Yankees eat up Teix's take-out slide  —  Mark Teixeira called it “a good coincidence” that his hard slide into second base came right after he was plunked for the second time by his nemesis, Vicente Padilla.  —  For the Yankees, the slide was much more - it was probably the key moment …

Tampa falls despite Montero's awesomeness  —  Robert Pimpsner of Baby Bombers tells me Jesus Montero has been promoted to Double-A Trenton, and should be there tomorrow or Thursday.  Yippee.  —  The Padres released old pal Chris Britton.  He had a 10.45 ERA, 2.27 WHIP and a .406 BAA …

Eighth-inning rally spurs Dodgers  —  Loney hits tying three-run double; Blake has winning RBI  —  LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers hit the halfway mark of Manny Ramirez's suspension Tuesday night by showing the D-backs how they've stayed in first place without him.

Terry Francona earns Sox win No. 500  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email  —  DETROIT - Manager Terry Francona earned his 500th win for the Red Sox [team stats], joining Joe Cronin (1,071) and Mike Higgins (560), with a 5-1 victory against the Tigers last night.

Halos run into hot hand of Halladay  —  Offense strikes out 14 times, late rally attempt falls shy  —  TORONTO — In the visitors' clubhouse at Rogers Centre following Tuesday's contest, Angels center fielder Torii Hunter just stood at his locker and smiled.

SWINE FLU SCARE FOR METS, BELTRAN  —  PITTSBURGH — The Mets were on high alert here yesterday after a producer on their SNY broadcast crew was sent back to New York and put in isolation with a possible case of swine flu.  —  The Mets were even more on guard because center fielder Carlos Beltran …

Pitching Coach St. Claire Fired  —  The Nationals today fired pitching coach Randy St. Claire, the longest-tenured member of their coaching staff, and have replaced him with Class AAA pitching coach Steve McCatty.  St. Claire, in his seventh year with the organization, was responsible …

Flores Out At Least Three Months, Maybe For Season  —  Just got the word on catcher Jesus Flores's status.  It'll be a long time before the Nats' first-string catcher — and a big part of the future — is back on the field.  —  Flores has a stress fracture in his right shoulder.

Ibanez stays hot, goes deep twice as Phillies pound Padres  —  SAN DIEGO (AP) — Raul Ibanez homered twice and drove in five runs, and left-hander Antonio Bastardo won his major league debut as the Philadelphia Phillies jumped on ailing Padres ace Jake Peavy in a 10-5 win on Tuesday night.

Duke outduels Santana, Jaramillo homers as Pirates top Mets  —  PITTSBURGH (AP) — Zach Duke pitched seven effective innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat Johan Santana and the New York Mets 3-1 on Tuesday night.  —  Jason Jaramillo hit his first major league homer for the Pirates, who have won three of four.

Eyre expects to retire at end of season  —  SAN DIEGO - Scott Eyre said yesterday that he was “more than 90 percent” sure he would retire at the end of this season.  —  Eyre, 37, is a veteran of 13 major-league seasons and will be a free agent after this year.

Twins 4, Indians 3  —  MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Joe Mauer homered and had three RBIs to help Kevin Slowey win again in the Minnesota Twins' 4-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.  —  Slowey (8-1) won his fourth consecutive start pitching six strong innings.

Interview With Garry Templeton  —  Recently, I had the fantastic opportunity to interview the Garry Templeton, the Manager of the Long Beach Armada of the Golden League.  Most of you will remember Templeton as the star shortstop on the Cardinals in the late 70s and the Captain of the pennant winning 1984 San Diego Padres.