Girardi's ejection sparks Yanks in win  —  Bombers reenergized in sixth inning to take down Braves  —  ATLANTA — Joe Girardi wasn't leaving the infield without putting up a fight, and by doing so, the Yankees' manager might just have injected some life back into his slumping team.

Manny Ramirez walks and grounds out in second game  —  Manny Ramirez grounds out in his second plate appearance for the Isotopes on Wednesday.  He has yet to register a hit in two games with triple-A Albuquerque.  —  Ramirez will also play an extra game for Inland Empire, at Lake Elsinore on Saturday.

After Los Angeles Angels game, off-duty officer shoots 2 in lot  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — An off-duty police officer shot and wounded two men who had assaulted him in the crowded Angel Stadium parking lot after Wednesday night's Colorado Rockies-Los Angeles Angels game, authorities said.

Kemp's late blast can't save Dodgers  —  Starter Wolf surrenders three of six White Sox homers  —  CHICAGO — After serving up three home runs, starting pitcher Randy Wolf served himself up as the focal point for the Dodgers' 10-7 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night.

Note: Hello, Fernando Nieve  —  The 26-year-old Fernando Nieve pitched six scoreless innings last night in a win against the Cardinals, during which he struck out five batters.  —  Nieve is 3-0 with a 1.31 ERA in three starts, during which opponents are batting 152 against him.

More power to Ortiz  —  His three-run shot helps Sox win again  —  David Ortiz (center) looks toward Jacoby Ellsbury after Ortiz scored on Jason Varitek's home run during the sixth inning.  The Sox beat the Nationals, 6-4.  —  WASHINGTON - David Ortiz stood on first base, removed his batting gloves, and laughed at his fortune.

LSU trounces Texas to win College World Series … OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — LSU, which two years ago wasn't good enough to qualify for its conference tournament, is the best team in college baseball again.  —  The Tigers won their sixth national title Wednesday night, breaking open Game 3 …

Rays even Series rematch with Phillies  —  ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Matt Garza shut down Philadelphia's offense and ex-Phillies slugger Pat Burrell homered for the first time in over two months to help Tampa Bay beat his former team 7-1 on Wednesday night.

Volquez to be out longer than expected  —  Second MRI on pitcher's right arm reveals inflammation  —  TORONTO — It wasn't considered a setback, but a clarification of a condition.  Either way, the Reds will be without starting pitcher Edinson Volquez for longer than they anticipated.

Poisoning the well  —  According to Google, there are roughly 22,300 web pages containing the terms “mother's basement” and “baseball.”  A classic example of the genre is this slanderous screed: … This is not of course a lone example; Fire Joe Morgan of course made a career of lampooning that kind of thing.

Blue Jays dominate Arroyo again  —  This whole interleague thing might not be so bad for the Toronto Blue Jays if only they could face Bronson Arroyo on a more regular basis.  —  Playing exactly one year to the day they pummelled the right-hander for 10 runs in an inning-plus of work …

Ollie Perez in the bullpen?  Could happen  —  UPDATE, 5 p.m.: Manuel just said the Mets are going to have a meeting to discuss what to do with Maine and Perez.  —  At this point, it seems clear neither will be pitching in the majors this weekend.  One more outing for each in the minors …

Smoltz set for Red Sox debut  —  WASHINGTON — After 20 seasons, John Smoltz will do something Thursday night he's never done before: Pitch for a big-league team other than the Atlanta Braves.  —  Smoltz, 42, who had shoulder surgery last June, makes his American League debut for the Boston Red Sox …

CC Sabathia ready to make start for New York Yankees Friday  —  ATLANTA — New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia threw in the bullpen before Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Braves and said he'll be ready to start the opener of a weekend series against the New York Mets.

MLB.com to broadcast Yanks in-market  —  Live local games to be aired over Internet in landmark deal  —  A week after launching a widely downloaded app that lets fans watch live games over an iPhone or iPod Touch mobile device for the first time, Major League Baseball continues …

BtB Power Rankings: Through Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  —  More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP  —  Ian Kinsler's Texas Rangers are back on top of the AL West, at least on paper.  (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)  —  Browse more photos »  —  Welcome to our weekly ranking of all the MLB teams!

TO THE MATS WITH READER COMMENTS  —  Just a couple of quick ones from this morning's entry:  —  Frequent correspondent let'sgoyankees says: … And Charlie F responds: … To which I, your humble servant, will add that there's not a lot that's pretty in Swisher's game …