Martinez leads Phils to doubleheader sweep  —  Buzz up!  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP)—Pedro Martinez  —  was pushing 130 pitches and the tying run stood on second base when manager Charlie Manuel came out to the mound for a chat.  —  Pull Pedro?  —  With the way the Phillies bullpen has been struggling, not a chance.

Yanks lose A-Rod, Girardi to ejections  —  Disputed third-strike call leads Foster to toss both from finale  —  NEW YORK — Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and manager Joe Girardi were both ejected in the fifth inning of Sunday's 13-3 win over the Orioles, the result of a heated exchange with home-plate umpire Marty Foster.

Ricky Romero's rookie star fading  —  ‘I want to just finish strong and healthy,’ lefty says after shot at award takes another blow  —  The game yesterday was a chance for Blue Jays left-hander Ricky Romero to state his case for AL rookie of the year facing another prime candidate, Rick Porcello of the Tigers.

Beckett and Lester a formidable duo  —  Buzz up!  —  BOSTON - This is coming from Billy Wagner  —  , who was a teammate of Johan Santana  —  and has seen plenty of CC Sabathia  —  of the Boston Red Sox, Wagner said, “is probably the best lefty in baseball right now as far as stuff.

Lilly, Lee lead Cubs over Reds, 5-2  —  Ted Lilly pitched six scoreless innings and Derrek Lee homered and singled twice Sunday, helping the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.  —  Andres Blanco had three hits and two RBIs for the Cubs, who won the season series 10-5.

No truth to report of Halladay offer  —  Though the Toronto Sun reported that the Sox offered a package of six pitchers to the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay (Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson, Daniel Bard, Michael Bowden, Felix Doubront, and Nick Hagadone), that report is apparently not correct.

Suzuki sets record with ninth straight 200-hit season  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Soaked in beer, Ichiro Suzuki (FSY) smiled after a long day.  —  After he reached 200 hits for the ninth straight season during the second game of a doubleheader, Ken Griffey Jr. picked up his slight teammate …

Method to this Maddux  —  Coach's guiding hand polished Ranger arms  —  Mike Maddux was always on that list of players you figured would one day be a pitching coach or manager.  His talent didn't measure up to that of his more famous brother, future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.

Nationals grind out rain-shortened win  —  Lannan produces solid effort  —  The baseball season is a 162-game grind, both physically and mentally, and it's all the tougher to endure when inclement weather is thrown into the mix.  —  So games like Sunday's 7-2 rain-shortened victory …

WAR vs. Win Shares  —  A little while ago, I wrote a THT Live post that compared a couple of relatively new and advanced sabermetric stats: Win Shares* and Wins Above Replacement, or WAR (the Sean Smith version). … You see, I have an unhealthy obsession with baseball stats denoted in wins.

Hoffman hopes to return to Brewers  —  All-time saves leader has enjoyed his first season in Milwaukee  —  PHOENIX — Trevor Hoffman has been comfortable in his first season with the Brewers, so comfortable that he'd like a return engagement in Milwaukee next year for what would be his 18th Major League season.

Sometimes, Sports Really Are Just Fun and Games  —  I've been asked to write a blog for the New England Sports Network.  This is my first blog.  —  As some of you know, this summer, I began Tweeting after Jack Welch convinced me that it could be entertaining and fun — for me, not for my readers!