BOMBERS HAVE HELP ON THE WAY  —  Help at the plate and on the mound is within sight for the Yankees.  —  Hideki Matsui could be joining the team as early as tomorrow in Toronto.  Then on Saturday, either Carl Pavano, whose last sighting roughly corresponded with Amelia Earhart …

Shea Stadium home plate headed for orbit  —  Astronauts Mike Massimino (r.) and Mike Good.  Massimino holds up the home plate used at Shea Stadium for the 2007 season.  —  WASHINGTON - The Yankees-Mets rivalry has really hit new heights.  —  Months after a Bomber-loving astronaut carried …

Mets add Nats right-hander Ayala to bullpen mix  —  WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals traded right-handed reliever Luis Ayala to the Mets on Sunday for a player to be named, a move designed to provide depth to New York's struggling bullpen.  —  The player going to the Nationals is expected …

No. 10: Sun, sand, fun and baseball in San Diego  —  If you could sit anywhere at any ballpark in the major leagues, where would it be?  USA TODAY combined nominations from readers and votes from our writers and editors to come up with the 10 best seats in baseball.

Marlins Notebook: Chris Volstad settling down after rough starts  —  MIAMI GARDENS — For the second consecutive start, Chris Volstad settled down and pitched well enough to win.  —  The difference was this time the bullpen let him down.  —  Volstad had not allowed a run when he left …

No hurry for Castillo to return as deadline looms  —  PITTSBURGH - Luis Castillo's 20-day minor-league rehab clock is set to run out midweek, meaning the Mets may be forced to activate the second baseman on Thursday unless a legitimate injury issue remains.  Castillo is staying with Double …

Tropical Storm Fay threatens Angels series at Tampa Bay  —  Angels travel to Florida as planned, but might have to evacuate area if weather reaches dangerous levels.  —  CLEVELAND — Though a possible hurricane awaits them, the Angels traveled as planned to Tampa Bay after Sunday's game.

Failure to sign Crow yet another misstep for Nats  —  The Nationals' failure to sign Aaron Crow is yet another strike against the regime of embattled general manager Jim Bowden, whose name has popped up in the investigation into embezzlement of signing bonuses in Latin America.

Hughes: “I threw too many pitches over the plate” … The admission that his arm felt a little bit dead accounts for the lower velocity than we've seen his previous minor league outings.  He was sitting 91-93 tonight — he had been 92-94, occasionally hitting 95 — but it was his command that caused the biggest problems.

Volquez shines for Reds in win No. 15  —  Cincinnati right-hander shuts down St. Louis in series finale  —  CINCINNATI — With the Reds likely en route to their eighth straight losing season, it's difficult to highlight many positives.  But Edinson Volquez has shined like a beacon in the abyss.

Time for Yanks' 3-4-5 hitters to carry load  —  The Yankees loaded the bases Saturday, trailing 1-0 in the fourth inning, with the middle of their lineup coming to bat.  But Alex Rodriguez struck out and Jason Giambi hit into an inning ending, 4-6-3 double play, prompting team officials …

Hughes finished after three and two thirds … In the thrid, Hughes allowed three hits, one of them an infield single and one of them a two-run double by Rich Thompson, the same guy who had the game-winning single off Mark Melancon two nights ago.  Hughes fell behind to three of the six batters he faced in the inning.