The Closer: The Cubs; Good For What Ails Ya

Notes from a day in baseball:

• 1. The DL Giveth, And The DL Taketh Away. Our story so far: The Cardinals' Jim Edmonds, he of the 3-for-29 hitting slump, was all set to go on the DL on Sunday with a pulled abdominal muscle. But then St. Louis placed Albert Pujols on the 15-day DL (he'll have an MRI today; we'll be getting into this a big later, whenever we stop vomiting). Not spry enough to play the outfield but just right for first base, Edmonds returned to the lineup and went 3-for-3, with 2 RBI in the Cards' 9-6 win over the Cubs.

• 2. Motown Blues. Kind of sad to watch the Tigers disintegrate like this; we were kind of hoping they would last through July. The Red Sox touched them for four homers on Sunday (David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Alex Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis), and drew two bases-loaded walks got claim an 8-3 win, winning the series 2-1. Boston is now at the New York Yankees — or a reasonable facimile — for four games. • 3. M*A*S*H, Starring The New York Yankees. The Yankees are also disintegrating before our eyes, but in a different way. Now its Derek Jeter who is screaming for a medic after being hit with a pitch in the thumb. X-rays were negative. New York was also missing Jason Giambi (stomach virus). But what of the Orioles? Credit Javy Lopez, who hit hit two of Baltimore's four home runs in an 11-4 win.

• 4. Take That, Ted Turner. We don't talk enough about the Braves around here, and, um, that's going to continue today unfortunately, because the Diamondbacks crushed them on Sunday. Tony Clark had two home runs and Damion Easley had a three-run homer as Arizona completed the first four-game sweep in Atlanta since 1995. • 5. Just Kidding, Oklahoma! Gerald Laird had two home runs, two doubles and four RBI to lead the Rangers over the White Sox 10-2. Mark Teixeria also had four hits and four RBI for Texas, and rookie John Rheinecker (2-0) threw eight innings for his second consecutive strong outing, showing that he doesn't want to go back to Triple-A Oklahoma. Hey, would you?