IN JOBA MATH, LESS MEANS MORE  —  IN the Bizarro World that Joba Chamberlain inhabits, the better he pitches, the fewer times he'll get the ball, while the worse he pitches, the more starts he'll get between now and the finish line.  —  It's the innings, stupid, and no …

Castro fired; Hardy sent down  —  By Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel  —  The Brewers have fired pitching coach Bill Castro and replaced him with Class AAA Nashville pitching coach Chris Bosio.  —  In another drastic move, the Brewers have sent down shortstop J.J. Hardy and recalled Alcides Escobar from Nashville.

Yankees' Gardner has cast removed  —  NEW YORK - Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner had the cast removed from his broken left thumb on Monday and will now have the finger supported by a splint until he is examined again this coming Monday.  —  If all goes well, Gardner may return soon after.

Moyer Unhappy, Feels Misled  —  Jamie Moyer did not answer questions about his demotion to the bullpen this afternoon at Wrigley Field, but he certainly spoke his mind.  —  In short, Moyer is unhappy and feels misled.  —  “I'm really not happy with this decision that the Phillies have made …

Injured Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival plans to retire  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — There's paperwork that has to be filed to make it official, but Troy Percival said he knows by the way his body hurts that his pitching career is over.  —  “I still wish I was out there playing and what have you …

Red Sox have a brawl  —  Mike Lowell delivers after fight  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  The Red Sox [team stats] struck upon a novel solution to their four-guys-for-three-spots conundrum last night.  —  Kevin Youkilis [stats] starts, charges the mound and gets ejected.

Wagner's return set for Sunday; top pick near deal  —  PHOENIX - Billy Wagner's return to the major leagues is targeted for Sunday against the Giants at Citi Field, the Daily News has learned.  —  Wagner has tossed five scoreless innings against Single-A batters since beginning a rehab assignment.

Los Angeles Angels release Justin Speier after extended struggles  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. — Right-hander Justin Speier has been unconditionally released by the Los Angeles Angels, four days after the struggling reliever gave up three homers in one inning.  —  Speier was 4-2 with a 5.18 ERA for the Angels …

Arizona Diamondbacks put Scott Schoeneweis on DL with depression  —  PHOENIX — Scott Schoeneweis has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Arizona Diamondbacks because of depression, less than three months after his wife was found dead at their home.

Manny Ramirez finding his swing  —  After a slow stretch when he might have been thinking about home runs, Ramirez gets hot against the Giants.  —  Reporting from San Francisco — Dodgers hitting coach Don Mattingly said he has noticed that Manny Ramirez has fouled off more pitches …

Fixing the Draft, Part One  —  Now that we're less than a week away from the August 17 signing deadline, we can finally talk about the draft again.  Sure, we could discuss it, but what good would it really do?  There are still 19 unsigned first-round picks with just days to go …

Hardy Not Placed On Waivers  —  Tom Haudricourt at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel talked to Brewers GM Doug Melvin, who dismisses rumors that J.J. Hardy might have been claimed by the Red Sox, and says in fact Hardy was not placed on waivers at all.  —  Buster Olney at ESPN had reported yesterday …