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.

Nats' Clutch Hits A Long Way Off  —  It's as if they're playing basketball, and they go to the free throw line, where they haven't made a shot in a month.  Or perhaps they're golfers with the yips, unable to stride confidently to three-foot putts and knock them solidly into the back of the cup.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.