to the fan's sexual orientation, according to sources.  —  The fan was heckling Pavano all night …

Will Reds hold up down the stretch?  —  No offense to the fans in Cincinnati, Denver, Phoenix and the National League's other wild-card hot spots, but it would be a mistake to characterize their teams' little competition as a "race.''  —  The Indy 500, Iditarod and Kentucky Derby are races.

Liriano's Eagerness Leads to a Lesson in Honesty  —  The meeting, as Minnesota Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire described it, was not even close to a dialogue.  —  Pitcher Francisco Liriano sat in the visiting manager's office at Comerica Park in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon listening to Gardenhire …

Girardi was to be fired  —  PHOENIX — Turns out there was a good reason Sunday for the Marlins to make preparations for an impromptu news conference: Owner Jeffrey Loria was going to announce that he had fired manager Joe Girardi.  —  But Loria was persuaded to change his mind …

Tigers' passion play  —  CHICAGO - Jim Leyland is smoking a cigarette.  —  Wait.  No. Every Jim Leyland story starts with him smoking a cigarette.  Jim Leyland is not about cigarettes.  He is about passion.  So let's try again.  —  Jim Leyland is standing on the grass at U.S. Cellular Field.