Top News:
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:
Mets' Karma Is Taking a Turn for the Worse — Pedro Martínez blurted out a remark three weeks ago that seemed offhand then, but poignantly prescient now. — Standing in the visitors' clubhouse at Turner Field in Atlanta, Martínez responded to a television commentator's assertion …
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ESPN:
Mets' Glavine doesn't need surgery, will return soon — On Sunday it was feared Tom Glavine might miss the rest of the season. Now, the veteran Mets left-hander might be on the mound as soon as next week. — Sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney that an angiogram performed Monday revealed …
Mark Hale / New York Post:
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 …
Bob Ryan / Boston Globe:
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 …
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Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
4 Days Later, Race for First Is a Runaway — The Yankees celebrated after finishing their first five-game sweep of Boston since 1951 and their first at Fenway since 1943. Scoreboard aside, the Red Sox trail by six and a half games. — More than 35,000 sad souls had shuffled out of Fenway Park by 5 p.m. on Monday.
Amalie Benjamin / Boston Globe:Wells hangs tough but Sox can't avert a Yankees sweep
Discussion:
Surviving Grady
Jackie MacMullen / Boston Globe:Wreckage from this series leaves a sweeping sense of devastation
Discussion:
NY Daily News
Associated Press:
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.
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Barry Svrluga / Washington Post:
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.
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ESPN:
Phils' Rowand out 4-6 weeks with broken ankle — As the Phillies make their push for the NL wild card, they will have to do it without starting center fielder Aaron Rowand. — Rowand suffered a fractured left ankle in a scary outfield collision with teammate Chase Utley on Monday night …
Discussion:
Balls, Sticks, & Stuff
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ESPN:
Need a veteran lefty? Red Sox's Wells clears waivers — After suffering a five-game sweep at the hands of the Yankees, the Red Sox might have to begin looking toward 2007. If Boston does cut bait on this season, David Wells will be available to the highest bidder.
Tom Haudricourt / JSOnline:
Brewers savor Tex mix — Six players on roster are former Rangers — thaudricourt@journalsentinel.com — Given the current composition of the Milwaukee Brewers' roster, perhaps it's time for a name change. — How does the Milwaukee Rangers sound? Or perhaps the Texas Brewers?
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Paul Sullivan / Chicago Tribune:
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.
Discussion:
Metsblog.com
Juan C. Rodriguez / Sun-Sentinel:
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.
Discussion:
FishStripes
Richard Durrett / Dallas Morning News:
Rangers' pitching plan set - for now — Volquez's blister could throw rotation into disarray again — ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Rangers have a starting pitching plan in place for this week. Whether it stays as scheduled depends on a small blister on Edinson Volquez's right thumb.
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball
T.R. Sullivan / MLB.com:
Mailbag: How is rotation shaping up? — Beat reporter T.R. Sullivan answers Rangers fans' questions … What will be John Koronka's future with Texas? With John Danks, Edinson Volquez and Thomas Diamond ready to come up next year for sure, how will the rotation shape up for 2007?
Mark Gonzales / Chicago Tribune:
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 …
Discussion:
GROTA
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
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 …
Discussion:
Metsblog.com
Bradford Doolittle / Kansas City Star:
Gimmicky wild card bad for baseball — Is this really what they had in mind? — Nine teams in the National League were within 5 1/2 games of the lead in the wild-card race through the weekend. The composite winning percentage of the nine is .487, which translates to a team that finishes 79-83.
