Kyle Farnsworth won’t miss time, but needed four stitches to repair cuts caused when he had to break up a fight between his two pet bulldogs, who apparently were arguing over the affection of a child.

John Smoltz’s rehab is nearly complete, and the Red Sox announced that Smoltz will likely start a game on June 25th against the Washington Nationals – which is really just another rehab start against a AAA team.  Smoltz last pitched in June, 2008; he was pitching in relief since he couldn’t deal with the discomfort as a starter for the Braves at the time.

What are the Red Sox going to do?  They have more pitching than they know what to do with, they have a solid offense and even Big Papi seems to be coming out of his slump.  They have one of the great stockpiles of talent – three guys with closer’s stuff in the pen (Papelbon, Soriano, Saito), seven starters (the current rotation plus Smoltz and Clay Buchholz in AAA) – what more do they need?  Can they loan it to Washington???  (Hey, that’s what the Yankees would have done in the 50s and 60s – send extra players to Kansas City until they needed them.)

Johan Santana says that his problems are not tied to a sore knee, as his pitching coach Rick Peterson suggested.  He says he’s dealing with location issues.  Santana admits, though, that he’s nicked up a bit (split fingernail, blisters) – but it’s not the reason for getting bombed by the Yankees.

Speaking of nicked up…  Derek Jeter has a stiff ankle.  Torii Hunter got bruised ribs for crashing into a wall yesterday – he skipped today’s game.

Shoulder pain put Carlos Guillen on the DL; now the Tiger slugger may lose the season to shoulder surgery.

On the mend?  Joe Crede and Michael Cuddyer both played for the Twins today.  Kyle Lohse may be ready for rehab soon.  Roy Halliday played catch without pain; even Brad Lidge says his leg feels better.  Casey Kotchman returns to the Braves from the DL.  Brian Bruney is back with the Yankees after a DL stint, as is Glen Perkins of the Twins.  Kaz Matsui retured to Houston from his DL stint.  And Emmanuel Burriss (Giants) and Will Ohman (Dodgers) get rehab trips.

On the other hand, Houston’s Geoff Blum heads to the DL with a hamstring injury, and Cub lefty Jason Waddell sits 15 days with a non-injury related medical condition. 

Quick Crime Report…  Former MLB outfielder Mel Hall was convicted of sexual assault with a 12-year-old girl – three counts of assault, and two more counts of indecency.  Sentencing continues tomorrow.  Yuck.