The Rockies also have kicked the tires on Oakland A's pitchers Rich Harden and Joe Blanton and Texas Rangers starter Kevin Millwood. Harden is hurt, limiting interest; Blanton is currently not available. And while the Rangers will listen on Millwood, they want the right players in return, not salary relief.

"The motivation is the playoffs," he said. "We got a taste of it last year, and we know we're close. I don't worry about that other stuff."

GM Rueben Amaro said it was too early to say whether the team would look to re-sign Burrell, who is third in the National League with nine homers.

Burrell admits to having one personal motivation: making his first all-star team.

Cashman had previous expressed interest in the Philadelphia Phillies' GM job, and it just so happens that the man in that post, Pat Gillic, will retire in the fall. A possible match, yes, but it would take a collapse in both cities to make a marriage likely.

However, Cubs officials emphatically shot down rumors that had Pie possibly going to the San Diego Padres for shortstop Khalil Greene.

Who could have possibly seen it coming? And yet, here we are, the first week of May, and the two whiz-kid starting pitchers, on whose sturdy right shoulders GM Brian Cashman had invested not just his reputation but the whole 2008 Yankee season, are both out of the rotation with no timetable for any return.

Just four days after placing Hughes on the disabled list with a stress fracture of his rib (origin unknown), the Yankees shipped his equally struggling rotation stablemate, Kennedy, to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre yesterday with the somber acknowledgment that he needs to get away from the big league microscope to get his confidence and command back.

The man on McCready's arm was as broad as a barrel and played the part of a perfect gentleman to Inge and her second husband. That day, he signed a softball for Inge, since she had no baseballs in the house. In past years, he'd called Inge's home looking for her daughter. He'd flown Inge's sons on his private plane and bought a sleek set of golf clubs for Tim McCready, their father and Inge's first husband, just like the ones Clemens used. He'd even asked Tim McCready for permission to have a relationship with his daughter.

All was fine until the visitor mentioned something that caught Inge off guard. "A conversation about his sons came up," Inge says. Then it hit Inge: Roger Clemens, father of four, was still married.

"I know that many people want to know what I have to say about the recent articles in the media," Clemens said. "Even though these articles contain many false accusations and mistakes, I need to say that I have made mistakes in my personal life for which I am sorry. I have apologized to my family and apologize to my fans. Like everyone, I have flaws. I have sometimes made choices which have not been right."

Clemens also addressed the notion that he may have started an improper relationship with country singer Mindy McCready when she was 15. Citing numerous anonymous sources, the New York Daily News reported last week that Clemens began his relationship with McCready when she was 15. The tabloid claimed Clemens "carried on a decade-long affair with country star Mindy McCready, a romance that began when McCready was a 15-year-old aspiring singer performing in a karaoke bar and Clemens was a 28-year-old Red Sox ace and married father of two."

In his statement, Clemens addressed the McCready story: "Now, I have been accused of having an improper relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Nothing could be further from the truth. This relationship has been twisted and distorted far beyond reality. It is just one of many, many accusations that are utterly false."

The Dodgers, Padres and Orioles all have varying degrees of interest. The Rockies are operating under the premise that Tulowitzki will be gone for a minimum two months, possibly three. They have internal options to cover the middle infield. Clint Barmes will take over at shortstop, a position he last manned regularly in 2006.

Second base is trickier, particularly if Jeff Baker doesn't recover quickly from the broken blood vessel in his right middle finger. He hopes to be available Friday when the Rockies resume play. Rookie Jonathan Herrera and Omar Quintanilla are other alternatives at second base. Barmes could also return to second, if necessary.

"I don't know," Tulowitzki said. "It's obviously frustrating."

Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd said the team will play it safe with one of its best players. O'Dowd said: "It will take as long as it takes. I think it's our responsibility that we get him back at 100 percent. We don't want to do anything that could hurt his long-term major- league career."

