Rasner begins June on wrong note  —  Jeter's solo blast accounts for Yanks' lone run vs. Twins  —  MINNEAPOLIS — Darrell Rasner turned in the shakiest outing of his five starts this season at the big league level, and the Yankees' offense managed little as they slogged through a 5-1 loss to the Twins on Sunday at the Metrodome.

Prior has shoulder tear, will have season-ending surgery again  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Mark Prior's season is over before it got started.  Prior will have surgery this week to repair a tear in the anterior capsule of his right (pitching) shoulder.  —  It is Prior's second season-ending shoulder surgery …

White Sox's Guillen promises changes  —  Manager: Expect change; Williams: No need to panic  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - After watching an offensive malaise reach a new low Sunday, manager Ozzie Guillen threatened his White Sox hitters with changes following Sunday's 4-3 loss at Tampa Bay.

Mets hammer Dodgers behind third-inning homers and Johan Santana  —  The sounds at Shea, from the start of the week until the end, told the story.  —  The Mets arrived home last Monday to a hostile holiday crowd, with cascading boos and calls for Willie Randolph's head.  —  What a difference seven days make.

Burres battered as O's lose to Red Sox  —  Left-hander gives up seven runs on 12 hits in four innings  —  BALTIMORE — The Orioles had hoped to use a four-game series against the Boston Red Sox as a measuring stick to see if they could compete with a powerfully built team that relies on solid pitching …

As Griffey approaches 600, MLB whitewashes history  —  During Sunday's Red Sox/Orioles game, which I watched on MLB.TV, the league ran a promotional commercial for Ken Griffey's approach to 600 home runs.  Backed by maudlin piano music, a Costas-like narrator says the following script, to the accompaniment of pictures and video:

Cubs close out perfect homestand  —  The standings show the Cubs are the best team in baseball.  —  The statistics say they have scored more runs and have more come-from-behind victories than any other team.  —  But they aren't sure how good they really are even after beating Colorado 5-3 Sunday …

Smoltz reinventing himself — again  —  John Smoltz is the artist teaching himself to paint with a hairbrush, the poet attempting to rhyme in a foreign language.  Is that a stretch when considering a man whose craft consists of throwing a ball?  Not if you listen to the ball-thrower …

The bad century  —  As many (including myself) have noted, this year marks the 100th anniversary of the last Cubs team to win it all.  A century of futility—that's about as pathetic an “accomplishment” as you will ever see in the sporting world.  —  When looking at that dismal record …

Tigers stun M's with 4-run rally in 9th  —  SEATTLE (AP)—Curtis Granderson has some advice: Don't count out those supposedly doomed Detroit Tigers just yet.  —  “Yeah, looking at our division, nobody has pulled away.  And we still haven't played good baseball,” Granderson said Sunday.