Red Sox lefty Lester diagnosed with form of lymphoma  —  BOSTON — Boston Red Sox rookie left-hander Jon Lester has a form of lymphoma and will start treatment in the coming week, the team announced Friday.  —  Enlarged lymph nodes were identified when Lester, 22, was tested to determine …

Papelbon strains shoulder in ninth  —  Rookie closer joins slew of injured Red Sox on sidelines  —  BOSTON — The last thing the Red Sox needed was their most reliable pitcher leaving a game holding his throwing shoulder in pain.  —  But the horrendous stretch of medical bad luck continued Friday …

SOMEDAY, YANKEES WILL HAVE TO REPLACE IRREPLACEABLE  —  MO  —  THE BULLPEN door opened Wednesday night and so did a scary window into the Yankee future.  Scott Proctor, not Mariano Rivera, emerged and a Yankees' lead disappeared.  —  It was yet another reminder that some time soon …

Pérez Exhibits His Inconsistency  —  DENVER, Aug. 31 The Mets' rotation will receive a jolt this weekend when Tom Glavine and Orlando Hernández start for the first time in two weeks, but the long-anticipated return to normalcy does not signal good news for everyone.

The best young tandem in baseball?  Tough call  —  A scout last week asked me this question:  —  "Who would you take, the Mets' Jose Reyes and David Wright or the Phillies' Ryan Howard and Chase Utley?"  —  Without giving the topic much thought, I responded, "Howard and Utley."

Radke diagnosed with stress fracture in shoulder  —  NEW YORK — Twins pitcher Brad Radke has a stress fracture in his right shoulder, an injury Minnesota doesn't necessarily think will end his season.  —  Radke's injury, to the glenoid area of the shoulder joint, is a rare condition …

Lookout for Lefties  —  DOWNTOWN - Apparently giving himself brief immunity to his hard-line stance that he'll only talk about the current series, the here, the now, Cardinals manager Tony La Russa peeked ahead at the probable pitchers for a few of the upcoming series.

997 At-Bats, and the Twins' Tyner Can't Buy a Round-Tripper  —  The running gag on the Minnesota Twins about Jason Tyner's lack of power reached a high point Aug. 13.  That is the day the willowy Tyner, the Twins' fill-in left fielder and a former No. 1 draft pick of the Mets, had a single …

Tulowitzki, Iannetta up  —  Rockies trying something new at shortstop, catcher … Troy - I appreciate loyalty and giving a guy a chance, but what's the deal with Clint Hurdle and Clint Barmes?  The minors are full of flashy-glove, no-bat guys.  Their middle fielders are killing them at the plate.

Signings decrease pool of free-agent starters  —  Major league clubs have been so successful signing their starting pitchers to contract extensions, the free agent market for 2006 is starting to look awfully bare.  —  And for that matter, so is the 2007 market.

Under The Knife  —  Thank You  —  It's not a normal day in these parts.  I'll admit to being both tired and excited, nervous and even a bit scared, but mostly just grateful.  I'll be making my TV debut tonight at 5:30 p.m. Eastern as part of ESPN2's "The Fantasy Show" and I hope you'll watch, since you're a big reason I'm there.

Santana hit hard in opener  —  Angels' offense unable to get on track vs. Tigers  —  DETROIT — Ervin Santana had his strikeout pitch working Friday night, but that was about it.  —  Santana (13-7) struck out seven in four innings, but he also gave up five runs on seven hits in the Angels' 9- loss …