Church's return to Mets a good thing, Manuel says  —  Ryan Church's expected return to the lineup tomorrow creates some issues for manager Jerry Manuel.  Issues he's more than happy to deal with because he views Church as “a great, great addition to us.”  —  Church went -for-4 …

Red Sox' time is now  —  Sox need to clinch early to have chance in October  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  The obvious priority, as David Ortiz [stats] recently noted, is to “win games, win games, win games.”  But the more the Red Sox [team stats] can win now, the better their chances later.

Duchscherer, Gallagher latest A's to go on DL  —  SEATTLE — All-Star right-hander Justin Duchscherer went back on the disabled list Thursday because of a strained hip, the latest in an epidemic of injuries for the fallen Oakland Athletics.  —  Duchscherer was placed on the 15-day disabled list …

Gorzelanny returning; Bautista sent to Toronto  —  Tom Gorzelanny will join the Pirates today in Milwaukee, back from a month-plus of pitching with Class AAA Indianapolis, and will be added to the 25-man roster shortly thereafter.  —  Beyond that, though, plenty is unclear:

Pavano returns to rotation on Saturday  —  Righty to take mound for Yankees for first time since April '07  —  TORONTO — Their streak of 13 consecutive playoff appearances hanging in serious doubt, the Yankees are ready to accept help from any place they can find it.

NO LO CONTENDERS  —  YANKS PUT UP NO FIGHT VS. HALLADAY  —  TORONTO - The tombstone has been engraved, the caskets are ordered and members of the fan base have started the mourning process.  —  Now, The Post welcomes you to the Tragic Number Countdown.  —  There isn't a better time to begin …

HANK: MEDIA HATE THE YANKEES  —  'THAT'S WHY I HAVE TO POINT OUT THE INJURIES'  —  Now it's the media's fault.  —  Hank Steinbrenner, who has gone out of his way to emphasize how much injuries have hurt the Yankees this season, told the new Sporting News magazine that he had to do it because …

Former Met great Tom Seaver not sad to see Shea go  —  There are memories everywhere for Tom Seaver at Shea Stadium.  —  When he looks out at the field, he sees the ghosts of teammates past.  When he looks into the stands, he hears the fans who cheered him during his 11 seasons as a Met.

Andino delivers PCL's fifth cycle  —  Goes 5-for-6 with two RBIs in Albuquerque's 16-8 rout of New Orleans  —  It's the year of the cycle in the Pacific Coast League.  —  Robert Andino became the fifth PCL player to achieve the feat this season, going 5-for-6 with two RBIs …

Webb, D-Backs complete sweep  —  As his Diamondbacks teammates were lining up and giving each other high-fives Thursday night, Brandon Webb wanted to rip off his uniform and show them the battle scar that helped him earn his career-high 19th victory.  —  The shot off the bat …

“Outside the Lines” revisits the battle between Danny Almonte and Matt Cerda in the 2001 Little League World Series.  —  Two airplanes destroyed the Twin Towers, and two boys went back to the rest of their lives.  —  Nineteen days before, these boys had played a crisp Little League World Series ballgame …

Zambrano earns 13th win to lift Cubs  —  CHICAGO (AP)—Carlos Zambrano delivered a heated first-inning lecture to someone he knew would listen—himself.  Upset after giving up a four-pitch walk to leadoff batter Chris Dickerson, Zambrano calmed down, regrouped and got out of the inning.

Lee wins 18th, Sizemore tallies 7 RBI to lead Indians sweep  —  CLEVELAND (AP) — Cliff Lee won his AL-best 18th victory and seventh straight decision, backed by Grady Sizemore's career-high seven RBI, as Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 10-3 on Thursday.  —  GAME REPORT: Indians 10, Royals 3

A Look Ahead To Yankees' Impending Free Agents  —  By Cork Gaines [August 21 at 12:39pm CST]  —  The Yankees have several big-name free agents looming this off-season, including Bobby Abreu, Andy Pettite, Ivan Rodriguez, Mike Mussina, and Jason Giambi ($5MM buyout of '09 $22MM option).