CHURCH FACING METS IN FIRST ATLANTA GAME  —  ATLANTA — Ryan Church knew he wouldn't have to wait long for his reunion with his former Mets teammates when he left New York last week.  —  Church said he told manager Jerry Manuel and general manager Omar Minaya, “Now I get to beat up on you next week.”

There's no time like the present for the Blue Jays to trade Roy Halladay … The Rangers traded Mark Teixeira to the Braves with the first baseman 1 1/2 years from free agency and obtained a bevy of prospects, including catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and shortstop Elvis Andrus, jolting the rebuilding of the franchise into hyper-speed.

Riggleman wants Nats to close gap  —  The Jim Riggleman Era, as short and as indistinguishable as it might be, has begun for the Washington Nationals.  Now it's up to the team's new interim manager to make it count for something.  —  There's not likely to be much on the line except pride …

Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondacks to share site on tribal land  —  PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies are NL West rivals.  Now they're partners in a spring training facility planned for the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community near Phoenix.

Heat is on Roger Clemens  —  The grand jury believed to be investigating Roger Clemens for perjury has issued a subpoena to the owner of a now-defunct Houston-area gym linked to the distribution of steroids and human growth hormone.  —  Kelly Blair, whose 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness in Pasadena …

Ranking the AL's roughest roads to the playoffs  —  Schedule advantages and disadvantages are difficult to calculate in baseball, because you don't know who will be hurt, which team will be hot and which team will fade, and you don't know exactly which pitcher you might face in a crucial series in September.

Full Lineup of Charity Work by Yankees  —  Jason Zillo wrote “Hope Week” on the bulletin board in his office at the old Yankee Stadium last November.  Zillo, the Yankees' media relations director, did not know if the week would ever happen, but he wanted a daily reminder.  He wanted his staff to see the reminder, too.

It's time for Giants to cut losses with Zito  —  Barry Zito is the pinch that lets the Giants know they're not dreaming.  —  This is a franchise renaissance season, brimming with young talent, and the Giants players and management deserve all credit after four sometimes senseless years.

D-backs payroll stable with cash investment  —  Player salaries not expected to take hit in future  —  PHOENIX — The current season isn't playing out exactly the way the D-backs' ownership planned it, but because of an influx of capital from the general and limited partners, player payroll should not take a hit in the years to come.

The Grandstand: Meeting the President and signing autographs  —  Well, the All-Star Game is officially over.  —  For me, it was an incredible experience.  There is no way to truly prepare for everything thrown at you your first time at this event except to experience it.

Called Out: Midseason Top 250  —  Our experts explain their rankings of guys like Haren, Rollins, Bartlett, Hoffman  —  Ah, rankings — such an exercise in imperfection.  —  But therein lies its greatness.  No ranking set can conceivably achieve 100 percent accuracy, which is why it's such a fun …

‘Munson’ sure to touch fans of all stripes  —  New book on former Yankee great captures captain's aura  —  You know it's coming.  Word by word, you read the true story about a beloved figure and wholly respected human being and it inches closer and closer to his final and tragic fate.

Top 20 Rookies At The Break  —  The Cardinals have played a big league-leading 91 games to this point, illustrating that the All-Star break splits the season into asymmetrical portions.  So the idea of the break functioning as the halfway point to the season is a bit of a misnomer.

Tip for Casey: To Swing a Faster Bat, Lighten Up That Lumber  —  With Major League Baseball's All-Star game taking place tonight, a researcher explains why, when it comes to swinging a baseball bat, heavier isn't necessarily better  —  Tune into tonight's baseball All-Star game and you'll …