Commentary: For Griffey, Mariners, end is near  —  If life were as simple as fiction, the book on Ken Griffey Jr. and the Seattle Mariners would have closed late last summer, with him being carried around Safeco Field on the shoulders of his teammates.  Junior wanted one more year, the Mariners thought it might work and gave it to him.

Beckett's next start delayed  —  He has spasms in his back after BP  —  Manager Terry Francona announced Josh Beckett would be pushed back from tomorrow's scheduled start to Friday to give him a chance to throw a second side session, and to give Tim Wakefield a start.

Elbow stiffness keeps Lidge out of ninth  —  Phils go with Contreras in final frame of Monday's victory  —  DENVER — Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said before Monday night's 9-5 victory over the Rockies that he was ready to turn Brad Lidge loose.  —  He then said after the game he wanted to stay away from him.

Modern pitchers taken to task by legend Jenkins  —  MERRILLVILLE — During his keynote speech at Monday's Meet the RailCats luncheon at the Radisson Hotel, Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins lamented the lack of assertiveness on the part of modern pitchers.  —  “In my era, we knocked people on their butt …

Glavine to have number retired by Braves  —  Left-hander to be inducted into club's Hall of Fame on Aug. 6  —  ATLANTA — The Braves will honor Tom Glavine with the same royal treatment that they provided Greg Maddux during a memorable ceremony last summer.

Angels regroup to top Rays in 11th  —  Rivera's walk-off sac fly overshadows Fuentes' hiccup  —  ANAHEIM — Angels manager Mike Scioscia knows there's no such thing as an easy win.  —  It certainly wasn't the case on Monday at Angel Stadium, when the Angels blew a four-run lead for the second …

Beltran is Jogging, & Chat with Will Carroll  —  Last week in Newsday, David Lennon said Carlos Beltran planned to try running on a baseball field yesterday in Port St. Lucie, Fla.  —  So far, there has been no news reported on how he did, or if he even tried to run.

Nova called up from Scranton/WB  —  Ivan Nova has been called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to give the Yankees a long reliever for at least one night.  The Yankees need a long man because Sergio Mitre will be limited to 65-75 pitches when he makes a spot start tonight.

Prospectus Q and A: Denard Span by David Laurila  —  Denard Span … David Laurila: Who are you out on the field?  —  Denard Span: Who am I on the field?  I'm definitely a confident ballplayer, a hard-working ballplayer.  It took a lot of hard work for me to get here …

Jurrjens aggravates left hamstring  —  Braves righty likely won't be activated from DL on Saturday  —  MILWAUKEE — Right-hander Jair Jurrjens suffered a setback on Monday that will likely keep him out beyond Saturday, when he becomes eligible to be activated from the disabled list.

Note: David Wright's 9 to 10 Game Swings  —  ... David Wright is back to looking totally bewildered, be it in the batter's box or on the bases - but it appears it is a 9- to 10-game trend that has been going on all season...  - In his first 10 games of the season, Wright hit .290 and struck out 20 percent of the time.

Moore believes Royals will step it up  —  GM doesn't have any moves on tap for slumping squad  —  KANSAS CITY — What's next for the slumping, shell-shocked Royals?  Apparently no personnel changes before they open a home series against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.