DAMON SITS; DL POSSIBLE  —  PITTSBURGH - Johnny Damon has his fingers firmly crossed that the pain coming from the left arch doesn't land him on the disabled list for the first time in his career.  —  “I hope not,” Damon said when asked if the shelf was a possibility.  “I don't know, but Sunday it was real bad.

Crasnick: Starting 9 … It's late June in a presidential election year, and you know what that means: lots of campaign fundraising trips, sniping via surrogates and wall-to-wall vice-presidential speculation.  —  Will Barack Obama and John McCain opt for geographical balance …

Baseball's problem with bats  —  ESPN.com's Buster Olney wrote about this today and Tom Verducci has, too, for Sports Illustrated.  At this point, it's dereliction of duty not to write about it.  —  Baseball needs to do something about the crisis with maple bats.

Sheets intends to test free agency  —  Strong first half boosts prospects  —  Atlanta - Ben Sheets confirmed Tuesday that he has every expectation of testing the free-agent market this winter.  —  “That's the direction I'm headed right now,” Sheets said.  “You can't invite yourself back.”

Arroyo has start to forget in loss  —  Right-hander retires just three of 15 batters, allows 10 runs  —  TORONTO — With the way he pitched on Tuesday, Bronson Arroyo simply gave the Reds no chance to win.  —  Arroyo was pounded for 10 earned runs and 11 hits, including three home runs …

Lo Duca's start in left field cut short  —  Veteran pulled in second inning with light-headedness  —  WASHINGTON — Paul Lo Duca has made his reputation as a good catcher.  But the Nationals' mounting injury problems and their need for more offensive punch moved him to the outfield for the first time in four years on Tuesday.

Manuel, Beltran ejected in Mets' awful 11-0 loss to Mariners  —  Home plate umpire Brian Runge tosses Jerry Manuel for arguing a strike call on Carlos Beltran in the fourth inning.  (Newsday/David L. Pokress / June 24, 2008)  —  The Mets lost to Seattle again, 11-0, last night in the ugliest game of the Jerry Manuel era.

Ortiz already in the swing of things  —  Red Sox manager Terry Francona revealed today that David Ortiz, who recently got the cast taken off his injured left wrist, hit off of a tee in front of doctors last night at Fenway Park, and that he “did OK” in the session.

Buehrle makes quick work of Dodgers  —  Lefty gets 1,000th K as Sox snap nine-game road losing skid  —  LOS ANGELES — Blame inflated airline prices and Mark Sweeney for John Buehrle not being able to see his son record career strikeout No. 1,000 during a 6-1 victory for the White Sox on Tuesday night before 43,900 at Dodger Stadium.

Could Ichiro be part of the mass exodus in Seattle? … NEW YORK — Before he was let go as Mariners general manager, Bill Bavasi was telling his bosses that the team's problem was the players, not manager John McLaren.  —  Bavasi's bosses must have disagreed.  First they fired Bavasi himself.

Joe Torre: Proctology  —  New feature at Fangraphs yields this list of most relief innings pitched, 6/24/05 to 6/23/08:  —  Heilman: 261.2 IP, 3.34 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 0.96 WPA  —  Proctor: 257.2 IP, 4.37 ERA, 4.74 FIP, -0.35 WPA  —  Qualls: 254 IP, 3.19 ERA, 3.90 FIP, 2.61 WPA

They're not-so-artful Dodgers when it comes to a deal  —  From trades to free-agent signings, a look back is far from a good thing but one major front-office voice disagrees.  —  You might want to hold your nose.  —  Angel Berroa.  Mark Sweeney.  Scott Proctor.  Thomas Perez.  Brady Clark.

Hoffman hears boos in Twin killing  —  Boos rained down on a Padres icon Tuesday night at Petco Park.  —  Not just scattered boos, but loud booing directed at a franchise hero whose excellence helped bring San Diego's downtown ballpark into existence.  —  Trevor Hoffman, head down …

Only the third worst?  —  I'm honored to post this clip of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann nominating me as the third-worst person in the world for my Monday story (along with an uncredited David K. Li) on Jerry Manuel's fertilizer comment.  —  Pretty pompous stuff for somebody who ditches …

Texas hold 'em?  Rangers shouldn't discard the notion  —  Buy or sell?  Sell or buy?  Go for broke or build for the future?  —  Geez, the only e-mails I've received more often lately detail the financial benefits coming my way if I can just help a guy move some money out of Nigeria.

Bad blood hits series  —  Rockies boiling after pitches buzz catcher  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Even before the Royals' Ramon Ramirez suddenly couldn't find home plate with MapQuest in the ninth inning, there was something very different about Tuesday night's game.