The most compelling supporting evidence was at shortstop.

Boston's Nomar Garciaparra led American League shortstops with 412,742 votes but has yet to play a regular-season game this year.

Garciaparra, a five-time All Star, continues rehabbing an Achilles injury and is expected to rejoin the Red Sox Tuesday.

Astros shortstop Adam Everett, who was batting .290 with three home runs, 12 RBI and a .982 fielding percentage through Friday, held a 5,019-vote advantage over Cardinals shortstop Edgar Renteria, a two-time Gold Glove winner and three-time All-Star, in the NL.

Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson's .339 batting average and .495 slugging percentage led all NL shortstops through Friday yet he did not register among the top five in voting.

Updated balloting totals will be released Monday and Tuesday. Though fans choose 18 participants, players, coaches and managers will choose the remaining 46 and therefore can correct any oversights.

Rosters for the July 13 game at Minute Maid Park in Houston will be announced July 3.

PRACTICING PATIENCE: Bob Brenly's job as Diamondbacks manager appears safe for now.

Arizona lost 20 of 29 games in May and finished the month with an 18-33 overall record.

"That's not the story," Diamondbacks chairman and managing general partner Jerry Colangelo said Tuesday. "The story is what's happened to this roster.

"It's not whether Bob Brenly is performing or not."

Arizona has nine players on the disabled list including first baseman Richie Sexson, who underwent season-ending surgery this week to repair torn cartilage in his left shoulder.

Brenly's contract expires after this season.

"It's not my particular style to make change for change's sake," Colangelo said. "It's a tough time for us right now. It's a new experience for this franchise. Patience goes a long way, and doing things rationally goes a long way."

TOUGH BREAK(S): Oakland's offense absorbed another hit last week when third baseman Eric Chavez suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right hand.

Chavez, who batted .282 with 29 homers and 101 RBI last season, is expected to miss up to six weeks.

"I'm nursing a hangover," A's general manager Billy Beane said Wednesday. "I usually sleep pretty good, regardless of the game, but I didn't sleep very well (Tuesday night)."

Chavez's injury costs the A's another of their starters.

Second baseman Mark Ellis dislocated his shoulder in late March and will miss the entire season.

GETTING CLOSE: Phillies closer Billy Wagner is scheduled to pitch in a minor-league game today, and could be activated from the disabled list Tuesday.

Traded to Philadelphia during the offseason, Wagner has had eight saves in nine opportunities while appearing in 13 games this season. He has missed the past 29 games with a groin injury.

LAST WORDS: The Indians are proving to be a streaky team.

Cleveland has had four losing streaks of three or more consecutive games and three winning streaks of three or more games already this season.

"I hate streaks," Indians outfielder Jody Gerut said. "The bad ones for obvious reasons. The good ones because they come to an end.

"I like consistency. It's easier on the ticker."

Odds and ends

• The Cubs traded infielder Damian Jackson to the Royals on Monday for Gookie Dawkins and a player to be named later. Dawkins was batting .223 with four home runs and 17 RBI in 48 games at Triple-A Omaha.

• Cardinals general partner Bill DeWitt Jr. told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch last week that the team was looking to land either the 2008 or 2009 All-Star Game.

• Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of the first Blue Jays game at the SkyDome in Toronto. It is the 18th oldest ballpark in the majors.

• Twins closer Joe Nathan was 7-for-7 in save situations and did not allow a hit from May 7 to May 30. Opponents were hitless in 26 at-bats during the span.

Hot corner

Vladimir Guerrero drew plenty of attention Wednesday night when he drove in nine runs in Anaheim's victory over the Boston Red Sox.

But that performance was no aberration. Guerrero, the most high profile of last winter's free-agent signings, has been spectacular in his first season in the American League.

Guerrero joined Smarty Jones entering the weekend as a legitimate triple-crown threat.

Guerrero was third in the AL in hitting (.365), second in home runs (14) and first in RBI (50). That, despite the fact the Angels are missing injured sluggers Troy Glaus, Garret Anderson, Darin Erstad and Tim Salmon.

Guerrero's performance brings to mind that of Montreal manager and former Red Frank Robinson.

Robinson was traded from the Reds to the Baltimore Orioles on Dec. 9, 1965 for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dick "Suitcase" Simpson, even though he was coming off a season in which he hit .296 with 33 homers and 113 RBI. Robinson promptly won the AL triple crown, batting .316 with 49 homers and 122 RBI.

Pappas was 12-11 with a 4.29 ERA.

Not-so-hot corner

The Arizona Diamondbacks gave up a boatload to the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason to pry away power-hitting first baseman Richie Sexson. Their reward? A losing record and, oh yes, now they've lost Sexson for the season to shoulder surgery. Making things worse: The players they gave away, including first baseman Lyle Overbay and second baseman Junior Spivey, have led the Brewers to a not-so-bad 27-25 record heading into Saturday.

