Jeffrey Loria's message after odd hire: 'A Marlin isn't a flounder'  —  The telephone started ringing in the early morning, from former players, managers, baseball executives, all with the same response.  —  “This is a joke, right? “Tell me this is a joke. “Come on, they can't be serious.”

With two managers down, who will be the next to go?  —  FOX Sports  —  Who's next?  —  Faithful readers will note that I have written frequently in the past about “The Curse of Samuel Joseph.”  Sam, the oldest of my three children, was born on May 21, 1991.  Each of the first three days of his life, a manager was fired.

Montreal's Denis Coderre to confer with MLB commissioner  —  Mayor heading to New York for May 28 talk with Rob Manfred  —  Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre says he's looking forward to meeting with the commissioner of Major League Baseball at the end of the month in his ongoing quest to see the sport return to the city.

Juan Lagares finds home in center field  —  1h - MLB JUAN LAGARES NEW YORK METS + more  —  Relive the top three catches from Mets' center fielder Juan Lagares so far in 2015.

Coming in Cold 2: Lifting the Pinch-Hitter's Penalty  —  Mark Sweeney made a career of being a pinch-hitter.  (via Loreal Reid)  —  Last month, I indulged myself in some looks at the more notable pinch-hitters in baseball since the 1960s.  While I was concentrating on individual performances …

Toronto Blue Jays gave Randy Wolf chance to prolong his career in minors and he's not thinking about major-league promotion  —  BUFFALO, N.Y. - All Randy Wolf wanted was 10 minutes of a team's time.  Just a quick tryout on a bullpen mound somewhere, anywhere.  I'll come to you, he said.

Son's medical crisis puts baseball in perspective  —  The Denver Post  —  Colorado Rockies pitcher John Axford with his son Jameson Axford moments after Jameson threw out the first pitch before the Rockies play the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field May 08, 2015.

Pirates Stop 4-Game Slide With 3-0 Win Over Cubs  —  CHICAGO — A.J. Burnett worked around five walks while pitching seven innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates stopped a four-game losing streak by cooling off the Chicago Cubs with a 3-0 victory on Sunday.  —  Burnett allowed three hits …

Wong, Lynn Star as Cardinals Beat Tigers to Avoid Sweep  —  ST. LOUIS — Kolten Wong hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth inning and Lance Lynn got his fifth career RBI to back his dominant pitching as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 on Sunday night to avoid a three-game sweep.

James Paxton Leads Mariners Over Red Sox 5-0  —  SEATTLE — James Paxton stretched his scoreless streak to a career-best 20 innings, and the Seattle Mariners defeated the Boston Red Sox 5-0 Sunday.  —  Paxton (2-2) allowed five hits in eight innings, struck out two and walked two, and Carson Smith pitched a perfect ninth.