Warning: These truths may hurt  —  You want the truth?  —  OK.  Let's see if you can handle the truth.  —  The truth is that at present the Red Sox have two reliable pitchers, Curt Schilling and Jonathan Papelbon.  —  The truth is that, while you cannot blame everything on not having Jason Varitek …

Gibbons, Lilly feud in Jays loss; A's overcome eight-run deficit  —  CBS SportsLine.com wire reports  —  TORONTO — While the Oakland Athletics keep fighting for a playoff spot, the Toronto Blue Jays are still tangling with each other.  —  Manager John Gibbons wound up with a bloody nose …

Furcal, Lofton leading the charge  —  The NL MVP should be unanimous this season: Los Angeles Dodgers GM Ned Colletti.  If you look back to when he was hired, there was a huge mess in L.A. that needed cleaning up.  Within 58 days, Colletti hired a new coaching staff and manager, made three trades and acquired seven free agents.

Rookie race is a toss-up  —  Joe Girardi believes as many as five Marlins deserve serious consideration for the National League Rookie of the Year award.  But that by no means assures the winner will be among them.  —  ''It's amazing how many young players there are right now,'' the Marlins manager said.

Cubs' woes no mystery to Perez  —  Says rookie starters, injuries made it tough  —  DETROIT — Neifi Perez displayed the same joy Monday that he had during his tenure of almost two seasons with the Cubs.  —  But as he moved from a fifth-place team to the first-place Detroit Tigers …

Under The Knife  —  Cascade Blues  —  Okay, so shoot me, but I was watching the Colts-Seahawks game tonight while the Sox and Yanks were in rain delay, and something in particular caught my eye.  One of the things that NBC is doing to promote its new Sunday night game is a modified fantasy contest …

Brewers pitching guru put to the test  —  Maddux teaches young arms how to think on the mound  —  MILWAUKEE — Every year, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin challenges his scouts to find at least one diamond in the rough.  On the positional side, think Scott Podsednik and Brady Clark.

Seat gets warmer for several managers  —  Rarely do teams fire managers in August, but the Mariners easily could justify the dismissal of Mike Hargrove.  —  The mounting case against Hargrove includes 20 consecutive losses to AL West opponents, highlighted by a just-completed 0-11 trip to Texas …

Hey ROY?  —  The Nats need to close out 16-22 or better to make it to 70 wins.  In case you haven't noticed, this is not a good team.  But you've probably noticed that it has a few good players.  Two, in particular, are worthy of consideration for major awards: Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Zimmerman.

Pirates Notebook: GM in search of left-handed power bat  —  By Dejan Kovacevic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  —  ATLANTA — The Pirates plan to search for a left-handed power bat to play first base or right field in 2007, preferably someone young enough that they can control his rights for several seasons.

Willingham's hot streak defies explanation  —  · Josh Willingham hasn't spent much time looking for answers.  He has resigned himself to the fact that streaks are part of the game and trying to explain them is counterproductive.  —  He's hot now and can't pinpoint why.

Rowand strains ankle in brutal collision  —  Phils awaiting X-ray results; Utley limping, but appears OK  —  CHICAGO — Sitting on the outfield grass in the seconds after his violent collision with Chase Utley, Aaron Rowand took quick inventory.  —  His neck felt OK, as did his left wrist and right leg.