Stat street

Interleague play begins Monday. Here is how teams have fared after the first seven seasons of interleague play.

NL TEAMS	W-L	BA	ERA
Atlanta Braves	71-47	.273	3.73
Florida Marlins	70-47	.271	4.15
New York Mets	62-56	.260	4.08
Montreal Expos	62-59	.260	4.38
San Francisco Giants	61-49	.272	4.32
Los Angeles Dodgers	60-50	.253	4.03
Houston Astros	57-47	.283	4.40
Philadelphia Phillies	57-61	.263	4.27
Chicago Cubs	52-51	.273	4.44
St. Louis Cardinals	52-51	.277	4.92
San Diego Padres	52-58	.260	4.33
Arizona Diamondbacks	47-44	.276	4.01
Cincinnati Reds	43-54	.261	4.57
Milwaukee Brewers-x	42-55	.275	4.77
Pittsburgh Pirates	42-55	.268	4.57
Colorado Rockies	41-56	.283	5.98
Totals	863-833	.269	4.41
AL TEAMS	W-L	BA	ERA
Oakland Athletics	75-47	.257	4.22
New York Yankees	72-48	.265	3.98
Chicago White Sox	66-55	.263	4.71
Seattle Mariners	65-57	.266	3.84
Anaheim Angels	64-58	.276	4.29
Minnesota Twins	60-60	.275	4.51
Cleveland Indians	60-61	.265	4.13
Toronto Blue Jays	58-63	.264	4.57
Boston Red Sox	56-65	.266	4.38
Texas Rangers	56-66	.281	5.19
Detroit Tigers	53-68	.257	4.27
Baltimore Orioles	51-70	.267	4.68
Kansas City Royals	51-70	.278	5.20
Tampa Bay Devil Rays	38-68	.258	4.74
Totals	833-863	.267	4.48

Note: Milwaukee's 1997 W-L record (8-7) is reflected in the AL totals.

Source: Major League Baseball

Line o' the week

Boston	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
PMartinez	5	11	7	7	2	4	108	4.40

Speaking of Vladimir Guerrero's 9-RBI game last Wednesday against the Red Sox (see Hot Corner, above), guess who was on the receiving end of much of Guerrero's onslaught: Boston star right-hander Pedro Martinez. But the night wasn't a total loss for Martinez - in his 300th start, he raised his career strikeout total to 2,502, tying Christy Mathewson for 25th on the career list. But even his milestone 2,500th strikeout was a battle, as the Angels' Casey Kotchman fouled off 11 consecutive pitches before swinging and missing in the third inning after the count went to 3-0.

MLB power rankings

1. New York Yankees	The book on this team is the real moneyball.
2. Anaheim Angels	First MVP ever to be named Vladimir.
3. St. Louis Cardinals	LaRussa not on McClendon's Christmas card list.
4. Florida Marlins	Resilient fish survived sweep by Reds.
5. Cincinnati Reds	We've got a baaaad feeling about these injuries.
6. Chicago White Sox	Chitown hopping; wait, that's for the Cubs.
7. Boston Red Sox	Nomah's return would help more if he could pitch.
8. Chicago Cubs	Prior looked, well, not rusty.
9. Houston Astros	Why aren't these guys leading the Central?
10. Philadelphia Phillies	Good news: Billy Wags could be back this week.
11. Pittsburgh Pirates	Benson could be key chip, if he was pitching better.
12. Minnesota Twins	Letting White Sox pull away from them.
13. San Diego Padres	Missed big opportunity to bury Dodgers.
14. San Francisco Giants	Contenders? It's got to be Bonds and Schmidt.
15. Los Angeles Dodgers	Phenom starter Edwin Jackson welcome addition.
16. Oakland Athletics	How important is starting pitching? Look at A's lineup.
17. Texas Rangers	Astros not only Texas contender.
18. Atlanta Braves	Smoltz says he'd accept trade, but they're contending.
19. Baltimore Orioles	They'd be right in AL Central race.
20. Detroit Tigers	Dmitri back. He's D'man.
21. New York Mets	Something you didn't know: They lead NL in ERA.
22. Milwaukee Brewers	Danny Kolb, All-Star closer?
23. Cleveland Indians	This will hurt: Junior hits 500 at The Jake.
24. Toronto Blue Jays	Have turned it around, but 5 1/2 back in wild card.
25. Tampa Bay Devil Rays	Lou's men have better record than Seattle. Imagine.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks	Can they get back in mediocre West?
27. Colorado Rockies	When Preston Wilson gets healthy, he's gone.
28. Montreal Expos	How good would Zach Day look in Red?
29. Seattle Mariners	No. 2 in most likely to dump salary ratings.
30. Kansas City Royals	No. 1 in most likely to dump salary ratings.

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Compiled with information submitted by other baseball writers.

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