Top News:
David Singh / MLB.com:
Rasner to test new mechanics vs. Jays — New York (49-44) at Toronto (46-47), Saturday, 1:07 p.m. ET — TORONTO — Although Darrell Rasner has struggled to maintain his early-season success, the Yankees starter believes that he may have discovered the root of his recent problems on the mound.
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Game 94: Yankees at Blue Jays — YANKEES (49-44) — BLUE JAYS (46-47) — Darrell Rasner (4-7, 4.94) vs. the Toronto hitters. — Jesse Litsch (8-5, 4.01) vs. the New York hitters. — Notes: The Yankees are 0-2 on their road trip, having scored two runs in the two games. ...
Steve Lombardi / WasWatching.com:
A-ROD & GIAMBI BECOME POP-GUNS IN BIG SPOT? — In an attempt to find some reasons why the Yankees have issues scoring runs this season - when they're not facing the Mariners or Astros - I decided to look at how New York has done, this season, to date, in terms of “slugging” in High Leverage game situations.
Bart Hubbuch / New York Post:
FUENTES PREFERS YANKEES — Rockies closer Brian Fuentes heard enough rumors about a potential future with the Mets that he recently sought out Amazin's counterpart Billy Wagner for advice. — The left-handed Fuentes can become a free agent after this season, and the Mets are pursuing …
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Rachel Cohen / Associated Press:Easley homers, Mets win seventh straight
Discussion:
The Musings and Prophecies …
Anthony Rieber / Newsday:
Seattle's Ibanez on Mets' radar for outfield help — Now that the Mets know Moises Alou isn't coming around the corner, they can turn their attention to trading for a replacement before the July 31 non-waivers deadline. — One name on the Mets' radar, according to a baseball official, is Seattle leftfielder Raul Ibañez.
Baxter Holmes / Boston Globe:
Notes for tonight's game against the Orioles — The Red Sox and the Orioles play game two of their three-game series at 7:05 p.m. The O's took last night's game 7-3, snapping the Sox three-game winning streak and also snapping the O's five-game losing streak.
Marc Topkin / St. Petersburg Times:
Rays ace Kazmir blasts teammates' focus — CLEVELAND — LHP Scott Kazmir accused teammates of paying more attention to their competitors' results than their own play and said that is a primary reason for the Rays' recent struggles. — “We've got to worry about ourselves and concentrate …
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Dayn Perry / Baseball Prospectus:
Can Of Corn — Double Standards — The unfortunate reality—both now and throughout recent decades—is that football as the NFL practices it is the most popular sport in the United States. There's no accounting for taste, of course, but this fact nonetheless speaks ill of our ability …
David O'Brien / Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
MLB trade deadline looms: Will Braves move Teixeira? — Big-money offers from big-market teams likely for future free agent — San Diego — The July 31 trade deadline nears and The Question looms: Will the Braves trade Mark Teixeira? — “I would say right now we're more concerned …
William C. Rhoden / New York Times:
Cheers for Giambi, but Silence for Bonds — Barry Bonds must be kicking himself. — As he watches Jason Giambi morph from pariah to hero, being feted with mustache day at Yankee Stadium in support of a failed All-Star candidacy, Bonds has to be thinking, “You mean, all I had to do was say I did it.”
Adam Rubin / NY Daily News:
Minor developments for Pagan, Hernandez — Pagan, who banged his left shoulder tumbling into the Dodger Stadium stands in May, finally is batting from the right side, which had troubled him. He was 0-for-4 with a walk and scored a run in St. Lucie's 8-5, 10-inning loss to Dunedin.
Newsday:
Church: New tests ‘went very well’ — Ryan Church had tests in Cleveland during the past few days, and the results were encouraging enough that the outfielder and the Mets are cautiously optimistic that he'll be able to return to the team, Newsday has learned.
