Crushing blows  —  Orioles homer off bullpen to tie in 8th, beat Sox in 10th  —  BALTIMORE — Mayday.  —  In this case, that is not a distress signal, even though you could almost imagine dozens of red flares firing over Boston Harbor as the Red Sox landed at Logan Airport following their 6-3 …

Marlins settle for series win over Mets  —  Four homers allowed hurts Florida's chances of sweep  —  NEW YORK — Working out of a heavily used Marlins bullpen, Lee Gardner has done a tremendous job keeping the ball in the park.  But Sunday was a rare occasion when he didn't.

Cards sizzle; Encarnacion boils  —  UNHAPPY PLAYER  • Says La Russa treated him "kind of unprofessional."  —  THE GAME  • Cardinals pound out season-high 18 hits; Reyes wins.  —  The Cardinals won a game but they may have lost a right fielder Sunday afternoon.

Tom has his Shea day  —  Mets & fans salute Glavine's 300th  —  Back when Tom Glavine was piling up victories and NL East titles for the Atlanta Braves, who could have ever predicted that there would be a Tom Glavine Day at Shea Stadium?  —  Yet there it was yesterday …

Contreras clears waivers  —  White Sox may have pay part of salary in any trade  —  White Sox pitcher Jose Contreras has cleared waivers and now becomes eligible to be traded to any interested team, SI.com has learned.  —  While Contreras is only 6-14 overall with a 6.24 ERA, he has pitched well lately.

Mets' catching situation getting dicey  —  With Castro listed as day-to-day, DiFelice is ready to step up  —  NEW YORK — What began as a problem has now become something of a catching crisis.  And seemingly nobody is immune.  —  Not 24 hours after starting catcher Paul Lo Duca went …

Traber optioned; Bacsik sent to 'pen  —  Righty Hill expected to be activated and start Tuesday  —  PHOENIX — Following Sunday's victory over the Diamondbacks, the Nationals optioned left-hander Billy Traber to Triple-A Columbus and are expected to reinstate right-hander Shawn Hill from the disabled list on Tuesday.

Gagne blown away: Sagging set-up man's failures raise own ire  —  BALTIMORE - When he took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning yesterday afternoon at Camden Yards, he was Eric Gagne, veteran, card-carrying, big league relief pitcher.  —  Later, after the game had ended …

Hall of Famer Ripken named goodwill ambassador  —  WASHINGTON — Sports, not politics, will be Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.'s emphasis in his new role as a special envoy for the State Department.  —  "This isn't a political statement for me, necessarily," Ripken said Monday …

Torres drops grievance against Pirates  —  SAN FRANCISCO — Reliever Salomon Torres has decided to drop his grievance against the Pirates, as well as his pursuit of a lawsuit.  —  He said yesterday at AT&T Park, shortly after the team's 5-0 victory against the San Francisco Giants …

Notes: Cox marvels at Teixeira's 'D'  —  Braves first baseman started double play with diving grab  —  ATLANTA — Braves manager Bobby Cox isn't sure how Mark Teixeira reacted so quickly to the line drive that he turned into a double play in Saturday night's win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Notes: Burnett returns, League on DL  —  Out with sore shoulder, righty makes first start since June 28  —  KANSAS CITY — The Blue Jays activated right-hander A. J. Burnett in time for his start Sunday night vs. the Royals.  The team made room on the 25-man roster by placing relief pitcher Brandon League …

Jenks ties record on his terms  —  Closer wanted to have chance to do it at U.S. Cellular Field  —  CHICAGO — During the sixth inning of Sunday's 6-0 White Sox loss to the Mariners, Bobby Jenks decided that if he was going to make history, he was going to do it on his own terms.

Yankees Face the Toughest Battle for Playoff Spot  —  One of the great sports fallacies is the old Bill Parcells saw that claims you are what your record says you are.  Untrue!  Take the American League wild card race.  The Yankees and the Seattle Mariners are tied atop the standings with six weeks left in the season.