John J Perricone on the Giants: "Let's not let the stunning 18-4 start blind us to the fact that this team is built on solid offense, solid defense, and solid pitching, nothing spectacular other than Superman (who appears to have been hit with some Kryptonite so far this season). They were never going to run away with the NL West, regardless." (Only Baseball Matters)

Zito's mistake allows Twins to rally past A's. The mistake was a three-run pinch-hit homer by Bobby Kielty in the 8th. (ESPN.com)

Eric: "It really felt like the Twins were in the ALDS against Oakland again last night when he got up to the plate. Kielty has probably the best batting eye on the team. After getting down 0-2 in the count, he made Zito try to paint the corners, and got the count to 3-2. He then proceeded to jump on Zito's fastball like a pregant lady on a box of Krispy Kremes. It was definitely a 'play-off' moment, and I jumped off the couch yelling when he crushed that ball." (The Baseball Boys)

The Empire strikes back. "Listening to George Steinbrenner's mini-implosion, denying Roger Clemens his 300th win, and hearing the Yankees whine about their plight gave Red Sox fans a good laugh Monday, but it all came to a screeching halt last night in an 11-3 loss to the Yankees before 44,769 at Yankee Stadium that ended the Evil Empire's losing streak at five games." (Boston Globe)

Matthew Bolin: "Now, the Sox are perfectly set up to leave New York down 2-4 in the season series, with only a ½ game lead, as the fumbling Yankees seem to get their mojo back with their series against the Old Towne Team. Today, Mike "the Sox are my biznitch" Mussina is pitching against Derek Lowe, who this season has resembled that one epsiode of "Square Pegs" where Johnny was a home-run hitting dynamo on his home field, but literally lost the ability to play when at some other school. What do you expect, though--this is an odd-numbered year." (Boston Blog Sox, May 28 entry)

Bi-Weekly Review: N.L. East. "Okay, everybody that had the Expos with the second best record in baseball through May, take a step forward. Not all at once, people…" (Baseball Primer)

Moyer deal nothing to Bragg about for Boston. "As [Roger] Clemens nears his 300th victory, consider these comparisons. Since leaving the Red Sox as a free agent following the 1996 season, Clemens is 107-43 and has been paid $59 million. Since the Red Sox traded [Jamie] Moyer to the Mariners earlier that year, he is 105-50 and has been paid $31.5 million." (ESPN.com)

Conversation with Vernon Wells.

Question: Torii Hunter has so much energy, he's always bouncing around. Are you as calm inside as you seem outside?

Wells: I keep a lot of things inside. I don't like showing too much emotion. Early in the minor leagues, they wanted me to show more emotion, but it wasn't me. Torii's a fun guy to watch. He always has a good time, always has a smile on his face. I love hanging out with Torii. We worked out together one offseason. We had a great time. We'll probably work out this winter. We're similar in a lot of aspects, but he likes to clown around more than I do.

Question: Who's a better defensive player?

Wells: I've seen him make some unbelievable plays. If we get the exact same ball, who's to say whether I'm gonna have to dive for it and he'll get it standing up, or vice versa? I'll let everybody else make that comparison.

(ESPN.com)

David Pinto lists the major league leaders in Win Shares. Top 5: Delgado-Sheffield-Kearns-Furcal-Soriano. (Baseball Musings)

Dan McLaughlin: "Maybe you've noticed, maybe you haven't, but Robby Alomar's putting together a decent year; even after a fairly slow week, he's still sporting a .361 OBP and a slugging average near .400, he's leading the team in walks and runs scored, and he hasn't been caught stealing in 5 attempts. Lesson: sell. Alomar's still got a big name, and with just this year on his contract, a contending team should be willing to take a flyer." (Baseball Crank)

Mariners' Ichiro still focus of media horde. "'It's so boring,' says Kunitsugu Nishimura, a writer with The Hochi Shimbun newspaper. '"How about today's hit?" "How about today's hit?" Every day.... (But) the Japanese people are hungry for Ichiro.'" (Kansas City Star)