Pirates Acquire Marlon Byrd And John Buck  —  The Pirates are likely headed for their first playoff berth since 1992, and they made sure to bolster their roster accordingly by acquiring Marlon Byrd and John Buck from the Mets for minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera and a player to be named later.

Cliff Lee outpitches Zack Wheeler to lead Phillies by Mets  —  NEW YORK — Philadelphia's Cliff Lee outpitched Zack Wheeler after the Mets learned All-Star starter Matt Harvey has a partially torn ligament in his right elbow, Cody Asche had a two-run triple, and the Phillies beat New York 2-1 Monday night.

Astros shut down Appel, two other prospects  —  CHICAGO — Right-hander Mark Appel, the No. 1 overall pick in June's First-Year Player Draft, made his final start of the season Sunday for Class A Quad Cities, which clinched a playoff berth in a 5-1 win.  Appel allowed one run and four hits …

Royals, Red Sox Swap Berry For Mortensen  —  The Royals and Red Sox have swapped outfielder Quintin Berry for right-hander Clayton Mortensen, according to Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal (Twitter link).  —  Berry, 28, was claimed by the Royals from the Tigers on June 4 but quickly outrighted to Triple-A Omaha.

Baseball's Biggest Coaching Bias  —  Most of our writers didn't enter the world sporting an @baseballprospectus.com address; with a few exceptions, they started out somewhere else.  In an effort to up your reading pleasure while tipping our caps to some of the most illuminating work …

Baseball looks to protect catchers  —  The big news in baseball Monday revolved around the partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in Matt Harvey's right arm.  —  Such elbow injuries remain a source of immense frustration within the sport; one scout texted me on Monday, saying …

Lincecum, Pence, Lopez all claimed but all expected to stay in SF  —  Giants stars Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence and Javier Lopez all went on waivers Saturday, and all were quickly claimed by teams.  However, “none of them are going anywhere,” according to someone familiar with the situation.

McCarthy, Goldschmidt Lift DBacks Over Padres 6-1  —  PHOENIX — Brandon McCarthy turned in seven strong innings, and Paul Goldschmidt drove in two runs to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 6-1 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.  —  After a shaky first inning, the 6-foot-7 McCarthy …

Pierzynski, Rangers use long ball to beat Mariners  —  SEATTLE — A.J. Pierzynski hit a three-run homer, Mitch Moreland had a solo shot and the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 8-3 on Monday night.  —  Alex Rios had two hits and two RBIs as the Rangers picked up their fifth win in seven games.

Helton Homers as Rockies Beat Giants 6-1  —  DENVER — Todd Helton homered to move within three hits of 2,500, and the Colorado Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants 6-1 on Monday night.  —  Juan Nicasio tossed six shutout innings and added an RBI single, and Charlie Blackmon also homered for the Rockies.

2013 Houston Astros: Baseball's Worst Team Is The Most Profitable In History  —  Almost no one in the Houston Astros organization is making big league money.  The highest-paid player is pitcher Erik Bedard, who is playing on a one-year, $1.15 million contract.  No one else is pulling in over $1 million a year.