Yanks bench slumping A-Rod for two days  —  MIAMI - The Yankees had trouble beating the Nationals with Alex Rodriguez in the lineup.  How will they fare against the Marlins without A-Rod's bat?  —  Rodriguez was yanked from the lineup this afternoon as Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman decided …

Brotherly love: Weavers set to match up  —  Sibling rivalry won't play into pitching story of Halos-Dodgers  —  ANAHEIM — Gail Weaver would like to make one point perfectly clear as her sons prepare to share the pitching mound at Angel Stadium on Saturday evening.  —  This is not Jered Weaver vs. Jeff Weaver.

Interview: Roger Clemens  —  Photo by Flickr user presson_on.  —  Let's play a word association game.  Roger Clemens.  What comes to mind?  University of Texas Longhorn.  Fastball.  Burnt orange Hummer.  4,672 strikeouts.  Houston resident.  Major league pitcher.

Stammen steamrolls Yankees for first win  —  Kearns, Harris contribute stellar defense behind Nats rookie  —  NEW YORK — Nationals right-hander Craig Stammen had to wait five hours and 26 minutes to pitch in Thursday's game against the Yankees because of a rain delay.

Sources: Evans promoted to the Mets  —  Sources tell the Daily News that Nick Evans will be promoted to the Mets.  It wasn't immediately clear whose place Evans would take, but perhaps the Mets have decided to demote Fernando Martinez with Gary Sheffield returning to the outfield.

Dodgers recall righty McDonald  —  Club sends reliever Schlichting to Triple-A Albuquerque  —  ANAHEIM — With long reliever Jeff Weaver starting Saturday night, the Dodgers recalled James McDonald from Triple-A Albuquerque to be a long reliever and sent right-handed reliever Travis Schlichting to Albuquerque.

Shawn Estes retires  —  Shawn Estes, a former 19-game winner with the Giants, has apparently retired after 13 major league seasons.  Estes, 36, went 3-4 with a 3.07 ERA pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque in his attempt to continue his career with the Dodgers.

For Sox, could there be a Plan F?  —  This gets a little complicated, but there may be a way for the Red Sox to squeeze six starters into five spots for the balance of this season while benefiting every Boston starter over the long-term.  —  Let's call it Plan F (here are options A through E from an earlier column).

Eighth-inning homer off Mota lifts Angels over Dodgers  —  Guillermo Mota came up big for the Dodgers in the bottom of the seventh inning, extending his scoreless streak to 13 innings by inducing a 6-4-3 double play from Vladimir Guerrero to preserve a 4-4 tie between the Dodgers and the Angels.

Hill pitches, hits Orioles to 7-2 win over Phils  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rich Hill pitched into the seventh inning and singled in the go-ahead run, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 7-2 victory over the slumping Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night.  —  FINAL: Orioles 7, Phillies 2

Roster moves: Marires claim Josh Wilson off waivers, activate Johnson  —  * Catcher Rob Johnson reinstated from the bereavement list.  —  * Catcher Guillermo Quiroz designated for assignment.  —  * Infielder Josh Wilson claimed off waiver from San Diego.

Quote of the Day: 'I suck.  For real.  I'm getting old.'  —  sports, athletics, quote-of-the-day, orlando-cabrera  —  Orlando Cabrera, after making two defensive mistakes yesterday: … Normally I'd say that Cabrera is being overly hard on himself, but that's a tough argument …

Bugging Harold Reynolds  —  I like Harold Reynolds.  I mean, I don't really know the guy, but he seems to be a likable guy on television.  And friends who do know him tell me he's a very likable guy.  And one of my favorite baseball images is that of Harold Reynolds in the moments …

Let the Pedro bidding begin; is change coming to Washington?  —  No Nationals disgrace ... not this week, anyway  —  Just when folks were starting to draw comparisons between the 1962 Mets and the current Washington Nationals, the Nationals jumped up and put on an excellent three-day display in the Bronx …