Red Sox claim Johnny Damon … Could the Boston Red Sox be looking to recapture the magic of 2004 that brought an end to their 86-year World Series drought?  —  Detroit Tigers outfielder Johnny Damon confirmed to reporters Monday that he has been claimed on waivers by the Red Sox …

Giants beat Reds to open key series of contenders  —  SAN FRANCISCO—Matt Cain ended a three-start winless stretch after being staked to an early cushion, Andres Torres hit a two-run homer and the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds 11-2 on Monday night.  —  Aubrey Huff added a solo homer leading off the eighth.

Robert MacLeod  —  TORONTO — From Tuesday's Globe and Mail  —  Several hours before Monday's series opener against the New York Yankees, Jose Bautista went about his business in the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse - a routine that included some playful banter in Spanish with teammate Yunel Escobar …

Rob Dibble to Stephen Strasburg: “Suck it up”  —  The conventional wisdom on Stephen Strasburg's latest injury, whatever it is, was nicely summed up by Thomas Boswell on Monday: … For the unconventional wisdom, look no further than Rob Dibble, analyst for MASN by night, and radio host for SIRIUS XM's MLB Network Radio by day.

Sources: Manny likely to hit waivers this week  —  The expectation around baseball is that outfielder Manny Ramirez will be placed on waivers early this week, according to baseball sources.  —  The Los Angeles Dodgers could have put Ramirez on waivers on Monday but would not do so, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reports.

Lee's clutch hit makes Myers a winner against Phillies  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — So, what's the baseline?  —  Brett Myers (FSY) threw seven sharp innings against his former team, Carlos Lee (FSY) hit a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth and the Houston Astros took advantage of a controversial call …

Rays beat Angels 4-3, tie for 1st place in AL East  —  ANAHEIM, Calif.—B.J. Upton homered on the first pitch of the game from former Tampa Bay teammate Scott Kazmir and doubled home another run to help the Rays defeat the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Monday night and move into a tie with the Yankees atop the AL East standings.

Report: Sammy Sosa says Chicago Cubs' No. 21 jersey ‘should be untouchable’  —  Former Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa said his jersey No. 21 should be retired and its continued use shows the strain in his relationship with his old team.  —  “That number should be untouchable because of the things …

Helton lead Rockies over Braves 5-4  —  DENVER—Todd Helton's first four-hit game in more than a year included the tiebreaking RBI single off Jonny Venters in the eighth inning Monday night that lifted the Colorado Rockies to a 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.

MLB Confidential: The Financial Documents Baseball Doesn't Want You To See, Part 1  —  We've obtained financial statements for a number of baseball teams — containing perhaps some of the most closely guarded information in sports — and they offer a rare glimpse at how MLB franchises do brisk business in the modern era.

What I care about more  —  Matt Cerrone mentioned Johan Santana's run of bad luck on MetsBlog earlier today, which is funny to me because earlier in the season, sabermetricians everywhere were rapping about Santana's run of good luck.  —  Remember when Santana was walking more batters …