Grand slams by Howard, Ibanez fuel Phillies' rally over Nationals  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez each hit a grand slam, rallying the Philadelphia Phillies to a wild 13-11 win over the Washington Nationals on Monday night for their fifth straight victory.

Ailing Delgado sits out, goes for hip check  —  Carlos Delgado will be examined by a doctor today after discomfort in his right hip forced him out of the lineup Monday night for the first time this season.  —  Delgado, who experienced the discomfort after sliding into third with a triple on Sunday …

Fowler runs wild as Rockies rout Padres  —  The Rockies' wild and crazy 12-7 victory over the Padres Monday night went by in a blur.  —  Led by rookie Dexter Fowler's record-setting five stolen bases, the Rockies ran the Padres right out of Coors Field.  A chilly announced crowd of 18,246 saw …

Verlander fans nine as Ordonez, Tigers hand Yankees fourth straight loss  —  DETROIT — Justin Verlander pitched like the ace the Detroit Tigers need him to be for a change.  —  The New York Yankees wish they could say the same about CC Sabathia.  —  Verlander had a season-high nine strikeouts …

Bay, Wake hand Red Sox 11th straight  —  Knuckleballer one-hits Tribe, three-run homer in ninth seals it  —  CLEVELAND — Knuckleballer Tim Wakefield can't pitch much better.  No way.  Impossible.  Well, maybe he could pitch a no-hitter or a perfect game.

Q&A With The New York Times' Tyler Kepner  —  I recently had a chance to do a quick Q&A with Yankees beat reporter Tyler Kepner of The New York Times.  —  To me, Tyler Kepner is the Peter La Fleur of Yankees beat writers/media bloggers.  I do not ever recall seeing a blogger …

Is Papelbon OK?  —  So far, Jonathan Papelbon has gotten the job done for the Red Sox, but The Boston Globe's Amalie Benjamin wonders if something is wrong with the Sox closer because he's not getting as many batters to swing and miss this season.  Is it a concern?

Brian Wilson defends character, quits Twitter  —  Everyone's all aTwitter about Brian Wilson at the ballpark today.  (Sorry, couldn't resist.)  —  Here are the lean facts:  —  Twitter is an instablogging thing the kids do nowadays.  Wilson likes to Twitter a lot.

Greinke to appear on this week's cover of Sports Illustrated  —  Zack Greinke will have to battle more than the Toronto Blue Jays when he looks to extend his streak of innings without an earned run Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium.  —  There now will be the added weight — and alleged jinx …

Garcia labors in Buffalo; contemplating retirement  —  Let's just say this: Freddy Garcia is NOT the answer if anyone ever gets bumped from the Mets rotation.  Pitching for Triple-A Buffalo on Monday night, Garcia served up a grand slam to Ryan Langerhans in a six-run fifth inning after which he was pulled.

Ruiz scratched from Triple-A lineup  —  Phils catcher feels discomfort in strained right oblique  —  PHILADELPHIA — Catcher Carlos Ruiz was scratched from the lineup for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in a rehabilitation game Monday night.  —  Ruiz took batting practice, but felt discomfort in his strained right oblique.

Brewers win 13th straight over Pirates  —  Buzz up!  —  MILWAUKEE (AP)—Trevor Hoffman waited so long for his first appearance with Milwaukee that he got a call from manager Ken Macha asking him if he still wanted to pitch.  —  Rickie Weeks broke open a tie game in the eighth inning …

Bonds receives standing ovation at Giants game  —  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Barry Bonds received a warm welcome from San Francisco Giants fans in his first appearance at AT&T Park this season.  —  Bonds sat between team CEO William Neukom and president Larry Baer in the front row next …