Upton

The Phillies' bullpen had been airtight in the World Series going into Game 3 last night, but the speed of B.J. Upton saw both its hitless and scoreless streaks against the Tampa Bay Rays wash down the gutter like rainwater. The Rays got their first baserunner and their first run off Phillies relievers in the World Series to tie the game off Ryan Madson in the eighth inning and increase the anxiety level of the Citizens Bank Park crowd of 45,900. Before Madson entered the game, Phillies relievers had not allowed a hit to any of the 12 batters they had faced in the World Series.

ATLANTA - Jason Heyward was in the audience as B.J. Upton was introduced Thursday as Atlanta's new centerfielder. That made manager Fredi Gonzalez smile as he realized he didn't have to worry so much about finding the third starter in his outfield. "Shoot, we may not even need a leftfielder," Gonzalez said. "With him playing center and Jason, who just won a Gold Glove, in right, it's going to be fun watching these guys cover some ground in the outfield. " Upton was given a No. 2 Braves jersey after finalizing a $75.25 million, five-year contract - the biggest ever given a free agent by the franchise.

YOU CAN LOOK at it as the Phillies losing out on B.J. Upton, or you can look at it as the Phillies saving $75.25 million over 5 years, which is the price the Braves ended up paying for a centerfielder whose production has seldom seemed to match his prodigious potential. Figure it out, and you will have figured out the riddle Ruben Amaro Jr. will continue to face as he attempts to deal his team back into contention for 2013. It was no secret that the Phillies had Upton near the top of their list of offseason targets.

The Phillies may or may not be waiting for an answer from free-agent centerfielder B.J. Upton. That's an issue that neither the player's agent nor Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is willing to discuss. What's clear is that the Phillies do not believe this will be a lost offseason if the former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder signs with the Atlanta Braves or another team in the near future. "Pretty much all of the guys we're talking about could satisfy our needs in some shape or form," Amaro said Monday.

NASHVILLE - The B.J. Upton-to-the-Phillies buzz had a nice, long shelf life, especially when compared to how long the Justin Upton-to-the-Phillies speculation survived Tuesday at the winter meetings before being trampled by Shoeless Ruben Amaro Jr. "I don't comment on rumors, but that one is absolutely, unequivocally false," Amaro said from inside his sixth-floor suite at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. That winter-meetings falsehood spread rapidly through the Twittersphere just before 4 p.m. local time.

The Phillies' pursuit of B.J. Upton is over, and it did not end well if you believe he was the team's primary free-agent target. Upton, the youngest of the elite centerfielders on the free-agent market, will play next season with the Atlanta Braves after signing a five-year, $75.25 million deal. That was the news late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Houston reliever Wilton Lopez was in Philadelphia for a physical that likely will be a prelude to a trade that sends minor-league prospects to the Astros.

Calling all encyclopedia makers and schoolteachers: The country has six Great Lakes, at least for now. President Clinton signed into law yesterday a measure that gives Great Lake status to Lake Champlain, a 490-square-mile body of water that touches Vermont, New York and Quebec. This was good news for Vermonters, who lobbied hard for the new title and the environmental research money that comes with it. It was a minor setback for Rep. Fred Upton (R., Mich.), who desperately wanted Lake Champlain locked out of the Great Lake club.

The carousel started last week when, after reportedly visiting both Philadelphia and Atlanta, B.J. Upton tapped 139 characters on his iPad. "I'm really blown away by the love other cities are showing me right now," Upton tweeted last Thursday. "Can't wait to see how this pans out. #intrigued" The modern hot stove is reduced to a hash tag, and the sentiment extends beyond Upton's 64,000 Twitter followers. The Phillies and Braves have both identified Upton as a priority, possibly their top target.

Waiting out his appeal, Upton comes up big Tampa Bay centerfielder B.J. Upton had a heck of a weekend in Baltimore, much to the Orioles' frustration, and maybe irking the mahoffs at Major League Baseball as well. See, Upton wasn't supposed to play because he had been fined $1,500 and suspended for two games for his allegedly boorish behavior in Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays. After being ejected by umpire Chad Fairchild for arguing his fourth strikeout of the evening, he slammed his bat and helmet to the ground, and had to be restrained by third-base coach Tom Foley . He also threw several other items, and otherwise demonstrated his displeasure while heading toward the dugout.

Nothing has been easy in the World Series for the Tampa Bay Rays, and the reason is simple. The Rays' big guns, No. 3 hitter Carlos Pena and cleanup batter Evan Longoria, have fizzled out after showing great pop in the American League Championship Series against the Boston Red Sox. The two went their first 22 World Series at-bats combined without a single hit. Pena was 0 for 10 with four strikeouts. If it's possible, Longoria was even worse. The rookie third baseman was hitless in his first 12 at-bats with six strikeouts.

