Arizona Diamondbacks / MLB

 NEW YORK  — Oliver Perez plays baseball like a kid in a school yard — hitting, pitching, stealing bases, experimenting with different arm angles.

CHICAGO - The Diamondbacks’ bullpen faltered for the second straight game as Chicago completed a weekend sweep Sunday.

CHICAGO - Randy Johnson had to put his perfect record at Wrigley Field on hold Sunday.

CHICAGO - Max Scherzer pitched exactly the way he wanted Saturday, leading with strike one. Scherzer threw first-pitch strikes to 16 of the 23 batters he faced and had three-ball counts against only three hitters in his six innings, giving up only an unearned run.

CHICAGO — The Diamondbacks entrusted Max Scherzer’s first major league victory to their bullpen Saturday, usually as certain as a sunrise. The Chicago Cubs did not let it happen, though, scoring six runs off relievers Chad Qualls and Brandon Medders in a six-run seventh inning for a 7-2 victory at Wrigley Field.

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SAN DIEGO — Greg Maddux became the ninth pitcher in big league history to win 350 games, reaching the plateau in his fifth try and leading the San Diego Padres to a 3-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.

BALTIMORE - He’s got plenty of free time and still is being paid handsomely by the Baltimore Orioles, so there’s really no limit to what Leo Mazzone can do this spring.

CLEVELAND - Vernon Wells will go from leading the Toronto Blue Jays in home runs and RBIs to leading the team in cheers.

CHICAGO - The last time Ted Lilly faced the Diamondbacks, he was so disgusted with himself that he threw his glove to the mound after permitting a three-run home run to Chris Young in the second inning of Game 2 of the 2007 NLDS.

View the D-Backs - Cubs box score

CHICAGO - Chris Snyder again appears to be the productive hitter he was in the second half of 2007. Snyder has raised his batting average 99 points, to .277 while hitting safely in 11 of his last 12 starts after getting one of the Diamondbacks’ three hits Friday.

MINNEAPOLIS — Mike Lamb was looking for a hit like this.

DETROIT — There is a different vibe in the Tigers’ clubhouse this season. It is more sour. The players are not as boisterous. It is a palpable difference. And the Tigers, even after Friday’s 6-5 win over the Yankees, are the most disappointing team in baseball right now.

Eight runs of support is plenty for Brandon Webb. The only drama left to unfold in the ninth inning on Thursday was whether Webb would actually finish what he started.

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View the D-Backs-Phillies box score

Want to know the most remarkable thing about Josh Byrnes’ first 2 1/2 years as the Diamondbacks’ general manager?

The Diamondbacks have identified Brandon Webb as a long-term priority and have renewed talks on a contract extension that would keep the pitcher through the prime of his career, and Webb seems to believe a new deal can be reached.

It may be too late for the White Sox to get a refund for the sensitivity training they were ordered to put manager Ozzie Guillen through two summers ago. The man seems more determined than ever to talk his way out of a job.

TORONTO — An extra-inning grand slam sent the Tampa Bay Rays home feeling good after an nine-game road trip that had its ups and downs.

It was hardly a birthday Conor Jackson will cherish — he received a mouse under his right eye, a headache and some feelings of nausea after a collision at first base Wednesday. That was just the beginning of an eighth inning the Diamondbacks would just as soon forget.

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View D-Backs-Phillies box score

CHICAGO - Nick Swisher wasted no time making his mark on the Chicago White Sox. On Wednesday, he added a pink twist.

NEW YORK — Roger Clemens isn’t welcome on the U.S. Olympic baseball team. U.S. general manager Bob Watson said Wednesday that he isn’t considering the 45-year-old right-hander for his roster for the Beijing Games.