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.

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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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.