Inbox: Should Hughes stay in the 'pen?  —  Beat reporter Bryan Hoch answers fans' questions  —  Phil Hughes has been dominant in relief and seems to have found “something” that wasn't there as a starter.  Maybe this is what he is and they found it by accident.  What do you think?

Chicago White Sox escape collision disaster  —  If the White Sox climb out of their early hole to make the playoffs, something that didn't happen Tuesday will be one of the keys.  Gordon Beckham and Alexei Ramirez (right) narrowly avoided an ugly collision when Beckham reversed field to grab …

Sox hoping Lowell responds well to shot  —  Infielder could require DL stint if right hip doesn't improve  —  ATLANTA — The earliest that Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell will be back in the starting lineup would probably be Wednesday afternoon at Camden Yards against the Orioles.

BREAKING: Surgery for Beltran?  —  (UPDATED) MILWAUKEE — In a ominous-sounding move, Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran flew to Vail, Colo., today for a second opinion on his ailing right knee from the inventor of microfracture surgery.  —  The Mets confirmed that Beltran was in Colorado …

Rays ruin Halladay's return and top Blue Jays  —  TORONTO (AP) — Carl Crawford and Pat Burrell homered and the Tampa Bays Rays ruined Roy Halladay's return with their sixth straight victory, 4-1 over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.  —  Halladay (10-2) came in having won his past seven decisions …

Giants' Lincecum dominates Cardinals with 2-hitter  —  ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tim Lincecum threw a two-hitter for his third complete game of the season, and Travis Ishikawa homered in the San Francisco Giants' 10-0 rout of the slumping St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

Yankees and Mets fans are unimaginative  —  sports, yankees, mets  —  Freakonomics — the book, the blog, the phenomenon — is basically about applying economic theory to non-traditional things.  Things like parenting and sumo and the Ku Klux Klan and what have you.

“Wait a minute.  Are you Ken Griffey Jr.?  Sorry.  Didn't mean to get your hopes up.”  —  The only thing that puzzles me about the Mark DeRosa trade is the fact that it didn't involve the promotion of Matt LaPorta (.302 average and .898 OPS at Triple-A Columbus).

Tracy thriving in third managerial stint  —  Jim Tracy tries to be diplomatic, but it isn't easy.  —  He is managing the Colorado Rockies, having taken over when Clint Hurdle was fired a month ago, and Tracy admits his third time as a big-league manager has extra meaning.

Post Game: Brewers 10 Mets 6  —  The Brewers defeated the Mets, 10-6, tonight in Miller Park.  —  For a full recap and boxscore, go here.  —  The Least You Should Know:  —  The Fernando Nieve Train came to a screeching halt, as he allowed 11 hits and three runs through one out in the third.

The most exciting play in baseball … Earlier this season, Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury was standing on third base at Fenway Park in the fifth inning of a nationally televised game against the Yankees.  It was a relatively common occurrence in an otherwise common game …

Darren Daulton: “I Can Assure You There's Probably No One In Any Sport That Has Taken More Drugs Than I Have.”  —  The new leader in the clubhouse for 2009 quote of the year, Darren Daulton.  I'm guessing Todd Marinovich might want to argue with this claim.  Man has Daulton lived an interesting life.