Surgery on Youkilis set for tomorrow  —  loading video...  (please wait a moment)  —  Requires Adobe Flash Player  —  Terry Francona said Kevin Youkilis will have season-ending surgery tomorrow on his right thumb tomorrow in Cleveland.  Dr. Thomas Graham, who examined the first baseman today, will perform the surgery.

Bad call helps Phils beat Marlins 5-4  —  MIAMI—The sharp grounder in the ninth inning skipped over the third-base bag, an apparent game-winning hit for Gaby Sanchez and the Florida Marlins.  —  Third-base umpire Bob Davidson saw things differently.  He ruled the ball foul …

Interview: Pedro Martinez  —  Photo by dbking, used with a Creative Commons license  —  Future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez, who enjoyed one of the great peaks of any pitcher in baseball history, recently agreed to take a few questions from me.  He did so as part of the Gillette Fusion ProGlide Summer Job program.

Martino: Phils fight while Mets flop  —  The Mets sat in first place in the National League East when they made their initial visit to Philadelphia this year back in May.  Reminded of that fact then, one prominent Phillie smirked, rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah, we'll see about that.”

Petro Martinez feels Mets front office left three-time Cy Young winner hanging following 2009 season  —  Pedro Martinez won't say whether his 77th pitch in Game 6 of last fall's World Series was his last in the majors, or if he has completely ruled out a return this season.

Maddon: This is why Rays need “a real baseball field”  —  After the Rays lost Thursday's game due in part to a ball hitting a Tropicana Field catwalk, manager Joe Maddon quickly made it a stadium issue, saying it showed why “there's a crying need” for a new stadium, a “real baseball field” to be built:

Cardinals looking at Andy LaRoche as possible trade target  —  » PNC Park general manager Dennis DaPra and other team execs closely inspected the outfield turf Thursday afternoon.  The night before, Andrew McCutchen pulled up a large divot when his knee slammed into the grass as he tried to make a catch.

Yankees not very bossy  —  They're in first, but fire is lacking  —  Team Checkbook — and I say that with all due respect — has not had as easy a time maneuvering itself into its current spot in the American League East a half-game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays as you might imagine.

Greinke doubts Royals' rebuilding plan will bear fruit soon  —  Zack Greinke isn't sure he wants to endure the growing pains he knows are coming as the Royals gear up for another youth-based rebuilding plan.  —  It matters little that growing optimism surrounds numerous prospects currently …

SABR 2012: in Twin Cities  —  News from this week's SABR convention, at the annual business convention, SABR big wigs decided that the 2012 convention will be in Minnesota.  Start planning, people.  We can all stay at Aaron Gleeman's House That Blog Built.  —  (Wait, 2012?  What about 2011?

Ten Reasons to Be Happy  —  1. Ike Davis made an ugly error last night.  But you were surprised, weren't you?  When Daniel Murphy or Carlos Delgado made an error, you weren't surprised at all.  And Ike's still learning.  —  2. Somewhere out there, some kid spent today staring …