The last time we checked with Bud Selig, this was still a free country. 

SAN FRANCISCO Brian Wilson said he doesn't expect or need an apology from Casey Blake after theDodgers third baseman apparently mocked the cross-armed gesture the Giants closer makes after he saves a game on Sunday, although Wilson added that he won't for 

The last time we checked with Bud Selig, this was still a free country. 

Adam Dunn would have been open to negotiating with theGiants over the winter, but he said they didn't express interest. 

--LHP Clayton Kershaw will get the ball for the opener of the Philadelphia series Tuesday night. 

--OF Xavier Paul got his first major league hit, a pinch-hit single with two outs in the eighth inning on Sunday. 

For all the giddiness over their lightning-fast start to the season, the one lingering doubt about the Dodgers is whether all of this is real or an illusion. 

Not long before the calendar turned to Sunday and Mother's Day, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban celebrated the occasion with a verbal blast directed at Lydia Moore, mother of Denver Nugget Kenyon Martin. 

Manny Ramirez abruptly dropped an appeal of his drug suspension within hours of a scheduled hearing last week, cornered not by test results but by a prescription for a banned substance that appeared in his medical records, sources told The Times. 

How they scored 

LOS ANGELES If you want thrills, chills and majestic home runs into the bay, pop in a DVD from the Barry Bonds era. 

How they scored 

jblair@globeandmail. 

LOS ANGELES On May 1, Emmanuel Burriss had a . 

Dodgers third basemanCasey Blake has as reputation as a nice guy, but after he apparently insultedBrian Wilson with a gesture Sunday, theGiants' opinion of Blake sank dramatically.