"I wasn't using my legs as much as I thought I was," Myers said. "In my last start [in Pittsburgh], my leg was straight and I wasn't getting any drive off of it. Instead of just throwing the ball as hard as I can and trying to throw strikes, I was trying to paint like I'm Greg Maddux or something. That doesn't work for me."

Manager Charlie Manuel suggested Tuesday that Myers (2-2, 5.11 ERA) also improve his conditioning. It's been a topic of discussion for Myers in the past.

Willie Randolph has been noncommittal about where Alou will bat. But with Luis Castillo recently warming up, it's seems justifiable to leave him in the No. 2 hole rather than use Ryan Church there. That means Alou could bat fifth, Church sixth and Carlos Delgado seventh. The .198-hitting Delgado, who is in a profound rut other than a two-homer game Sunday, hasn't batted that low since Sept. 30, 1995, as a 23-year-old Blue Jay.

The skidding starter, who was placed on the disabled list after Wednesday's game with what the Yanks originally called a strained oblique muscle, is expected to be out until at least July with a stress fracture in the ninth rib on his right side after undergoing X-rays and an MRI exam yesterday, GM Brian Cashman announced.

"In four weeks we'll see where he is in the healing process. ... Starting pitchers take longer than anybody (to come back) because they have to build their arm strength up and their ability to go deep in games," Cashman said before last night's series finale against the Tigers. "We presumed (Hughes' problems were) more mechanical and maybe getting to be a confidence issue because of that, but now we know. This certainly explains why his fastball command ... has been uncommonly off."

Suffice to say that turning the calendar page to May didn't brighten the outlook at the Stadium, an outlook that is becoming gloomier by the day. Kennedy wasn't terrible last night, but another short start put the burden on the bullpen, and, let's face it, that's asking for trouble. The result was an 8-4 loss to the Tigers, which completed a sweep that was all too revealing of the Yankees' problems. Right now it looks like Chien-Ming Wang will have to duplicate Ron Guidry's 25-3 season of 1978 for the Yankees to seriously contend in the AL East.

Just as in the case of Hughes the other night, it's fair to ask whether Kennedy is ready to succeed in the big leagues right now. New York manager Joe Girardi, in fact, made a point of noting the Yankees won't need a fifth starter much in May because of off-days, and said they needed to figure out "what's best for Ian Kennedy."  It sounded an awful lot like a bus ticket to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for Kennedy to work out his problems, but we'll see.

Asked about the possibility of owning the Cubs, he replied, "I don't know honestly. I'm here to get a better feel. I'm certainly interested."

In a deal that keeps him in the majors and gives the Tigers a deep-minors prospect in return, the Tigers traded Grilli to the Colorado Rockies for 22-year-old Zach Simons, the Rockies' second-round draft choice in 2005. Often a target of boos at Comerica Park, Grilli was into his fourth season as a Tiger. At his best, he was efficient at stranding inherited runners. At his worst, as happened against the White Sox earlier this season, he simply got lit up.

Cruceta has had three outings at Triple-A Toledo ranging from good to outstanding after missing all of spring training because of visa problems. He will join the Tigers today.  Simons will report to Class A Lakeland. In seven appearances this year for the Class A Modesto Nuts, he's 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA, 14 strikeouts and nine walks in 13 ¹⁄³.

"It's a Grade II, so it's an automatic 15-days situation," GM Brian Cashman said. "Whether he's ready to play at the end of that, I can't say. I don't know."

It was clear, too, there was some regret on both sides that Rodriguez had returned too quickly to the lineup after originally hurting the muscle April 20 in Baltimore. "I know our trainers felt comfortable and the player did, too," Cashman said. "In hindsight, we could've done something differently there, but you can't turn it back. We got the process wrong the first time."

The team in baseball with the most to prove, the one that suffered the worst collapse in the history of their team and their city, acts too often as if it has nothing to prove. This is not just because the Mets looked so bad against the Pirates Wednesday afternoon at Shea that you kept waiting for the umpires to use the Little League slaughter rule and call the thing. This isn't because Oliver Perez couldn't throw a strike Wednesday and Luis Castillo couldn't field a routine ground ball and because Jose Reyes' head was once again in the sky above LaGuardia when he should have been covering second base on a rundown play.

