Shea bye to Manny talk  —  Mets officials awaited speculation linking them to Manny Ramirez, but didn't foresee any dialogue with the Red Sox occurring, much less a deal materializing.  —  Almost every time over the last few years that Ramirez has seemed to be on his way out of Boston …

Madden: Mazeroski says Pirates were robbed  —  COOPERSTOWN - Did the Yankees just get revenge for 1960?  —  As word of the Yankees' trade for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pirates filtered through the annual party thrown by Hall of Fame chairman Jane Clark on Friday night …

Orioles halt Sunday streak  —  Team ends skid after 15 straight losses; Olson allows 2 runs in 6 innings for win  —  They met at Kevin Millar's locker 30 minutes before today's first pitch, a players-only gathering that was aimed at ending a confounding 15-game losing streak on Sunday …

AMAZIN'S SEARCHING FOR ‘RELIEF’  —  THE Yankees beat the Mets to Xavier Nady and got Damaso Marte, too, quite the coup.  —  Also, quite the reason for Omar Minaya to go sleepless until Thursday's non-waiver trading deadline if the Mets haven't won 14 of their last 18 games …

Ned Colletti's rope seems to be getting shorter  —  General manager's job is in jeopardy and Dodgers owner may have cut off his allowance.  —  This could be Ned Colletti's last trade as the Dodgers' general manager.  —  Frank McCourt isn't going anywhere.  Neither is Joe Torre.

Pitchers Chacin, Billings create quite a buzz on farm  —  The Rockies' farm system keeps building pitching promise from the bottom up.  —  First, 20-year-old Venezuelan Jhoulys Chacin is attracting buzz around minor-league baseball because of his 15-1 record in a season divided between Asheville …

Baseball Team Clashes With Environmentalists Over Oil Company Advertising  —  WASHINGTON — When the Washington Nationals' season opened in March, the team unveiled a stadium any environmentalist could love — the country's first certified green major professional sports stadium …

Bondy: Johan going nine, no sense  —  It was hard to figure at Shea Sunday whether the Mets won a big baseball game or surrendered unconditionally to an inane lobbying campaign.  —  The Mets beat the Cardinals, 9-1, and Johan Santana pitched nine full innings for the first time in more than a year …

Rough loss caps ‘tough week’  —  NEW YORK — Marooned in the Shea Stadium visitors' clubhouse to wait on a delayed flight Sunday, Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak ruminated on a stretch lousy with losses.  —  It was, he said, a difficult week.  —  But it was not a redefining one.

Hall of Famers high on prospects for Edgar, Ichiro  —  COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. - The Mariners were out in full force Sunday as one of their own, Dave Niehaus, was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame.  —  The question might rightly be asked, when will they be back in such numbers again?

La Russa backs Franklin  —  NEW YORK — On the morning after another blown save, Cards manager Tony La Russa reinforced Ryan Franklin's position as the Cardinals' closer.  —  La Russa said both Franklin and Jason Isringhausen have been distracted by jumbled roles.

Former No. 1 pick Bush hurt in another Peoria altercation  —  Padres minor leaguer Matt Bush, drafted first overall in 2004, recently was involved in an off-field fight in which he suffered bodily harm, according to persons close to him.  It happened near a pub/grill in Peoria, Ariz., across from the Padres' compound.

Are Bay, Wilson or Grabow next to go?  —  Pirates will keep taking calls even after Nady-Marte trade  —  So, who goes next?  —  The Pirates will not be slamming down the phone on anyone calling about Jason Bay, Jack Wilson or John Grabow between now and Major League Baseball's trading deadline Thursday …