NEW YORK: No, the headline is not an exaggeration; the Mets are "in desperate need of a win." With yesterday's 4-0 loss to the Braves, the Mets now find themselves five games back in the NL East.

And with the Phillies victory and recent extra-inning magic, they only trail the Mets by one-half game. Meaning if the Mets were to lose today, and the Phillies win, the Mets would enter the All-Star break six games behind, in third place.

Even if they are in second place, six games behind is not ideal when fashioning yourself as a contender.

The tweet world is up in arms. The fan-selected All-Star starting first baseman, Justin Morneau, of the Minnesota Twins has withdrawn from the All-Star Game with concussion-like symptoms.

AL Manager Joe Girardi moved up Detroit Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera to the starting role and has selected Chicago White Sox slugger Paul Konerko as an injury replacement to the team.

Girardi has been accused of "hating the Red Sox" with this "biased" selection and that "Youkilis was clearly snubbed."

On July 6, 1971, New York's most beloved franchise, the New York Mets, announced that ace left-hander Jerry Koosman was being placed on the 21-day disabled list.

Koosman started against the Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium, but was forced to leave following only one inning of work. After the game, Mets' manager Gil Hodges said Jerry had developed tightness in his left side.

A team spokesman told reporters, "They don't know what it is. It could be his shoulder or his back or a virus. They don't know what."

The Yankees might have missed out on trading for Cliff Lee , but they didn’t miss playing against him yesterday, as they beat the Mariners 6-1 behind a strong performance by Phil Hughes and a pair of homers of the bat of Mark Teixeira.

Here are some notes:

The Arizona Diamondbacks drafted Ross Ohlendorf in the fourth round of the 2004 MLB draft. The scouting report on him at that time was:

Body Type: Strong as an Ox, thick muscular build.

Delivery: Low 3/4 arm. slow easy high leg kick with good hip rotation. Loose for his size.

Pitches: 89-92 mph fastball with occasional hard sink and bore. Can reach for extra and does it easy.

Small tilt to occasional tight slider.

Deceptive change with sink.

Command: Has improved.

Entering the 2010 season, the top second baseman in the National League included: Chase Utley (Philadelphia), Dan Uggla (Florida), and Brandon Phillips (Cincinnati).

At the mid-way point of the season, Phillips is making a case to be considered the best. Martin Prado is emerging as a superstar in Atlanta, but does not have all the tools Phillips has.

The chart below clearly shows Phillips is the most complete second sacker in the league.

Josh Hamilton only played in 89 games last season due to injuries and hit hit 10 home runs while driving in 54 runs and hitting .268 in 336 at bats.

So far, 2010 has been a different story as Hamilton has hit 22 home runs, which is one behind the major league leader Jose Bautista with 23. He has also driven in 64 runs and is leading the majors with a .349 batting average.

Outstanding Mariners pitcher Cliff Lee has been traded to the Texas Rangers.

As part of this deal the Texas Rangers will receive Cliff Lee and Mark Lowe and the Mariners will receive Justin Smoak, Blake Beavan, Josh Lueke, and Matt Lawson.

Cliff Lee was scheduled to start tonight against the New York Yankees but David Pauley will take his place instead.

The Rangers got Lee for a few reasons.

I don't know if you've heard...but Joey Votto is apparently the hottest thing to hit Cincinnati since the Big Red Machine. He's 26, coming into his prime, a recently-named All-Star, and he is the leader of the Red's playoff-bound (hopefully) 2010 squad.

So, now the question becomes...what does Cincinnati do with Yonder Alonso?