Kevin Cash is ready to help the Red Sox out at catcher while Doug Mirabelli is on the DL.

Mark Teixeira is still adjusting to the National League with the Braves.

The Blue Jays bullpen hasn’t been used that much since the All-Star break.

Luis Castillo is hitting .328 with the Mets since coming over from the Twins.

The Devil Rays lost Ben Zobrist to the 15-day DL with a strained oblique.

Dontrelle Willis has yet to throw more than 7 innings in a game this season for the Marlins.

Danys Baez is back in a familiar role with the Orioles.

Austin Kearns moved to center so Wily Mo Peña could play right field for the Nationals.

The fans of the Yankees actually like Kyle Farnsworth right now.

J.D. Durbin still has a chance to remain in the Phillies rotation.

Age before youth as far as strikeouts would go on Sunday.

John Smoltz came into today’s game needing 4 strikeouts to pass Joe Niekro’s record of 2,912 with the Atlanta Braves. Smoltz ended the 3rd inning with his 2,913th career strikeout to break the Braves record. Smoltz would go on to add eight more strikeouts for 12 on in the Braves 6-2 win over Arizona.

As Sooze from Babes Love Baseball told me, Johan Santana was “fu&^&! filthy”. Santana and his changeup were dealing on Sunday as he struck out 17 of the 26 batters he faced in his 8 innings. Had his pitch count not been at 112, he probably would have gone back out to try for 20 K’s. Only Kerry Wood and Roger Clemens (2 times) have reached 20 strikeouts in a game. Johan did get the win as the Twins beat the Rangers 1-0.

The 17 strikeouts by Santana broke the Twins record of 15 strikeouts, which had happened 4 times. The last time was back in 1986 by now Twins broadcaster Bert Blyleven.

New Red Sox OF Bobby Kielty shaved his red locks off when the A’s released him.

Angels starter Ervin Santana pitched like he did last year on Friday night.

Brandon Backe got rocked in his latest start for the Astros Triple-A team.

Esteban Loiaza will make his 2007 debut for the A’s on Wednesday.

Frank Thomas is having a pretty good August for the Blue Jays.

The Braves aren’t sure when Edgar Renteria is going to return from the DL.

J.J. Hardy is thriving in the 8th spot for the Brewers.

Cardinals skipper Tony LaRussa sent out an all right-handed lineup against the Cubs.

The guys in the two-spot for the Cubs have been hitting well in front of Derrek Lee.

Injured Devil Rays OF Rocco Baldelli is heading out on a rehab assignement finally.

Micah Owings had a night to remember for the Diamondbacks on Saturday night.

Jeff Kent thinks the Dodgers will make the postseason.

Rajai Davis needs 759 homers to catch his Giants teammate Barry Bonds.

Cleveland was 24 1/2 games out of first at this time last season.

J.J. Putz is more than an one inning closer for the Mariners.

The Marlins showed off their 2007 1st round draft pick before Saturday’s game.

Sandy Alomar, Jr. is back with the Mets.

Wily Mo Peña made his debut for the Nationals on Saturday.

J.R. House hit his 1st MLB home run for the Orioles Saturday.

The Padres hosted a big event for charity all day Saturday.

Chase Utley is chomping at the bit to get back with the Phillies.

Xavier Nady was back in the starting lineup for the Pirates.

Michael Young is the only Texas Ranger with more than 43 RBIs.

Jeff Keppinger is making the most of his opportunity with the Reds.

Rockies skipper Clint Hurdle expects a tight race in the NL West.

Royals pitcher Brian Bannister learned a lot from his dad Floyd.

Tigers OF Cameron Maybin hit his first MLB home run off of Roger Clemens on Saturday.

The Twins honored the 1987 World Series team before Saturday’s game.

Brian Anderson is unsure of his future in the White Sox organization.

Joba Chamberlain is trying to learn as much as he can while up with the Yankees.

I don’t know what my fascination with this is other than to say it will be interesting to see how many home runs Barry Bonds ends up with. He stroked the 760th of his career in the 5th inning today in beautiful Miami against the Marlins.

As Steve reported in the notes and musings from game 1 of the Red Sox doubleheader, Carlos Zambrano is getting paid and paid handsomely.

Zambrano, 26, signed a 5-year, $91.5 million dollar contract extension today with the Chicago Cubs. The contract extension also includes $19.25 player option for the 6th year. It also includes a $5 million dollar signing bonus and a no trade clause for the first 5 years. The deal also makes him the highest paid Cub in history passing Alfonso Soriano’s big contract.

