AMERICAN LEAGUE

Devil Rays vs. Red Sox
Tampa Bay: At least one team seems to handle Pedro Martinez well. The Devil Rays haven't lost to him in his last three starts against them, the only AL team with a streak that long. Martinez left Boston's 7-3 win Monday night in the fourth inning with a stiff right shoulder. ... 2B Miguel Cairo is having a series he may not soon forget. On Monday, he hit his first homer of the season, a three-run shot off Martinez. And Tuesday night, he singled in his first two at-bats, making him 6-for-8 in his career against Jeff Fassero. Boston: The team's search for a productive third baseman continued Tuesday as Lou Merloni made his second straight start at the position since being recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket. He had returned to the International League team after starting the season in Japan. Boston already has used John Valentin, Wilton Veras, Manny Alexander, Ed Sprague, Sean Berry and Jeff Frye at third base. ... Boston entered the game with 31 stolen bases, second fewest in the majors behind Oakland. But the Red Sox tied their season-high with three steals Monday night. ... Martinez said he expects to start as scheduled Saturday against Texas.

White Sox vs. Orioles
Chicago: The White Sox had 165 homers through 128 games, putting them on a pace for 227. The team record is 198, set in 1998. ... The White Sox, told by manager Jerry Manuel to be more focused after Monday's 8-2 loss to Baltimore, responded by scoring two first-inning runs Tuesday night. ... Harold Baines, traded by Baltimore to Chicago on July 29, grounded out in his 2000 debut against the Orioles on Tuesday. Baltimore: Delino DeShields got his first start this season in left field Tuesday night. He previously played 2B, CF and DH. ... Manager Mike Hargrove said Jerry Hairston would receive the bulk of the playing time at second base for the remainder of the season. ... RHP Alan Mills, on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, is slated to get a cortisone shot Wednesday. He will remain on the DL for five to seven more days, Hargrove said.

Yankees vs. Rangers
New York: Arthroscopic surgery has been recommended for LHP Allen Watson after an examination of his left shoulder. Watson was placed on the disabled list Friday because of pain in the shoulder. The surgery, which has not been scheduled, was recommended after Watson was examined Monday in New York by a team physician. A dye-contrast MRI examination was performed. Watson has a 10.23 ERA in 22 innings over 17 games, with no saves and no record. ... 3B Scott Brosius turned 34 Tuesday. Texas: RHP Jonathan Johnson was expected to get the second start of his major league career in Wednesday night's series finale until he was forced to pitch in relief early Tuesday for Doug Davis, who gave up 10 hits in just 2 2/3 innings and trailed 7-0 when he left. The Rangers now likely will send Johnson back to Triple-A and call up Brian Sikorski for his major league debut. Ryan Glynn, who was originally scheduled to start Wednesday, has been placed on the 15-day disabled list while tests are being done to determine why he suddenly passed out in the dugout after being pulled out of a game Friday. Johnson's only start in the majors was a no-decision against Seattle in the 1998 season finale.

Royals vs. Twins
Kansas City: The Royals, who are 10-16 against lefties this season, will face three straight southpaw starters in their series at Minnesota. Despite the poor record, Kansas City has batted .313 against left-handers in 2000. ... The Royals come into Minnesota having lost six straight at the Metrodome. Minnesota: Twins manager Tom Kelly celebrated his 50th birthday Tuesday. ... Both Minnesota and Kansas City are looking for their first winning month of the season. Kansas City enters the series at 7-6 in August, while the Twins are 6-6.

Angels vs. Blue Jays
Anaheim: OF Tim Salmon was the DH against Toronto after missing a game with a tight left groin. ... The Angels play 28 of their remaining 43 games on the road. ... With Troy Percival and key set-up men Mike Fyhrie and Al Levine injured, the Angels are now using three pitchers who were at Triple-A Edmonton 10 days ago (Lou Pote, Eric Weaver and Juan Alvarez). Toronto: RHP Joey Hamilton, who had shoulder surgery last September, will make his first start of the season on Saturday. Hamilton completed a rehab stint at Triple-A Syracuse, where he went 2-2 with a 3.66 ERA in six starts. To make room for Hamilton in the rotation, the Blue Jays moved struggling RHP Kelvim Escobar to the bullpen. Escobar is 7-13 with a 5.42 ERA. ... David Wells made his 300th career start.

