MLB disciplines Rizzo, fines Rodriguez  —  MILWAUKEE — Nationals' general manager Mike Rizzo was disciplined and catcher Ivan Rodriguez was fined for their roles in a dispute with umpires last week in New York, a Major League Baseball source said on Monday.

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Phillies Break Out vs. Reds as Utley Returns  —  PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jimmy Rollins, Placido Polanco and Raul Ibanez homered to back Cole Hamels, and the Philadelphia Phillies handed the Cincinnati Reds their sixth straight loss, 10-3 on Monday night.  —  Chase Utley returned to Philadelphia's lineup …

AL MVP Hamilton, Cruz Return to Rangers Lineup  —  ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — When the Texas Rangers were struggling to score runs, there was always the anticipation that AL MVP Josh Hamilton and slugger Nelson Cruz were close to coming back.  —  Finally on Monday, both big boppers were activated …

Nationals place ailing LaRoche on DL  —  First baseman gets second opinion on shoulder injury  —  MILWAUKEE — First baseman Adam LaRoche on Monday was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals to rest a torn labrum in his left shoulder.  —  The move is retroactive to Saturday.

The Annotated WARP Leaders  —  Our collection of BP-flavored single-season WARP scores currently goes back to 1950.  Now that we've added fielding runs to the sortable choices, you can easily see the combination of offense and defense that made the top players during this period so valuable …

Why all the parity in baseball?  —  Your eyes do not deceive you.  The standings do not deceive you.  There is indeed greater parity in baseball this season — so far.  —  Entering Sunday's play, 20 of the 30 clubs were within four games of .500 — the most ever on May 21, according to STATS LLC.

Switch-pitcher?  Ambidextrous HS star on rise … ELGIN, Ill. — Professional scouts are paying increasing attention to a right-handed pitcher and a left-handed pitcher from a tiny school in Elgin, Ill., and it happens to be the same player.  —  Ryan Perez has become a spectacle for fans …

Braves Sign Julio Lugo  —  The Braves signed shortstop Julio Lugo to a minor league contract that's pending a physical, according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes.com.  Lugo will earn $12K per month in the minor leagues and a pro-rated portion of $650K if he makes the Major Leagues, Rojas reports.