Joe Torre has the best explanation for the Yankees' successful approach against Pedro Martinez or any other great pitcher. They don't try to beat the pitcher, Torre said. They try to beat the other team.

That philosophy has worked well against Martinez, who just made -- and lost -- the first of three consecutive starts against the Yankees. Since he joined the Red Sox in 1998, Martinez is only 4-5 against the Yankees after Thursday's loss. Meanwhile, he hasn't lost more than two games to any other American League team.

The Yankees, however, are a special team, one that knows how to concentrate against a great pitcher. Their veterans, players like Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and Paul O'Neill, have enjoyed consistent success in World Series play, making them better equipped to face Martinez than any other team.

On Thursday, the Yankees were able to beat the Red Sox with Pedro on the mound because Mike Mussina gave up only one run and they managed to score two runs. It's not that Martinez has trouble against the Yankees; his ERA -- 2.68 in 11 starts -- would suggest otherwise. But his team won't win if it scores only one run. So the Yankees didn't beat Pedro; they beat the Red Sox.

Now, to this week's five questions:

With Ryan Klesko leading the way, the Padres are on top of the NL West. Should we be taking them seriously?
The Padres are off to a surprising start. Then again, they are in the NL West, where every team is playing around .500 ball and is within three games of each other. But the Padres must be excited and may have more incentive to add another player who can help them down the stretch.

	Confident he'll be in the lineup every day, Ryan Klesko is lighting up the National League.

Much of the Padres' success can be attributed to Rickey Henderson. At age 42, he was supposed to be finished as a player, but he has walked, gotten on base and hit well. Every team wants a leadoff hitter who gets on base because he has a positive effect on the rest of the team. And the Padres, who were 6-8 before Henderson made his first start, lead the majors in walks and are third in runs scored with him at the top of the order.

Everything in baseball is contagious. Pete Rose didn't draw many walks before I came to the Reds in 1972. But two years after I got to Cincinnati, he walked more than 80 times three straight seasons. Other players see the advantage of a walk and how it can help a team win. Henderson's approach to playing the game has aided the Padres.

I have always been a Ryan Klesko fan. When Klesko was playing minor-league ball in Durham, N.C., Willie Stargell, who was scouting for the Braves at the time, told me Klesko would be a special player. He liked left-handed power hitters for obvious reasons.

When Klesko was with the Braves, he often didn't play against left-handed pitching. Now with the Padres, he knows he will play everyday and is having a fantastic season, hitting home runs and even stealing bases. Players learn as they play and watch the game. Today's pitchers are more concerned about allowing home runs than they are stolen bases. So Klesko has taken advantage of pitchers paying less attention to him when he's on base.

Jeff Bagwell has always been the No. 1 offensive threat in Houston, but how close is Lance Berkman to reaching superstar status?
Berkman is having a monster season. One reason is that he is hitting cleanup behind Bagwell. The league's best hitters -- like Bagwell, Barry Bonds and, when healthy, Ken Griffey Jr. -- can only get protection if they are hitting behind themselves. But Berkman has done a great job hitting behind Bagwell and keeping pitchers honest.

It also doesn't hurt to have Moises Alou behind Berkman and Richard Hidalgo behind Alou. The Astros may have the best lineup in the league. Berkman, as a switch-hitter, is the key because he can break up the Astros' heavy right-handed lineup when he switches to the left side.

In the batter's box, Berkman has a sound approach to hitting. I can understand why he is hitting with more consistency on the road than he is at Enron Field, because he doesn't go to the plate trying to hit a home run. He is aggressive, but he will drive the ball the other way and use the entire field.

Defensively, Berkman has also done a solid job in center field. He does not have the prototypical speed of a center fielder, but he gets the job done.

In light of Jason Kendall's first start in left field, how difficult is the transition to a completely different area of the field?
It's tougher to go from catcher to the outfield, as Kendall did for one game, than it is to go from second base to the outfield, as Chuck Knoblauch has done. While a second baseman has more freedom and is used to chasing popups that come off the bat a certain way, a catcher sees everything in reverse, including the field and the spin on the ball when they catch popups.

Because of the way they squat all the time, catchers are also normally thicker-legged players, making it tougher for them to run in the outfield. But Kendall is not the prototype catcher. He doesn't have the big, thick legs like Johnny Bench, Ivan Rodriguez and others.

Craig Biggio made a more difficult transition, going from catcher to second base. It is tougher to field a ground ball than it is to catch a fly ball. Biggio not only moved to second base but also became a Gold Glove second baseman. He is built more like a second baseman than a catcher anyway. He lacked the size and arm strength to be a catcher. Second base is the perfect position for him.

It is unclear what kind of success Kendall could have in left field. But Biggio made a great move and adjusted quickly. He is the exception, someone who changed positions and excelled.

Have you ever seen a team unravel as quickly as the White Sox?

	SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL
	Chicago (AL) at Detroit 8 p.m. ET, ESPN Play-by-play: Jon Miller Analyst: Joe Morgan Jon Miller will finally get to see Comerica Park! -- JM

No, the White Sox have unraveled the quickest. They have come apart more lately because of comments David Wells made. First, he criticized Frank Thomas, who turned out to have a torn muscle and is now out for the season. Now Wells, who then bashed fans in Cleveland and Toronto and Mets manager Bobby Valentine, wants to leave Chicago. Although I thought the White Sox made a good offseason trade to acquire Wells, he has been a detriment rather than an asset.

Last year the White Sox were one of the best hitting teams in the majors. This year they are not. But it wasn't Von Joshua's fault. He received praise last year for the job he did with the White Sox hitters. But this season he got fired. How can he suddenly become a poor hitting coach?

Two players they added in the offseason -- Sandy Alomar Jr. and Royce Clayton -- have failed to produce. Is that Joshua's fault? He had only a few months to work with Clayton, who has perhaps the worst offensive numbers in the majors.

The White Sox are falling apart because they are not performing and are picking scapegoats. It started with Wells criticizing Thomas and continued when the team fired Joshua. When teams start pointing fingers, the problems become magnified.

If pitching is worse than ever, hitting numbers are out of control and parity is rampant, what one change should MLB implement to make it a better game?
Baseball should raise the pitcher's mound to 12 inches. In 1969, the mound was lowered from 15 inches to 10 inches. Raising the mound would give pitchers more confidence and force the game to be played the way it is supposed to be played.

Teams with the best fundamentals would win more games. Defense would become more important. Instead of teams waiting for the three-run homer, they would have to hit-and-run, bunt and walk more and take more pitches. In today's game, with less pitching and more home runs, teams begin to look the same because there is less reliance on fundamentals.

With a raised mound, only the true home-run hitters would be hitting home runs. All the others -- some who are hitting only 10 to 12 home runs -- would hopefully stop thinking they are home-run hitters and begin doing little things to help their teams win.

Raising the mound is the main change that baseball should implement because it would lead to other positive changes in the game.

Hall of Famer Joe Morgan is an analyst for ESPN.