Blistering Yankee Rally Sounds the Alarm in Boston  —  The gravity of the situation was obvious to Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona.  Moments before, his team had a five-run lead over the Yankees, who had done their best to give away the game.  —  But now the lead was cut to three …

Notes: Squad impressed by Coonelly  —  New president's meeting with players not an unnoticed gesture  —  HOUSTON — They say first impressions make all the difference.  If so, count that as success No. 1 for the Pirates' new president, Frank Coonelly, who was officially named to the post on Thursday.

Hargrove takes over semi-pro team  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — More than two months after abruptly stepping down as manager of the Seattle Mariners, Mike Hargrove has decided to take over the semi-pro summer team in southwest Kansas he played for more than 30 years ago.

Blue Jays: We'll fix video game  —  TORONTO - The Blue Jays likely will examine how to prevent a repeat of a video baseball game promotion Wednesday night in which two fans playing live on the Rogers Centre scoreboard tossed two animated bean balls at Alex Rodriguez, who has been thrown at for real this season by the Jays.

Cards' Spiezio comes off restricted list  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cardinals infielder Scott Spiezio was activated from the restricted list on Friday, about five weeks after leaving the team to undergo treatment for substance abuse.  —  During his time away from the game, Spiezio said he received daily treatment on an outpatient basis.

L.A. gets a night in driver's seat  —  Longtime tormentor Davis is chased after 42/3 innings, tagged for six runs in a 7-4 Dodgers victory that moves them within 41/2 games of first.  —  If there was a time for the Dodgers to humble their tormentor, this was it, in the 147th game of the season …

Dobbs' sac fly helps Phils by Mets in 10  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Greg Dobbs and the Philadelphia Phillies picked up right where they left off against the New York Mets.  —  Dobbs had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, and the Phillies beat the Mets 3-2 Friday night in the opener of a big weekend series.

Tigers win, keep pace in AL Central  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Timo Perez drove in three runs, Nate Robertson won for the first time in six starts and the Detroit Tigers started a crucial road trip with a 4-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.  —  Robertson helped the Tigers win …

I hope Cecil Cooper is learning from his mistakes.  —  Cecil Cooper is going to fail as a big league manager if he's unwilling to confront Carlos Lee about his lack of hustle and his habit showing up late for batting practice.  He'll lose respect in the clubhouse, and when that goes, a manager can't continue.

Mets official up for Bucs GM job  —  Amaro, Zduriencik among other potential candidates  —  Mets assistant general manager Tony Bernazard and Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava have interviewed for the open Pirates GM job, SI.com has learned.  —  Bernazard is GM Omar Minaya's right-hand man …

Trembley, Cabrera get suspensions  —  Penalties announced amid lineup shake-up; Tejada sits, grumbles  —  Orioles manager Dave Trembley learned yesterday that he had been fined and assessed a three-game suspension as a result of his on-field tirade a night earlier.

Cubs still the choking kind  —  If the schedule is the only measure, then, yeah, go ahead and give the National League Central to Chicago.  The divisional dregs plus Florida are something like a combined 50 games below .500, the martial equivalent of facing the French army reserves when it matters.

Slew of talents vying for NL MVP  —  Fielder, Pujols and Rollins top candidates in tight race  —  Since Barry Bonds won his fourth consecutive National League Most Valuable Player Award in 2004, the NL MVP has had a different winner each year, with Albert Pujols outpointing Andruw Jones …

Home-field edge more critical for some  —  LIKE THIS STORY?  —  If you look over the current MLB standings, you'll notice that we're pretty light on close races at the moment.  —  We've still got more than two weeks left in the regular season, yet only the NL Central and wild-card races are seriously tight right now.