Red Sox salvage the finale  —  When David Ortiz stepped to the plate in the third inning last night, something was missing.  Ortiz had ditched his pink bat, used to promote breast cancer awareness on Mother's Day, picking up his usual lumber.  It seemed an interesting choice.

Perfect game takes GM by surprise  —  Ken Rosenthal has been the senior baseball writer for FOXSports.com since Aug. 2005.  He appears weekly on MLB on FOX.  Follow him on Twitter.  —  As usual, Billy Beane was working out.  —  Beane, the A's general manager, always works out at McAfee Coliseum during home games.

Sources: MLB to Seize Control of the Texas Rangers This Week  —  UPDATE: See additional information added to this report via the SportsBusiness Journal.  —  According to multiple sources, if the stalemate between Major League Baseball and a group of 40 creditors of Hicks Sports Group …

Nova gets the call  —  Thanks to my pal Tim Bontemps of the New York Post for the heads up on this, but it appears the Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher again tonight.  —  Ivan Nova, whose regular turn in the rotation would have been yesterday, has been called to New York …

TIGERS SWEET ON JACKSON  —  A story was circulating last week that the Yankees traded Austin Jackson to the Tigers for Curtis Granderson because they had soured on the minor league outfielder.  Mike Francessa, the WFAN all-everything expert, probably gave the story its widest circulation.

Commetary: For Griffey, Mariners, end is near  —  If life were as simple as fiction, the book on Ken Griffey Jr. and the Seattle Mariners would have closed late last summer, with him being carried around Safeco Field on the shoulders of his teammates.  —  Adored by fans, appreciated by one and all …

Which Pitcher is King?  —  OK, class.  While finals are still a week or two away for many colleges, we're going to hit you up with a pop quiz.  —  The stat lines for two active starting pitchers are presented below.  Which pitcher would you take?  Hint: One pitcher is an “innings eater” and the other is a “franchise player.”

Rays respect Braden's accomplishment  —  'He's a battler.  He's a competitor,' Shields says of opponent  —  OAKLAND — History repeated itself Sunday for the Tampa Bay Rays, but not in the way they wanted to make it into the record books.  —  For the second time in less than a year …

Giants update: Buster Posey not yet ready for majors, San Francisco GM Brian Sabean insists  —  Sabean: Posey still not ready for prime time  —  NEW YORK — Hot-hitting prospect Buster Posey remains at Triple-A Fresno because Giants officials are not convinced he is ready to catch in the major leagues yet, GM Brian Sabean said.

With win over Marlins, Nats continue to create new identity  —  One year ago tomorrow, the Nationals started a 10-day stretch of games that would define their 59-103 season.  It began with three softball-score losses on the West Coast: 10-8 to Arizona, then 11-7 and 9-7 to San Francisco.

Everything's not all Wright  —  Right now David Wright already owns a place in the Mets record books for striking out in eight straight at-bats.  —  He's got seven strikeouts in his last two games.  No Mets position player has ever struck out at least three times in three-straight games.

Hillman's Last Stand.  —  I know I owe you some vaguely optimistic words about the callups of Mike Aviles and Kila Ka'aihue.  But that will have to wait.  There are times for childish fantasies like gingerbread houses and sugar plums and young Royals with upside, but this is not one of them.

Mariners end eight-game losing streak against Angels  —  Ervin Santana is roughed up for four runs with two outs in the fourth inning of an 8-1 loss in Seattle.  —  Reporting from Seattle — It was hard to say what hurt the Angels more in Sunday's 8-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners, the balls that were hit or the ones that weren't.

Post Game: Giants 6, Mets 5  —  The Giants (18-12) defeated the Mets (17-14) by the score of 6-5 this afternoon at Citi Field.  —  The Mets lost for the first time at Citi Field since April 21, ending their ten game home winning streak.  —  For a full recap and box score, check out SNY.tv here.