Yankees place Hughes on 15-day DL  —  Team announces right-hander has strained right oblique  —  NEW YORK — The way Phil Hughes had been pitching of late, the Yankees' right-hander was likely to find himself back in the Minor Leagues for a refresher course.

A-ROD: BLAME ME FOR DL  —  Alex Rodriguez admitted it was a mistake trying to play last weekend in Cleveland with a right quadriceps injury.  His penalty for that miscalculation is 15 days on the disabled list starting last night.  —  “The curse of being a good healer is I thought I was ready in three days …

September stench still reeks at Shea  —  The Mets have spent so much time in first place the last few seasons they act sometimes as if they have won something because of that.  They have not won anything.  They could not win Game 7 from the Cardinals, they could not win the National League East …

Mum Cuban sits with Trib execs at Wrigley  —  News flash: Mark Cuban didn't want to talk during his visit to Wrigley Field on Wednesday.  Talk about trying to win over Major League Baseball.  —  “I'm here as a Cubs fan,” Cuban said, waving off a group of reporters as he took his front-row seat …

Bissinger Vs. Leitch  —  So, here's the video of last night's “Internet Media” segment from Costas Now.  Enjoy.

Note: Pascucci, Wilkerson and Botts  —  The Mets have signed 29-year old minor-league 1B-OF Valentino Pascucci, who will report to Triple-A New Orleans, according to the team's website. … Pascucci led the Pacific Coast League with 34 home runs while playing for the Albuquerque Isotopes last season.

Wag and the dogs  —  Or at least that's how the outspoken Mets' closer viewed yesterday's awful 13-1 blasting by the Pirates.  Billy Wagner seems to be channeling Cliff Floyd, circa 2004, when Floyd kept irritating the front office with comments like, “There ain't no light at the end of the tunnel.”

Roger Clemens linked to John Daly's ex  —  For Roger Clemens, the hits just keep on coming.  —  Several sources told the Daily News Wednesday that Clemens had a relationship with Paulette Dean Daly, a former wife of champion golfer John Daly.  —  The sources said Clemens, a married father of four …

Designated hitter spot producing little for Angels  —  Anderson, Guerrero and Matthews all struggling in the role.  —  The Angels are having rotation problems.  No, not that rotation.  —  The plan to rotate three players through the corner outfield and designated hitter spots …

Inside Pitch: Whither Griffey and Dunn?  —  With solid core of youngsters, Reds may deal veteran sluggers  —  A few teams are having their scouts keep an eye on Cincinnati in case the Reds decide to shop Adam Dunn and/or Ken Griffey Jr. before the July 31 trade deadline.

Olsen dealt first loss for Marlins  —  Lefty surrenders four runs against streaking Dodgers  —  MIAMI — Two constants in the Marlins' early success have been Scott Olsen and the bullpen.  So the law of averages suggested both were due for an off-night.  —  Collectively, it came on Wednesday.

Sternberg satisfied with Rays' progress  —  Principal owner so far has no complaints with team's fast start  —  BALTIMORE — Stuart Sternberg took the train from New York to Baltimore on Wednesday, opting to wait to show until after his club's winning streak had ended.

Smoltz: 'I'm coming back as a reliever'  —  Right-hander believes he is best suited to come out of the 'pen  —  WASHINGTON — While others might be currently speculating, there's no doubt in John Smoltz's mind about what he'll be doing when he comes off the disabled list.