Tigers to acquire minor-league outfielder Perry from Oakland  —  The Tigers have agreed to deal infielder Jack Hannahan to the Oakland A's in exchange for outfielder Jason Perry, in a trade of minor leaguers who were not on the clubs' respective 40-man rosters.  —  The deal had not been announced as of 2 p.m. today.

Crushing blows  —  Orioles homer off bullpen to tie in 8th, beat Sox in 10th  —  BALTIMORE — Mayday.  —  In this case, that is not a distress signal, even though you could almost imagine dozens of red flares firing over Boston Harbor as the Red Sox landed at Logan Airport following their 6-3 …

Traber optioned; Bacsik sent to 'pen  —  Righty Hill expected to be activated and start Tuesday  —  PHOENIX — Following Sunday's victory over the Diamondbacks, the Nationals optioned left-hander Billy Traber to Triple-A Columbus and are expected to reinstate right-hander Shawn Hill from the disabled list on Tuesday.

Contreras clears waivers  —  White Sox may have pay part of salary in any trade  —  White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras has cleared waivers and now becomes eligible to be traded to any interested team, SI.com has learned.  —  While Contreras is only 6-14 overall with a 6.24 ERA, he has pitched well lately.

Marlins settle for series win over Mets  —  Four homers allowed hurts Florida's chances of sweep  —  NEW YORK — Working out of a heavily used Marlins bullpen, Lee Gardner has done a tremendous job keeping the ball in the park.  But Sunday was a rare occasion when he didn't.

Cards sizzle; Encarnacion boils  —  UNHAPPY PLAYER  • Says La Russa treated him "kind of unprofessional."  —  THE GAME  • Cardinals pound out season-high 18 hits; Reyes wins.  —  The Cardinals won a game but they may have lost a right fielder Sunday afternoon.

Under The Knife  —  Thanks and Faith Edition  —  I try to read and respond to all the email I get, but due to what's going on here, I was out of touch with what was really going on.  If you sent me an email asking for an immediate answer, you probably got a quick response at best, telling you that I was out of touch.

Tom has his Shea day  —  Mets & fans salute Glavine's 300th  —  Back when Tom Glavine was piling up victories and NL East titles for the Atlanta Braves, who could have ever predicted that there would be a Tom Glavine Day at Shea Stadium?  —  Yet there it was yesterday …

Mets' catching situation getting dicey  —  With Castro listed as day-to-day, DiFelice is ready to step up  —  NEW YORK — What began as a problem has now become something of a catching crisis.  And seemingly nobody is immune.  —  Not 24 hours after starting catcher Paul Lo Duca went …

Are Baseball Umpires Racist?  —  Bad calls by the ump are as much a part of baseball as home run records, rabid fans and watery beer, but a new study shows that an umpire's decision may have a disturbing ulterior motive: racism.  —  According to the new study led by Daniel Hamermesh …

Torres drops grievance against Pirates  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Reliever Salomon Torres has decided to drop his grievance against the Pirates, as well as his pursuit of a lawsuit.  —  He said yesterday at AT&T Park, shortly after the team's 5-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants …

Gagne blown away: Sagging set-up man's failures raise own ire  —  BALTIMORE - When he took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning yesterday afternoon at Camden Yards, he was Eric Gagne, veteran, card-carrying, big league relief pitcher.  —  Later, after the game had ended …

Hall of Famer Ripken named goodwill ambassador  —  WASHINGTON — Sports, not politics, will be Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s emphasis in his new role as a special envoy for the State Department.  —  "This isn't a political statement for me, necessarily," Ripken said Monday …

The Rick Ankiel You Don't Yet Know  —  Rick Ankiel was called up from Triple-A Memphis this past Thursday.  Since then, he has hit 3 homeruns.  The thing is that Ankiel was never known for his power.  Coming out of high school, the St. Louis Cardinals were able to persuade Ankiel away …