Wednesday's first pitch

Leading Off
Here's the lead to an AP exclusive:

Hank Aaron wants to shine some more light on baseball's steroid era.
The former home run king favors releasing the full list of players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.
In a wide-ranging interview Tuesday night with The Associated Press, the Hall of Famer said releasing the list would help Major League Baseball get past its drug stigma. The list was supposed to remain anonymous and is now under court seal, but big names have continued to leak out.
"I wish for once and forever that we could come out and say we have 100 and some names, name them all and get it over and let baseball go on," Aaron said. "I don't know how they keep leaking out. I just wish that they would name them all and get it over with."
Aaron also wanted to make a few other things clear.
No, he has not spoken with commissioner Bud Selig about banned Pete Rose being reinstated in baseball. But he does think it's time Rose, the career hits leader, be reinstated and voted into the Hall of Fame.

Regional Roundup
Nats fans are proud. For a day.

• All of a sudden, the World Champs have too much pitching. Jimmy Watch: 2-for-5, home run, run scored, two driven in, strike out. He crossed the .241 barrier.


• Another O's pitching prospect, rushed to the bigs, delivered.


• Josh Willingham is getting noticed. Adam Dunn says Tuesday's game was the Nats' best win of the season.


• How bad are the Pirates? They came within six outs of being no-hit by a guy sporting a 6.75 ERA.

Best of Rest
A slugger breaks out. A stud pitcher gets rocked.

• Albert Pujols entered Tuesday's game in one of the worst slumps of his career. So he bounced back as only the Prince of St. Louis could: A grand slam. Another home run.


• Roy Halladay didn't look like an ace against the Yankees.


• Tony Massaratti has a good take on the David Ortiz issue.


• Jarrod Washburn suffered the same fate as many of his new teammates on the Tigers: a lack of run support.


• Greetings from Chavez Ravine.


• Bill Dwyre says it's going to be the World Series of the Angels.

Batter's Eye

• Sports Illustrated has a good story on a lack of African American play-by-play broadcasters. Would you believe there are just four in all of Major League Baseball?

Today in history
1921 -- Pittsburgh radio station KDKA and announcer Harold Arlin provided listeners with the first broadcast of a major league game. The Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5.

1969 -- Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell became the only player to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium. Stargell's shot off Los Angeles' Alan Foster cleared the right-field pavilion and landed 506 feet from home plate. Stargell hit the right-field pavilion roof on May 8, 1973, off Andy Messersmith.

2001 -- The Cleveland Indians tied a major league record and became the first team in 76 years to overcome a 12-run deficit to win, defeating the Seattle Mariners 15-14 in 11 innings. Jolbert Cabrera's broken-bat, one-out single in the 11th, the 40th hit of the game, scored Kenny Lofton from second with the winning run to end the 4-hour, 11-minute game. The Indians, who fell behind 12-0 after three innings, trailed 14-2 when they batted in the seventh.

The Closer
This is going to be fun as we come down the stretch.
On Tuesday, Evan Longoria helped the Rays inch closer to the Red Sox.
Boston is a half-game behind the Yanks while the Rays are within six of each.
The Rays have seven games left with Boston and four with the Bombers. That means they'll have to capitalize on the head-to-head match-ups.
That said, Joe Maddon's club will make a tough West Coast swing this week. After that, they will have nine games left against the Orioles and Blue Jays.
The rest of the Rays schedule includes the Rays, Rangers, Mariners, Tigers and Angels.
Only the Angels and Rangers have a better record than the Rays, so they could pull this thing out.