“Not everything is about money, you know,” Zambrano said. “I know if I got to free agency there were a lot of things that would come to me and offer me. I feel comfortable here. I feel good here and my family feels good here.”

“I feel happy right now, feel comfortable right now but it’s not enough,” Zambrano said at a news conference. “I have a mission to complete and I have a way to go with my teammates to lead this team. … It’s not enough when you retire and don’t have the ring.

Big Z had 5-year, $80 million dollar deal all set to go before the season but with the Cubs being put on the block to be sold, the deal never got done. Throughout the whole process, Zambrano had expressed a desire to stay with the Cubbies.

If he had hit the free agent market in the offseason, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and other teams with mad $$$$ were expected to compete for his services. It was thought that on the open market he might get more than Barry Zito’s 7-year, $126 million dollars. Now those teams will have to look elsewhere.

Hopefully Big Z is very careful about returning to his native Venezuela as we have seen what happens to MLB players (Ugueth Urbina) who have come from Venezuela. I am not talking about the murder conviction but rather the abduction of his mother.

Justin Upton sat out for the first time on Thursday since being called up to the Diamondbacks

Ervin Santana will come back from the minors to start for the Angels on Friday.

Randy Wolf may not pitch again for the Dodgers this season.

Dan Meyer will make his first Major League start for the A’s on Friday.

Giants reliever Randy Messenger fessed up that he broke his hand punching an equipment cart.

Raul Ibanez has been having a hot August for the Mariners.

Padres reliever Cla Meredith saw his ERA drop without pitching due to some scoring changes.

The Rangers were able to sign their top draft pick, Julio Borbon, moments before Wednesday’s deadline.

The Rockies bullpen has kept them in playoff contention.

Eric Munson is making his case to be the everyday catcher for the Astros.

Eric Wedge is frustrated with his Indians’ team right now.

The Brewers have lost in Chris Capuano’s last 15 starts.

The Royals have been struggling since manager Buddy Bell announced his retirement.

Rick Ankiel has been showing off his strong arm in the Cardinals outfield.

Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield is looking forward to playing in the Bronx starting today.

Alfonso Soriano is working hard to shorten his stint on the DL for the Cubs.

Matt Garza continues to improve with each start for the Twins.

Ian Snell’s side sessions have helped make him pitch better for the Pirates.

White Sox DH Jim Thome is upbeat despite his recent slump.

Reds OF Ken Griffey, Jr said he will re-enact a scence from the Bad News Bears if he is part of a double-switch ever again.

Barry Bonds isn’t showing any signs of stopping right now as he launched his 759th homer run off of Braves starter Tim Hudson.

One night after breaking John McGraw’s record of 131 ejections with his 132nd, Braves skipper Bobby Cox decided he’d seen enough and got ejected again. This is his 133rd ejection of his career. This all happened in the same game.

And because he was feeling left out of it all against his former team, Ryan Klesko decided to get himself tossed as well.

The Astros plan a big send off for Craig Biggio at the end of the season.

Tim Hudson is having a Cy Young-esqe season for the Braves.

Ben Sheets should return to the Brewers rotation in 2 weeks.

Juan Encarnacion won’t go on the disabled list for the Cardinals.

Aramis Ramirez returned to the Cubs despite his wrist not being 100%.

Tony Clark has helped the Diamondbacks have one of the better pinch-hitting corps in the NL.

The Dodgers placed Nomar Garciaparra on the 15 day DL.

Rajai Davis was surprised to be on the bench to start Tuesday’s Giants game.

Marlins catcher Matt Treanor has no problems sacrificing his body behind the plate.

Mets skipper Willie Randolph has fond memories of Phil Rizzuto.

Mike Bascik will be the “swing man” in the Nationals bullpen.

Brian Giles has played well since returning to the Padres lineup.

The Phillies may go with J.D Durbin instead of Adam Eaton on Friday.

Masumi Kawata was designated for assignment by the Pirates.

Alex Gonzalez left the Reds again for a family emergency.

The Rockies activated Brian Fuentes from the 15 day DL.

That’s right. Bobby Cox broke John McGraw’s record of 131 ejections with his 132nd ejection of his career. Cox was ejected by home plate umpire Ted Barrett for arguing balls and strikes.

Congratulations on the record!