Pedro will make his Mets return at San Francisco  —  Pedro Martinez will make his next start for the Mets in San Francisco next week, a team official confirmed last night.  —  Martinez was believed to be en route to New York yesterday from Port St. Lucie, Fla. Because he's Pedro, though …

Drop-off in home runs not as deep as it may seem  —  Barry Bonds is home in Beverly Hills, Calif. Mike Piazza is retired.  And Sammy Sosa is waiting for a job.  —  While the names have changed, the number of home runs being hit is virtually the same as a year ago, varying little from Mark McGwire's record-setting season in 1998.

Middle relievers give Giants room to deal  —  Young arms give chance to deal  —  PHOENIX - The trade market might be materializing a little earlier than normal this year and the Giants are actively shopping several players, according to sources.  —  But not the names you'd expect.

Rockies collapse in clutch  —  Colorado blows 4-3 lead in 8-4 setback to plummet 14 games under .500  —  CHICAGO — To reach the dugout Thursday from their cramped, odorous clubhouse, the Rockies descended 20 concrete steps, made a right at the frazzled miniature-golf carpet …

FULL-TIME JOBA  —  CHAMBERLAIN SET TO JOIN YANKS' ROTATION  —  In a conversation with Brian Cashman yesterday, Hank Steinbrenner forgot to ask his GM when Joba Chamberlain will debut in the Yankees' rotation.  —  However, don't take that as indifference when it comes to converting baseball's premier set …

Will the Rockies trade All-Star Holliday … Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd is the sort of fellow who has the ability to make a brutally honest assessment of his team.  “We stink,” O'Dowd said in a recent interview, an interview conducted even before the Rockies were throttled 20-5 …

Thunder RF Tabata disciplined again  —  TRENTON - Thunder right fielder Jose Tabata was yanked from tonight's game against visiting New Hampshire in the fifth inning for unspecified disciplinary reasons.  —  Suspended three games by the Yankees for leaving Waterfront Park following …

Johnson ties Clemens at No. 2 on Ks list  —  PHOENIX (AP)—Randy Johnson looked phenomenally strong for a 44-year-old pitcher.  That wasn't enough, though, for the struggling Arizona Diamondbacks against resurgent San Francisco.  —  Arizona's bullpen blew a late lead and Randy Winn's ninth …

The Dayton Game  —  OK, so Royals general manager Dayton Moore showed me this fun little game you can play with your team.  It begins with a scouting question: How many 60 tools does your team have?  —  I probably don't need to explain that concept to the brilliant readership of this blog* but, I will.

Posey projected to go No. 1 to Rays … Making a first-round projection is like slamming your head into an omelette — there's no way to do it without ending up with egg on your face.  So, with a towel handy, here's my stab at the first 30 picks of next week's Rule 4 draft, accompanied by notes on other directions each team might take:

Torre makes it clear: Yankees are behind him  —  FLUSHING, N.Y.—In his first trip to New York since leaving last fall, Joe Torre held court before an overflow throng of reporters on Thursday.  —  He wasn't in the Bronx, where he managed the New York Yankees.  He was in the visitors dugout across town at Shea Stadium.

No, I'm not Chuck Todd  —  There are certain pleasures in writing anonymously.  Particularly in the political world, where there is a whole mythology associated with anonymity — think Deep Throat or Primary Colors or Atrios.  But I'm fortunate enough to have been granted the opportunity …

MLB top ump: ‘Replay is coming’ to ballparks  —  The top ump in the majors said that instant replay is on its way but cautioned that pro baseball needs the highest standard in sports for using the technology.  —  Umpire supervisor Rich Rieker addressed the issue during a live chat with chron.com on Thursday.

Last-place Yankees showing their age  —  Saddled with a bunch of players in their mid-30s struggling to produce, the last-place Yankees no longer have the look of a dominant team.  —  The Yankees come to town today, sweeping in with all the grandeur of an off-Broadway show playing one of the Twin Cities' nicer bowling alleys.