Tigers vs. Mariners
Detroit: When the Tigers scored eight runs in the fifth inning of their 15-4 victory over the Mariners at Safeco Field on Monday night, it was their most runs in an inning since Aug. 22, 1997, when they scored 11 times against Milwaukee in the seventh. ... Detroit's 11-run winning margin was the largest ever in 102 games at Safeco. ... GM Randy Smith and his wife, Erin, had their second child Monday. The baby boy weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces. Shane Cooper Smith has a big brother, Quinn. Seattle: Al Martin hit his first AL homer Monday night for the Mariners, but it was his second homer at Safeco Field. He homered June 4 for San Diego against Seattle's Kazuhiro Sasaki. ... Seattle went into Tuesday night's game with errors in four consecutive games, tying a season high. The Mariners also made errors in four games in a row July 22-25. The Mariners have committed eight errors in their last three games.

Indians vs. Athletics
Cleveland: OF Manny Ramirez was back in the lineup Tuesday night, but at designated hitter. He was supposed to return to right field Monday, but was given the day off because his strained left hamstring was bothering him. Ramirez made his 25th start at DH since coming off the disabled list July 13. ... David Segui was at first base Tuesday night to make room for Ramirez. Segui was scheduled to start in right field to replace Ramirez, but a sore left foot has restricted his ability to play in the outfield. ... 1B Jim Thome was not in the starting lineup because Oakland starter Mark Mulder is left-handed and Thome is batting .230 against lefties this season while Ramirez has a .415 average and Segui is batting .315 against lefties. Oakland: OF Terrence Long was kept out of the starting lineup as a precautionary measure after he suffered a rib contusion making a diving catch on Monday night. A's manager Art Howe said he may hold him out again Wednesday. "Right now I feel fine,' said Long. "I want to be back in there tomorrow." ... 1B Jason Giambi, who left Monday night's game against the Indians after suffering a strained left shoulder while checking his swing, was in the lineup for the second game of the series as a designated hitter. ... RHP T.J. Mathews was diagnosed with tendinitis in his right elbow after his MRI was examined by Dr. Lewis Yockum in Los Angeles. "He needs to rest until he's pain-free," said Howe. ... Olmedo Saenz, who is on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring, will travel with the A's on their next road trip as he now able to participate in on-field activities. He's not expected to return until Sept. 1 at the earliest.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Giants vs. Expos
San Francisco: The Giants are playing just their fourth game of the season on artificial turf, and first since playing a three-game series in Cincinnati April 18-20. ... Despite losing three of their last four games, the Giants have won 27 of their last 40 games, and 37 of 57. San Francisco is 61-40 since April 21. ... RHP John Johnstone is scheduled to make his first rehab appearance Tuesday night for Class A San Jose. Montreal: The Expos had committed just four errors -- two by pitchers -- in their last 15 games entering Tuesday night's game. Montreal is just 4-11 over that stretch. ... SS Orlando Cabrera made his first start since separating his right shoulder on July 14. ... RHP Hideki Irabu had season-ending surgery on his right elbow Tuesday. Irabu had a bone spur and loose bodies surgically removed from the injured elbow by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.

Dodgers vs. Marlins
Los Angeles: Dodgers C Todd Hundley was scratched from the lineup Tuesday because of a sore right knee. ... Dodgers reliever Carlos Perez has an 0.83 ERA in his past five relief outings, covering 21 2/3 innings. Florida: CF Preston Wilson struck out for the 150th time Monday. He's on pace to break the major league record of 189 set by Bobby Bonds in 1970.

Rockies vs. Mets
Colorado: 1B Todd Helton entered the day 25-for-40 (.625) in his last 10 games, raising his average 24 points to .394. He is at .394 or higher later in the season than anyone since George Brett in 1980, when he was hitting .394 after Sept. 21. ... The Rockies had at least 10 hits in each of the first five games of their current road trip, going 69-for-194 (.356). The Rockies were hitting a NL-low .232 on the road before their current trip. ... Colorado activated RHP Mike DeJean from the 15-day DL and designated LHP Scott Karl for assignment. New York: The Mets topped 2 million in attendance in their 58th home date, three faster than 1999. ... New York starters lead the NL with a 4.21 ERA. ... Game 2 starter Bobby J. Jones is 6-2 with a 2.94 ERA in 10 starts since returning from a stint at Triple-A Norfolk. He was 1-3 with a 10.19 ERA in 10 starts at the time of the demotion.

