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.

Game 21: Yankees at White Sox  —  YANKEES  —  Chien-Ming Wang's history against the White Sox  —  Jose Contreras' history against the Yankees  —  Notes: Cynthia and Alex Rodriguez had a baby girl in Miami last night.  The as-yet-unnamed kiddo checked in at 7 lbs, 2 ounces.

Gross traded to Tampa Bay  —  The Milwaukee Brewers made a pre-emptive strike to clear an upcoming logjam in the outfield by trading Gabe Gross to Tampa Bay for right-handed pitching prospect Josh Butler after their game today.  —  Oddly enough, Gross scored the winning run in the 12th inning …

Defensive shakeup follows Tigers' rout  —  After victory, Leyland says Cabrera is moving to first base, Guillen to third.  —  DETROIT — The Tigers hit three bombs during Tuesday night's 10-2 victory over the Rangers, but announced a bigger one after it.  —  In a major positional switch …

Cedeno's slam helps Cubs defeat Mets 8-1  —  CHICAGO (AP)—A day after Ronny Cedeno told reporters the Chicago Cubs are “thinking about the World Series,” he recanted.  —  “I'm going to take it back,” Cedeno said.  “I go too fast.”  —  Cedeno swung as if he wants to help the Cubs get there …

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 …

Canseco meets with federal investigators  —  LOS ANGELES (AP)—Jose Canseco reaffirmed Tuesday that Roger Clemens did not attend a party at his house that has become a focal point of a federal investigation.  —  Canseco was interviewed by federal agents and answered a series of questions …

Cruceta looking as good as advertised  —  Reliever pitches three scoreless, hitless innings for Toledo  —  TOLEDO, Ohio — For one night, at least, Francisco Cruceta looked as good as advertised.  —  The acclaimed right-handed reliever pitched three scoreless, hitless innings for Triple …

Smoltz joins 3,000- strikeout club against Nats  —  Starter, reliever, All-Star, likely Hall of Famer.  John Smoltz can likely add that last description to his resume after the Atlanta Braves pitcher picked up his 3,000th career strikeout on Tuesday night.  —  Smoltz whiffed Washington …

Blake, Sabathia power Indians to rout  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—C.C. Sabathia and the Cleveland Indians finally broke out of their early season slump.  —  Sabathia found his groove with 11 strikeouts and the Indians pounded out 17 hits in a 15-1 rout of Kansas City on Tuesday night.

Sources: A's showing interest in signing Thomas … Frank Thomas finished fourth in the MVP balloting with the Oakland Athletics two seasons ago, and sources say the Athletics will have a discussion about whether to sign Thomas in the next 48 hours now that he's been cut by the Toronto Blue Jays.