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 …

Youkilis late scratch from lineup due to illness  —  BOSTON — Less than a half hour before Tuesday night's first pitch, Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis was scratched from the lineup due to illness.  —  Jed Lowrie moved from shortstop to third base, with Marco Scutaro inserted into the lineup at short.

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 …

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 …

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.

Source: Mets to sell stake this month  —  NEW YORK — The sale of a minority stake in the New York Mets likely will be completed by the end of this month, a source with knowledge of the process tells ESPNNewYork.com.  The announcement could come before June 1.  —  “It's not imminent,” a source said.

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 …

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 …

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.

Phillies boost their Latin grade  —  IN 1988, IF PHILLIES second baseman Juan Samuel wanted to talk to a teammate in Spanish, he had to hope Luis Aguayo wasn't on the phone or out getting some lunch.  Then Aguayo was traded to the Yankees at midseason.  A couple of days later, the team picked up Jackie Gutierrez.

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 …

The Giants And Jose Reyes  —  After being shut out by Tom Gorzelanny last night, the Giants rank second to last in the NL with 3.54 runs scored per game.  “We're awful right now,” manager Bruce Bochy told reporters last night.  Pablo Sandoval, Andres Torres, and Mark DeRosa are currently on the disabled list.

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.

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 …