Top News:
Gordon Edes / Boston Globe:
38 special — Schilling earns straight A's in one-hit beauty — OAKLAND, Calif. — One out away, and as Oakland's Shannon Stewart settled into the batter's box, Jason Varitek flashed his fingers from his catcher's crouch. His signal was for a slider. — On the mound, Curt Schilling shook …
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Steven Krasner / Providence Journal:
Ortiz was unaware of no-hitter till 9th — OAKLAND — As the Red Sox' designated hitter, David Ortiz obviously does not play in the field. So there are times when he'll go back into the clubhouse and get loose for his next at-bat. — So, believe this if you will, Ortiz …
Discussion:
The Joy of Sox
Jeff Goldberg / Hartford Courant:
No-Hitter In Progress? No Clue, Ortiz Says — OAKLAND, Calif. — Typical designated hitter. They never know what their defense is up to. — So imagine David Ortiz's great surprise when he happened to glance at the scoreboard in the ninth inning Thursday afternoon at McAfee Stadium …
Thomas Boswell / Washington Post:
A Draft Full Of High Hopes — The Washington Nationals took Ross Detwiler with the sixth overall pick in the baseball draft yesterday and immediately named him as their starting pitcher in the World Series. General Manager Jim Bowden didn't specify whether he'd pitch Game 1.
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Bill Ladson / MLB.com:
Nats stick with pitching at top of Draft — Washington takes Missouri St. lefty Detwiler with No. 6 pick — WASHINGTON — The Nationals decided to go with pitching with the sixth overall pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, selecting Missouri State left-hander Ross Detwiler.
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Mets swept by Phils in extras — Wagner blows first save of season in ninth — NEW YORK — Anything less than disaster would have been fine. — Sure, the Mets snickered at the thought of a series win against the Phillies. They would have loved a sweep, the type of performance …
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Ralph D. Russo / Associated Press:
Burrell's late HR helps Phils sweep Mets — NEW YORK (AP) — Pat Burrell snapped out of a slump by doing what he does best — breaking the hearts of the New York Mets. — Burrell hit a game-tying home run in the ninth off New York closer Billy Wagner, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins combined …
Tyler Kepner / New York Times:
Good Day for Torre, but Not Everyone's Happy — Joe Torre needed six victories to reach 2,000 for his managerial career, and it seemed as if he might not make it. The Yankees were going nowhere last Wednesday, with five losses in a row, so Torre canceled batting practice and benched Bobby Abreu.
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Tyler Kepner / Bats:
No Moose Call to Schilling on the Near Miss — Until Boston's Curt Schilling lost a no-hitter Thursday with two outs in the ninth inning at Oakland, the Yankees' Mike Mussina had the dubious distinction of being the last pitcher to come so close to a no-hitter without getting it.
Discussion:
YanksBlog.com
Joe Strauss / St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Starter market is a dry one — Kip Wells tonight attempts to reverse the course of a 2-10 season that has him on pace to become the second pitcher to lose 20 games since Brian Kingman did so with the 1980 Oakland A's. — Todd Wellemeyer on Sunday makes his third major-league start …
Marc Zarefsky / MLB.com:
Cubs' top pick is touted third baseman — Vitters widely viewed as top high school hitter in the country — CHICAGO — The Chicago Cubs were looking for offensive talent Thursday with the No. 3 pick in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft, and they found it in high school third baseman Josh Vitters.
Discussion:
Thunder Matt's Saloon
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Denver Post:
Commodores closer pick for near future — Seeking relief sooner rather than later, the Rockies selected Vanderbilt closer Casey Weathers with the eighth pick in the first round of Thursday's major-league baseball draft. — "We thought it was a good fit for the club going forward," director of scouting Bill Schmidt said.
Carroll Rogers / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Staying local, Braves draft big outfielder — Henry County star Heyward selected 14th — Dipping into Georgia talent has served the Braves well in recent years, so they stuck with that approach Thursday, choosing Henry County High School outfielder Jason Heyward with the No. 14 pick in the first round of the amateur draft.
McBain / Flyers Fieldhouse:
Rick Reilly is a whore — So Rick Reilly seemed pretty peeved with the World Wide Leader, didn't he? The excellent Gelf Magazine chronicled Rick's tirade on ESPN a few days ago, which ran thusly: … ZING! Suck on that, ESPN! Nobody steals Rick Reilly's intellectual property.
David Price / ESPN:
First-round draft analysis … Following is Keith Law's analysis of each of the first-round picks in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. — Round 1 — PICK — TEAM — NAME — POS — Tampa Bay Devil Rays — LHP — Vanderbilt — Everyone expected Price to go No. 1.
Barry Svrluga / Nationals Journal:
Pregame Potpourri — UPDATE: — Dmitri Young just hit a two-out, two-run homer in the first to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead. You want some random Dmitri Young facts (besides the fact he showed up this morning in an expensive suit that was so wrinkled it looked like he kept it in his wallet)?
