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.

Fowler, Rockies run wild over Padres  —  Leadoff man swipes five bags but Hawpe injured in victory  —  DENVER — Garrett Atkins had seen too many improving swings, too many hard-hit balls to believe the Rockies' recent offensive slump was permanent.  —  Monday night proved he was right.

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 …

Braves edged by Cardinals  —  When Braves first baseman Casey Kotchman out-hit St. Louis first baseman Albert Pujols Monday, the Braves had to figure it was their night.  —  And they would be wrong.  —  Despite holding the league's most feared hitter to a mortal 1-for-5 evening …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

A Ballpark Beer Wasteland, Rethought  —  THE new Yankee Stadium has a problem.  No, it's not all those home runs, it's the beer.  —  The stadium pushes the usual mass-market brews, which is to be expected of any big venue.  It also has a beers-of-the-world stand that sells brews like Heineken …

Astros 8-12 again, but what's different?  —  Like last year, the Astros started the season 5-9.  —  Like last year, the Astros started the season 6-9.  And 6-10.  And 6-11.  And 6-12.  And 7-12.  —  And like last season, the Astros have started the season 8-12, which is where they stand today …

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 …

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?