MUCH ADO ABOUT JOBA  —  BABY BOSS, CASHMAN FAR FROM ‘PEN’ PALS REGARDING CHAMBERLAIN  —  Hank Steinbrenner looks at Joba Chamberlain and sees Josh Beckett and the tonic to a very wobbly Yankees rotation.  Everybody else, including GM Brian Cashman, views Chamberlain as Mariano Rivera circa 1996.

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.

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.

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 …

Postgame notes  —  How much better could Darrell Rasner be right now?  I realize nine of his outs came on fly balls, but none of them were hard hit.  Hardest hit ball of the night for Rochester was that screaming ground ball to Shelley Duncan at first (by the way, Dave Miley and Nardi Contreras both agreed it was a hit).

Cubs are healthy, patient  —  Team's free-swinging days are over, and win over Mets is good example  —  This is ridiculous.  Who are these guys?  —  With only a couple of additions to the lineup this April, the free-swinging, oft-missing Cubs, well, aren't anymore.

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 …

Mailbag: Frank Thomas edition  —  There were so many questions in the mailbag surrounding the release of Frank Thomas that we could not wait until Wednesday to answer them.  —  The regular Wednesday mailbag will be featured, but consider this a Big Hurt bonus bag.  Some great questions.

Uggla finds a keeper  —  PITTSBURGH — Dan Uggla was prepared to try anything to break out of his hitting slump, including using reserve infielder Robert Andino's bat.  —  Now, Andino can't get his bat back.  —  Uggla is 7-for-12, including 3-for-5 in Monday's 10-4 win over the Pirates …

Crede just a regular Joe  —  Joe Crede would like to say he and perennial MVP candidate Alex Rodriguez have a lot in common.  —  After all, both are major-league third basemen, and both are represented by superagent Scott Boras.  —  The similarities, however, come to a screeching halt there.

Dodgers' shuffled lineup is a big hit  —  Team has 15 hits, including home runs by Furcal and Garciaparra, in a 9-3 victory over Cincinnati.  —  CINCINNATI — The signs of desperation were everywhere, from the order of the names on the lineup card to the picture of a garden gnome posted on the back of one of the dugout benches.