Top News:
Michael S. Schmidt / New York Times:
Sosa Is Said to Test Positive in 2003 — 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.
Discussion:
Unfiltered, Bugs & Cranks, The Biz of Baseball, Angels Unplugged, MLB, FanHouse, Josh Q. Public, Can't Stop The Bleeding, Ken Davidoff's baseball …, Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, sox1fan.com, VFTB, The Cubdom, SPORTSbyBROOKS, Bleed Cubbie Blue, GoatRiders of the Apocalypse, Full Court Press, LA Times Sports Blog, Deadspin, The Sommer Frieze, Boston Globe, Midwest Sports Fans, Yahoo! Sports, MetsBlog.com, MLB FanHouse, Hardball Times, River Avenue Blues, Texas Rangers and Camden Chat
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
Game 64: Nationals at Yankees (updates with Girardi audio, Veras DFA'd and now Slade Heathcott audio) — YANKEES (36-27) — Pitching: LHP CC Sabathia (5-4, 3.68). — NATIONALS (16-45) — Guzman DH — Johnson 1B — Zimmerman 3B — Dukes CF — Dunn LF — Kearns RF — Gonzalez SS
Discussion:
The Yankee Universe, Heartland Pinstripes, Pinstripe Alley, Yahoo! Sports and The Fowl Balls
MLB.com:
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 …
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David Lefort / Boston Globe:
Smoltz to make Sox debut next Thursday — John Smoltz's first start in a Red Sox uniform will come against the Nationals next Thursday, June 25, in Washington D.C., the pitcher and club confirmed before tonight's game at Fenway Park. — Smoltz, who has won 210 games and saved 154 more during …
Associated Press:
Wakefield's arm, Ortiz's bat propel Red Sox past Marlins — BOSTON (AP) — Tim Wakefield's ninth win moved him another spot closer to the AL lead, and the Boston Red Sox think it might finally be the 42-year-old knuckleballer's chance to make his first career All-Star team.
Stephen Oh / Yahoo! Sports:
AccuScore: Playoff shifts after week 10
AccuScore: Playoff shifts after week 10
Discussion:
BBTF's Baseball Primer …
Ben Shpigel / New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
Camden Chat
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Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com:
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.
Dom Amore / Hartford Courant:
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.
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Peter Abraham / The LoHud Yankees Blog:
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 …
Associated Press:
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.
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:
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.
Dejan Kovacevic / PBC Blog:
Morning links: Dude singing on that video — I put out the word last week, seeking the identity of the young man who produced this song about the Nate McLouth trade ... (Please visit the site to view this media) — ... and I ended up hearing from Jesse Andrews himself:
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Associated Press:
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.
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Associated Press:
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 …
Associated Press:
Pujols goes deep again as Cardinals crush Verlander, Tigers — ST. LOUIS (AP) — Albert Pujols hit his fifth home run in five games — and the longest homer at Busch Stadium this season — and Adam Wainwright worked seven strong innings to help the St. Louis Cardinals rout the Detroit Tigers …
Discussion:
Yahoo! Sports
Andy Gardiner / USA Today:
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 …
Joe Capozzi / Florida Marlins news, analysis …:
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.
Discussion:
Unfiltered
R.J. Anderson / FanGraphs Baseball:
Ervin Santana to the DL? — As if the Angels hadn't been through enough already, Ervin Santana will miss tonight's scheduled start with right forearm tightness. Santana has already missed time this season with an elbow injury that left him out until mid-May.