One Grand Salami, Please ... Not On White!

Earlier yesterday, reports leaked that Gary Sheffield said black and white players are treated differently under Yankees skip Joe Torre, Derek Jeter "ain't all the way black," and that he never used steroids because "steroids is something you shoot in your butt," in an upcoming HBO interview. Needless to say, reporters' pre-game questions didn't include: "Gary, will you hit a grand slam tonight?" If only they had prepared a little ...

Because that's exactly what Sheff did, popping his 12th grand slam of his career and 22nd homer on the season, as the Tigers beat the Mariners 6-3 in Seattle. Take note, kids: a real professional always leaves his inane comments off-the-field.

• I'm Confused. Diamondbacks beat the Padres 8-3 on Friday night, improving to 10-1 all-time against Maddux. How does that make any sense? Hasn't Maddux won like, a lot of games or something?

• Singing Winds, Crying Second-Half Beast. Johan Santana throws seven scoreless innings to lead the Twins over the A's, 5-3. Get this: Santanta is now 41-4 with 427 strikeouts in games played after the All-Star break since '03. Try and digest that shit, man. 41-4!

• Mama, There Ain't No Denyin'. Scott Kazmir strikes out seven; Rays blind Clemens and the Yankees, 6-4.