It is because of this: Because there have been enough games already when the first month of this season looks like the last two months of last season. The Mets sure aren't the 5-12 team that finished last season. But they should be better than they are, and show more life than they have. A year ago the Mets were the most entertaining team in baseball and too often now they seem like the opposite of that. There are too many days when they all have to get their heads out of the sky. Or somewhere.

The sources said Clemens, a married father of four, arranged trips to Anaheim Stadium for Daly — the latest woman to emerge as an alleged Rocket flame — to watch him pitch forthe Yankees against the Angels. Sources also said he spent time with her in Palm Springs, Calif.The pair met at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, a Palm Springs golf tournament that Paulette Dean Daly has been involved with for many years — including stints as a "Classic Girl," one of the beautiful women who help in ceremonial duties at the event, sources said.

"Yeah, I've known Roger quite a while and we are friends," Daly said Wednesday. She declined to elaborate on the nature of her relationship with the pitcher, but did not deny allegations from several sources that it was romantic and included financial support.

Jennings left Tuesday's game with forearm soreness. He was examined Wednesday by team orthopedist Dr. Keith Meister, who concluded the soreness was part of Jennings' recovery from last year's flexor tendon surgery and not a new injury.

The Rangers will recall left-hander A.J. Murray from Triple-A Oklahoma for Saturday's start at Oakland, but they won't make the move before then unless they run into a pitching crunch. Murray pitched one inning for Oklahoma as a prep session for the upcoming start. Right-hander Scott Feldman, currently in the bullpen, is expected to start Sunday. The Rangers are hoping Gabbard (stiff back) returns to the rotation for a May 8 start at Seattle and Mendoza (sore shoulder) returns shortly after that. Gabbard threw a 40-pitch session in the bullpen and will make a rehab start of four or five innings for Double-A Frisco on Saturday.

"Barry's the most conscientious and caring of guys. That's a burden you have to manage," said sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman, who lists Zito as a client. "You care too much, and 'too' is a deadly word. 'I try too hard.' No good. 'Too' is a killer. It means excessive."

"They used to laugh at Yogi Berra when he said, 'I can't think when I'm concentrating.' But that's true. Thinking and concentrating are two different things," sports psychologist Joel Kirsch said. "Zito thinks too much about pinpointing the pitches. Too much is in his head instead of being aggressive and letting the pitch fly. The less the brain is involved in performance, the higher the performance.''

That's mostly because Jayson Werth played well since Victorino went on the disabled list April 13 with a strained right calf. Werth hit .263 with five home runs and nine RBIs with Victorino sidelined. He also played well in center field, which has Charlie Manuel sounding uncertain about how he will use Victorino.

"If a guy is playing good, it's pretty hard to sit him on the bench," Manuel said of Werth. "I think he should get to play the run out. Who knows? If he keeps playing good, that right there is what makes you an everyday player."

So, with one swipe of Leyland's pen the Tigers have solved a two-way infield problem on their lineup card. Uh, not exactly. Guillen is not a third baseman. He's a shortstop. He will be an improvement over Cabrera, yes, as most infielders would have been over a third baseman who simply does not have the range or the crispness the position demands. But defense will remain an issue at third.

Some people believe Brandon Inge will yet end up back at third for the basic reason he makes the Tigers so much sounder with his defense. Inge returns to third base, where he should have been positioned all along. A pitching staff that has been fighting to squeeze an extra inning out of its starters would get its share of help in that mission if Inge were playing third base. He gets to ground balls that, at an alarming rate during April, have been sneaking past infielders and prolonging innings. Guillen's arrival at third is not likely to help sufficiently in that regard.

"Yes," he said during a phone interview Tuesday night. "Right now I'm sitting at ground zero, taking it day by day, looking at every option to help this team get to the playoffs and end my career the way I'd like to end it."

