YANKS FACING ‘WILD’ PLAYOFF ROAD  —  EVEN SWEEPING THE SOX MAY NOT BE ENOUGH  —  Sweep dreams?  How about sweep and still weep?  —  With the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium's third base dugout for the start of a three-game series tonight, everybody is jazzed over the resumption of the greatest rivalry in baseball between blood rivals.

Report: With Maine on DL, Mets may call up Niese  —  NEW YORK — With John Maine back on the disabled list with a sore shoulder, the New York Mets are reportedly eyeing their farm system for pitching help.  —  Newsday reported that the Mets are preparing to call up top pitching prospect Jon Niese …

Instant replay to begin in series starting Thursday  —  NEW YORK — Major League Baseball reversed its long-standing opposition to instant replay and will allow umpires to check video on home run calls in series that start Thursday.  —  Commissioner Bud Selig was scheduled to make the announcement at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.

Marlins face costly offseason with 18 players eligible for arbitration  —  When it comes to stretching a dollar, the Marlins are pretty much the kings of Major League Baseball.  —  Yet their vaunted front office will have trouble making all (or even most) of the pieces fit this winter.  —  Eighteen.

Kenny Rogers placed on waivers, could be traded soon  —  His experience in postseason is a plus  —  If a trade involving Tigers left-hander Kenny Rogers is going to happen before the end of this season, it likely will occur within the next several days.  —  The deadline to set postseason rosters …

Fukudome still making progress  —  PITTSBURGH —Just like that, Kosuke Fukudome might be on his way back to becoming an every-day fixture in the Cubs' lineup.  —  And if manager Lou Piniella has his way, back to the No. 5 spot in the order.  —  Just one day after Piniella …

Pirates Notebook: Getting antsy for Alvarez  —  The Pirates are running low on patience with Pedro Alvarez.  —  Ten full days have passed since the team and its first-round draft pick agreed to terms on a $6 million signing bonus, but Alvarez has yet to report for his physical or introductory news conference.

From the Basement, It's No Wonder Radio Reception Is Poor  —  Ah, the dog days of summer.  Time to kick back, relax on the porch with a tall glass of lemonade and listen to the quintessential sound of the season: the ballgame on the radio.  —  These days, however, hardly anyone's tuning in.

Delgado hits two homers as Mets top Astros, 9-1  —  Mets starter Mike Pelfrey delivers a pitch Monday night against the Houston Astros.  (Bruce Gilbert, Newsday / August 25, 2008)  —  The cheers rose out of the throats of 49,791 Mets fans at Shea Stadium last night as Carlos Delgado celebrated among …

ONE MEANING-PHIL TWO-GAME SERIES  —  AMAZIN'S LOOK TO MAKE UP FOR '07  —  Johan Santana helped pitch the Twins into the postseason on four different occasions, so he knows what a team needs to do to get into the playoffs.  He also knows what happened between the Mets and Phillies a year ago …

Olympians watch Drillers fall in home finale  —  Olympic bronze medalists Dexter Fowler and Casey Weathers looked on as the Drillers (25-38 second half, 54-79) struggled in their regular season home finale, losing 14-1 to Northwest Arkansas.  —  Fowler and Weathers received a standing ovation …

Perspective Time  —  In a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers last night, Grady Sizemore hit home runs number 30 and 31, pushing his season line to a phenomenal .271/.383/.532 mark.  Having turned just 26 three weeks ago or so, Sizemore has affirmed that his outstanding 2006 campaign (.290/.375/.533) was no outlier.

Elias Ranking Update  —  By Tim Dierkes [August 26 at 9:56am CST]  —  Eddie Bajek has been doing great work reverse-engineering the Elias rankings over at his blog, Detroit Tigers Thoughts.  He's now ranked catchers, first basemen, outfielders, and designated hitters for both leagues.

Tulowitzki trying to adjust to sitting, hitting in No. 8 slot  —  SAN FRANCISCO — It has been a remarkable ride during the past year.  Troy Tulowitzki has gone from well-earned celebrity to overdosing on humility.  —  He has not started two of the past five games, and he hit eighth Monday for the second day in a row.

Twins bolster 'pen, bring back Guardado  —  SEATTLE — The Twins addressed their need for late-inning relief help on Monday, completing a trade with Texas for left-hander Eddie Guardado.  —  It marks the return for Guardado to Minnesota where he began his career, helping the Twins …