This spot is usually reserved for news about the Rays, and in some ways this does affect them. Mariano Rivera is hurt. Hurt doesn't describe it. He's 42 and suffered a torn ACL while shagging fly balls in Kansas City. Those two things don't usually lend themselves to a comeback. He's spoken about how this would be his last season, and if this really is the end then it's a sad, sad day for the sport. Despise him for the uniform he wears, but respect him for what he's been able to do over his career. Baseball is worse off without him.

Somehow he became the only Yankee I actually liked. Admired is a better word. He throws one pitch and everyone knows it, yet there's nothing they can do with it. That's the ultimate sign of baseball bad-assery. With Rivera out the Yankees will turn to either David Robertson or Rafael Soriano to fill the void. Whoever the new long term closer is for the Yankees he'll have a huge act to follow.

• Is the frequency of no hitters rising? No, says Alex Remington, but complete games are.
• Rafael Betancourt hasn't hit a batter since 2003. That's a streak of 2,262 batters faced. That's utterly amazing, as Jeff Sullivan notes.
• Howard Bryant takes a look at Delmon Young and where the troubled hitter's career goes from here.