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 …

Welcome to the Majors, Daniel Schlereth  —  This time last year, Daniel Schlereth was waiting to be drafted by a team.  The University of Arizona reliever found himself chosen by the hometown Arizona Diamondbacks in the first round.  A few days ago, Schlereth got the promotion from Double-A …

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 …

Nobody's perfect: The early line on trade needs for the contenders … No team looks perfect with nearly two months to go before the trade deadline ... well, no team except the Dodgers, that is.  Whomever they use performs.  At least that's the way it looks now.

Farm report: Holt to Binghamton  —  Mets officials say Brad Holt is on a similar trajectory to Mike Pelfrey.  So Holt, the 33rd overall pick in the draft one year ago and the fastest-rising pitching prospect in the organization, was promoted to Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday.

Glavine sharp again, says he's ready  —  ROME — After throwing six scoreless innings and earning a win in his third minor-league rehab start in two weeks, Braves pitcher Tom Glavine pronounced himself ready to return to the major leagues Tuesday night as the 43-year-old veteran turned …

Baseball's Lebron … One rainy February day in Las Vegas, home to a fake pyramid, a phony volcano, a faux Eiffel Tower, an ersatz New York skyline, a pirated copy of a pirate ship and the clever sleights-of-hand of magicians and plastic surgeons, Sam Thomas watched two men stretching …

Reliving the Randy Johnson experience  —  What's it like hitting against the Big Unit?  Hitters share their often terrifying moments.  —  ESPN The Magazine … The most fitting tribute to the greatness of Randy Johnson came 12 years ago when Baltimore Orioles manager Davey Johnson benched …

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.

Draft Preview: Unclear intentions  —  Marlins always look for pitching, but won't pass up big bat  —  MIAMI — You can't automatically say the Marlins' top priority is to find their next Josh Johnson or Chris Volstad.  The past two years have shown — they are also searching for another Miguel Cabrera or Hanley Ramirez.