Is there clutch?  Or is it the reverse?  —  Pirates' view varied on whether hitting changes in tight situations  —  Last season, Freddy Sanchez hit .386 with runners in scoring position.  Only the Cardinals' Albert Pujols' .397 mark was higher in the league.

David Halberstam, 73, Reporter and Author, Dies  —  David Halberstam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and tireless author of books on topics as varied as America's military failings in Vietnam, the deaths of firefighters at the World Trade Center and the high-pressure world of professional basketball …

Franco marks 25th anniversary of debut  —  Ageless wonder singled in first at-bat with Phillies  —  NEW YORK — Twenty-five years has its way of blurring memories.  So it is with Julio Franco, who, on the silver anniversary of his big-league debut, can't dig out details of the night that became the intro to an epic.

Best in the biz  —  Ranking the top managers in the game; A-Rod update  —  The news last week that Braves manager Bobby Cox received a one-year extension shouldn't surprise anyone.  He deserved it, and he should be allowed to decide when he goes out, if ever.

Rays put 3B Iwamura on disabled list (AP)  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Devil Rays placed Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura on the 15-day disabled list with a right oblique strain on Tuesday.  —  Iwamura was hurt in Monday's 10-8 win over the New York Yankees.

Tigers batter Weaver  —  Somebody should do a room check at the Seattle Mariners' hotel in Texas.  The team that departed Anaheim on Sunday after being swept in a three-game series by the Angels appears to have left Jeff Weaver behind.  —  One day after the elder Weaver threw three mediocre innings …

Talk about long shots  —  Odds are stacked against 4-HR feat  —  Compared with Sunday night's battle against the hated Yankees, last night's game with Toronto was a day at the beach for Daisuke Matsuzaka.  (JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFF)  —  The probability of four consecutive home runs?

Hunter's bubbly gift to Royals broke MLB rule  —  Maybe a thank-you note would have sufficed.  —  Torii Hunter's gift of expensive champagne to the Kansas City Royals has the Minnesota Twins outfielder in some bubble trouble.  —  Hunter's gift of four bottles of Dom Perignon …

For stoic Cordero, a case of lost control  —  MIAMI — Chad Cordero, as anyone who has watched the Washington Nationals' closer for the last two years knows, rarely shows emotion on the mound.  The right-hander's nondescript stare has become legendary, evidence of his ability not to be fazed …

Monitoring Lewis  —  Indians lefthander Scott Lewis was rocked around at Double-A Erie on Monday, giving up five extra-base hits—including a first-inning, three-run home run to Sea Wolves second baseman Michael Hollimon—in just three innings of Akron's 9-4 loss.

Stats: John Maine is a Good Pitcher  —  John Maine has lasted at least seven innings in three of his four starts this season, during which he is 3-0 with 1.71 ERA, which is fifth among all MLB starters with four starts.  —  Maine has yet to give up more than two hits in an inning.

Delgado, Maine power Mets over Rockies (AP)  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Delgado hit his first home run of the season and John Maine pitched into the eighth inning, leading the New York Mets over the punchless Colorado Rockies 6-1 on Monday night.  —  Jose Valentin had a three-run homer and four RBIs …

Kahn should have no regrets  —  The boy who wrote "The Boys of Summer" will be 80 on Halloween.  At this stage of his life, the trick for Roger Kahn is to treat himself to writing projects that are comfortable and not consuming.  —  "I'm a consultant now," he says, from his home in Stone Ridge …

Griffey breaks tie with Jackson on homer list  —  ST. LOUIS — Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 564th career home run on Tuesday night, breaking a tie with Reggie Jackson for 10th place on the career list.  —  Griffey's first homer of the season was a two-run fifth-inning shot off Kip Wells that gave …