Diamondbacks vs. Phillies
Arizona: LF Luis Gonzalez has started and batted third in all of the Diamondbacks' 119 games. ... Before Monday's 11-inning, 4-3 victory, Arizona had lost five straight extra-inning contests. The team is 4-6 in extra frames this season. ... Wednesday's starter Armando Reynoso has won his last two starts and is 4-1 in his last seven. ... P Matt Mantei recorded saves on consecutive days for the first time this season when he locked up Monday's victory. Philadelphia: C Mike Lieberthal took batting practice Tuesday night but wasn't in the starting lineup. He left Sunday's game in the fifth with back spasms and didn't play on Monday. Lieberthal leads the Phils with 66 RBI. ... Wednesday's starter Bruce Chen is 2-1 with a 3.74 ERA in six starts with the Phillies. Overall, Chen is 6-1 with a 3.07 ERA in 28 games. ... LHP Mark Holzemer was designated for assignment to make room for RHP Jason Boyd. Boyd was disabled since June 15 with a fractured right hand, which he suffered when he slammed the bench after a bad outing. ... The Phillies will be sending six players to the Maryvale Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League: IF Nick Punto, OF Josue Perez, C Johnny Estrada, RHP Geoff Geary, RHP, John Sneed and RHP Jayson Boyd.

Cardinals vs. Cubs
St. Louis: RHP Andy Benes will probably have his right knee drained when the team returns to St. Louis at the end of the week. Benes has a cartilage problem that stems from a high school injury and has had the knee drained a couple times already this season. He lost his fourth straight decision Monday night. ... The Cardinals have not homered in a season-high five straight games. The last homer was Fernando Tatis' shot in the eighth inning last Thursday against Colorado. ... C Mike Matheny equaled his career high with three hits. He also had three hits July 4 against Cincinnati. Chicago: RF Sammy Sosa hit his 374th career homer to tie Rocky Colavito for 47th on the all-time list. ... A protective device designed by manager Don Baylor apparently saved SS Ricky Gutierrez's hand. Gutierrez was hit by a pitch Monday night but the ball hit the pad. "It saved my season," Gutierrez said of the hard-covered pad that fits onto a batting glove. Baylor has patented the device.

Reds vs. Brewers
Cincinnati: The Reds had lost seven of their last nine home games at Cinergy Field. They are the only team in the majors with a losing record at home (28-30) and a winning record on the road (31-28). ... OF Brian Hunter served the second of his three-game suspension for charging Colorado P Scott Sullivan after being hit by a pitch July 15. ... The Reds haven't been shut out in 2000 (118 games) a team record from the start of a season. Their last shutout came in the 1999 regular-season playoff game against the Mets, who won 5-0 last October. Milwaukee: Opponents have stolen only 61 bases against the Brewers through 119 games this season. Last year, opponents swiped 121 bases in the first 119 games. ... C Henry Blanco is mainly responsible for the turnaround, throwing out 56 percent (31-56) of steal attempts. He's thrown out nine of his last 14 and 24 of his last 40. ... Bob Uecker, who has broadcast Brewers games for 30 years, launched a new product, Bob Uecker's Squeeze Play Lemonade. Profits from the drink will support Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.

Pirates vs. Astros
Houston: Only four other times in Astros' history has the club had two players with 16-game or longer hitting streaks in the same season as Craig Biggio (16 games) and Tony Eusebio (17) have done this year. Those came in 1973 when Lee May (21) and Bob Watson (16) did it; 1977 with Cesar Cedeno (22) and Terry Puhl (17); 1978 with Puhl (18) and Watson (17) and 1982 with Dickie Thon (21) and Ray Knight (16). ... Moises Alou, who leads the Astros with a .359 average, is hitting even better on the road (.371) than he is at hitter-friendly Enron Field (.345). Alou also has more home runs (12) away than he does at home (10). Pittsburgh: The Pirates are tied with San Diego for the most errors by a National League team and are tied with the Padres and Dodgers for the NL's worst fielding percentage at .977. ... Jason Schmidt, on the disabled list since June 11 with right shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery Thursday in Birmingham, Ala., with Dr. James Andrews.

Padres vs. Braves
San Diego: The Padres still need five more victories in August to post their first winning month since going 18-8 in June last year. They entered Tuesday night's game with a 10-4 record for the month with 15 games remaining in the month. The Padres are 12-5 in games decided by two runs or less since the All-Star break, including an 8-3 mark in one-run games. ... Fifty-one different players have appeared in at least one game for San Diego this season, five fewer than the major league mark set by the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics. The NL mark is 54 held by the 1967 New York Mets and 1996 Philadelphia Phillies. Atlanta: As expected, OF Reggie Sanders came off the 15-day disabled list before the game and George Lombard was optioned to Triple-A Richmond. Sanders has been sidelined since July 28 with a strained left hamstring. ... The three singles and a double by Chipper Jones on Monday night moved him to within two hits of the 1,000 mark in his career.