New York Mets 3B David Wright hit in head, leaves game  —  NEW YORK — David Wright has left the New York Mets game against San Francisco after being hit squarely in the helmet by a 94 mph fastball from Giants starter Matt Cain.  —  Cain's -2 pitch with none out in the fourth inning …

Nats Offer Strasburg Record-Setting Contract  —  The Nationals have offered No. 1 overall draft pick Stephen Strasburg the largest contract ever for a pitcher taken in the amateur draft, according to industry sources.  Their proposed deal is worth more than Mark Prior's $10.5-million contract …

Lidge errors open door to Phillies' loss to Braves … ATLANTA(AP) Brad Lidge is still confident in his abilities, even as he continues to accumulate blown saves.  —  Lidge committed two errors on one play to help set up Omar Infante 's game-ending single and the Atlanta Braves rallied …

NO IMMEDIATE PLANS TO RETIRE PIAZZA'S NUMBER  —  The Mets don't look like they are going to retire Mike Piazza's number any time soon.  —  HUBBUCH ON TWITTER  —  Piazza and the Mets parted ways after the 2005 season, and the superstar has been out of baseball since 2007.

Has Tex locked up MVP already?  —  Is this Tweet from Tyler Kepner for real?  —  By the way, this is probably obvious by now, but Mark Teixeira's the AL MVP.  No question, as Joe Torre would say.  —  No question?  Honestly?  Maybe Kepner just means that Teixeira will win, rather than that he should win.

Marlins Ink James For $1.7 Million  —  The Marlins have signed No. 18 overall pick Chad James for $1.7 million.  The 18th first-rounder to sign, James exceeded MLB's slot recommendation of $1,422,000 as well as its 2008 guideline of $1,580,000.  —  A lefthander from Yukon (Okla.) High …

Mariners Sign Franklin For $1.28 Million  —  The Mariners have signed No. 27 overall pick Nick Franklin for $1.28 million.  He's the 17th of the 32 first-rounders to sign and the fifth to get more than MLB's recommendation for his slot.  The commissioner's office's guideline was $1,161,000.

Game 117: Yankees at Mariners (with Marte update)  —  YANKEES (73-43)  —  Pitching: RHP Sergio Mitre (1-1, 7.04).  —  MARINERS (60-56)  —  Suzuki RF  —  Gutierrez CF  —  Lopez 2B  —  Griffey Jr. DH  —  Branyan 1B  —  Hannahan 3B  —  Johnson C  —  Wilson SS  —  Langerhans LF

Reds Sign Leake, Boxberger  —  The Reds have signed their top two picks in the draft, Arizona State righthander Mike Leake (first round) for $2.27 million and Southern California righthander Brad Boxberger (supplemental first) for $857,000.  —  Leake becomes the 16th of the 32 first-rounders …

Dusting themselves off, Sox rally in 9th  —  ARLINGTON, Texas - Covered in dirt, Clay Buchholz walked back into the dugout, his awkward, facefirst belly flop into home plate having yielded nothing more than an out.  The slow-footed Jason Varitek had just beaten out an infield single and advanced to second …

Rain sets up Sunday twin bill vs. Rockies  —  Marlins sending Volstad to mound in 1:35 p.m. ET opener  —  MIAMI — Unyielding rain caused the postponement of the Rockies-Marlins game on Saturday night at Land Shark Stadium.  —  The game will be made up as part of a double-header beginning at 1:35 p.m. ET Sunday.

Matsui notches 2,000th career hit  —  Astros infielder becomes fifth big leaguer to join Meikyukai  —  MILWAUKEE — Surrounded by Astros manager Cecil Cooper and his former manager in Japan, a smiling Kazuo Matsui carefully slipped on the blue sports coat that cemented his place among the greatest Japanese baseball players in history.

Gorzelanny pitches Cubs to 3-1 win over Pirates  —  Tom Gorzelanny pitched five effective innings against his former team, Jeff Baker homered and drove in two runs, and the Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Saturday.  —  Gorzelanny, who grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago …

Game postponed, DH tomorrow against the Marlins  —  MIAMI — Tonight's game has been postponed.  There will be a doubleheader tomorrow, with Aaron Cook going against Chris Volstand in the opener (that's a switch), followed by Jorge De La Rosa against Rick VandenHurk.  —  Leave a comment - No registration required