Top News:
Howard Kussoy / MLB.com:
Orioles hope to bounce back in finale — Baltimore (51-66) at Boston (67-48), 2:05 p.m. ET — The Orioles will end the second third of their nine-game road trip against the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park, before taking a day off Monday and a journey to New York on Tuesday.
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Howard Kussoy / MLB.com:
Boston looks to end series with a win — Baltimore (51-66) at Boston (67-48), 2:05 p.m. ET — After four unsuccessful attempts to win a series, the Red Sox will be guaranteed to break the streak against the Orioles, having already won the first two games of a three-game set.
Brian MacQuarrie / Boston Globe:
A League of Her Own — Remember when Fenway Park felt crusty, creaky, and unsafe? The woman behind its extreme makeover isn't done yet. — Janet Marie Smith, the architect transforming Fenway Park, works in an office that, at first glance, could be confused with a large storage closet.
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Dan Shaughnessy / Boston Globe:
This walkoff was a slam dunk — Now a new twist to an old story line: the walkoff error. — And another sleepless night for Dominic DiMaggio. — Sometime next winter, when you crack open the Whitman's Sampler of Red Sox 2006 Walkoff Wins, you'll no doubt remember a stunning Saturday …
Discussion:
Dan Shaughnessy Watch
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Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
Red Sox ring up Orioles — Papelbon, Ramírez provide punch in 10th — So, was Jonathan Papelbon doing his best Muhammad Ali or Smokin' Joe Frazier impression yesterday afternoon as he pummeled Manny Ramírez near the first-base bag after another walkoff win by the Red Sox?
NY Daily News:
It's time to face the truth — On the telephone the other day Paul Lo Duca asked this question: — "When does this go away?" — He was referring to stories in the newspaper, some on the front page, about his impending divorce, not even knowing that there would be another story coming …
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NY Daily News:
MLB refused to gamble on Lo Duca tips — Major League Baseball apparently was concerned enough about reports of Paul Lo Duca's possible involvement with online gambling and bookmakers, according to sources, that it sent its security force through spring training this year with a beefed-up message: Be careful who you gamble with.
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Notes: '96 champs, Oates honored — Rangers celebrate division champions, beloved manager — ARLINGTON — The Rangers honored their 1996 division championship team before Saturday's game with the Seattle Mariners and the players paid honor to the man who led them to that title.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
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Ryan Mink / MLB.com:
Yanks' Cano stays hot since return — Second baseman clubs three-run homer for winning margin — NEW YORK — Yankees players and manager Joe Torre went out of their way to make sure they didn't insult Miguel Cairo. He did an adequate job filling in for Robinson Cano for about six weeks, they said.
Discussion:
Off the Facade
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Jose De Jesus Ortiz / Houston Chronicle:
If 29 GMs pass on someone, it should be a sign — Giving Wilson chance to latch on with another team was the right call — Second-guessing is so easy, but it would be silly to blame the Astros for the Preston Wilson signing or the club's decision to designate the veteran outfielder for assignment Saturday.
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Zachary Levine / MLB.com:
Michalak saves the day for Cincinnati — Newcomer tosses 6 2/3 solid innings as Reds hang on — PHILADELPHIA — When Chris Michalak woke up on Saturday, he was a 35-year-old Minor Leaguer in a hotel room in Charlotte, N.C. He'd bounced around 10 organizations and was without a whiff of the Majors in four years.
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Tony DeMarco / MLB.com:
Prior to be shut down to rest shoulder — Right-hander might miss remainder of season — DENVER — Mark Prior's season likely will end where it started — on the disabled list. — The Chicago Cubs announced on Saturday that Prior has been shut down for a minimum of three weeks due to tendinitis in his right shoulder.
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Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Notes: Vidro on the road back to Nats — Second baseman will begin rehab assignment on Sunday — WASHINGTON — Nationals second baseman Jose Vidro performed baseball activities on Saturday afternoon, and it convinced the organization that he is ready for a rehab assignment.
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Upton impresses while he learns — OAKLAND, Calif. - With his butt planted firmly on the ground near third base, B.J. Upton showed some of his dazzling athletic ability Friday by throwing out Oakland's Nick Swisher at first. — As amazing of a play as it was - and the Rays were still raving …
Ed Eagle / MLB.com:
Notes: Castillo puzzled by rest — Regular second baseman has missed three of past four games — PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates starting lineup Saturday night did not include Jose Castillo. — It marked the third time in four days that Castillo began the game on the bench.
Discussion:
Where have you gone …
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
Leyland thriving after snub — The burnout didn't light Jim Leyland's fire. The Phillies did. — The Detroit Tigers wake up every day with the best record in the major leagues steered by a manager who left Colorado with puffs of smoke and a season in ashes. — There is an easy explanation for this incongruity: motivation.
Discussion:
Purple Row
Michael Lazarus / Fox Sports:
Rivera plummets in latest ranking the closers — People will look at this week's closer rankings, see Mariano Rivera at No. 14 and think we're nuts. — Do we think Rivera is just the 14th-best closer in baseball. Of course not. — But for the purpose of these rankings …
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Dealer's choices tend to pay — At 72, Lajoie is still a source of sage advice — Bill Lajoie is a veteran deal-maker who even at the ripe old age of 72 has managed to put his touch on two contenders in the same season. Which is why the architect of very good Tiger teams in the '80s …

