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Anthony Rieber / Newsday:
Maine goes on DL; Niese likely to fill in — The Mets put sore-shouldered John Maine on the 15-day disabled list yesterday and are preparing to replace him in the rotation with highly regarded minor-leaguer Jon Niese, according to a person familiar with the club's thinking.
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ESPN:
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 …
Mike Lupica / NY Daily News:
As days wind down, A-Rod must step up — September starts Tuesday for the Yankees. So let's see, starting Tuesday, if Joe Girardi's Yankees can be the same kind of finishers in the American League East that Joe Torre's Yankees always were. — Let's see if the Yankees can hit against a real team …
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George A. King III / New York Post:
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.
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Boston Globe, Boston Herald, NY Daily News, The Joy of Sox, iYankees, WasWatching.com, Projo Sox Blog and New Jersey Online
Anthony Rieber / Newsday:
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 …
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Joe Christensen / Around the Majors:
Monday pregame: Lamb designated for assignment — SEATTLE — To make room on their roster for Eddie Guardado, the Twins designated Mike Lamb for assignment. — Lamb was in the first year of a two-year, $6.6 million contract, so the Twins are eating $3.8 million with this move.
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La Velle / Twins Insider:Twins acquire Eddie Guardado from Texas [UPDATES]
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AaronGleeman.com
Jon Heyman / Sports Illustrated:Twins land Guardado in waiver deal with Texas
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Ken Davidoff's baseball …
Gordon Wittenmyer / Chicago Sun Times:
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 …
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Carrie Muskat / MLB.com:
Mailbag: Will Fukudome improve? — Beat reporter Carrie Muskat answers Cubs fans' questions … How much longer is manager Lou Piniella willing to give Fukudome to get his offense going before he opts to replace him in right field? I understand the Cubs are trying to give him as much time as he needs …
Tim Dierkes / MLB Rumors:
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.
Troy E. Renck / Denver Post:
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.
Discussion:
Purple Row
Lynn Jacobsen / Tulsa World:
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 …
Discussion:
Purple Row
Jack O'Connell / MLB.com:
Veterans Committee announces ballot — Walters, Gordon lead pre-1943 era candidates up for HOF — NEW YORK — Former Most Valuable Player Award winners Bucky Walters and Joe Gordon were among the 10 players announced Monday as qualifying for the Veterans Committee ballot of candidates …
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The Griddle
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Patrick Sullivan / Baseball Analysts:
AL Contenders: Remaining Schedules — We are entering the home stretch and four teams in the American League are having it out for three post-season spots. Presented below is relevant data pertaining to each contender's schedule make-up. One note; WAOWP means Weighted Average Opponents' Win Percentage.
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DRaysBay
Patrick Sullivan / Baseball Analysts:
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.
Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com:
Sizemore joins 30-30 club with homer — First Indians player since 1987 to accomplish the feat — DETROIT — We now have a statistic that can sum up Grady Sizemore's offensive ability better than any scouting report could. — The stat is 30-30. Sizemore reached that impressive home …
Hal McCoy / Dayton Daily News:
Cueto leaves early during atrocious loss — DENVER — Losing the worst-played major-league baseball game in this millennium was bad enough, but the Cincinnati Reds lost more than that — pending a medical work-up today of pitcher Johnny Cueto. — The Reds lost an almost indescribable …
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Can't Stop The Bleeding
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