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - The Atlanta Braves' offseason was fascinating from a Phillies perspective in that it could have been their own. When the free-agent market opened, Braves general manager Frank Wren had his sights set on replacing Michael Bourn in center field with B.J. Upton, an eight-year veteran with power, speed, and incredible defensive ability. The older of the two Upton brothers is only 28. Wren knew the Phillies were interested, too. "He flew in from Philadelphia to meet with us, so that was my first hint," he said earlier this week.

Advertisers used to wait till Super Bowl Sunday to unveil their TV ads. More and more, some jump the gun to justify the king's ransom for a 30-second spot - $4 million this year - by capitalizing on every bit of media hype and advance Internet traffic they can generate, often by using some kind of contest tie-in. Some, like Anheuser-Busch, use the news and social media to build anticipation for spots you'll have to wait till Sunday to see. The beermaker even issued its first-ever tweet to ask folks to suggest names for a recently born Clydesdale , star of an ad called "Brotherhood.

Justin Upton is joining older brother B.J. Upton in a new-look Braves outfield he expects to be called the best in baseball. He said he's not willing to endorse that label until it is proven in 2013. Arizona traded Justin Upton to Atlanta in a seven-player deal Thursday that sent former all-star infielder Martin Prado to the Diamondbacks. The Upton brothers join rightfielder Jason Heyward, who won a Gold Glove in 2012, in an outfield packed with power and speed. "If we push ourselves to the next level, I feel with the extra push from each other there's no question we can be the best outfield in baseball," Justin Upton said.

THE PHILLIES were in need of a righthanded power bat for the corner outfield, and early in the offseason they made an offer to free-agent centerfielder B.J. Upton. So, it wasn't too much of a leap to think that at some point Ruben Amaro Jr. kicked around the idea of trading for Diamondbacks star rightfielder Justin Upton, B.J.'s brother and, as of Thursday, the latest plotline in what is shaping up to be an ultra-competitive National League race. Turns out, the Phillies did look into Justin Upton, talking to D-backs general manager Kevin Towers on more than one occasion about a potential trade.

The Mariners search for an impact bat led them to Arizona Diamondbacks rightfielder Justin Upton this week, but the two-time all-star rejected a trade proposal by Seattle on Thursday, according to a report by MLB.com. Upton, 25, has four clubs on a no-trade clause in his contract and one of those teams is the Mariners. He apparently declined to waive that clause after the two teams reached an agreement. Seattle has some top pitching prospects, led by lefthanders Danny Hultzen and James Paxton and 20-year-old righthander Taijuan Walker, and the Mariners have been looking to add offense to a team that is building around a young core of position players.

NASHVILLE - The B.J. Upton-to-the-Phillies buzz had a nice, long shelf life, especially when compared to how long the Justin Upton-to-the-Phillies speculation survived Tuesday at the winter meetings before being trampled by Shoeless Ruben Amaro Jr. "I don't comment on rumors, but that one is absolutely, unequivocally false," Amaro said from inside his sixth-floor suite at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. That winter-meetings falsehood spread rapidly through the Twittersphere just before 4 p.m. local time.

ATLANTA - Jason Heyward was in the audience as B.J. Upton was introduced Thursday as Atlanta's new centerfielder. That made manager Fredi Gonzalez smile as he realized he didn't have to worry so much about finding the third starter in his outfield. "Shoot, we may not even need a leftfielder," Gonzalez said. "With him playing center and Jason, who just won a Gold Glove, in right, it's going to be fun watching these guys cover some ground in the outfield. " Upton was given a No. 2 Braves jersey after finalizing a $75.25 million, five-year contract - the biggest ever given a free agent by the franchise.

YOU CAN LOOK at it as the Phillies losing out on B.J. Upton, or you can look at it as the Phillies saving $75.25 million over 5 years, which is the price the Braves ended up paying for a centerfielder whose production has seldom seemed to match his prodigious potential. Figure it out, and you will have figured out the riddle Ruben Amaro Jr. will continue to face as he attempts to deal his team back into contention for 2013. It was no secret that the Phillies had Upton near the top of their list of offseason targets.

The Phillies' pursuit of B.J. Upton is over, and it did not end well if you believe he was the team's primary free-agent target. Upton, the youngest of the elite centerfielders on the free-agent market, will play next season with the Atlanta Braves after signing a five-year, $75.25 million deal. That was the news late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, Houston reliever Wilton Lopez was in Philadelphia for a physical that likely will be a prelude to a trade that sends minor-league prospects to the Astros.

The Phillies may or may not be waiting for an answer from free-agent centerfielder B.J. Upton. That's an issue that neither the player's agent nor Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. is willing to discuss. What's clear is that the Phillies do not believe this will be a lost offseason if the former Tampa Bay Rays outfielder signs with the Atlanta Braves or another team in the near future. "Pretty much all of the guys we're talking about could satisfy our needs in some shape or form," Amaro said Monday.