Beckett pulled  —  Josh Beckett has been pulled from tonight's start because of a stiff neck.  Beckett had been fighting the same illness that has taken Jason Varitek out of the lineup for the past couple of days.  —  So the Red Sox, anticipating that there might be a problem, had pulled David Pauley from his start on Monday.

Harper: Wags dogs Hank on Joba, thinks rook spells relief  —  CHICAGO - Behind closed doors Monday, the Mets had quite a chuckle over Hank Steinbrenner's latest outburst.  After all, it seemed obvious that his rant about moving Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation was driven …

Cedeno's slam helps Cubs defeat Mets 8-1  —  CHICAGO (AP)—Ronny Cedeno hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, Ted Lilly won for the first time in five starts, and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the New York Mets 8-1 Tuesday for their 13th win in 16 games.  —  The Cubs, who were 7-13 …

Mets Say Delgado Is Not Playing as Badly as He Looks  —  CHICAGO — Howard Johnson watches Carlos Delgado every day, watches his approach, his footwork, his swing, his pitch selection, his everything.  And the statistics, he says, are deceiving.  —  “It's not as bad as it looks,” Johnson, the Mets' hitting coach, said.

Smoke-free Shea might dampen Cox's cigar ritual  —  ATLANTA — Puffing on his usual postgame cigar, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox flashed a startled look when asked what he thought of Shea Stadium's total ban on smoking.  —  “You mean the new one?” he asked, referring to Citi Field …

Munson: Age, name questions pose problems for Tejada … When ESPN's Tom Farrey confronted Miguel Tejada last week with his actual birth certificate and a two-year discrepancy in Tejada's claimed age, Tejada walked out of the interview.  The exchange will be shown on “E:60” Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.

Huntington says Pirates will stick by Morris ... for now  —  Beleaguered starter roughed up in 10-4 loss to Florida  —  The Pirates' options with Matt Morris all are plenty unattractive.  —  Buy him out?  —  That would prevent further scenes like the four-inning, eight-run meltdown …

Baby Boss could cost Yanks their GM  —  Brian Cashman doesn't need this aggravation.  Ken Rosenthal says it may be time the Baby Boss goes out and finds himself a puppet.

It's a girl!  A-Rod, wife welcome daughter  —  Third baseman's wife, Cynthia, gives birth Monday night  —  CHICAGO — Alex Rodriguez and his wife, Cynthia, celebrated the birth of a 7-pound, 2-ounce daughter in Miami late Monday night.  —  “We are thrilled with the birth of our second daughter …

Colorado's 'pen out of sync, out of gas  —  The Rockies blow two three-run leads, with lack of communication contributing to the Phillies' winning rally.  —  The Denver Post  —  It was one of the strangest pitching changes on record.  —  Manager Clint Hurdle left the dugout in the eighth inning …

A-ROD COULD WIND UP ON DL  —  The Yankees are hoping Alex Rodriguez's quick healing powers don't allow his strained right quad problem to linger.  However, they aren't guaranteeing the injury suffered Sunday won't sideline the MVP third baseman and possibly land him on the disabled list.

Minor League Transactions  —  This week's installment considers all transactions reported by MLB between April 12 and 18.  —  Last week's transactions available here.  —  Arizona Diamondbacks  —  Optioned to Triple-A: RHP Jailen Peguero  —  Placed on 7-day DL: RHP Matthew Green

Lyman Bostock didn't just talk about giving back  —  Angels outfielder made headlines in 1978 when he offered to forfeit salary after a slow April at the plate.  Today it is all but forgotten, overshadowed by his tragic shooting death five months later.  —  Thirty years ago this month …

Starters Start  —  Through twenty games last season, the Yankees used nine different starting pitchers and their starters owned a 5.77 ERA.  The team's record was 8-12.  The Yankees used six starters, but only because they didn't want to waste Ian Kennedy in a game that might be rained out.

Releasing Frank Thomas makes the Blue Jays better  —  Self-absorbed Frank Thomas smelled a rat when a rapid sequence of events led to Toronto releasing him.  Thomas claimed the Blue Jays benched him on Saturday — and subsequently released him on Sunday — to prevent him from getting enough plate appearances …