Smoltz injured in Braves' 2-1 loss  —  Washington — For a while Monday night, the Braves and John Smoltz thought a promising season had taken a dreadful turn.  —  The right pinky of Smoltz's pitching hand was bent upward at a grotesque angle.  The veteran, overcome with anger …

Mets notebook  —  Moises Alou smiled, complimented his trainers' treatment, and talked up the power of anti-inflammatories.  Then he said he still wasn't ready to play baseball.  —  "I don't want to use the word DL again," the left fielder said, some 24 hours after predicting his strained quad is "probably going to be a DL thing."

ADD CASHMAN TO LIST OF THOSE WARY OF BOSTON'S RED-HOT START  —  Brian Cashman remains wedded to the mantra that there is a lot of time to right the Yankees ship.  However, the GM agrees with Johnny Damon's belief that if the Red Sox continue to win 70 percent of their games, the AL East is going to have a new champion.

Mets walk past Cubs  —  North Siders blow 4-run lead, lose on BB with bases loaded  —  NEW YORK — Cubs manager Lou Piniella's fuse is getting shorter by the day, and he's likely to explode in the next few days if his bullpen continues blowing games.  —  The Cubs, minus Derrek Lee …

Greater expectations: Dice-K's CG fails to impress Detroit  —  Judging by their postgame comments last night at Fenway Park [map], it was clear the Detroit Tigers had expected to be spellbound by a classic when it came to facing Daisuke Matsuzka for the first time.  —  Sports Tuesday:

Pirates Notebook: Bautista could return this week  —  There will be no disabled list for Jose Bautista.  —  He might not even miss a week.  —  That was the diagnosis for the Pirates' third baseman yesterday afternoon, a day after his left ankle was sprained on an ugly collision at home plate.

O's frustration boils over … TORONTO // The Orioles arrived at the Rogers Centre yesterday afternoon intent on putting Sunday's devastating defeat to the Boston Red Sox behind them.  Instead, they watched another of their top relievers lose a game and two of their veteran position players nearly come to blows after it.

Cubs Spout  —  I kid you not, the song just finishing up on the radio as I pulled in my driveway at evening's conclusion was "Walk-Away Renee."  How appropriate.  —  * Documented walk-off #343 in Mets history was the team's 2nd walk-off win of the year and first since Endy Chavez's drag bunt walk-off hit on April 24th.

Devil Rays Reach Out To Wider Audience  —  TAMPA - The Devil Rays need not market themselves to Jason Collette.  The Orlando resident already keeps a Carl Crawford poster tacked to the wall near his desk at work, right next to the miniature Rays helmet and the stuffed teddy bear in a Rays uniform.

Teams must overlook age, price when trading  —  Carlos Lee was traded last July.  Alfonso Soriano and Miguel Tejada were shopped extensively.  —  This season will be different.  —  Few sluggers in their primes will be available before the July 31 non-waiver deadline …