It was a surprising acknowledgment from Smoltz, who returned to his preferred starting role in 2005 after converting 154 saves in 3½1 seasons as a closer, including a National League-record 55 saves in 2002. He is 47-26 as a starter since the beginning of the 2005 season. The condition of his shoulder, coupled with elbow problems for Braves relievers Peter Moylan and closer Rafael Soriano, has made Smoltz open-minded about moving back to the bullpen.

"There were no problems out there," manager Bob Melvin said. "He has three more days, and by then he'll be fairly close to 100 percent."

Owings, 4-0 with a 3.48 ERA and four quality starts, suffered a sprained right ankle when he landed awkwardly on the second-base bag following his RBI double - his third hit of the game - in San Diego on Saturday. He left the game at that point and has been receiving virtually around-the-clock treatment. With Owings starting Friday, the D-Backs' other starters will stay in turn on five days' rest.

D-Backs pitchers are hitting .273 with 15 hits, nine doubles and nine RBIs. Micah Owings is the leader, hitting .389 with a double and an RBI, and teammates understand that his 2007 Silver Slugger award is safe.

At the same time, Haren had an RBI double Monday for his second RBI of the season, Webb has four RBIs, Doug Davis has two hits in three at-bats and Edgar Gonzalez has an RBI double. Webb still has one more RBI than regulars Josh Bard of the Padres and Willy Taveras of the Rockies. The D-Backs are 9-2 when their pitchers get a hit.

Jennings left fter he allowed five runs on eight hits in two-plus innings.

Jennings was bothered by elbow troubles last season and has struggled with his velocity since spring training. He is 0-5 with an 8.56 ERA.

Botts was designated for assignment and Chris Shelton was promoted to give the Rangers what they hope is a more productive right-handed bat. The club also put Hank Blalock on the disabled list with a partially torn right hamstring. He's expected to miss at least three to four weeks. Outfielder Brandon Boggs was brought up, and Ramon Vazquez and German Duran will platoon at third base for Blalock.

The Rangers have 10 days to trade or release Botts, 27, or get him through waivers before he goes back to Triple-A Oklahoma.

The Mets always seem ready to be beaten, not a team that is ready to win. The moment of defeat may come swiftly as it did on Yadier Molina's home run in the 2006 NLCS or it may take the agonizing path of last year's Great Collapse, but somehow, the way the Mets approach the game leaves them vulnerable for that fatal blow. Until they correct that flaw, they are doomed for ultimate failure.

"It's not where we want him to be, so we're going to shut him down," Girardi announced after Tuesday night's 6-4 loss to Detroit at the Stadium. "He's out at least 15 days, and he's a hard guy to replace....Not the news I was looking for, but this is baseball."

Rodriguez, who aggravated the injury — which kept him out of three games last week — Monday night in Cleveland, didn't talk to reporters upon arriving at the Stadium just before 4 p.m. or before he left for the MRI exam at Columbia Presbyterian shortly thereafter. This will be A-Rod's first DL stint in the three-time AL MVP's five seasons with the Yankees.

Hughes is a mature, poised 21-year-old who has proven he can pitch at this level, but that doesn't mean his head isn't filled with confidence-crushing doubt now that April is officially a disaster for him. Tuesday night he couldn't get out of the fourth inning of a 6-4 loss to the Tigers, surrendering six runs, two on home runs, leaving him with a record of 0-4 and an ERA of 9.00.

GM Brian Cashman made it clear the club is going to consider the idea of sending Hughes to the minors, saying, "It's something we'll talk about."

Now Clemens says that Mindy McCready is doing the same thing wrote New York Daily News columnist Mike Lupica. And you are supposed to believe that revealing a long-term affair with the married Clemens is some sort of canny career move on McCready's part, something that is going to send her right to the top of the country-and-Western charts. As if it is every young woman's dream to be the next Monica Lewinsky.

