Pedro fires 'home': Ex-Sox ace expects warm Fenway welcome  —  NEW YORK — Pedro Martinez still calls Boston home.  —  Technically, he's right, since he still, for now, owns a house here and certainly visits often enough, more frequently than people think.

Cardinals activate Pujols, place Mulder on disabled list  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Albert Pujols came off the disabled list Thursday and returned to the St. Louis Cardinals' lineup for their series finale against the Chicago White Sox.  —  The 2005 NL MVP played first base and batted third.

Ozzie vs. Mariotti: Guillen apologetic, defiant  —  White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen apologized for his choice of words during a tirade Tuesday directed at Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti.  —  But Guillen insisted Wednesday that the ongoing war of words between the two is now ''personal,'' and he has no intention of backing down.

Carroll bandwagon gaining passengers  —  Greg Reynolds, a pitcher from Stanford who was the Rockies first-round pick in this month s draft, met the media Wednesday at Coors Field.  Reynolds plans to sign a contract Friday and then make a brief appearance with the Single-A short-season Tri-City Dust Devils …

Source revealed  —  Feds seize reporters' communications in BALCO probe  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — E-mails seized by federal authorities identify the convicted founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative as a source in the San Francisco Chronicle's reporting on the steroids scandal …

Ump stands by foul call on Teixeira blast  —  ARLINGTON - The umpires could feel the Rangers pain.  —  Bill Welke, the first base umpire who called Mark Teixeira's potential game-winning home run foul in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday, said the call was extremely difficult to make.

Wells looks shaky in season debut  —  Bucs offense gets off to a hot start, but cools quickly  —  KANSAS CITY — After a long layoff, Pirates right-hander Kip Wells is going to have to find a way to become reacquainted with the strike zone.  —  Wells, making his first big league appearance …

Melvin optimistic about second half  —  General manager chats with fans online … Doug Melvin: It's great to see that even on an off-day Brewers fans want to talk Brewers baseball!  I am looking forward to spending the next hour with you all.  Let's get started.  —  bdsoccer: Doug, what will you do with Carlos Lee?

Notes: Green's work in progress  —  Daigle optioned to Triple-A; Gonzalez gets an off-day  —  ST. PETERSBURG — For Shawn Green, it's a constant battle to stay balanced and to keep his swing consistent.  —  After struggling for the first few weeks of the season and watching his average drop …

Numerous Castles Among This Year's Rooks  —  As the season approaches the halfway point, I thought it would be instructive to check out how the rookies have performed in both the American and National Leagues.  What I found of most interest is the fact that the AL seems to have the upper hand …

Brain Trust Will Have Meeting of Minds Today  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Angels owner Arte Moreno, General Manager Bill Stoneman and Manager Mike Scioscia will hold a summit meeting of sorts today in Mesa, Ariz., with an objective of exchanging ideas to improve an underachieving team that is mired …

Former Sox starter admits steroid use  —  Crawford says it was 'everywhere' in baseball  —  Paxton Crawford, reached by phone last night, offered no more than a minute to explain himself, despite the fact that in the ESPN The Magazine issue that hit newsstands yesterday he detailed …

Notes: Sosa heads to bullpen  —  Braves hope righty's new role will fix the team's bullpen woes  —  ATLANTA — When Jorge Sosa was moved into the starting rotation around this time last year, he found a role that allowed him to enjoy his finest big-league season.