Top News:
Anthony DiComo / MLB.com:
Rivera, Yanks stunned by late homer — In tie game in ninth, closer victimized by Royals' Guillen — NEW YORK — Johnny Damon saw it, and thought he had it. Mariano Rivera agreed. But still Damon backpedaled, shifting his gaze up, up, and finally, behind.
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Mike Puma / New York Post:
BAD ‘FIRST’ IMPRESSION — Ed Montague is officially removed from the Yankees' Christmas card list. — The veteran umpire yesterday was in the middle of a second eighth-inning controversy in four days at the Stadium, calling out Melky Cabrera at first base on a sacrifice bunt, despite Cabrera beating the throw.
NY Daily News:
Rocket's game got boost from Viagra — Roger Clemens, whose claims he never took steroids are under federal investigation, has apparently discovered the benefits of another performance-enhancing drug sweeping the sports world - Viagra. — Clemens stashed the clearly marked …
Mark Sheldon / MLB.com:
Griffey joins kings of clout with No. 600 — Reds slugger belts historic homer off Marlins lefty Hendrickson — MIAMI — As Ken Griffey Jr.'s deep drive landed in the right-field seats at Dolphin Stadium on Monday night, he moved out of the batter's box and trotted through the door of the elite 600 home run club.
Discussion:
Redleg Nation
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Mel Antonen / USA Today:
Griffey joins 600-homer club with blast against Marlins — MIAMI — Ken Griffey Jr. of the Cincinnati Reds became the sixth player to reach 600 career home runs when he hit a pitch into the right-field seats against the Florida Marlins at Dolphin Stadium Monday night.
Discussion:
Baseball Musings
Bob Dutton / Kansas City Star:
Royals notebook: Yabuta finally finding his groove — It was easy to overlook Yasuhiko Yabuta on Monday in the glare of José Guillen's ongoing power flex and the nail-biting finish in which Joakim Soria closed out a 3-2 victory over the Yankees. — Finally, though …
Discussion:
MLB Rumors
Alan Robinson / Associated Press:
Pirates Rattle Big Unit to Defeat Diamondbacks — PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of a rattled Randy Johnson and a reversed home run call to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Monday. — Johnson limited the Pirates to six singles and struck out three in 5 2-3 innings …
Discussion:
Where have you gone …
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Steve Treder / Hardball Times:
The 10 worst No. 5 hitters since 1957 — Our tour of the most pitiful performances in the various spots in the batting order has so far visited leadoff, the second slot, No. 3, and cleanup. This time we'll look in on the fitful flailers of the fifth position, as defined by starting at least …
Jason Beck / MLB.com:
Pudge, Inge to split time at catcher — Leyland concerned Rodriguez could wear down without rest — DETROIT — Brandon Inge became a former Tigers catcher four years ago when the club signed free agent Ivan Rodriguez. Now, they're basically a catching platoon.
Joseph White / Associated Press:
Giants finish 4-game sweep of Nationals — In the sixth inning, Jesus Flores fouled off five pitches against Matt Cain before striking out on a slider, stranding runners on first and third. — One long turn at the plate ended successfully, the other in failure.
Discussion:
Federal Baseball
Associated Press:
Swisher Homers From Both Sides in White Sox Win — CHICAGO — Switch-hitter Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate and the Chicago White Sox completed a dominant four-game sweep, beating the Minnesota Twins 7-5 Monday for their seventh straight victory.
Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
Barfield relishes call up in wake of Draft — Tribe shakes things up with second baseman struggling — DETROIT — Josh Barfield's little brother, Jeremy, was taken by the A's in the eighth round of last week's First-Year Player Draft and signed his first professional contract Monday.
Discussion:
The Transaction Guy
Gary Shelton / St. Petersburg Times:
Scuffle proves Rays' Garza needs lesson in maturity — Perhaps they were discussing the upcoming presidential election. Perhaps they were debating the merits of Iron Man vs. those of The Incredible Hulk. Perhaps, like all good citizens of Tampa Bay, they were exchanging ideas of how Jeff Garcia …
Discussion:
DRaysBay
Tom Haudricourt / Brewers Blog:
Melvin denies interest in Roberts — I just talked to Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and he denied a Fox Sports report today that he is interested in Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts. — Ken Rosenthal, a veteran baseball reporter and reliable source on the sport …
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John Hickey / Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Mariners fire hitting coach Pentland — Players take full blame for inept offense — TORONTO — The hitters are to blame. — That's the result of a quick poll of Mariners players Monday in the wake of the firing of hitting instructor Jeff Pentland, who was replaced by former Mariners hitting coach Lee Elia.
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