If you do believe Clemens, more difficult now than it used to be catching up with his fastball, he never had an affair with McCready, he was just engaged in what we now find out was his secret passion: A mentoring program he started up in karaoke bars for promising teenage singers.

As the Daily News first reported Sunday, the Rocket carried on a decade-long affair with country singer Mindy McCready, who confirmed the romantic relationship Monday.

Moyer, a 30-year-old Realtor who lives in the Harrisburg, Pa., area, worked as a bartender from 2000 to 2004 at Sutton Place, a yuppie East Side watering hole. That's roughly the same time the pitching legend played for the Yankees. Moyer acknowledged she knew Clemens, but has declined to discuss the relationship. She was spotted driving up to her father's apartment house Tuesday night, but said only "no comment" when asked about Clemens. She then sped off.

Delgado didn't believe his seventh-inning solo home run Sunday, his second of the game, merited a curtain call. Delgado also insisted he wasn't looking to "send a message" to fans who've booed him and a few of his teammates (mostly the bullpen) throughout April, although he admitted he's unsure whether his non-action will affect his relationship with the home crowd.''

"Sometimes you do things and you have to live with it. If that's the case, that's the case," Delgado said during an engaging 20-minute back-and-forth with reporters. "What am I going to do, turn around and say to Willie (Randolph), 'I'm not going to play because they're booing me?' I don't think that's going to happen, sir."   He also responded, "Not by any means" when it was suggested the constant booing rapidly has turned the Shea atmosphere into an "us-against-them" mentality.

But they're hardly coming home in one piece. On the same day that Jorge Posada went on the disabled list for the first time in his career, Alex Rodriguez aggravated his strained right quad muscle, and it's uncertain when the reigning AL MVP will play again. A-Rod won't be in the starting lineup Tuesday when the Yanks kick off their long-awaited nine-game home stand, and while Joe Girardi said he'd be reevaluated Wednesday, Rodriguez said he figured to miss more than one game.

A-Rod, who missed three games last week after suffering the injury, started his fourth straight game last night, serving as the designated hitter for the second time in three days.

"I cannot refute anything in the story," a tearful but resolute McCready told the Daily News, which broke the story at midnight Sunday.

After the teenage McCready met Clemens at a Fort Myers bar called The Hired Hand, she returned with the Rocket to his hotel room, but there was no sex that night, sources told The News. It wasn't until later, after McCready had moved to Nashville and become a country singing star, that the relationship turned intimate.

Clemens denied the affair through his attorney Rusty Hardin: "At no time did Roger engage in any kind of inappropriate or improper relationship with her," he said. But sources with knowledge of the relationship between the singer and Clemens say McCready has never met Roger's wife, Debbie Clemens.''

I mean, I know the guy's dishonest, arrogant, a bully, a perpetual teenager and quite probably, a steroid cheat. But a little perspective here, please. A ballplayer who cheats on his wife? I am shocked. A young girl who is seduced by the "charms" of an older man, said charms consisting mainly that he has his picture on bubblegum cards and an obscenely outsized paycheck? I am double-shocked.

With all due respect to my good friends at the New York Daily News, aside from the age of his alleged mistress at the time of their meeting, this is one big non-story, important to all of four people on planet Earth — Mindy McCready, the woman in question; Brian McNamee, who is being sued by Clemens for defamation; and Mr. and Mrs. Roger Clemens of Katy, Texas.

A strained right calf limited him to six outings in spring training, and, because of the Dodgers' poor form to start the season, he's had only four save opportunities. He has posted a 2.61 earned-run average in nine outings, up from 1.40 last season.

Saito didn't pitch once on the Dodgers' five-game trip to Atlanta and Cincinnati this month, and his six consecutive games without an appearance were the most in his major league career. Saito may be 38 and he may have played 14 professional seasons in Japan before coming to the United States in 2006, but the experience is new to him. When he was the closer for the Yokohama BayStars in 2001 and 2002, he said, he had prolonged periods of inactivity, but they fell in the middle or at the end of seasons.

