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Baseball Today: Wednesday, June 27

THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW: When last we saw Kason Gabbard, he was shutting down the Atlanta Braves and making the Red Sox feel oh-so-good about their pitching depth. They're probably not feeling as good this morning, as Gabbard (AP Photo, left) allowed more than half the men he faced to reach base -- six hits, six walks and a hit batsman in 21 Seattle trips to the plate -- and lasted only 3 1/3 innings as the Sox lost to the Mariners, 8-7. The Sox have now dropped seven straight games at Safeco Field, which, as Sean McAdam points out, ''is fast becoming what Royals Stadium was to another generation of Red Sox players.'' (To wit: The Red Sox went 15-34 in Kansas City from 1976-84, but that's just part of it. Their five-losses-in-six-games weekend there just after the All-Star break in 1976 got manager Darrell Johnson fired, and they suffered late-season sweeps in '77 and '79 that crippled, if not totally derailed, their divisional chances.) Nothing as mortally wounding is happening, or can happen, at Seattle this time around, but they do make another trip there in August . . .

THE HOUSE'S MONEY: That's what the Sox were playing with last night as both the Blue Jays and Yankees lost well before the Boston game was over, meaning the Red Sox knew their A.L. East lead would stay in double digits no matter what happened. Seattle manager Mike Hargrove, who had plenty of experience doing so while managing the Indians in the 1990s, talks about what it's like to play with a big first-place lead. (Boston Herald)

THE HALF-FULL PORTION OF THE GLASS: Kevin Youkilis got his name in the record books defensively, and he continues to light it up offensively. (Both stories projo.com)

YOU CAN MEASURE DEFENSE WITH STATISTICS: The Red Sox have numbers that prove Coco Crisp (Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach, above) is indeed having the superlative season defensively that we sense he is. (projo.com) In fact, Red Sox defensive metrics say he's having one of the all-time great years with the glove, which could mean he'll be safe come the trading deadline.

NOT GONNA HAPPEN: It appears the Red Sox are out of the Mark Buehrle Sweepstakes. (Boston Herald) And why? Because, according to the Chicago Sun-Times, Buehrle is about to sign a contract extension with the White Sox.

NO RELIEF: The Yankees' bullpen failed them again, as Scott Proctor walked in the winning run -- after the loading the bases on a hit and two walks -- in the bottom of the ninth in Baltimore. (New York Daily News) And maybe we're seeing the start of some internal grumbling, as Andy Pettitte, according to the LoHud Yankee blog, ''seemed to question whether his teammates cared as much as he did.''

ALL BETTER: Johnny Damon says a trip to an Orlando chiropractor on Monday uncovered that his problem was ''four out-of-place ribs,'' not an abdominal strain, and he feels ''like a different person'' after being treated. (New York Daily News)

YOU'RE ON, BIG GUY: The New York Post's Mike Vaccaro thinks the Yankees ''need [Roger Clemens] tonight in a way they so rarely needed him his first time around in pinstripes'' and that this will show whether Clemens can actually give the Yanks something ''other than an age-defying workout every five days.''

OLD-TIMERS' DAY: Clemens is one of seven pitchers over the age of 40 scheduled to start today. (espn.com)

THE BIG 33: The Newark Star-Ledger lists 33 things you might not know about Derek Jeter as he turns 33.

RUN, DO NOT WALK, OUT OF HERE: ESPN's Mike Greenberg strongly urges Alex Rodriguez to flee the Yankees well before he turns 33.

NOT YET: Willie Randolph proclaimed the Mets' struggles to be ''over'' before they took the field last night. Then they played the game. (New York Daily News)

DON'T STOP BELIEVING: Michael Salfino says there's reason to think Carlos Delgado's season-long slump is just a slump, and not the end of the trail. (sny.tv) Maybe so, counters the New York Post's Kevin Kernan, but he still deserves to be booed by Mets fans.

ONE-STOP SHOPPING: There are a lot of individual baseball milestones about to be reached, and SI.com's Tom Verducci lists them all.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED . . . According to the Washington Post, the Orioles may make another run at trying to convince Joe Girardi to be their manager, though probably not until the end of the season.

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! Michael Barrett, traded by the Cubs to the Padres last week, says negative stories about him began popping up in the Chicago media after he left ''because editors wanted stories that would sell papers.'' (Chicago Tribune)

JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH GOOD LABOR TALK: The Biz of Baseball Blog cites a Sports Business Journal article that says MLB may be colluding to keep signing bonuses for amateur draft players down.

BLAST FROM THE PAST I: As Frank Thomas thinks about shooting for 600 home runs, he remembers Walt Hriniak, a polarizing figure as both Red Sox and White Sox hitting coach. (Toronto Star)

BLAST FROM THE PAST II: Aaron Boone may be sidelined for three weeks because of a bad knee. (mlb.com)

'EARTH TO PIRATES': Bob Smizik thinks the Pirates' proclamations that they're better than their record are ludicrous, and changes need to be made. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

LOCAL BOYS: Ex-Providence College star John McDonald has won the starting shortstop job with the Blue Jays. (Toronto Globe and Mail)

WHISPERS: The Dodgers are the latest team rumored to be interested in Jermaine Dye (Chicago Tribune) . . . Padres GM Kevin Towers said the Pads had ''mild interest'' in Milton Bradley, who was designated for assignment last week by the A's, but talks with Oakland ''never got very far'' (San Diego Union-Tribune) . . . Remember yesterday's note that Jacque Jones was about to be traded? Apparently he was, but the deal to the Marlins hit a snag (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) . . . Any thoughts the Orioles had about trading Miguel Tejada ended when he broke his wrist (Washington Post).

OLD FRIENDS: Kelly Shoppach had a night to remember for the Indians Unfortunately, he had it at the expense of Alan Embree (ESPN.com) . . . Pedro Martinez threw 45 pitches of batting practice yesterday (New York Daily News) . . . Shea Hillenbrand wants out of Anaheim (Los Angeles Times).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:03 AM | Permalink