ANOTHER BLOW TO AN EPIC CHASE  —  Sammy Sosa, who joined with Mark McGwire in 1998 in a celebrated pursuit of baseball's single-season home run record, is among the players who tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the drug-testing results from that year.

Sox proving they are East's best  —  Boston shows mettle by winning nine of 12 vs. top teams  —  PHILADELPHIA — The Evil Empire has been inhaling strong fumes from Red Sox Nation exhausts for a week now.  That's how long it's been since Boston knocked the Yankees out of first place …

Willis to miss next scheduled start  —  Leyland yet to name starting pitcher for Saturday  —  ST. LOUIS — Tigers manager Jim Leyland announced on Tuesday that struggling lefty Dontrelle Willis will not make his scheduled start on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers …

Ackley sets CWS hitting record in UNC's 11-4 win  —  OMAHA — Move over, Mark Kotsay.  Dustin Ackley is closing fast.  —  Ackley became a contender for the title of greatest hitter in College World Series history Tuesday when his five-hit performance helped send North Carolina …

Mets See What It's Like to Benefit From Errors  —  BALTIMORE — Karma works in mysterious ways, as demonstrated by two pivotal moments in the Mets' game Tuesday night.  An error by the Orioles' second baseman on a seemingly routine play paved the way for the Mets' first four runs …

Congrats to Chien-Ming Wang  —  Chien-Ming Wang and his wife Chia-Ling are proud parents.  Justin Jesse Wang arrived this morning in NYC.  He checked it at 7 pounds, 12 ounces.  —  J.J. Wang is a good name.  Sounds like a shortstop maybe.  —  My Taiwanese friends say that in their culture …

Youkilis moves up in All-Star balloting  —  First baseman slides ahead of Teixeira in tight race  —  While the Red Sox currently have the lead in the AL East over their rival Yankees, they also have the lead in projected American League All-Star starters, along with the upstart Texas Rangers.

Posada, Yankees Pitchers On Same Page?  —  NEW YORK — Again and again, Joba Chamberlain shook his head.  Jorge Posada wanted fastball, Chamberlain had fallen in love with his slider, especially on a full count.  —  Chamberlain threw his pitch and walked home a run.

Kemp gets clutch hit as Dodgers edge A's in 10 innings  —  LOS ANGELES (AP) — Matt Kemp's game-winning single with two outs in the 10th inning lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night.  —  The victory was Joe Torre's 2,194th …

Poised O'Sullivan earns win in debut  —  Halos rookie beneficiary of offensive outburst vs. Giants  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Sean O'Sullivan acted as if he'd been there before, dozens of times.  —  Poised and confident in his Major League debut in a spot-start for the ailing Ervin Santana …

Rays put an end to Rockies' 11-game winning streak  —  DENVER (AP) — Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and the Tampa Bay Rays powered their way past Colorado 12-4 Tuesday night, snapping the Rockies' 11-game winning streak with a franchise-best 11 extra-base hits.  —  Longoria and Pena hit two of the Rays' five homers.

White Sox-Cubs postponed by rain  —  No makeup date yet; Danks, Dempster face off Wednesday  —  CHICAGO — Ozzie Guillen had one of his unique theories as to why Tuesday's opener of the Crosstown Showdown at Wrigley Field was covered by a deluge of rain, eventually leading to the first cancellation …

Surgery still a possibility for Peavy … While the hope and likelihood remains that Padres ace Jake Peavy can return in a month or two, surgery on his badly injured right ankle hasn't entirely been ruled out.  —  If he does need surgery to repair the torn tendon injury, Peavy's season would be over.

Blue Jays snap skid, score five runs in the 10th to top Phillies  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Scott Rolen singled in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and the Toronto Blue Jays went on to score four more runs to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-3 on Tuesday night.

Houston Astros' Ivan Rodriguez ties MLB record for games caught  —  ARLINGTON, Texas — Ivan Rodriguez tied the major league record for games played as a catcher Tuesday night, when he caught against his original team.  —  Rodriguez, now with the Houston Astros, caught his 2,226th career game against Texas …

Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez apologizes for tirade  —  Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez made his first order of business in his pre-game media session Tuesday to apologize to reporters for what he described as “my tirade” after Sunday's game in Toronto.  —  “I know you guys are trying to do your jobs and everything,” he said.

Giants see Sanchez's trade value dropping  —  Sanchez's trade value falling fast  —  Jonathan Sanchez's uneven performance has cost the Giants in more ways than one.  —  Sanchez pitches today against the Angels having won just once over his past nine starts.  The Giants are 2-7 over that span.

Farnsworth injured in incident with dogs  —  Royals reliever suffers cuts on left index finger  —  KANSAS CITY — Royals reliever Kyle Farnsworth was bitten by one of his dogs on Tuesday morning and had four stitches taken in his left index finger but said he was able to pitch.