Rocket and the country star  —  Roger Clemens allegedly had a 10-year romance with ...  Roger Clemens carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens …

The Toughness of Jorge Posada  —  A few weeks ago, I was asked a simple question: if you could have one Yankee at the plate in a big situation, who would it be?  —  I didn't look at any numbers.  I went on my gut.  I picked Jorge Posada.  —  Posada is just tough.  That's the easiest way to put it.

Delgado (2 HRs) snubs curtain call in Mets win  —  How good a day was it at Shea Stadium yesterday?  Carlos Delgado, an early-season target of boos and brickbats from Mets fans, heard nothing but cheers after his second home run in a 6-3 win over the Braves.

Beckett is fuming about 20 straight … ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — So much for not making any excuses.  —  It is certainly true that the Red Sox have had a tough schedule to start the season.  Boston had a shortened spring training due to its opening series in Japan.

Padilla, Texas Rangers shut out Twins, 10-0  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  ARLINGTON - The Texas Rangers punctuated a weekend full of questions with an exclamation point.  —  They spent 72 hours dissecting how April has gone horribly awry, how the season can be saved and the safety of manager Ron Washington's job.

Pirates top Phillies, 5-1  —  Myers at a loss to explain anemic fastball  —  Poof.  —  The fastball that made Brett Myers a first-round draft pick in 1999 is nowhere to be found.  The pitch that hit 95 m.p.h. suddenly cannot break 88 m.p.h.  That is a concern for Myers and the Phillies …

Smoltz complains of sore shoulder after shaky outing  —  New York — If 20 strikeouts in his previous two starts seduced some into thinking John Smoltz might go on like this forever, Sunday served as a reminder that it can't.  —  Even the bearded Braves icon can't ignore pain and keep mowing down hitters in perpetuity.

Ramirez's consecutive steals streak ends at 9  —  MILWAUKEE - Hanley Ramirez's streak of nine consecutive steals without being caught ended at the plate Sunday.  —  With runners at the corners, two out and Jeremy Hermida hitting in the fifth, Ramirez broke for home.

Quick Work and Gray Braves  —  The Braves understand that one of the risks involved with older, injury-prone players is that they're going to need to go to their backups.  The team has them in place, but they'd hoped they wouldn't have to use them quite yet; it's one thing to have Plan B in place …

Marlins Notebook: Olsen's next start could be pushed back  —  MILWAUKEE — Left-hander Scott Olsen said he felt fine Saturday, a day after he complained of general soreness after leaving Friday's game in the eighth inning.  But the Marlins are leaving open the chance of pushing back his next start.

Hatteberg would welcome a trade  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Scott Hatteberg is not one to demand a trade or even complain.  But you get the impression he's miserable in his current role of pinch-hitter/occasional starter.  —  “It's difficult,” he said.  “I've never been a very good pinch-hitter.

Alou's future uncertain with new setback  —  Oft-injured veteran outfielder to have tests on swollen left ankle  —  NEW YORK — A CT scan of the left ankle of Moises Alou administered on Friday provided inconclusive results, and now the immediate future of the oft-injured player …

Mets minor-league report  —  By popular request, the weekly Surfing the Mets minor-league report is back ... with a vengeance.  —  Mike Carp (pictured) wanted to get off to a hot start at Binghamton to prove he was a better player than his subpar 2007 numbers suggested.

Eventful day for Rays' Bartlett leads to two runs  —  ST. PETERSBURG — Call it the Jason Bartlett hat trick: hard to replicate and maybe not completely desirable.  —  Score from first on a botched pickoff attempt, steal a base, get hit in the head with a fastball.

Chien-Ming Wang leads Yankees to 1-0 win over Indians  —  CLEVELAND - Chien-Ming Wang's sinker has been his bread and butter during his three-plus years in the league, helping him record 50 victories quicker than any pitcher in baseball in the past quarter-century.