Clemens rather ordinary in second tuneup start … TRENTON, N.J. — When Roger Clemens joins the New Yankees' rotation, you can bet he'll never take the mound to begin his warmup throws and stop in his tracks as a Golden Retriever mascot with a bat in its mouth crosses his path in the opposite direction.

Yanks put hurt on Curt: Schill rocked in Bronx rout  —  NEW YORK - Thousands of visiting sailors flooded the streets of Manhattan yesterday, grateful to be off the open seas and back on stable ground for the first day of annual Fleet Week festivities.  —  Up in the Bronx last night, however …

Notes: Burnett awaits league decision  —  Jays right-hander expects word from Commissioner's office  —  BALTIMORE — Toronto pitcher A.J. Burnett openly admitted that he intentionally fired a pitch at Baltimore's Jay Gibbons in the fifth inning on Tuesday night.

Selig should take his cue from Goodell  —  Bud Selig, who's been the commissioner of baseball longer than FDR was president, could learn a few things from his NFL counterpart Roger Goodell, who's still a rookie at the job.  —  Running the National Football League — a business …

Ozzie's message: If you don't like A.J., beat it  —  Before whispers could become rumors, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen laid down the law.  —  In doing so, he also made it quite clear where his allegiance lies.  —  Guillen was asked Wednesday about talk that several of his players …

Mauer might be ready for Friday  —  ARLINGTON, TEXAS - After taking another big stride toward returning from the disabled list Wednesday, Joe Mauer said some words every Twins fan should be happy to hear: "I'd like to get back in there Friday."  —  But as Mauer said, he wanted to play Wednesday, "so it's kind of the same thing."

Myers leaves game with injury  —  Phils closer strains right shoulder in ninth inning  —  MIAMI — Brett Myers might have smiled if it didn't hurt to laugh.  His shoulder wrapped in ice, the closer was the unfortunate casualty in Philadelphia's 8-7 win over the Marlins.

Report: D'Rays' Dukes Threatened Wife  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay rookie Elijah Dukes was held out of the lineup Wednesday night against Seattle following a published report that his estranged wife sought a restraining order after being threatened by the 22-year-old outfielder.

Who's that?  Willits, Shields performing without the hype … It's tough to perform well in the majors and remain anonymous these days, given the rampant media saturation in the game.  When Twins reliever Pat Neshek can attract a die-hard following through his Weblog, it's a sign that times are truly changing.

Baseball?  Not Tonight  —  With the Indians just rolling, winning every which way, it's time to go a little off-topic to address something that's been bothering me since Opening Day of 2007.  The bothersome development is the sad state of ESPN's Baseball Tonight.

Perez, Wright power Mets past Braves  —  ATLANTA (AP) — New York Mets manager Willie Randolph isn't ready to proclaim Oliver Perez a big-game pitcher.  —  For now, it's enough that Perez is New York's new Braves-beater.  —  Perez pitched seven innings and moved to 3- against Atlanta …

The Hamilton Saga  —  Josh Hamilton, the new Cincinnati Reds center fielder, has been one of the best stories of the season.  The first overall selection of the 1999 amateur draft looked destined for stardom during his first few seasons in pro ball, but a back injury in 2001 resulted …