A good old time, but Yankees beat Sox  —  If Dave Mellor, keeper of the greensward at Fenway Park, could have found a way that would not have torn up his precious turf, it would have been fitting for the 36,533 fans present last night to emulate the pregame ritual observed by the bullpens of the Red Sox and Yankees.

Thome likely needs 600 homers to reach HOF  —  A few hours after Jim Thome hit his 499th home run, I happened to find myself sitting at a table with seven serious (or semi-serious) baseball fans.  So I asked each of them, "Is Thome a Hall of Famer?"  —  Five said yes, two said no. Five …

Dodgers fail in chemistry  —  LOS ANGELES - For the good of the game, some teams shouldn't win anything.  —  Those who spend profligately.  —  Those who misbehave shamelessly.  —  Those who play joylessly.  —  (Give us a scowl, Los Angeles Dodgers.)  —  Yes, the Dodgers, circa 2007.

Phillies show Mets they mean business  —  Dobbs' grand slam helps cut NL East deficit to 3 1/2 games  —  NEW YORK — Here they go again.  —  Leave it to the Phillies to storm back into National League East contention with three pronounced stomps on the neck of the team directly ahead of them.

Kranitz's position appears to be safe  —  DENVER - If the Marlins plan to shake up manager Fredi Gonzalez's coaching staff, it doesn't appear pitching coach Rick Kranitz will be one of the casualties.  —  Kranitz's contract, like those of his fellow coaches, is up at season's end.

Wright becomes third Met in 30-30 club  —  Third baseman hit 30th homer on Sunday to go with 31 steals  —  NEW YORK — David Wright often refers to hitting coach Howard Johnson as his "baseball father," his greatest role model in the game.  So when Johnson approached Wright this spring …

It's about timely plate power  —  The Padres sacrificed footspeed and bat control when they assembled their offense.  They emphasized home run power, even if meant suffering a high total of strikeouts.  CEO Sandy Alderson wanted sluggers, particularly right-handers who could pop home runs at Petco Park.

Reds could make Cubs blue  —  Revived club plays NL Central leaders 6 times down stretch  —  Things change over the course of a 162-game season.  Unfortunately for the Cubs, one change this year is that playing six of their last 12 games against the Cincinnati Reds isn't as soft a finish as it seemed in April and May.

Astros remove Williams from rotation  —  Rookie Paulino to make start Tuesday vs. Brewers  —  HOUSTON — With a slew of young pitchers to look at and only so many spots available in the rotation, veteran right-hander Woody Williams was bumped from the rotation on Sunday …

Young has 7 RBIs as Rangers, A's brawl  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Michael Young drove in a career-high seven runs, including a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 11-9 on Sunday in a game featuring a bench-clearing brawl.

Yankee's prank strikes out  —  Talk about sore winners.  —  Griffin Whitman, a 10-year-old Red Sox [team stats] fan from Swampscott, was excited to attend his first Yankees vs. Red Sox game Friday night.  The young autograph -collector was even more thrilled to score Yankees outfielder Shelley Duncan's signature before the game.