Byrd Drives in 4, Reds Top Pirates 7-1  —  PITTSBURGH — Marlon Byrd homered and drove in four runs, Todd Frazier belted his National League-leading ninth home run and the Cincinnati Reds handled the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 on Tuesday night.  —  Byrd hit a two-run shot in the third inning off Jeff Locke …

Confirmed news on Rays' Alex Cobb: Partial tear in elbow, will try to pitch through it  —  Rays RHP Alex Cobb's season is very much in jeopardy.  —  The Tampa Bay Times has learned and confirmed that a new more detailed MRI revealed a partial tear in his elbow ligament.

Mets end drought; Colon wins 5th  —  The Mets ended a 21-inning scoreless streak and Bartolo Colon earned his fifth win of the year in a 3-2 win over the Orioles Tuesday at Citi Field.  —  The Mets' scoring drought ended in the fourth.  Lucas Duda's leadoff double was followed Daniel Murphy's RBI single …

Garcia throws 70 pitches in weather-challenged outing  —  Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia, one of the arms the club hopes to call on to help it weather the absence of ace Adam Wainwright, continued his deliberate progress back toward the majors with a 70-pitch outing Tuesday.

Stephen Strasburg leaves after 3rd with apparent shoulder injury  —  11m - MLB STEPHEN STRASBURG WASHINGTON NATIONALS + more

Manny Ramirez Jr Vows to Make Own Baseball Name for Himself  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Manny Ramirez Jr.'s hair looked a tad long when University of San Francisco coach Nino Giarratano offered a good-natured wisecrack about his dreadlocked dad.  —  “Probably just a hint I need to cut the hair,” Ramirez said with a smile.

Alderson guesses, but murky on Wright's return  —  David Wright's return remains uncertain.  The Captain, out since April 15 with a hamstring injury, is at the team's minor-league complex in Port St. Lucie, Fla., working to get back, but he's still not at 100 percent, general manager Sandy Alderson told The Post.

Rangers Claim Mike Kickham  —  The Rangers have claimed lefty Mike Kickham off waivers from the Mariners, club executive VP of communications John Blake announced.  Outfielder Ryan Rua was transferred to the 60-day DL to create space.  —  Per the release, Kickham will be optioned to Triple-A to start his tenure with Texas.

New Batted Ball Stats!  —  We've quietly added a few new stats to our batted ball section.  —  First we have percentage of balls a batter pulls, hits to center field, and hits to the opposite field.  This will make it much easier to figure out the general direction a player hits the ball without …

Astros Start the Season Revamped and on Top  —  With more than a month gone in the baseball season, there is an unexpected team at the top of the standings: the Houston Astros, long a major league doormat.  A 2-1 loss to the Texas Rangers on Monday night ended a 10-game winning streak …