Ryan Howard gets help to beat Nationals again, 5-4  —  WASHINGTON - Roy Halladay beat the Washington Nationals for the 10th straight time, thanks to some help from Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez.  —  Halladay (7-3) allowed 10 hits and four runs over 7 innings, striking out five without a walk.

Jack Cust triples, helps Mariners beat Orioles  —  SEATTLE - Jack Cust hit the second triple of his career, driving in two runs to help the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 Monday.  —  Doug Fister (3-5) went 7 1-3 innings to pick up his first victory since April 30.

Draft rich in intrigue and talent  —  The rebirth of the draft within the last decade altered baseball, and so much for the better.  After salaries exploded and payroll disparities spread during the 1990s, the chasm threatened to ruin lower-revenue markets.  —  How could they possibly compete with free-agency behemoths?

Bartolo Colon pitches Yankees past Athletics 5-0  —  OAKLAND, Calif. — Bartolo Colon pitched a four-hitter for his first shutout in nearly five years and Mark Teixeira homered in the first inning to help the New York Yankees beat the Oakland Athletics for the eighth straight time, 5-0 on Monday.

Andres Torres gets slam, Giants whip Cardinals 7-3  —  ST. LOUIS - Madison Bumgarner won his second straight after losing his first six decisions and Andres Torres gave the National League's worst offense a big boost with his first career grand slam in the San Francisco Giants' 7-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday.

Kyle Phillips' first homer lifts Padres past Braves  —  ATLANTA - Pinch-hitter Kyle Phillips broke a 2-all tie in the 10th inning with his first career home run and the San Diego Padres beat the Atlanta Braves 3-2 Monday for their third straight win.  —  Phillips, a rookie with a .167 average …

Hunter hits two home runs as Angels rally to beat Royals  —  KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Torii Hunter's second home run, a two-run shot off Joakim Soria in the ninth, powered the Los Angeles Angels to a come-from-behind 10-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Keppinger, Towles Lift Astros Over Cubs 12-7  —  CHICAGO (AP) — Jeff Keppinger and J.R. Towles homered and the Houston Astros rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 12-7 on Monday afternoon.  —  Clint Barmes and Hunter Pence also added back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning to help the Astros ended a three-game losing streak.

There was another fire at Dodger Stadium this morning  —  On Saturday night there was a small fire in a storage room at Dodger Stadium that caused smoke to be visible from the stands and required that a bunch of fans be moved from the upper decks along the first base line to other seats.

Mike Rizzo won't trade Ivan Rodriguez for a ‘quick fix’  —  As the Nationals slide further toward irrelevance in the standings, their veteran players will draw more and more consideration as trade pieces.  The most prominent might be veteran Ivan Rodriguez, a Hall of Fame caliber catcher …

Jose Reyes goes on bereavement list  —  NEW YORK — New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes has been placed on the bereavement list by the team after learning of the death of his grandmother Monday afternoon, the team announced.  Reyes left the team immediately to fly home to Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Pregame notes: White Sox vs. Red Sox  —  Red Sox manager Terry Francona met with the media before tonight's game against the visiting Chicago White Sox (24-31) and discussed a number of topics, including the fact he was giving short stop Jed Lowrie the night off to rest his sore left shoulder …