Mets' lead down to half-game in East  —  Nationals cruise to easy victory as Lannan tops Pedro  —  WASHINGTON — The Mets were searching for reassurance.  Precious little was available, though, in the aftermath of such an unbecoming defeat.  A vexing loss Sunday had been followed by a more damaging one Monday night.

Brewers fire manager Yost  —  He didn't have the answers for collapse, general manager says  —  Desperately trying to awaken a sleep-walking team that has damaged its chances of making the playoffs after a 25-year post-season drought, the Milwaukee Brewers fired manager Ned Yost on Monday …

PEDRO LIVID OVER POSADA DISS  —  WASHINGTON - Jorge Posada dredged up the past yesterday, and Pedro Martinez didn't appreciate it one bit.  —  Told that Posada had accused him of having “no class” for his actions in the notorious Yankees-Red Sox brawl during Game 3 of the 2003 ALCS …

Kuroda, Dodgers cruise past Pirates  —  Righty tosses seven shutout innings; Saito, Penny return  —  PITTSBURGH — It would have been fittingly historic had Hiroki Kuroda been allowed to finish out Monday night's 8-2 win over the Pirates, but Dodgers manager Joe Torre needed those last two innings to address two question marks.

Bullpen lets down White Sox  —  Wassermann, Ramirez struggle in seventh inning vs. Yankees  —  NEW YORK — In the midst of talking about a 4-2 defeat suffered by his White Sox before 53,236 at Yankee Stadium on Monday night, Ozzie Guillen might have come up with another catch phrase worthy …

MLB's feel-good stories (cont.)  —  Maybe CC's initials should be CD (California Dreamin')  —  The latest scuttlebutt heard on Sunday is that Sabathia does not want to go to the Yankees, who are nonetheless expected to make the biggest bid for the free-agent star.

Willis returns and Rogers goes for Tigers  —  Left-hander goes five innings and gets no decision; veteran might be finished in Detroit.  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — A second look at Dontrelle Willis, a last glance at Kenny Rogers and yet another defeat.  —  On the night Willis returned …

Holliday pleads his case  —  The Rocks have five home games remaining in a lost season.  Matt Holliday might have that many remaining in his Rockies career.  —  Holliday says he hasn't given it a lot of thought but acknowledges there will be some emotional detritus if that's how it works out.

Rose vs. Jeter  —  A comment from brilliant reader DJ: … Now, let's me say as kindly as possible that even though the above comment is technically accurate there are about 200 things wrong with it.  But before I get to those I want to say that DJ's main point is exactly right: It's fun to match up Pete Rose and Derek Jeter.

Wrapping it up from the Bronx  —  * Hideki Matsui told reporters after the game that once the Yankees are eliminated, he likely would have his knee surgery.  But he wants to wait until that point and he hopes to play in another game or two.  —  * The Yankees love them some Phil Coke.

Kazmir speared by Boston  —  Rays fall into tie with Red Sox for first place in AL East  —  ST. PETERSBURG — A battle for first place in the American League East never materialized on Monday night, as the Red Sox flexed their muscles early and often in a 13-5 route of the Rays in front of a crowd of 29,772 at Tropicana Field.

Guillen's presence could have helped 2008 Mariners  —  I talked briefly with Royals outfielder Jose Guillen before this one started.  —  Guillen has, after a slow start, come on to have a decent (.263, 20 homers, 93 RBIs) season for a Kansas City team that's only claim to fame is that they're …

Tony Kornheiser's Awkward On-Air Apology  —  Well after hearing Kornheiser's fourth quarter apology last night, I decided to run back through the game and find the original “laundry” quote.  Here are both that one and the apology spliced together....  “I took high school Spanish …