"No," Righetti said, "because who the hell is going to pitch? We're not that deep in starting pitching."

Then Zito lost again, on Sunday, and this afternoon the Giants sent him to the bullpen.

"We can't keep doing what we are doing," Manager Bruce Bochy said earlier. "We have to get this guy right."

The Giants have not had a 20-game loser since they moved from New York to San Francisco in 1958. The San Francisco record is 18, by Ray Sadecki in 1968.

"I'll see how it feels when I get in here [Monday]," said Sizemore, who tested it during batting practice. "There was no point putting me in there if I couldn't help the team."

There was the possibility Sizemore would keep the streak alive at least as a pinch-hitter. While he started 376 times during the streak, there were six games he was used as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement. Before the game, manager Eric Wedge that would be the case if the opportunity presented itself.

"We just didn't have a situation to do it," Wedge said. "If we had a situation arise, he would have been in there. But the way they were pitching, it never came up."

Glavine's final bullpen test Sunday went well, and the 42-year-old left-hander said his right hamstring has healed sufficiently.

But Soriano's bullpen session an hour later didn't go as smoothly. On the disabled list with elbow tendinitis, Soriano still had some soreness when he tested his arm Sunday, his first time on the mound since April 6.

"He felt it a little," manager Bobby Cox said as the right-hander walked past on his way to the clubhouse from the bullpen.

Honeycutt said the reason he and Manager Joe Torre tinkered with the rotation was to find a way to get the most out of the bullpen. Nearly a month into the season, Honeycutt said he feels the most comfortable having two left-handers, Kuo and Joe Beimel, available in relief.

Loaiza made it through his five innings on 70 pitches and Honeycutt said the right-hander could probably throw 85 to 90 in his next start, Saturday in Colorado.

Following the loss, Manuel and Myers met behind the manager's closed office door for about 10 minutes. Myers has given up at least two home runs in four of his six starts, and has allowed 10 this season. Normally, the righthander's fastball tops out in the low-to-mid 90s. For most of the season, including yesterday's loss, it hasn't cracked 89. Manuel said the radar gun show that Myers best fastball was between 92-95 mph.

Bubee, in his fourth season as the Phillies' pitching coach, acknowledged the drop in velocity, but said it might be corrected if Myers improved his preparation prior to starts. Dubee said Myers doesn't like participating in long-toss prior to his starts, which the pitching coach said helps build arm strength.

But despite the .177 average he takes into tomorrow night's three-game set against the Blue Jays that will take the team through May 1, the month has not been a total washout for Ortiz. Eighteen big-league players began the day yesterday with 20 or more RBIs in the season's first month. A total of 199 big-leaguers have driven in 20 or more runs in April since the start of the decade.

Ortiz, who has 20 RBIs so far, is the only player in that group to have an average below the Mendoza Line, as a .200 average is known. The next lowest batting average among that group belongs to Ken Griffey Jr., who was batting .217 for the Reds when he drove in 24 runs in April 2000. Further research by Rays crack publicist Chris Costello shows that since at least 1956, no player hitting under .200 has driven in as many as 20 runs through April. The closest was Mickey Tettleton, who knocked in 19 for the Tigers while batting .185 in April 1993.

Or that fallout could be the five-game losing streak the Boston Red Sox take into their three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays. Between the illness that affected the team, especially the starters, and the injuries to David Ortiz (bruised right knee) and Sean Casey (right hip flexor), the roster has been decimated, leading to 10 moves since last Tuesday.

"The crazy part is everyone's been on flu medication, so I've been Nurse Ratched all week," head trainer Paul Lessard said. "Medication time . . . "

It all started last Sunday when Jason Varitek started feeling ill. He didn't miss a start that day, since knuckleballer Tim Wakefield was on the mound, but the catcher wouldn't appear in another game until late in Friday night's matchup with the Rays. Josh Beckett caught the illness, perhaps leading to the stiff neck that ended his chances of starting Tuesday. Then it hit Manny Delcarmen and Matsuzaka, not to mention a host of staff and coaches.

