Blue Jays 2, Sox 0  —  For those of you who missed it — or are relying on the blog for your news — Tim Wakefield gave up a first-inning, two-run homer to Frank Thomas to bring the score to 2-0.  (Vernon Wells was on base after being walked.)  —  The roof is open at Rogers Centre and, for that, you can definitely blame Wakefield.

5 Questions with... Rob Neyer  —  When it came time to select an interview subject for our One-Year Anniversary Celebration, it was really no contest.  There may be more powerful figures in sports (Bud Selig, I'm still awaiting your call).  There may be more controversial subjects …

Lopez snaps slump in M's win  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Jose Lopez, whose stock was so low that he sat on the bench for four consecutive games last week, delivered a three-run homer and Miguel Batista and the bullpen made that work in the Mariners' 4-0 win over the A's on Monday.

100 players you love to hate  —  The underachiever who always looks disinterested.  The loudmouth who complains from Day 1.  The choker who lets his team down when it matters most.  These are the players who drive their fans nuts.  —  In honor of these boo magnets, I set out to find …

Arizona loses, NL West lead down to 1  —  PHOENIX (AP) — An eighth-inning meltdown cost the Arizona Diamondbacks half of their NL West lead.  —  Randy Winn and Pedro Feliz homered off Tony Pena in the eighth and the San Francisco Giants rallied for an 8-5 victory over Arizona on Monday night.

Gallardo leads Brewers past Astros 6-0  —  HOUSTON (AP) — Most of the Milwaukee Brewers kept an eye on the scoreboard in left field during Monday's game in Houston, eager to see what the Chicago Cubs were doing against Cincinnati.  —  Yovani Gallardo never looked.  He was too busy focusing on another dominant performance.

Fan Gives Back Thome's Milestone Ball  —  Jim Thome had something special in mind for his 500th home run ball: he wanted to make a road trip with his father to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY to hand-deliver the small piece of history.  He can now do that after hitting …

Mets' Martinez not hindered by shoulder  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Now that Pedro Martinez knows what it takes to come back from major shoulder surgery, don't count on him doing it again.  He would love to play another three or four years — as long as he avoids serious injury.

All over in Toronto  —  Though Jacoby Ellsbury led off the inning with a single to center, in trying to stretch it to a double, he was thrown out by Vernon Wells.  That proved a good lesson to Dustin Pedroia, whose single to the gap merited a large turn around first base.

What Are The Odds: .400  —  There is no such thing as a .400 hitter.  Well, at least there never has been.  People have hit .400, of course, but that's always been something of a fluke.  This is evident in the fact that Ty Cobb has the highest career BA ever, at "just" .366.

Clay could follow K-Rod's footsteps  —  In the 2002 playoffs, Angels reliever Francisco Rodriguez morphed from an unknown to a game-changing force called K-Rod.  The 2007 Red Sox [team stats] hope that history can be repeated in the form of Clay Buchholz.  —  In three big league appearances …

Art of thievery  —  NEW YORK - Nowhere on his body did the grind of 1982 show on Rickey Henderson.  Each of the 150 or so times he dove face-first into a base that year, a lithe torpedo of thievery, he came up feeling great in the arms, torso, hips and legs.

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.

Outsmarting Pythagoras  —  I need to rant.  —  On July 20, Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus wrote: … Rationalizing the difference between a team's Pythagorean record and its actual record tops my list of analytical pet peeves.  I don't mean to pick on Joe; he's a very good analyst and a fine writer.