Girardi Returns, and Yankees Finally Beat Rays  —  When Manager Joe Girardi returned Sunday afternoon, the junk food disappeared again and the Yankees' bats produced just enough to avoid a potential sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays.  —  Girardi was back in the dugout after spending …

‘Orioles Magic’ returns in clubhouse after win  —  Song no longer played at beginning of games  —  If something seemed like it was missing at Camden Yards this week, you deserve points for your observational skills.  —  The campy “ Orioles Magic” song that harkens to the days when there was a …

Lee, Zambrano lift Cubs over Astros 3-2  —  CHICAGO (AP)—Derrek Lee had another big hit for the Chicago Cubs, and he was more interested in talking about teammate Alfonso Soriano's play in the field.  —  Lee hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh and Soriano threw out a runner at the plate …

White Sox send stumbling Tigers to 0-6  —  DETROIT (AP)—Nick Swisher homered on the second pitch of the game, and it only got worse for the Detroit Tigers.  —  Mark Buehrle pitched seven strong inning and the Chicago White Sox batters rocked Justin Verlander in a 13-2 rout of the Tigers on Sunday, Detroit's sixth straight loss.

VandenHurk optioned to Double-A  —  Nolasco, Badenhop and Volstad candidates to replace righty  —  MIAMI — Not able to work deeper than three innings in two straight starts, Rick VandenHurk was optioned to Double-A Carolina after the Marlins lost, 9-2, to the Pirates on Sunday afternoon.

Griffey hits 594th home run in Reds' win  —  CINCINNATI (AP)—Ken Griffey Jr. doesn't give much thought to his statistics— not even the big one that's fast approaching.  The day to talk about that one will come soon enough.  —  For the moment, he's more wrapped up in smoothing out his swing …

Pirates place Wilson on disabled list, promote Bixler  —  MIAMI — The Pirates this morning placed shortstop Jack Wilson on the 15-day disabled list, a first in his career, and promoted shortstop Brian Bixler from Class AAA Indianapolis.  —  Wilson's left calf was strained after a hard slide …

Arizona's Big 10th Keys Sweep of Rockies  —  DENVER — Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the ninth and Stephen Drew went deep in Arizona's three-run 10th inning, leading the Diamondbacks to a 5-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday.  —  Drew's second homer of the season came on a 1-0 pitch from Micah Bowie (0-1).

Lee pitches Indians past A's 2-1  —  OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)—Cliff Lee is much happier with his start in 2008.  —  Lee sat out last April with an abdominal injury and spent most of the season in the minor leagues.  On Sunday, he won his first outing of the year by retiring 10 of his last 12 batters …

Bad Week Turnaround  —  Gerald Laird came into today's game against the Angels with just one hit and no RBI.  He made his first week look pretty good by going 4 for 5 with two home runs and six RBI today.  That gives him a .313 BA, a .421 OBA and a .688 slugging percentage on the season.

Shutout Sheets  —  Ben Sheets continued his scoreless start to the season with his first shutout since his rookie season of 2001.  He allowed just five hits while striking out eight batters.  He's allowed just seven hits and two walks in his first 15 2/3 innings pitched.

The Silly Season  —  Prognostication Perils  —  Opening week is a great time to watch baseball, but also one to read inane baseball predictions.  I'm as much of a sucker for idle stat-based pre-season speculations as the next guy, but there are limits.  Really, there are.