Top News:
Jeff Horrigan / Boston Herald:
'Cheap' slide by A-Rod irks Pedroia — NEW YORK - It doesn't take Alex Rodriguez long to make enemies. — The New York Yankees infielder drew the ire of rookie Dustin Pedroia [stats] in the eighth inning of the Red Sox [team stats]' 7-3 win last night at Yankee Stadium by throwing an elbow at him as he slid into second base.
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Mark Feinsand / NY Daily News:
Sox calling A-Rod dirty — Alex Rodriguez is drawing ire from the Red Sox clubhouse, this time for a slide that Boston perceived as less than professional. — Rodriguez was trying to break up a double play after Jorge Posada hit a grounder to third with one out and the bases loaded in the eighth inning.
Nick Cafardo / Boston Globe:
Moose hunting for answers to problems — Things were looking down for grim-faced Mike Mussina as he departed last night after allowing 10 hits and seven runs in 6 2/3 innings. His record fell to 2-3, and his ERA rose to 6.52. (SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS) — NEW YORK — The Moose is a mess.
George King / New York Post:
1ST OF MANNY DOOMS YANKS — CAN'T OVERCOME MOOSE'S ROUGH START — After three games of administering the Dead Bats Society barbituites, the Yankees used sticks made of soggy scrolls last night against the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. — Starting Saturday and Sunday against the Mets …
Kevin Kernan / New York Post:
ROCKET THUNDER — CLEMENS WANTED IN TRENTON, NEEDED IN THE BRONX — THE Yankees need Roger Clemens for so many reasons. — In many ways, the Yankees have been sleepwalking through this season. Clemens never sleepwalks through anything. When he is working with minor-league pitchers …
Michael Morrissey / New York Post:
PEDROIA IS NO FAN OF A-ROD — It can't be catalogued in the same universe as his infamous "slap play," but Alex Rodriguez added an elbow to his repertoire against Boston last night. And Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia didn't approve. — In the eighth inning of a 7-3 loss to Boston …
Jay Greenberg / New York Post:
BACK TO REALITY — BOMBERS STILL AIN'T GOT THE ARMS — THERE are wins, of which the Yankees only have 20 in 44 games this year. And then there are wins, consecutive ones over the Mets and Red Sox, having put the color back into Joe Torre's cheeks like it was litmus paper dipped in the acid of this rivalry.
T.J. Quinn / NY Daily News:
Giambi is unsafe at any speed — Sorry about steroids, Jason fails test for amphetamines — Jason Giambi failed a Major League Baseball-administered amphetamines test within the last year, which has subjected him to additional drug testing, sources told the Daily News.
St. Petersburg Times:
Ballplayer's wife: He threatened me, kids … Elijah Dukes looks on from the Rays' dugout. He has a history of domestic disputes with his wife, a middle school teacher in Ruskin. — TAMPA - In late April, Tampa Bay Devil Rays outfielder Elijah Dukes barged into his wife's middle school classroom at lunchtime.
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Mark Hale / New York Post:
EATING WRIGHT — Since the start of the regular season, David Wright hasn't been on the South Beach Diet or the Beverly Hills Diet. — But thanks to a nutritionist/cook he hired to prepare his meals, Wright's been eating better, and he feels like it's having an impact.
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Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Pirates Notebook: Chacon earns his chance — ST. LOUIS — Shawn Chacon might have pouted or, worse, let his production slip. — To be sure, he did neither, and he is out of the bullpen and back in the Pirates' rotation. — "I consider myself flexible but, in reality, a starter.
Marc Normandin / Baseball Prospectus:
Player Profile — John Buck — Despite another poor start in Kansas City—Joe Posnanski has already written his annual end of the season column for the Royals—there are a few bright spots on the team. Gil Meche has managed to pitch much more effectively than many analysts thought he would …
Joe Starkey / PittsburghLIVE.com:
Questions dog Bucs' Bullington, Van Benschoten — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — BUFFALO, N.Y. — Typical Pirates? — That might be too harsh, but it's perfectly legitimate to question how this franchise handled the eighth pick of the 2001 draft and the top pick in 2002.
Tim Marchman / New York Sun:
More to Mets' Good Pitching Fortune Than Luck — One of the great mysteries of Omar Minaya's tenure as general manager of the Mets has been the ease with which he's found gold amid garbage. John Maine and Oliver Perez, who were acquired in exchange for essentially nothing and look capable …
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Carroll Rogers / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Gonzalez 'just not feeling right' — Mike Gonzalez can't explain what's going on with his left elbow or why he threw only 82 mph a week ago in Washington despite not feeling any pain. But another clean MRI exam on Friday gave him assurance it's time to just keep throwing.
