ISN'T IT GRAND!  —  ABREU BLAST, JOBA RELIEF LIFT YANKS  —  Where Joba Chamberlain can help the Yankees the most makes for good heated discussions and headlines.  —  Yet, if Chamberlain was the starter Hank Steinbrenner and a lot of Yankee fans believe he should be, the gas-throwing right-hander …

Cedeno has grand finish to homestand  —  Ronny Cedeno learned a valuable lesson Monday night after coming up with a clutch two-out hit to help the Cubs beat the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.  —  Don't mention anything about the World Series in April, at least if you're a Cub.

Rookie makes powerful impression  —  Every day you see this kid, you ask yourself, “Who is he?  Haven't I seen him before?”  —  His speed, his demeanor . . . is he Johnny Damon?  Maybe, but he has a better arm and he might have more speed.  —  When he hits home runs and plays a good center field and runs, is he Grady Sizemore?

Pujols admits his patience is wearing thin  —  MILWAUKEE — He made it through 21 games without stating the obvious.  But two late-inning plate appearances in Tuesday's 12-inning, 9-8 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers proved too much.  —  Albert Pujols admitted his patience is wearing thin.

Wrapping it up from Chicago  —  Bobby Abreu is 22 of 53 with six homers in 14 games at U.S. Cellular Field.  —  Chien-Ming Wang won his 50th game tonight in the 85th start of his career.  The last pitcher to get to 50 wins that quickly was Dwight Gooden, who reached No. 50 in 82 starts.

Cards Notes: Izturis is injured  —  IZTURIS IS INJURED  —  MILWAUKEE — The Cardinals will activate infielder Brendan Ryan in time for tonight's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates after shortstop Cesar Izturis suffered a severe contusion when struck by a pitch below his right elbow during Tuesday's ninth inning.

Pedro can return to mound in 10-14 days  —  CHICAGO - The Mets finally have a rough timetable for Pedro Martinez's return.  Martinez, who strained his left hamstring April 1, was examined Monday by team orthopedist David Altchek and the prognosis is that he can return to the mound in 10 days to two weeks.

Marlins' competition set to get tougher  —  Florida (12-8) at Atlanta (10-10), Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. ET  —  PITTSBURGH — The critics will point out that the Florida Marlins have come to occupy first place in the National League East by way of feasting on inferior competition.

One win from 10,000, Cubs fly to Denver  —  Chicago (14-6) at Colorado (9-11), Wednesday, 7:35 p.m. CT  —  CHICAGO — The Cubs are on the verge of becoming only the second team in Major League history to win 10,000 games.  They enter their two-game series against the Colorado Rockies with 9,999 wins.

Plenty of hits, but Rundgrens perform on different stages  —  51s shortstop Rex not following musician father Todd  —  Other than an ill-fated attempt at playing Little League baseball, musician Todd Rundgren has never been much of an athlete.  —  Sure, he still displays plenty …

Pena emotional over rough start  —  Nats outfielder seen crying in clubhouse after Monday's game  —  ATLANTA — Nationals left fielder Wily Mo Pena was given Tuesday night off after going 3-for-30 in his first eight games of the season.  Manager Manny Acta felt Pena needed a day off to work …

Jones out of Dodgers' lineup  —  Center fielder under the weather, rests against Reds  —  CINCINNATI — Dodgers manager Joe Torre kept alive his streak this year of never repeating a lineup by sitting struggling center fielder Andruw Jones for Tuesday night's game with the Reds.