Giambi powers Pavano past O's  —  Right-hander earns win in return with support from slugger  —  BALTIMORE — Carl Pavano's career in pinstripes has been unique, to say the least.  The right-hander, who has pitched just 20 games in a Yankees uniform over the course of his four-year …

Springing leaks in late summer  —  A sinking feeling about the playoffs  —  Reliever Chris Smith couldn't stop the bleeding in yesterday's lopsided loss at Toronto.  (Frank gunn/canadian Press)  —  TORONTO - Your starting shortstop, third baseman, right fielder, and No. 1 pitcher are out with injuries.

Thrown a curve, kindness is my buoy  —  I've always thought the real lesson in Jim Bouton's classic book, “Ball Four” was found in its final passage, when he wrote, “you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time.”

SERBY'S SUNDAY Q&A WITH DANIEL MURPHY  —  The Post's Steve Serby chatted with the 23-year-old rookie who has gone from off-the-radar minor leaguer to key contributor to the Mets' late-season surge.  —  Q: Tell me the story about when you arrived at Jacksonville University and they asked each player for his name, hometown and position.

Don't expect Pavano to be consistent help  —  Carl Pavano is still a colossal disappointment, the appropriate butt of countless jokes and hands down the most overpaid athlete in Yankees history.  Heck, he's probably the most overpaid athlete in New York sports history, too.

Fukudome struggles again, so Piniella plans a talk  —  Lou Piniella plans on having a conversation about hitting mechanics Sunday with struggling right fielder Kosuke Fukudome, who went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Saturday's 9-2 victory over Washington.  —  “See how we can help the young man,” Piniella said.

Bloomquist unlikely to play again in '08  —  Free-agent-to-be would like to return to Mariners next season  —  SEATTLE — Willie Bloomquist walked into the home clubhouse at Safeco Field on Saturday afternoon with a noticeable limp.  —  It has been two weeks since the Mariners …

Teixeira homers, K-Rod closes out Angels' win  —  ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — If anyone thought the Los Angeles Angels were just biding their time until the playoffs came around, they needed to look no further than the efforts of Mark Teixeira and Torii Hunter.  —  Teixeira went 3-for-3 …

Pence seeks to sharpen mind  —  Outfielder studies chess on day off after baserunning miscue  —  NEW YORK — Hunter Pence sat in his fold-up chair and stared at the alternating blue and white boxes on the page.  He was reading about chess, a game the 25-year-old Astros outfielder has begun …

Our Conversation With Stan Kasten  —  When Ryan Zimmerman socked out that game winning homer against The Atlanta Braves on March 30th at New Nationals Park, not many watching that crisp cool night believed Our Number 11's Walk Off would be one of the few high level marks for Our Washington Nationals in 2008.

New York Yankees' Joba Chamberlain to return as reliever first  —  NOTEBOOK  —  BALTIMORE — Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to return to a mound today for the first time since Aug. 4, and when he gets back into games for the Yankees, it may be as a reliever at first.