Smoltz, the 40-year-old future Hall of Famer, said he needs to have his shoulder looked at by medical staff after pitching four substandard innings and taking the loss in the 6-3 defeat Sunday at Shea. Jones was shelved for a second straight day with back spasms. While Jones' situation doesn't appear to be a long-term issue, Smoltz's could be. He seemed to be unclear about what to do about it and even brought up the possibility of missing starts to get right.

"I'm going to get it checked and we'll see if we have to rest it . ... or what," Smoltz said. "I can't pitch like that. ... I can't help this team like that. "The next couple days I should know what path we're looking at."

"n MRI taken a few weeks ago showed a mild strain of the subscapularis muscle in his shoulder, which, by definition, is a tear. Posada took a cortisone shot last week to help him deal with the discomfort, but after making two solid throws on Saturday, he couldn't throw effectively while warming up yesterday, causing him to be scratched from the lineup less than 15 minutes before first pitch. Posada had surgery on the same shoulder in November 2001 to repair a small tear in the labrum. Dr. James Andrews, the orthopedist who performed that surgery, will examine Posada sometime this week at the catcher's request.

"I'm not concerned long-term, I'm concerned short-term. We're probably not going to have him for a while," Joe Girardi said. "I would hope that it would only be 15 days, but we'll have to see."

The revelations could torpedo claims of an unsullied character that are central to the defamation suit Clemens filed Jan. 6 against his former personal trainer Brian McNamee. Vivid details of the affair could surface in several media projects that McCready is involved with — including a documentary that begins filming today in Nashville, a new album and a reality show. McCready, who lives on a quiet, tree-lined street in Nashville, is attempting a career comeback following a string of legal and personal woes. Contacted by the Daily News Sunday through his lawyer Rusty Hardin, Clemens confirmed a long-term relationship but denied that it was of a sexual nature.

"He flatly denies having had any kind of an inappropriate relationship with her," Hardin said. "He's considered her a close family friend. ... He has never had a sexual relationship with her."

Hardin said the Rocket's wife, Debbie, knew McCready and that the singer had traveled on his plane.

In the case of Washington, whose Rangers have gotten off to a dreadful, worst-in-baseball start after finishing last in the AL West at 75-87 in his first season as manager in '07, his firing would seem inevitable although, to be fair, his boss, GM Jon Daniels, has done an abysmal job of acquiring any kind of decent pitching in his own three years on the job.

How bad is Joba Chamberlain's left hamstring injury? Is Ian Kennedy pitching for his spot every time he takes the mound? Is Alex Rodriguez's quad healthy enough for him to resume full-time third-base duties? It's hard to answer any of these questions definitively, as the Yankees, losers of three in a row and six of their last nine, have taken a tight-lipped approach to just about everything.

With Brian Bruney out for the season, Chamberlain is more important than ever. But with the game tied at 3 in the ninth inning Saturday, the flame-throwing righthander was nowhere to be found.

There were talks with the Los Angeles Dodgers when Nomar Garciaparra went down with an injury, but the deal couldn't be worked out to Williams's satisfaction. From the category of "best trades not made," we give you a third baseman who had driven in 21 runs entering last night's game and has been a vital cog in the White Sox' good start.

"I got a few inquiries, but I never came close to trading him," said Williams. "I kept saying that. And nobody believed me until Opening Day when he was on our roster."

When Reds owner Bob Castellini brought in Walt Jocketty as a special adviser — after Jocketty had been forced out of St. Louis — most figured Krivsky had to win quickly. Castellini is intensely competitive and wants a winner in a great baseball town. But his impatience is becoming the norm around baseball.

Anderson was hitting .234 this season and .159 in his last 44 at-bats before Saturday's game against the Tigers. Kotchman was batting .329 with a team-leading six home runs and 16 RBIs. Does Scioscia envision Kotchman hitting cleanup for a while?

