Williams to start 1st-half finale  —  DENVER - The Mets expect Dave Williams to start Sunday's first-half finale in Houston.  Jason Vargas originally had been listed as the starter, but he was sent back to Triple-A New Orleans after allowing nine runs in 3-1/3 innings in Tuesday's 11-3 loss to the Rockies.

Rockies finish rare sweep of N.Y. teams  —  DENVER (AP) — If they can do it against New York, the Colorado Rockies figure they can knock anybody around.  —  Todd Helton and Garrett Atkins both drove in a season-high five runs and the Rockies pounded out 20 hits and routed the Mets again Wednesday night …

Johnson headed to disabled list  —  Right-hander exits after five scoreless innings vs. Padres  —  SAN DIEGO — Sailing along through five stellar innings on Wednesday, Josh Johnson's night came to a close while throwing warmup pitches before the sixth inning.

Santana's a money pitcher fit for the Bombers' bucks  —  As Johan Santana's pitch count reached 74 by the fourth inning yesterday, the Yankees no doubt had visions of forcing the Twins ace out of the game early and winning a third straight game.  —  After Santana had buckled down and pitched …

Beltran seeing Stars  —  DENVER — When David Wright was selected to the National League All-Star team last year, it signified a public relations coming-out party, jetting from David Letterman to the home run derby.  But for Carlos Beltran, the invitation meant business.

Lugo: Playing here has great a-peel  —  He didn't have any hits, but Julio Lugo [stats] still considered last night a success.  —  "Bananas," Lugo said when asked how he was doing after the Red Sox [team stats]' 7-3 win against Texas.  "I feel bananas every day.

Buehrle wants no-trade protection  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  The staredown continues.  —  Jeff Berry, the agent for White Sox left-hander Mark Buehrle, said Wednesday night that Buehrle will not sign a proposed four-year, $56 million contract with the Sox unless it includes complete no-trade protection.

Notes: Slumping Church gets some rest  —  Escobar targets post-break return; Acta to mix up rotation  —  WASHINGTON — Ryan Church was kept out of Wednesday's lineup by manager Manny Acta, who is trying to get the outfielder out of a hitting slump.  Church hit just .239 in the month of June.

The Kazmir conundrum  —  It may well be the most lopsided trade ever made: On July 30, 2004, trailing the Atlanta Braves by seven games in their division with a 49-53 record, the New York Mets decided to pull the trigger to send top prospect Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for veteran pitcher Victor Zambrano.

So, who said there's no clock in a baseball game?  —  Betancourt gets penalty for taking too much time  —  DETROIT - Twelve seconds seems like long enough to throw a pitch.  —  Then again, nobody actually put a stop watch on it until Tuesday night, when Indians reliever Rafael Betancourt …

Halfway Home (Part 2: The Offense)  —  Tuesday in this space I examined how the Twins' pitching staff performed through exactly one half of the season, concluding that they have a "championship-caliber" group that's capable of improving in the second half.  Today I'll take the same type …

Pirates Notebook: LaRoche asks fans to lay off Bay  —  Adam LaRoche was asked, after his big day in the Pirates' 5-3 victory against Milwaukee, how it felt to get cheered by the crowd of 35,878 after nearly half a season of being booed.  —  And he responded by calling upon the team's fans to lay off struggling left fielder Jason Bay.