Sources: Sponsors help McCourt meet payroll  —  Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was able to meet the team's payroll Tuesday with cash advances drawn on the team's corporate sponsorship deals, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

Bringing in Einhorn, Wilpon is Effectively Selling the Mets  —  Fred Wilpon found his financial angel, but he effectively sold the New York Mets in the process.  —  When Wilpon announced earlier this year that he was only willing to sell a minority interest in the team …

Crow takes over as the new Royals closer  —  Struggling Soria removes himself after fifth blown save  —  KANSAS CITY — Joakim Soria had a very personal suggestion for Royals manager Ned Yost: Remove Joakim Soria as the closer.  —  Yost agreed after Soria blew his second save in two games …

Month of May delivered the unexpected  —  After being awful in April, Red Sox and Diamondbacks picked up their play in a big way  —  Just as we all expected in May ...  A second baseman (Wilson Valdez) won a game as a pitcher. ...  A guy who was 0-for-39-days (Jason Giambi) hit three home runs in a game. ...

Bruce named NL Player of the Week  —  Reaching a new level of stardom, Jay Bruce on Tuesday was named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending May 29.  —  The 24-year-old right fielder collected four home runs, 13 RBIs and 25 total bases last week …

Cubs place Alfonso Soriano on DL, call up Tyler Colvin  —  Tyler Colvin is back with the Cubs following a two-week demotion to Triple-A because Alfonso Soriano has been placed on the disabled list with a strained quadriceps muscle.  —  According to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com the Cubs …

Rockies' Ubaldo Jimenez a victim of velocity  —  It has devolved from a minor injury to a disappointing start to a gathering mystery.  Two months into the baseball season, the ace of the Rockies' pitching staff has yet to win a game.  —  “I can't explain it,” says Rocks pitching coach Bob Apodaca.

The Unimpressive List of Mets Offensive Leaders  —  Becoming the Mets all-time leader in an offensive category—like Jose Reyes did recently in runs scored—is the major-league version of damning with faint praise.  —  Nothing illustrates the franchise's struggle to score runs throughout …

Nova's hold on rotation spot slipping  —  SEATTLE — Ivan Nova will start Friday when the Yankees open a three-game series against the Angels in Anaheim, according to Joe Girardi.  —  What's his future beyond that?  Who knows?  —  Nova was awful in Saturday night's 5-4, 12-inning loss …

Dillon Gee is 5-0  —  Yesterday, Dillon Gee pitched 7 innings and let up 3 earned runs and 5 hits while striking out a career-high 8 batters and walking no one.  —  In 7 starts this season, Gee is 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA.  —  He is now half-way to tying Terry Leach's 10-0 start …

Dwight Howard says his preference is to stay with the Orlando Magic and ‘start his own path’  —  (Josh Robbins, Orlando Sentinel / May 30, 2011)  —  Responding to speculation that he wants to jump to a bigger market when he can become a free agent next year, superstar center Dwight Howard indicated Monday …

Indians' hot start has others steaming  —  Look what the Indians have done.  —  Cleveland is not directly responsible for Ozzie Guillen's latest rant, nor Jim Leyland's impatience with his second basemen.  But without question, the Indians' surprising play has increased the pressure on both rival managers.

Marlins' LoMo a hit on Twitter  —  MIAMI — Logan Morrison says at first he thought Twitter was lame, although he uses a more colorful adjective because he's a 23-year-old ballplayer who's a fan of Dave Chappelle, and he talks like one.  —  He also tweets like one, to the amusement of thousands …

Cole goes No. 1 in second mock  —  The UCLA right-hander hit 101 mph on Friday, and goes first overall  —  One change at the top can wreak havoc with the rest of the projection, which is what happened here; six or seven picks in the top 10 would change if the Pirates don't do what I'm projecting here at No. 1 overall.