Baseball blotter

The author assumes a lot of golf was played by large, athletic men on Monday. With just five games on the Major League Baseball docket, there was lots of down time for your favorite players to wager more money than you're going to make today per hole. What the schedule lacked in quantity, it desperately tried to make up for in quality pitching match-ups.

Haren tops Beckett in Beantown

Oft-scruffy Dan Haren wove a gem in the what has to be the city at the forefront of the Titletown contest. The Snakes' strarter threw seven innings of two-hit ball to best the Red Sox' Josh Beckett in a 2-1 win. But don't feel bad for Josh. He's done alright for himself.

Braves can't hit Sheets

It's never been more exciting to be an athlete in Wisconsin. For the first time in 16 years they have a chance to be the state's favorite son. That is unless this man comes back. The Milwaukee Brewers' Ben Sheets made a strong case to have his poster on a kid's wall by retiring the final 16 Atlanta Braves hitters en route to a 4-1 victory. Sheets improved his record to 9-1.

Who needs a DH?

Felix Hernandez really taught us about the heights and depths of human emotion in less than an hour during Seattle's 5-2 win over the New York Mets. He blasted the first grand slam hit by an American League pitcher in 37 years, but then left the game with an ankle injury after a collision at home plate. Things just aren't going well out there, are they?