New approach, pain not eased  —  On the subject of the 2009 Daisuke Matsuzaka, no one accurately can say, “It is what it is.”  —  The truth is that no one knows what it's going to be, or when.  —  Yesterday he was an alternate version of the Dice-K we've come to know and, shall we say …

Rollins, Ibanez take over in NL voting  —  Phillies join teammate Utley among leaders; Beltran moves up  —  Welcome to the top of the All-Star leaderboards, Jimmy and Raul.  —  The third 2009 National League balloting update for Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, to be held July 14 in St. Louis …

Texas Rangers throwing doubters a curveball  —  One of the reasons we love sports is that, like last season's Tampa Bay Rays and the '93 nuptials of Lyle Lovett and Julia Roberts, results occasionally defy logic.  —  For instance, consider your first-place Texas Rangers.

Rosales … SAN DIEGO(AP) It was the kind of matchup that only an extra-inning marathon can produce - an infielder pitching to a batter working on an 0-for-6 afternoon, including four strikeouts.  —  With the Petco Park lights on as dusk fell, Mark Reynolds hit a three-run homer off infielder Josh Wilson …

Phillies hit three homers, split series with Dodgers  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ryan Howard, Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-2 Sunday to split a four-game series between teams with the top two records in baseball.

Hernandez, backed by 5 in first, gives Mets what they need  —  New York Mets pitcher Livan Hernandez delivers against the Washington Nationals during the first inning of their baseball game in Washington, Sunday, June 7, 2009.  (Charles Dharapak, Associated Press / June 7, 2009)

Tiger Stadium demolition under way  —  Detroit — Activists seeking to preserve what is left of Tiger Stadium were handed a significant defeat this morning when their request for a preliminary injunction to halt demolition of the stadium failed in Wayne County Circuit Court.

An Interview with Vince Gennaro  —  The economic downturn has hit many industries hard, including the sports industry.  This has led to a noticeable decline in free agent salaries, particularly for Major League Baseball.  I had a chance to sit down with Vince Gennaro, a noted baseball analyst …

Rob Dibble and Rob Neyer: TWITTER FIGHT!!!  —  MASN's Washington Nationals Analyst Rob Dibble and ESPN writer Rob Neyer had a rather mean-spirited indirect argument over the internets last night as Mr. Dibble responded to Mr. Neyer's article at ESPN.com entitled, “Nats, Dunn can't fight City Hall” …

Marlins to break ground for new ballpark  —  Ceremonies scheduled to be held July 18 at Orange Bowl site … MIAMI — After more than a decade of negotiating and waiting, a date to begin construction on the Marlins' new retractable-roof ballpark has been set.

The Full Mike Rizzo Draft Commentary  —  Here is the pre-draft Q&A with Nats acting GM Mike Rizzo.  (Quick side question, chicken-egg style.  What came first, Scott Boras or the term ‘Signability’?)  —  Q: How important is this draft for you?  —  It's been well chronicled …

Radical Situations Call For Radical Solutions.  —  Baseball is a funny game.  The day after Zack Greinke channels his 2005 form en route to giving up seven runs in five innings, hurtling the Royals ever deeper into the bottomless pit they fell into four weeks ago, the Royals have close to a perfect day.