Werth Prepared for His First Game in Philly  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jayson Werth was prepared for whatever reception fans in Philadelphia want to give him in his first game back since leaving for Washington.  —  Werth, a key member of the Phillies' 2008 World Series championship team …

Tigers top pitchers fail in 7th straight loss, 5-3 to Yankees  —  DETROIT — When a team is in a slump, strange things start to happen.  —  On Monday night, the Detroit Tigers lost because their ace felt too good.  —  Justin Verlander, hitting 100 mph, allowed three runs in the first two innings …

Nationals vs. Giants: Gorzelanny delivers gem, shuts down San Francisco  —  In the tunnel that leads from the Washington Nationals' dugout to their clubhouse, Michael Morse and Jerry Hairston ducked into the team video room.  Side by side, each player watched a replay of himself striking out …

AP Sources: Rangers Near Deal With Cuban Defector  —  FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — The Texas Rangers are close to announcing a deal with Cuban defector Leonys Martin, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.  —  The 23-year-old outfielder is already working out in Surprise …

Indians outfielder Choo arrested on DUI charges … CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has been charged with drunken driving.  —  The team said Choo was arrested early Monday in Sheffield Lake, Ohio.  Choo traveled with the Indians and is with the team in Oakland …

Mets' Bay on paternity leave; likely out 2 games  —  NEW YORK — Jason Bay, the New York Mets' starting left fielder, has gone on paternity leave and will miss at least Tuesday night's game against the San Francisco Giants.  —  Major League Baseball instituted the new paternity leave list this season …

Longoria returns from strained left oblique  —  Tampa Bay Rays all-star third baseman Evan Longoria has been reinstated from the 15-day disabled list.  —  The move was made before Tuesday night's game against Toronto.  Longoria had been sidelined since April 3 with a strained left oblique.

The Jon Matlack Trade Tree and His Legacy on the 2011 Mets  —  By The Commmon Man  —  This went over very well last week, when The Common Man put up the transactional family trees of Chuck Knoblauch and Glenn Davis, so it's going to become a regular feature here on The Platoon Advantage.

The good — and bad — news about MLB's attendance figures … Commissioner Bud Selig has an attendance problem.  It's not a problem with the actual attendance, but a problem with perception people take from the snapshot of a wet, dreary April and extrapolate into doom and gloom for the sport.

Sky Sox's Stewart earns return to Coors Field  —  3rd baseman regained his swing in Springs  —  The Colorado Rockies third baseman of the future has been stuck in the past.  —  That's about to change.  On Monday night, the Colorado Rockies recalled third baseman Ian Stewart, ending his highly successful return to the Sky Sox.

Clutch Performance Does Exist and is Tangible  —  One of the topics of debate on this site is “clutch” performance.  Often, the statistically inclined cite “small sample size” to excuse the poor performance of a player in key spots.  Alex Rodriguez was the center of this debate for many years …

BoSox deliver Weaver's first loss  —  BOSTON (AP) — Dustin Pedroia just wouldn't give in.  Facing the top pitcher in the AL, he kept fouling off pitch after pitch.  —  In all, Pedroia fouled off nine pitches in a 13-pitch at-bat against previously unbeaten Jered Weaver before lining a go-ahead …