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 …

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.

Lilly-Gibbons argument leaves manager bloodied  —  TORONTO — Blue Jays manager John Gibbons wound up with a bloody nose after tangling with Toronto pitcher Ted Lilly near the dugout during Monday night's game against Oakland.  —  It was not known whether any punches were thrown.

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 …

Mets get 'closer' to Green  —  The Mets are closing in on Diamondbacks outfielder Shawn Green, though sources familiar with the discussions cautioned that no deal is final until the sides agree to exact financial terms.  —  GM Omar Minaya and Diamondbacks counterpart Josh Byrnes …

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 …

O'Malley to lure hometown flock  —  A caravan of Ryan O'Malley fans will be traveling up Interstate Hwy. 55 from Springfield on Tuesday to watch the Cubs' rookie make his Wrigley Field debut against ex-Cub Jamie Moyer.  —  O'Malley made a big splash in his major-league debut, throwing eight shutout innings Wednesday against Houston.

TOM'S TERRIFIC  —  SOURCE: TEST SAYS GLAV CAN  —  RETURN IN WEEK  —  Tom Glavine will be taking the mound again.  —  A source told The Post last night that the Mets' All-Star left-hander - feared done for the season, maybe even for his career with a possible blood clot in his pitching shoulder …

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.

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.

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.