"Right now, it's a good fit," Scioscia said, "but if G.A. is swinging like he can, we're going to be deeper with him batting cleanup."

The mishap in the fourth inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers' 11-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium resulted in a delay of more than 10 minutes and camera flashes to go off in every section of the stands as Dodgers trainers attended to the umpire. Danley lost consciousness for a few seconds, but was coherent and breathing as he was being treated at the scene.

He waved to the crowd as he was lifted onto a stretcher, and he was then taken by an ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital for precautionary reasons. Crew chief Greg Gibson said Danley was receiving a CT scan at the hospital, but was talking. After the game, the Dodgers said Danley was expected to be released from the hospital later that night.

Dodgers' easy win comes with a scare Photos: Dodgers 11, Rockies 3Rookie Blake DeWitt, who was sent down to triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, was called back up to replace Garciaparra and started Saturday's game, going one for four with two runs batted in.

"When it happened, I knew I pulled it," Garciaparra said, recalling the instant he reached for Scott Podesdnik's double

"What we set out to do was accomplished," said Dodgers trainer Stan Conte, who has refused to put Schmidt on a strict timetable. "We'll see how he feels tomorrow. And then we'll set up the new schedule. It's been a long road, so I kind of take this hour by hour."

Schmidt, who was 1-4 in six starts before his surgery in 2007, declined to speak with reporters, but Manager Joe Torre shared Conte's optimism, saying the 35-year-old right-hander tested his full repertoire of pitches.

Bruney, 26, visited foot specialist Dr. William Hamilton at Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan, confirming the team's worst fears. Bruney suffered the injury on Tuesday in Chicago, rolling his foot while running to cover first base.

The Lisfranc injury is uncommon in baseball, although John Olerud suffered the same injury while playing for the Yankees in the 2004 playoffs. Football players have fallen victim to the problem more often, including Giants defensive ends Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck, who both missed significant time with the injury in 2006. Bruney was 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 12 games. In 11-1/3 innings, the righthander allowed two runs on seven hits and six walks, striking out 12.

In the first of what is expected to be three rehab outings for Class-A Rancho Cucamonga while recovering from a strained right triceps, the Angels ace allowed three hits and one run in two innings during the Quakes' California League game against the Bakersfield Blaze at the Epicenter in Rancho Cucamonga. Lackey recorded five of his six outs by strikeout and did not issue a walk while throwing 40 pitches. He gave up a home run to John Whittleman leading off the second inning on a three-and-one fastball down the middle of the plate.

"I thought my stuff was fine but still not ready to go back [to the major leagues]," Lackey said.

So, amid great fanfare, Frank McCourt has revealed he will make a huge monetary commitment to keep the Dodgers accessible and relevant. Here's another way. Bring up Clayton Kershaw. It's time, OK?

The organization's most glittering prospect is ready to have his light shine in the only place that matters. One of baseball's best young arms is ready to throw those swerving heaters and looping curves to the only batters who count. You don't have to use him every five days. You don't have to use him for more than 70 pitches at a time. You can even stick him in the bullpen for a couple of months. But you need to bring up Clayton Kershaw, and you need to do it now.

"I have to tell you," said General Manager Ned Colletti, "that thought has crossed my mind."

Reynolds, born and raised in Oregon and a "Baseball Tonight" regular for 10 years, was fired by ESPN in 2006 following in-house accusations of sexual harassment, which he denied. Shortly before he was dismissed, Reynolds had signed a six-year extension with ESPN.

Bruney, who suffered the injury Tuesday night when he fell down trying to cover first base, is slated to see a foot specialist in New York today. X-Rays taken Wednesday didn't reveal any broken bones but yesterday's MRI exam, which has been sent to team doctor Stuart Hershon, revealed a sprain.

Adding to the dilemma is Ross Ohlendorf isn't available Friday after throwing 49 pitches Thursday night and Kyle Farnsworth leaving with a right elbow problem.