Agent Boras defends client Perez  —  LOS ANGELES - Agent Scott Boras refused to accept that his client, Mets left-hander Oliver Perez, is “erratic.”  —  After winning his first two decisions, Perez has lost his last three, and his ERA is just south of 5.00.

Mets anticipating Castillo surge  —  New York (16-15) at Los Angeles (19-14), Wed., 3:10 p.m. ET  —  LOS ANGELES — Luis Castillo entered this season having amassed 1,720 at-bats in the second spot of the lineup.  Ryan Church entered the year having hit there only 40 times.

Texas Rangers ' Broussard losing time at first  —  egrant@dallasnews.com  —  SEATTLE - The descent for Ben Broussard has taken only five weeks.  He's gone from everyday first baseman to a platoon and now to the bench.  —  The only step left might be a ticket out of the Rangers organization.

A-Rod's rehab plan takes shape  —  If you're one of the many people (based on the e-mails) hoping Alex Rodriguez will play a rehab game or two at Trenton or Scranton, you're probably out of luck.  —  The tentative plan for A-Rod is to fly to Tampa on Thursday and pick up the pace of the workouts at the team complex over the weekend.

Wrapping up Ian Kennedy … A lot of what Kennedy said after the game focused on the fact that he felt something like this coming.  He felt better his last two starts and after sending the side down in order the first two innings on Thursday, he thought that would be the start that broke him out of his funk.

Tonight's The Night  —  It's Time.  —  Way back in October 2004, I started writing the blog, not really knowing what to expect, and certainly not expecting that it would get to be as big (relatively speaking) as it is, nor would it have given me some of the opportunities it has.

Teixeira's gamble should lead to big payday … Lately, the overwhelming trend for young stars has been to sign early in their careers, to take the money and stay, so to speak.  —  That's what makes Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira such a rare breed.  Incidentally, rare breeds don't come cheap these days.

Nardi speaks, we all listen  —  Talked to Nardi Contreras after the game, which means I briefly discussed a lot of pitchers.  —  Left yesterday's game because of a blister.  —  Throwing batting practice, facing live hitters.  “Might get in a game next week,” Contreras said.  —  Humberto Sanchez

Hopefully, Joba learned rules  —  It makes sense, if you think about it.  If Joba Chamberlain celebrates strikeouts with a fist pump, serving up a day's work for Mike and the Mad Dog in the process, then there's symmetry to his reaction last night.  —  We've just never seen Joba in such a setting before.

Teixiera headed for a big payday (cont.)  —  In the Tex mix  —  1. Yankees.  No shot the Yankees bring back Giambi and his .150 batting average for $26 million nest year.  The $5-million buyout will be the best money they've ever spent.  The Yankees are believed to be interested in Teixeira …

Watson: Rocket not welcome on Olympic squad … NEW YORK (AP) — Roger Clemens isn't welcome on the U.S. Olympic baseball team.  —  U.S. general manager Bob Watson said Wednesday that he isn't considering the 45-year-old right-hander for his roster for the Beijing Games.

Homecoming for Hinske in Toronto  —  Tampa Bay (17-15) at Toronto (16-18), Weds., 7:07 p.m. ET  —  TORONTO — Playing in the Rogers Centre is something that Eric Hinske is very familiar with, as the Rays utility man was a member of the Blue Jays organization for the first five years of his career.

How the heck is the NL outscoring the AL?  —  This has been an upside-down start to the 2008 season.  A second baseman is leading the majors in home runs, the Rays are ahead of the Yankees in the AL East standings, and the Tigers seem to be reverting to their pre-2006 form.

Miscues land DeRosa, Fontenot on bench  —  CINCINNATI — The day after the Cubs allowed the Reds to beat them on nothing but unearned runs, the players who made the errors were on the bench, and manager Lou Piniella promised a new and improved look on defense.

Unlike Most at 28, Wang Is Evolving as a Pitcher  —  It's easy to forget how young Chien-Ming Wang is in baseball years.  Most 28-year-olds who have enjoyed anything like the kind of success he has — he won 19 games in each of his first two full seasons with the Yankees …

Question: What do you Want?  —  What's amazing to me is that if the Mets win this afternoon, they will have gone 3-3 on a West Coast road trip against the two hottest teams in the National League, all while being three games over .500 and an inch from first place all with roughly 80 percent of the season left to be played.

Gaudin going to pen to make room for Harden … OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Chad Gaudin is moving from the Oakland Athletics' rotation to the bullpen, where he's spent most of his previous five major league seasons.  —  The A's need to make room for the return of right-handed starter Rich Harden …

MLBPA looks into unsigned free agents like Bonds … The MLB players' association has opened an investigation into the free-agent market.  The MLBPA has been investigating for several weeks what has taken place in free agency, in relation to Barry Bonds, Kenny Lofton and other players who have gone unsigned.

Game 35: Indians at Yankees  —  YANKEES  —  Chien-Ming Wang vs. the Cleveland hitters.  —  Cliff Lee vs. the New York hitters.  —  Notes: The Yankees are 8-8 at home, 9-9 on the road and 7-7 in games decided by one or two runs.  They're 4-4 against lefties and 13-13 against righties.